"Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house."  ~Henry Ward Beecher

I do love me some garage sales.

Today, while driving to the library, I had to take a detour as my usual street was closed off due to the Whiskey Row Off-road Mountain Bike Race. Since I used to drive all over town, delivering medication, I know a lot of shortcuts and side streets that will get me where I want to go. This particular shortcut took me around the back of the Arizona Pioneers' Home, where I realized they were having a rummage sale. I almost drove on past, but saw out of the corner of my eye several tables lined with books, which immediately pulled me up short. The siren call of the cheap printed page is impossible to deny.

When I went up there, I was handed a medium-sized paper bag and told I could fill it up for only a dollar, which I gleefully proceeded to do.

Today's haul:

The Living Bible--Reference Edition. Before this, I had one of those huge, bulky PTL Parallel Editions (Living Bible and King James) which will go immediately into my library donation box.

The Man Who Listens To Horses, Monty Roberts. I seem to remember reading something years ago about some things in this book not being true. A quick Google-fu turned this up. It's a good reminder that nothing ever dies on the Internet.

Twilight, Stephenie Meyer. Yes, I know. But I figure at a cost of approximately ten cents for the trade paperback, I can afford to throw the thing against the wall and stomp it into the floor if I feel like it. Or maybe chapter-blog it if it's especially hilarious. 

CDs: I've Got a Right To Cry, Mandy Barnett. Old-fashioned, twangy, stringy, Patsy Cline-style country. 

Natural Dreams: Amazon Odyssey. It's supposed to be Latin New Age music, but it didn't sound particularly Latino to me. Either way, they still got ripped straight into the computer. I suppose I'm hopelessly old-fashioned in that I insist on keeping the (horrors!) actual physical compact discs, instead of relying on the magical pixels. (I still have a few cassettes, too. Anybody remember those?)

Plus several Westerns, including two Louis L'Amour paperbacks, for my mother. 

Next, I went down to the Big Box Retailer Who Dare Not Speak Its Name, where I found some YA books I've been looking at online for a while. I'm a sucker for dystopian/post-apocalyptic stories, and there seem to be a lot of these in the young-adult genre recently. I picked up Veronica Roth's Divergent, Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules and Dan Wells' Partials, which proceeded to blow my book budget for the month to tiny Times New Roman bits.

No matter. Books are my indulgence, my pleasure, my passion, unapologetically so. This is why I keep up my listing on Library Thing--if the house ever burns down, I can and will replace them.  
"Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house."  ~Henry Ward Beecher

I do love me some garage sales.

Today, while driving to the library, I had to take a detour as my usual street was closed off due to the Whiskey Row Off-road Mountain Bike Race. Since I used to drive all over town, delivering medication, I know a lot of shortcuts and side streets that will get me where I want to go. This particular shortcut took me around the back of the Arizona Pioneers' Home, where I realized they were having a rummage sale. I almost drove on past, but saw out of the corner of my eye several tables lined with books, which immediately pulled me up short. The siren call of the cheap printed page is impossible to deny.

When I went up there, I was handed a medium-sized paper bag and told I could fill it up for only a dollar, which I gleefully proceeded to do.

Today's haul:

The Living Bible--Reference Edition. Before this, I had one of those huge, bulky PTL Parallel Editions (Living Bible and King James) which will go immediately into my library donation box.

The Man Who Listens To Horses, Monty Roberts. I seem to remember reading something years ago about some things in this book not being true. A quick Google-fu turned this up. It's a good reminder that nothing ever dies on the Internet.

Twilight, Stephenie Meyer. Yes, I know. But I figure at a cost of approximately ten cents for the trade paperback, I can afford to throw the thing against the wall and stomp it into the floor if I feel like it. Or maybe chapter-blog it if it's especially hilarious. 

CDs: I've Got a Right To Cry, Mandy Barnett. Old-fashioned, twangy, stringy, Patsy Cline-style country. 

Natural Dreams: Amazon Odyssey. It's supposed to be Latin New Age music, but it didn't sound particularly Latino to me. Either way, they still got ripped straight into the computer. I suppose I'm hopelessly old-fashioned in that I insist on keeping the (horrors!) actual physical compact discs, instead of relying on the magical pixels. (I still have a few cassettes, too. Anybody remember those?)

Plus several Westerns, including two Louis L'Amour paperbacks, for my mother. 

Next, I went down to the Big Box Retailer Who Dare Not Speak Its Name, where I found some YA books I've been looking at online for a while. I'm a sucker for dystopian/post-apocalyptic stories, and there seem to be a lot of these in the young-adult genre recently. I picked up Veronica Roth's Divergent, Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules and Dan Wells' Partials, which proceeded to blow my book budget for the month to tiny Times New Roman bits.

