NaNoWriMo Approacheth

National Novel Writing Month is bearing down upon my head! Whatever will I write about? Whatever will YOU write about? Don't know what I'm talking about? Oh, let me tell you of the terrors and triumphs of NaNoWriMo...

For someone who has always wanted to write a book, NaNoWriMo is an inspiring challenge. Give yourself a deadline, and the words will just pour fourth. That's the premise anyway.

What NaNoWriMo does is give you 30 days--the month of November--to write a 50,000 word novel. Doesn't sound like much, right?  After all, it breaks down to about 1,667 words a day. Totally doable. To make it easier, you're joining approximately 360,000 other writers around the world to accomplish the same task.  You're a team!

And then you start crunching out the words.

I can only speak for myself, really, but during those 30 days I have cranked out some of the worst drivel of my entire life. Inane dialog. Unnecessary descriptions. Superfluous words. Just to get a word count!

It makes one question one's worthiness as a writer. It makes one question one's sanity. Relationships suffer.  Health suffers. Typing fingers suffer.

Don't fret! There is help! The Office of Letters and Light (I don't make this stuff up) has a website full of suggestions, connections to other local NaNo'ers, and inspiration at http://www.nanowrimo.org/. You're not in this alone. There's also a fantastic book called No Plot, No Problem: The Low-Stress Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty, the founder of NaNoWriMo. I find it to be quite handy for any aspiring writer.

But in the end, if you've stuck with it, you have written a book.  Look, Ma! A novel of my very own! The satisfaction is immeasurable, and that's a good thing. You're not winnin' anything else for that piece of piddly writing.

However, you can bask in the glow of success. You're a writer! You've written a book!

Go forth to plod and plot.
See you in the bookstore--when I'm not plodding myself!

Pamela.

Postcard from Paradise

I realize this post is a little belated.  In mid-September I took a vacation to Hawaii with My Honey, and I did in fact send postcards to the store.  However, I didn't get to share them with all of my Grass Roots friends.  My vacation mostly entailed sitting around by pools and on beaches, my nose in a book or soaking up the sun.  (Had to stock up on my vitamin D while I could!)  So here, I bring you a bookish-themed post about my vacation.

First of all, I have to say I made good use of guide books (My Honey is more of an online person himself.), and found the Hawaii: An Explorer's Guide book to be particularly interesting to read, as well as helpful.  It's more than just a list of hotels, restaurants and places to see; there's actually backstory on the history of the places and people of the islands.  Another useful series of guides is Hawaii Revealed, which may also be known as the blue books about Hawaii.  They cover out of the way places and give honest opinions, even if they're negative.  I found the writing style to be kind of annoying, but even skimming it revealed great information.

Pearl Harbor is this far away from Portland.

Crew's Library on the USS Missouri

Where did we go once we got there?  Well, we started on Waikiki Beach, which was everything I heard it would be.  Ahem.  I am very glad we were there in the off-season, and we left just about exactly when we were ready to.  My postcard from Oahu?  It features the crew library on the USS Missouri.  Unfortunately while we were visiting Pearl Harbor, a movie was being filmed on "The Mighty Mo", and we didn't get access to everything visitors usually do.  Boo on them.  I forgave them, however, because I got to see  the library and the pie kitchen.  (Can you imagine a whole kitchen with a battery of ovens just for pies?  AWESOME!)

Representing Grass Roots at Volcanoes National Park.

Next we hopped over to the Big Island for two nights in Hilo, two nights north of Kona, and a stop at Volcanoes National Park and South Point in between.  The volcano was pretty awesome, but all we saw was steam.  And at night?  We saw colored steam.  Well, boo on the lava, but I enjoyed it anyway.  And it turns out Mark Twain visited the volcano as well.  I decided I need to bond with my literary brethren and had my picture taken where he was.  (Look where Grass Roots has been!)  South Point was pretty cool; it's the southern most point in the United States. 

