Clean and Tidy

I cleaned the library today. Filing, discarding, cleaning, re-stacking: all of it.

I've been working in a sty and I think it carried over to my energy and effort.

I've been feeling punky - thus the absence of entries here - but have managed to keep going otherwise. This blog tends to be the last thing I do in the evening before reading for pure pleasure. When I'm pressed, something gives.

I've written a little for fun today as I bumbled about the house. There's a little invitation over on Scribophile for a piece on Christmas and of course, how can I resist Noir?


It is so easy to cast the North Pole as Detroit at the depth of bankruptcy. I believe Detroit is on the way back (helps that property is cheap) with a new renaissance.

I might well share the bit tomorrow if I get it proofed and do another draft on the opening couple of paragraphs to move the hook a bit forward in the tale.

I need additional bookshelves quite badly. Is there ever a writer who cannot confess to the same? Am I alone in the wholesale piles which just collect?

Yes, I have a Nook and a Kindle. Yes, I still by books in hardback, trade, paperback, new and - gasp - used. I buy non-fiction used that are usually out of print. Good volumes on the Soviets are not the current vogue but they interest me.

I have on my desk now: The Complete Pelican Shakespeare, Notes from the Underground, and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont.

I feel more alive when writing than at any other time of the day. I thought I was crazy; but, if I am, it is the same brand bought by Anne and tens of thousands of other writers.

I'm hoping the clean desk, clean library will help make the writing a little cleaner, too.

I hope your writing area is clear, neat, tidy, and efficient - just like your writing.

My birthday present from my lovely wife included two wonderful crow bookends. Pictures below.