You've just sent me on a frenzied search for my Welty. She's been with me for years but she might be in a box with Mark Doty and others who tell such wonderful stories and who have in common that sense of calm. I had to make space but tomorrow's first job will be to find them and put them back where they are needed.
Jean, I’m so glad they will be returned to the air—out of the box and near. Doty is here, too, many Dotys. And way too many others! No, not too many at all!
I can find my Eudora Welty and I might have to read it again! What I can’t find for the life of me is my box of prompts flash cards from Natalie Goldberg and I blame myself. I decided to put all my craft books, memoir, and a host of poetry and fiction books on their own shelves. I cannot find the box of prompts anywhere, upstairs, downstairs or under a chair. Had I left everything in the mess it was, I would find that box on the bottom shelf in the bookcase in the living room. Gah!!! Where is it?!
I have her book here! Does her book help? Are the flashcards based on her book? I am sorry I sent you into a panic looking for something that I’m sure is SOMEWHERE. Deep breaths. I honestly took all those dozens of books off my shelves several times before I found the book, which had been there all along. That sly Eudora. You will find Natalie!
Found it! That sly Natalie was behind the bookcase. You didn’t send me into a panic, Beth, I have been searching for the box for at least a week. It’s called Writing Down the Bones Deck, with 60 prompts. On the other side of every card is a supportive how-to, what to do teaching blurb with questions and advice to get you on your way. Sometimes we need just a little bit more.
Not surprisingly, you and I own many of the same writerly books. Many you and I have had, no doubt, for years. I love anything that makes me more like you!
Oh oh oh oh oh OHHHHHHH. Well, let's see. Come to my exceedingly modest abode and you will find shelves for craft/craft adjacent books, shelves for poetry books, shelves for signed/rare books, shelves for science books, an entire wall of shelves for memoir and memoir adjacent books. Now shelves for picture books. Shelves for YA books. Shelves for Virginia Woolf (sorry, she does take up space). Shelves for paperback fiction and shelves for hardcover fiction. Oh. Then a big weird shelf of books that are huge art books that take up too much room. OH! I forgot all the books on paper then on Philly then on binding. Yeah. More books than house and I winnow every month. Oh, yes, finally, there's a wall here of the books I've written, which include all the craft books that are not on the shelves with the craft books.
Since diving into my own memoir adventure (at this late stage of my creative game) I've been absorbing craft books as well as memoirs like a sponge. I just ordered Welty's to add to the pile. In the meantime, I am still working my way through "Tomorrow Will Bring Sunday's News"🩵 , along with Linda Joy Myers' "The Forger of Marseille" among other books. Also-- I'm looking forward to attending your NAMW event with her on Friday 😊
So many times I’ve rummaged through my books in search of the one essential book (for now) that has gone missing, a lost friend. I’ve somehow never read One Writer’s Beginnings. Must do something about that.
It's a kind, slender book, an invitation to watch a life unfold, and unwatchfulness unfold with it. You are one of the best read people I know, with so much treasure already tucked into your life and mind.
I went to the library to get the Welty. Brought it home. Read it. Returned it. Felt like I had to have the real thing near. Was going to buy another copy, but there is nothing like your own original copy of a loved book. Beyond grateful to have found this one, having lost plenty of others!
This resonated deeply. I’m in the stacking and deciding stage of preparing to move after thirty-six, almost seven, years in this old house. What to keep? What to pass on? I haven’t started on the craft books yet. But, I too, know Welty moves with me. Those first guides I found nudging me toward a writing life are old, trusted, comfortable friends.
Oh, Cathy, this is a hard intersection—choosing books to keep, books to hope another will fall in love with at the library or elsewhere. I have few such problems when it comes to clothes. But books! At one point I started listing ALL my craft books in this essay. I don’t think Substack would allow such a lengthy post!
I enjoyed this piece. I identify with the stacking of books, the searching, the connection to pithy statements you keep in your memory or your shelves. As I read the part about LISTENING, I was thinking about the wonderful favorite books my mother read to me when I was little, including “The Pink Elephant with the Golden Spots” and “Matilda Who Told Lies and Was Burned To Death” (Hillaire Belloc). The books say a great deal with their memorable illustrations, but the choice of the books often say a lot about my mother and her elan as a literary thinker!
Wow. Your mother must have been fascinating. Elan is a perfect word to categorize her literary thinking. A memorable childhood. A fearless maternal guide. I love it.
I'm so glad you found it! I'm reminded of how I think of painting...an act of observing and paying attention and the need to "watch very carefully." I once attended a writers weekend with Brooke Warner, Linda Joy Myers associate. I've read their books too. Have fun, Beth!
It is an autobiography, a slender look back at how the most potent images and moments of her life shaped the way she saw, and wrote, the world. I imagine she was lovely. I would have loved to be her friend.
You've just sent me on a frenzied search for my Welty. She's been with me for years but she might be in a box with Mark Doty and others who tell such wonderful stories and who have in common that sense of calm. I had to make space but tomorrow's first job will be to find them and put them back where they are needed.
Jean, I’m so glad they will be returned to the air—out of the box and near. Doty is here, too, many Dotys. And way too many others! No, not too many at all!
These quotes were perfectly chosen and inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much, Tina!
I can find my Eudora Welty and I might have to read it again! What I can’t find for the life of me is my box of prompts flash cards from Natalie Goldberg and I blame myself. I decided to put all my craft books, memoir, and a host of poetry and fiction books on their own shelves. I cannot find the box of prompts anywhere, upstairs, downstairs or under a chair. Had I left everything in the mess it was, I would find that box on the bottom shelf in the bookcase in the living room. Gah!!! Where is it?!