Book.  And Maui beach.

We had to finish up our visit to Hawaii on Maui.  I love Maui.  I love laying by the pool and having people bring my drinks.  I also enjoy laying in a lounge chair on the beach reading a book.  Sigh...  My postcard from Maui features a page of my favorite reading material on my vacation, The Group by Mary McCarthy.  It was fantastic and scandalous.  I admit, I sometimes struggled to keep track of all the characters, but I was interested in their lives.  Oh, I did enjoy it.

Now I am settled in back at home, working my way through different books and getting back into my routine at the bookstore.  It is nice to be home in Corvallis, but it's always nice to dream of exciting new places to go.  For now, I think I'll hold onto my memories from Hawaii.

Aloha, friends!
Pamela.

October Events at Grass Roots!

October is shaping up to a great month at Grass Roots.  I'm super excited because cooking and children's picture book titles are starting to arrive for the holiday shopping season.  Woo hoo!  October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so be aware of it!


Reading Group
There are some awesome events coming up this month, in and out of the store, as well.  Important to note first is that the book group meeting date has changed this month.  Please join our discussion of The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon on Tuesday, Oct.12 (moved from Oct. 5) at Grass Roots, 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Lecture and Book Signing
On Tuesday, Oct. 5, Grass Roots will be selling books at the Marcus Borg lecture, entitled "Christian and American: Then and Now", at the First Presbyterian Church in Corvallis.  The event is part of the celebration for the opening of the church's new John and Nancy Dennis Conference Center and Fellowship Hall, and proceeds from book sales will go to the building fund.  The event is free and open to the public, and begins at 7 p.m.

Author Signings and Discussions
The third weekend in October will be a busy at Grass Roots, as we will be hosting two author events.

On Saturday, Oct. 16, we are hosting Debra Daniels-Zeller, the author of The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook at 3 p.m. Even if you're not a vegetarian, Debra has some great recipes for using our local, seasonal produce.  After stopping by the farmer's market that day, get some lunch downtown, then come by Grass Roots for ideas on what to do with your purchases!

On Sunday, Oct. 17, Penelope Scambly Schott will be at Grass Roots, reading from and discussing her new book of poetry Crow Mercies.  The book is published locally by Calyx Press.  The event starts at 3 p.m.

Also, don't forget to check out our calendar at the bottom of the blog--it includes all of our store events, as well as local events we are a ticket outlet for.  As always, you can stay abreast of what's going on at Grass Roots by receiving our weekly online newsletter, The Grass Roots Reader, following us on Facebook, and of course checking in with us here.  And never hesitate to stop by and say hello!

See you at the bookstore--soon, I hope!
Pamela.

Book Brahmin Plus: Nancy Pearl

I realize it's been a while since we posted on our sweet little blog, so I'm jumping in with a cheater today. I just read this entertaining interview with Nancy Pearl, and wanted to share it with my friends.

By the way, I love reading interviews like this, because I like to decide if the authors are being pompous or genuine. I think Nancy Pearl sounds lovely.

I also think about how I will answer the questions when I'm a bestselling author.

Enjoy!

Book Brahmin Plus: Nancy Pearl

See you at the bookstore, Nancy Pearl in hand!
Pamela.

It'll always be books for me!

I am experiencing technical difficulties.  Actually, I had numerous problems all of last week, resulting in my inability to access our Facebook fan page, my inability to update our staff reviews on our website, my inability to watch Project Runway off the Tivo on Sunday night, and a particularly bizarre dream last night where I woke up mumbling something about some social media application that I couldn't think of the name of, although I was SURE it existed...  Thankfully I went back to sleep after that last one.  At any rate, it was a rough week between me and technology.

I keep these things in mind as I continue to see headlines regarding the increased market share of e-books in the literary world.  I try to keep these things in mind when I see commercials for the iPad.  (I don't NEED an iPad, but gosh I sure do like their advertising...)  I am confident that there will always be people like me: In the September issue of Wired magazine, of all places, a reader wrote in and confessed to killing a scorpion by slamming a book down on top of it.  Would you like to attempt that with your e-reader?  Take that, Kindle.