No matter. Books are my indulgence, my pleasure, my passion, unapologetically so. This is why I keep up my listing on Library Thing--if the house ever burns down, I can and will replace them.  
Here's a lovely quote from Charles Dickens.

Making books ... is very much like building houses; and the author is a more or less happy combination of architect and carpenter. A house, when it is properly put together, is a harmonious union of foundation, frame, clap-boards, doors, window, and shingles: and when one comes to think it over, a properly made book is about the same thing. Anybody can collect all these units--these bits of material--but everybody cannot put them together in the right way.

Or put them together at all, for that matter. 

I never thought I was a juggler--or a homebuilder--or a worker of puzzles. (Actually, I used to work puzzles, but I don't think I'd have the patience now.) But when you're a writer, you're all of those things and more. 

Architect. Carpenter. Hammer-slammer. Puzzle-builder.

Writer. 
Here's a lovely quote from Charles Dickens.

Making books ... is very much like building houses; and the author is a more or less happy combination of architect and carpenter. A house, when it is properly put together, is a harmonious union of foundation, frame, clap-boards, doors, window, and shingles: and when one comes to think it over, a properly made book is about the same thing. Anybody can collect all these units--these bits of material--but everybody cannot put them together in the right way.

Or put them together at all, for that matter. 

I never thought I was a juggler--or a homebuilder--or a worker of puzzles. (Actually, I used to work puzzles, but I don't think I'd have the patience now.) But when you're a writer, you're all of those things and more. 

Architect. Carpenter. Hammer-slammer. Puzzle-builder.

Writer. 
This article from Slate is really interesting. It goes into the mechanics of how the brain produces words and sentences, and how it gets into the famous writerly "flow." I also learned why I couldn't help but be a writer (besides the fact that I read so much, and always have). 

Kellogg is always careful to emphasize the extreme cognitive demands of writing, which is very flattering. "Serious writing is at once a thinking task, a language task, and a memory task," he declares. It requires the same kind of mental effort as a high-level chess match or an expert musical performance. 

Now, as it happens, I love chess, and also bridge--two cognitively-demanding games, for sure. (And also Scrabble, I suppose, to a lesser extent.) I also used to play the violin in junior high. 

I wonder if other writers have this same combination of hobbies. 

This article from Slate is really interesting. It goes into the mechanics of how the brain produces words and sentences, and how it gets into the famous writerly "flow." I also learned why I couldn't help but be a writer (besides the fact that I read so much, and always have). 

Kellogg is always careful to emphasize the extreme cognitive demands of writing, which is very flattering. "Serious writing is at once a thinking task, a language task, and a memory task," he declares. It requires the same kind of mental effort as a high-level chess match or an expert musical performance. 

Now, as it happens, I love chess, and also bridge--two cognitively-demanding games, for sure. (And also Scrabble, I suppose, to a lesser extent.) I also used to play the violin in junior high. 

I wonder if other writers have this same combination of hobbies. 

 My story in May's Redstone Science Fiction, Ask Not, has gotten a (brief) review in Locus Online

(jumps up and down)

Actually I didn't. But my heart thumped as hard as if I had. 

I'm sure this is no big deal for some. But I hope I never get jaded about stuff like this. It's exciting, folks. 
 My story in May's Redstone Science Fiction, Ask Not, has gotten a (brief) review in Locus Online

(jumps up and down)

Actually I didn't. But my heart thumped as hard as if I had. 

I'm sure this is no big deal for some. But I hope I never get jaded about stuff like this. It's exciting, folks. 
 I'm holding in my happy little hands the Spring issue of "Tales of the Talisman." Have a look-see over here. Trust me, even the big thumbnail doesn't do it justice--this cover is gorgeous. 

Of course, my hands and the rest of me are happy because of what you'll see when you page down. Fourth bullet point from the end: "Remember, story by Bonnie McDaniel."

The interior illustration, by Erika McGinnis, is also fantastic. It takes your breath away to look at a depiction in pen and ink of the fragile ruminations inside your own head. I pictured the story taking place as I wrote it, of course, as writers do. I had my collection of mental snapshots. Naturally, the artist's drawing is her own interpretation of what I wrote, but it came very near to what I imagined, and I love it. 

There's twenty-five stories and poems in this issue, and at $8.00 it's well worth your time. Just add an extra squee for me. :-))
 I'm holding in my happy little hands the Spring issue of "Tales of the Talisman." Have a look-see over here. Trust me, even the big thumbnail doesn't do it justice--this cover is gorgeous. 

Of course, my hands and the rest of me are happy because of what you'll see when you page down. Fourth bullet point from the end: "Remember, story by Bonnie McDaniel."

