Have to tell you about the coolest travel thing for animals: TrustedHouseSitters.com. It's awesome for anyone who loves travel and their animals. My husband and I are doing a house sit on St. Simons Island in Sept. so I've been thinking of you (is your parents' house still there?).
It's cool to think about the connection between writing and walking. Walking can be a metaphor for the writing process, I suppose, in whatever genre. When you leave your front door to go on a walk, you have somewhere in mind that you need to get to, but you have options on how to get there -- you can take a lot of turns, detours, pauses, looks along the way. Isn't it the same with writing? I suppose that's why I'm commenting here: the note to Leo about walkabout, a story within a story, a ramble here, and maybe a new walk/story emerges. Thanks!
Oh my goodness, Tommy, do I have the book for you.
Doug Dorst (and to a lesser extent, JJ Abrams) wrote a book called S. It is a really unique novel that when opened, you find a novel to read, yet in the margins are handwritten notes, scribbled back and forth from two people who have read the book before. It also contains different clues and codes passed back and forth as they try to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the author years before. Truly hard to describe, but easy to recommend. A challenging read, but a rewarding one.
I love finding things in books and imagining the life of the person who left it there. My husband took a nude picture of me on our honeymoon at a nude beach 32 years ago. I was horrified when I picked that picture up at the photo developing desk when we got back from our honeymoon. I was even more horrified when I realized several years later that I hid that photo in a book …. A book that I sold at a garage sale…..uggghhhh
You might enjoy Nick Bantock’s Griffin and Sabine Trilogy. It’s described as an “epistolary novel” made up of various notes, photos, and postcards that the reader can remove and unfold to discover the connected narrative.
Your reference to notes found in old books reminded me of the Griffin and Sabine books. They are glances at the same idea, only the four books on that series are filled with letters and notes made to order for the storytelling by Nick Bantock.
A few years ago, I was browsing through the books in Goodwill when I found a little gift-type book called "Cat Angels." I had no intention of buying it because I have more than enough cat books. (In fact, I'm trying to cull some cat books.) But I opened it, and on the first page was written, "We lost our fuzzy angel Bugger Bear on Dec. 17, 1995." And just below it, still tucked in the book, was a Polaroid photo of a big handsome tuxedo cat, who I assume was Bugger Bear. I knew the moment I saw the note and photo that the book would be coming home with me. I was not going to leave Bugger Bear behind.
My contribution has not to do with what I've found in books (although here are many serendipitous delights from my obsession with chaotic used bookstores) but with what I myself have slipped into a book for someone to find later. Perhaps it will be my daughter when I'm gone. Or maybe the book will end up at Powell's (I live in Portland). I have an early edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. Inside it I have tucked a note of appreciation, written to me and signed, by Harper Lee. How this happened is probably a story for my own Substack, soon to launch. But a tasty tidbit for you and your readers, Tommy. I feel some kinship with your voice.
Tommy,
Have to tell you about the coolest travel thing for animals: TrustedHouseSitters.com. It's awesome for anyone who loves travel and their animals. My husband and I are doing a house sit on St. Simons Island in Sept. so I've been thinking of you (is your parents' house still there?).
Have a wonderful trip!
Wendy
It's cool to think about the connection between writing and walking. Walking can be a metaphor for the writing process, I suppose, in whatever genre. When you leave your front door to go on a walk, you have somewhere in mind that you need to get to, but you have options on how to get there -- you can take a lot of turns, detours, pauses, looks along the way. Isn't it the same with writing? I suppose that's why I'm commenting here: the note to Leo about walkabout, a story within a story, a ramble here, and maybe a new walk/story emerges. Thanks!
What about just a slip of paper with a phone number. Would you call just to hear who answered? And then the story begins…
Oh my goodness, Tommy, do I have the book for you.
Doug Dorst (and to a lesser extent, JJ Abrams) wrote a book called S. It is a really unique novel that when opened, you find a novel to read, yet in the margins are handwritten notes, scribbled back and forth from two people who have read the book before. It also contains different clues and codes passed back and forth as they try to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the author years before. Truly hard to describe, but easy to recommend. A challenging read, but a rewarding one.
Not sure you can post links on here but if so, here's a brief interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzrhTNlW9Kw&ab_channel=CBSMornings
I wish they focused less on Abrams resume and more on this novel, but I think it tells a bit of the background.
I love finding things in books and imagining the life of the person who left it there. My husband took a nude picture of me on our honeymoon at a nude beach 32 years ago. I was horrified when I picked that picture up at the photo developing desk when we got back from our honeymoon. I was even more horrified when I realized several years later that I hid that photo in a book …. A book that I sold at a garage sale…..uggghhhh
You might enjoy Nick Bantock’s Griffin and Sabine Trilogy. It’s described as an “epistolary novel” made up of various notes, photos, and postcards that the reader can remove and unfold to discover the connected narrative.
Your reference to notes found in old books reminded me of the Griffin and Sabine books. They are glances at the same idea, only the four books on that series are filled with letters and notes made to order for the storytelling by Nick Bantock.
A few years ago, I was browsing through the books in Goodwill when I found a little gift-type book called "Cat Angels." I had no intention of buying it because I have more than enough cat books. (In fact, I'm trying to cull some cat books.) But I opened it, and on the first page was written, "We lost our fuzzy angel Bugger Bear on Dec. 17, 1995." And just below it, still tucked in the book, was a Polaroid photo of a big handsome tuxedo cat, who I assume was Bugger Bear. I knew the moment I saw the note and photo that the book would be coming home with me. I was not going to leave Bugger Bear behind.
My contribution has not to do with what I've found in books (although here are many serendipitous delights from my obsession with chaotic used bookstores) but with what I myself have slipped into a book for someone to find later. Perhaps it will be my daughter when I'm gone. Or maybe the book will end up at Powell's (I live in Portland). I have an early edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. Inside it I have tucked a note of appreciation, written to me and signed, by Harper Lee. How this happened is probably a story for my own Substack, soon to launch. But a tasty tidbit for you and your readers, Tommy. I feel some kinship with your voice.