I am not afraid of technology.  I'm addicted to Facebook (stupid Bejweled Blitz...), and clearly even I can write up a blog.  It's not fear that drives me to hold onto my books.  It's an undeniable desire to hold that book in my hand, to feel the pages. And I don't think I need to tell you about the smell of books.  Admit--y'all know what I'm talking about.

So if ever you can't find me, just look for the girl with her nose in a book, her glasses halfway down her nose as she absorbs as many of those words as she can....

See you at the bookstore!
Pamela.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

This weekend I was inspired by Christopher McDougall's "Born to Run"" and made up a lovely display of running books, and thought I would, creatively, make an accompanying sign encouraging customers to "run amok." I then thought, hmmm, my recollection of the use of "amok" is the movie Hocus Pocus from the late '90s.  And I decided to make sure "amok" meant what I thought it meant.  It didn't.

Rather than encouraging customers to run about freely and without care, perhaps with a little wildness, I was actually inciting a murderous rampage.  Because that's what amok means, according to multiple dictionaries:  "in a frenzy to do violence or kill" (The American Heritage Dictionary).  Its secondary definition ("in a jumbled or confused state") is not much better. 

Now my lovely and very creative sign encourages customers to "run wild." 

Is there a word whose meaning has taken you totally off guard?  (It happens more than I like to admit.) 

Happy Reading,

--Mica

p.s. Bonus points if you can name the quote in the title!

Our B-Day Boy, Charles Bukowski, and His Words of Insight

Today is the birthday of the man who said:
"The nine-to-five is one of the greatest atrocities sprung upon mankind. You give your life away to a function that doesn't interest you. This situation so repelled me that I was driven to drink, starvation, and mad females, simply as an alternative."

A happy day to the "laureate of lowlife," Charles Bukowski (1920-1994)!

Follow the link to read his poem two nights before my 72nd birthday.

--Mica

Book Brahmin: Mary Robinette Kowal

Great interview with a local-ish author! Mary Robinette Kowal is a a Portland writer/puppeteer/voice actor (as well the VP of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) , and her list of current reads and favorite books looks very enticing. Is it bad that I want to be her when I grow up?

Book Brahmin: Mary Robinette Kowal

Happy reading!

~Mica

Bookselling is harder than you think

View from behind the counter at Grass Roots.

I know many people who fantasize about working in a bookstore.  They dream of sitting behind a counter, reading books all day while they occasionally smile at a customer.  I hate to burst your bubble, but it is actually a lot of work if you're doing it right.  I have been working in bookstores for about 12 years now, and I am still exhausted at the end of the day.  There is still always something to learn.  There are still books being published that I want to read.

What does it take to be a bookseller, you ask?  It is far more than a love of reading.  Liking people helps, or at least the ability to act like you like people when you're having a bad day.  So important.  Enthusiasm and good cheer helps, too.

As for the job description, I stumbled upon this quote on the Huffington Post blog today, in an article by Anis Shiva highlighting Twig Book Shop in San Antonio, TX, in which he interviewed bookstore manager Claudia Maceo Sharp:

When I first began to work at Viva and found the tasks to be so complicated, my colleagues would chide me, albeit lovingly, by saying, "And you thought we were just a bookstore." It is a fantasy to think that you can sit behind a counter and read until a customer comes up to pay for a book. Bookselling requires physical and mental stamina. Ordering books requires poring over catalogs with publishing representatives, vendors, and authors. These days a bookseller must have a comfort level with various computer programs from point of sale programs to search engines and publication designs. Boxes of books come daily that must be unboxed, received, and shelved. Organizational skills go beyond alphabetizing. Marketing books once they are in takes retail and design sense. Shelves must be culled of books that are not selling and returned to the publishers or authors. And there is always dusting and sweeping to be done. Oh yeah, and then read, read, read. I used to feel like all I had time to read was the back of a book. After a year as manager that has improved somewhat.