I have her book here! Does her book help? Are the flashcards based on her book? I am sorry I sent you into a panic looking for something that I’m sure is SOMEWHERE. Deep breaths. I honestly took all those dozens of books off my shelves several times before I found the book, which had been there all along. That sly Eudora. You will find Natalie!
Found it! That sly Natalie was behind the bookcase. You didn’t send me into a panic, Beth, I have been searching for the box for at least a week. It’s called Writing Down the Bones Deck, with 60 prompts. On the other side of every card is a supportive how-to, what to do teaching blurb with questions and advice to get you on your way. Sometimes we need just a little bit more.
yesssss
Not surprisingly, you and I own many of the same writerly books. Many you and I have had, no doubt, for years. I love anything that makes me more like you!
Now I am laughing out loud, and that is hard to get me to do these days. Let us both, then, be more like the other. (If that is even possible.) xoxo
You've made me realize that I need to make order out of disorder.
Nancy, if I could attach a photo of what my floor has looked like throughout this search you would feel INFINITELY better.
But the obvious idea of putting all my writing books together. Duh!
Oh oh oh oh oh OHHHHHHH. Well, let's see. Come to my exceedingly modest abode and you will find shelves for craft/craft adjacent books, shelves for poetry books, shelves for signed/rare books, shelves for science books, an entire wall of shelves for memoir and memoir adjacent books. Now shelves for picture books. Shelves for YA books. Shelves for Virginia Woolf (sorry, she does take up space). Shelves for paperback fiction and shelves for hardcover fiction. Oh. Then a big weird shelf of books that are huge art books that take up too much room. OH! I forgot all the books on paper then on Philly then on binding. Yeah. More books than house and I winnow every month. Oh, yes, finally, there's a wall here of the books I've written, which include all the craft books that are not on the shelves with the craft books.
I'm going to have a go at this the coming weekend!
Since diving into my own memoir adventure (at this late stage of my creative game) I've been absorbing craft books as well as memoirs like a sponge. I just ordered Welty's to add to the pile. In the meantime, I am still working my way through "Tomorrow Will Bring Sunday's News"🩵 , along with Linda Joy Myers' "The Forger of Marseille" among other books. Also-- I'm looking forward to attending your NAMW event with her on Friday 😊
Karen, this is such a generous note. Thank you, for all of this. Can't wait to see you Friday. And never too late. Only wiser by the hour!
So many times I’ve rummaged through my books in search of the one essential book (for now) that has gone missing, a lost friend. I’ve somehow never read One Writer’s Beginnings. Must do something about that.
It's a kind, slender book, an invitation to watch a life unfold, and unwatchfulness unfold with it. You are one of the best read people I know, with so much treasure already tucked into your life and mind.
Beth, you might be amazed at all the landmark books I haven’t read. I’m a good illusionist. One of the illusions I’ve created is that I am well read.
Well, you certainly remember perfect lines at the perfect times, and that I've never done! My brain is slow moving. I declare you a non-illusionist!
I inherited the “perfect line” habit from my mother, queen of the English canon.
I had already fallen in love with your mother, from all your beautiful posts. Now even more so.
I love that Welty book. This essay of yours has such a witty format and strong message!
And you! You are the wittiest of all! Thank you. I lost a few years of my life thinking I’d lost that slender Welty! xoxo
I have done the same (not with that particular book, but with many!) And sometimes I never find them and they’re out of print!
I went to the library to get the Welty. Brought it home. Read it. Returned it. Felt like I had to have the real thing near. Was going to buy another copy, but there is nothing like your own original copy of a loved book. Beyond grateful to have found this one, having lost plenty of others!
Oh, how I love Welty. Another thing we have in common, my friend. Though I suspect there are many of us who venerate this wise elder!
I have been re-reading those letters, that gift you gave me. I knew EXACTLY where that is—face out on the shelf in front of the couch where I sit. xo
This resonated deeply. I’m in the stacking and deciding stage of preparing to move after thirty-six, almost seven, years in this old house. What to keep? What to pass on? I haven’t started on the craft books yet. But, I too, know Welty moves with me. Those first guides I found nudging me toward a writing life are old, trusted, comfortable friends.
Oh, Cathy, this is a hard intersection—choosing books to keep, books to hope another will fall in love with at the library or elsewhere. I have few such problems when it comes to clothes. But books! At one point I started listing ALL my craft books in this essay. I don’t think Substack would allow such a lengthy post!
I enjoyed this piece. I identify with the stacking of books, the searching, the connection to pithy statements you keep in your memory or your shelves. As I read the part about LISTENING, I was thinking about the wonderful favorite books my mother read to me when I was little, including “The Pink Elephant with the Golden Spots” and “Matilda Who Told Lies and Was Burned To Death” (Hillaire Belloc). The books say a great deal with their memorable illustrations, but the choice of the books often say a lot about my mother and her elan as a literary thinker!
Wow. Your mother must have been fascinating. Elan is a perfect word to categorize her literary thinking. A memorable childhood. A fearless maternal guide. I love it.
I'm so glad you found it! I'm reminded of how I think of painting...an act of observing and paying attention and the need to "watch very carefully." I once attended a writers weekend with Brooke Warner, Linda Joy Myers associate. I've read their books too. Have fun, Beth!
I will have fun, Linda. thank you. And yes. Watch. Very. Carefully.
I haven't read the Welty! But you have captivated me with the quote about listening for stories, and now I must. Thank you, Beth.
It is an autobiography, a slender look back at how the most potent images and moments of her life shaped the way she saw, and wrote, the world. I imagine she was lovely. I would have loved to be her friend.
I couldn't find my Welty a few years ago either and had to buy a new copy.
I was already to buy another. And then. Voila. My old brown page copy. I am so glad she is back in your library.
Beautiful post, Beth, and so relatable. I will look for that Welty book myself as I have never read it.
You are so generous, Andrea. I so appreciate you.