The interior illustration, by Erika McGinnis, is also fantastic. It takes your breath away to look at a depiction in pen and ink of the fragile ruminations inside your own head. I pictured the story taking place as I wrote it, of course, as writers do. I had my collection of mental snapshots. Naturally, the artist's drawing is her own interpretation of what I wrote, but it came very near to what I imagined, and I love it. 

There's twenty-five stories and poems in this issue, and at $8.00 it's well worth your time. Just add an extra squee for me. :-))
I know my news is obviously overshadowed by Osama bin Laden's comeuppance, but this is just as important to little ole me. 

My story "Ask Not" appears in May's edition of Redstone Science Fiction, just posted here. This is, I believe, my first professional sale (at least it's the one with the biggest paycheck by far) although I have had several stories appear in smaller magazines. It's been a pleasure working with Michael, Paul, Cassondra and the crew. Swing by and give them your support, and tell me what you think.
I know my news is obviously overshadowed by Osama bin Laden's comeuppance, but this is just as important to little ole me. 

My story "Ask Not" appears in May's edition of Redstone Science Fiction, just posted here. This is, I believe, my first professional sale (at least it's the one with the biggest paycheck by far) although I have had several stories appear in smaller magazines. It's been a pleasure working with Michael, Paul, Cassondra and the crew. Swing by and give them your support, and tell me what you think.
I've completely redone my profile, adding a lot of new information. This includes a selection of feminist books from my library. I also redid the keywords and comment lines on my userpics, which I just realized blanked many of the userpics out of individual entries because the keywords had changed. Oh well.

Finally, I changed the journal's title, although I don't think that matters all that much because most people don't pay much attention to it anyway. I thought about changing my username, but since this costs fifteen dollars I'm not prepared to go that far just yet. In any case, the current username (along with the new title) is accurate--I am a sproggenfree red headed femme. <wink>

Somebody ought to make a song out of that. Bruce Springsteen? Are you listening?
I've completely redone my profile, adding a lot of new information. This includes a selection of feminist books from my library. I also redid the keywords and comment lines on my userpics, which I just realized blanked many of the userpics out of individual entries because the keywords had changed. Oh well.

Finally, I changed the journal's title, although I don't think that matters all that much because most people don't pay much attention to it anyway. I thought about changing my username, but since this costs fifteen dollars I'm not prepared to go that far just yet. In any case, the current username (along with the new title) is accurate--I am a sproggenfree red headed femme. <wink>

Somebody ought to make a song out of that. Bruce Springsteen? Are you listening?

Birthday Girl

Feb. 27th, 2007 09:08 pm
redheadedfemme: (beauty--from <lj user="icon goddess">)
Your Birthdate: July 7

You are an island. You don't need anyone else to make you happy.

And though you see yourself as a loner, people are drawn to you.

Deep and sensitive, you tend to impress others with your insights.

You also tend to be psychic - so listen to that inner voice!

Your strength: Your self sufficiency

Your weakness: You despise authority

Your power color: Maroon

Your power symbol: Hammer

Your power month: July


It's a tad early, but this isn't too far off.

I never heard self-sufficiency compared to being an "island" before, but the similarity is there. That's one thing I wish all little girls would be taught from day one. When satisfaction comes from within, you don't have to depend on anyone else (especially a man) to provide it.

I dunno about "despising" authority, either--I think it's more that I don't pay that much attention to it (except for looking around when I'm speeding so I won't get caught).

All in all, not too bad.

Birthday Girl

Feb. 27th, 2007 09:08 pm
redheadedfemme: (beauty--from <lj user="icon goddess">)
Your Birthdate: July 7

You are an island. You don't need anyone else to make you happy.

And though you see yourself as a loner, people are drawn to you.

Deep and sensitive, you tend to impress others with your insights.

You also tend to be psychic - so listen to that inner voice!

Your strength: Your self sufficiency

Your weakness: You despise authority

Your power color: Maroon

Your power symbol: Hammer

Your power month: July


It's a tad early, but this isn't too far off.

I never heard self-sufficiency compared to being an "island" before, but the similarity is there. That's one thing I wish all little girls would be taught from day one. When satisfaction comes from within, you don't have to depend on anyone else (especially a man) to provide it.

I dunno about "despising" authority, either--I think it's more that I don't pay that much attention to it (except for looking around when I'm speeding so I won't get caught).

All in all, not too bad.

November 2020

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Words To Live By

There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away. ~Emily Dickinson

Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins. ~Neil Gaiman

Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in. ~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The road to hell is paved with adverbs. ~Stephen King

The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read. ~Mark Twain

I feel free and strong. If I were not a reader of books I could not feel this way. ~Walter Tevis

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. ~George R.R. Martin

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