The glamorous life!

I have found booksellers to share a common ideal about the world. We care deeply about our communities, about the power of the written word throughout the centuries, the importance of sharing the stories of our human condition. We are finding and even creating new ways to connect with each other, between various organizations and businesses, in partnerships and special projects.

We are a great community here, and after all of that, we do need to put our feet up at the end of the day.

See you at the bookstore--
Pamela.

Buried by berries

I am SO tired of picking blueberries.

We have four bushes in our backyard, and plenty of scrub jays patrolling the perimeters.  I am fond of blueberries, especially when they are fresh picked and still warm and juicy from their days in the sun.  They are wonderful eaten straight up, or tossed into pancakes, or sunk into homemade muffins.  I am quite amazed, however, how much four bushes can actually produce.  I have probably...I don't know...12 cups of blueberries in my freezer?  I'm just sick of pickin' 'em, and no one else is volunteering to come over.  (Although my brother and nephew are visiting from Illinois this weekend and may view the fruit picking as a novelty.  They live in the suburbs and do not garden.)

My berry stash in the freezer may not seem like much to dyed-in-the-wool home preservists, but it's a lot for me.  There are also raspberries and a growing supply of cut strawberries in there.

Not that I'm complaining!  I'm really gardening and harvesting for the first time in my life, and I'm looking for ways to manage the bounty within my time constraints and resources.  Fortunately, there is a ready supply of resources at Grass Roots to help me out, and I don't just mean my coworkers.

I like my cookbooks to be not just useful, but pretty as well (such an impractical girl...) and we have three new titles that fit the bill.

Paperback, $19.95

I have been eying Put 'em Up!: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook, from Drying and Freezing to Canning and Pickling by Sherri Brooks Vinton for a couple of weeks now.  Right there on the front cover is a precious little jar of frozen blueberries.  Well, I can do THAT; what else ya got?  (Isn't that a great way to get you to pick up a cookbook?  Taunting?)  I did pick it up, and it looks so useful and pleasant and domestic and doable.  It is divided into two major sections, "Techniques" and "Recipes."  Best of all for someone like me who's standing there going what do I do with all this stuff, the recipes are divided by primary ingredient.  My blueberry problem?  Right here under "Berries."  The pending tomato avalanche?  Covered conveniently under "Tomatoes."  There is good stuff in here.  It's well organized, and even I can manage some of these things on a day off or two.

Hardcover, $22.00

Also on the shelf, I noticed an unassuming and under-sized blue spine, about an inch thick.  I pulled it out, and there on the cover of The River Cottage Preserves Handbook, by Pam Corbin, was something that at least looked like a jar of blueberries with lemonade being poured into it.  On closer inspection, those are probably something else, but it still made me pick up the book.  The book is elegant and pretty and very British.  It is also a hardcover, and, because it is small and difficult to open, I'm frankly afraid to crack it open and give it a good perusal.  It does not look so basic as Put 'em Up, but it does look more challenging.  I think it would make an excellent gift for your favorite bookseller.  Or me.

Paperback, $24.95

Finally, one last book with alluring edibles in glass jars on the cover(doesn't food just look better in jars? unless it's baby food?) arrived just today.  Canning For a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry by Liana Krissof is fresh on the shelf.  This book is also full of delicious-sounding recipes, this one divided by season.  What I like best about this book is that it gives you recipes for the recipes.  Gosh, that sounds complicated, but if you go through the trouble of making homemade pickles or preserves, you may just get tired of eating pickles with your hot dog, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Here are your options.

Well, there we go.  I've made myself hungry again.  It's probably a good thing I work in a bookstore and not a restaurant.  This way I am just overstuffed with books.

See you at the bookstore!

Pamela