Notes from a Bibliophile

Unto my books so good to turn
Far ends of tired days;
It half endears the abstinence,
And pain is missed in praise.

As flavors cheer retarded guests
With banquetings to be,
So spices stimulate the time
Till my small library.

It may be wilderness without,
Far feet of failing men,
But holiday excludes the night,
And it is bells within.

I thank these kinsmen of the shelf;
Their countenances bland
Enamour in prospective,
And satisfy, obtained.

(Emily Dickinson, aka My Hero)


It occurs to me that I haven't read any new books (or old ones, for that matter) in a while. I try not to read stories or books while I am writing one of my own; I don't wish to be overly influenced by anyone else. Of course, I've been influenced for many years.

As a child, my mother read all sorts of stories to me, and created a love of stories that will never die in me.

As a sixth-grader, I read And Then There Were None, and the mystery/suspense genre was never the same in my mind.

As a seventh-grader, I read Poe and nearly had a conniption.

As a Junior, I read Hawthorne, and guilt never felt so good. I also read Twain, and learned more about America from one novel than from any history book.

As a Senior, I read Jane Eyre, and wondered how in the HELL Charlotte Bronte wrote a character I so closely identified with. I read Hamlet and MacBeth, and finally understood why Will Shakespeare is considered the greatest writer ever by many. I read The Great Gatsby and fell in love with the 20's.

By college, my influences were pretty much set. But then, I read Dickinson (Thanks, Bean!) because Bean quoted 'I'm Nobody' to me in a letter once and I immediately got chills. Sometimes, writing hits so close to the soul, you get chills. My favorite professor once told me that she had been waiting for me to find my Writing Voice, and I found it when I journaled about Dickinson.

Dickinson would inspire the first real creative writing I ever did. And because I consider Tori Amos to be an incredible modern poet, I must add that she, too influenced my early writing. I've posted it all before, on other sites. It's all full of religious ideas and some personal commentary. I think I have grown as a writer and am a better poet nowadays. But it'll always be special to me because I remember clearly sitting there in the library writing it. That rush of creativity is greater than any drug, any wine (hey now!), and any sex. I can't really describe it adequately here; for once, ironically, words do not suffice. It's beyond words, creating something from your mind and soul alone. I credit The Muse (God) with all of it, and thank Him for it.

Today, as I write, I like to have music as my great motivator. Others' moods will set my mind on a tangent. But my tangents are nothing like theirs. For example, I can listen to a song about relationships and go off on a tear about Egypt and my heroine's role there. Weird!

So, I shall retire then, into the library of my mind, to finish the two novels I am at work on. Once I am done those, I may try a comedy. I think I could write that. :)

Take care of yourselves.