Every time I explore a new town or city, I like to check out the library. We all need to support and use our local libraries. I, too, as a child found refuge in the many books I read in the a library in a small town in west Texas. Every week we took a trip to town, and I would read there while Mother went to the laundromat. I felt especially rich when I left for home win another armload of precious unread books!
Thanks for your comment Joyce. Similar to me. I'd go to the local library and read/exchange my books and spend an hour or so there every day until my mum got home from her part-time job. The librarians never said a word about it - they encouraged me, and even showed me how their little card reference system worked. It was a very special place. :)
I absolutely loved this. The way books and stories become part of who we are is something I feel deeply too. A library isn’t just shelves - it’s a whole world, and I love how you captured that here.
Thank you, Julie - I appreciate that. That particular library was such a big part of my childhood and teenage student years...I'm glad I found a way to write it into a story and it went out there in print for others to read. I'll be compiling my stories here in Substack in future, once I work out where they all stand regarding beyond the first publishing rights etc.
What a beautiful story of library love, which I also have. I have written somewhere on my internet haunts about where this love comes from. Going to dig it out and maybe share as part of a post at some point inspired by you! What an amazing idea you had there for the Library story and what an amazing apartment you imagined in place of any real possibility for you to live there. Lovely advice to write from "the heart, from a place of joy or longing or both". Thank you and congratulations for your happy news - another "baby" ready to fly! Your podcast was very comforting to listen to also, your voice is so rhythmic and soft. I prefer to read so didn't listen to the whole thing, it tempted me in however.
Thank you for your kind comment. Aren't libraries special?! I'm so pleased you feel inspired to share your library story (please do!!). Re my voice - thanks for saying so...I'm recovering from a cold, so I am a bit "husky" ha ha , and I also worry that people may not understand my accent - but I guess we are allowed to be individuals here...and that's what I'm aiming for. Thanks again and look forward to reading your story too!
To write from the heart is sage advice. My most successful stories have been the ones that made me laugh out loud while I was writing them. Regardless of genre or subject matter, they all felt like an honest representation of who I am.
Yes, Vicky! Me too. My earliest acceptances were stories where I reached the end with a satisfied smile, or a chuckle, or a tear - stories that I knew someone like my reader (at that time, my mum) would be satisfied with. Those emotions are universal and when you tap into them, the reader feels it when they read. Well done, you, on recognising what works with your stories x
I would add - not just my earliest stories lol, but I was able to recognise this early-days with my acceptances, so that I kept that aim in mind as I continued, so my writing would be triggered from this place of...feeling.
Love your story, I miss the library I used to visit as a child, no idea what it's like now, but I am busy stocking up books so someday I can have my own library! ❤️🌻
Every time I explore a new town or city, I like to check out the library. We all need to support and use our local libraries. I, too, as a child found refuge in the many books I read in the a library in a small town in west Texas. Every week we took a trip to town, and I would read there while Mother went to the laundromat. I felt especially rich when I left for home win another armload of precious unread books!
Thanks for your comment Joyce. Similar to me. I'd go to the local library and read/exchange my books and spend an hour or so there every day until my mum got home from her part-time job. The librarians never said a word about it - they encouraged me, and even showed me how their little card reference system worked. It was a very special place. :)
I absolutely loved this. The way books and stories become part of who we are is something I feel deeply too. A library isn’t just shelves - it’s a whole world, and I love how you captured that here.
Thank you, Julie - I appreciate that. That particular library was such a big part of my childhood and teenage student years...I'm glad I found a way to write it into a story and it went out there in print for others to read. I'll be compiling my stories here in Substack in future, once I work out where they all stand regarding beyond the first publishing rights etc.
That sounds so special - I love that you’ve captured it in writing. Looking forward to reading more of your stories when the time is right!
Your voice instantly makes me smile.
Thank you. That is so kind of you to say. I never recorded myself until I came to Substack. 🥰
What a beautiful story of library love, which I also have. I have written somewhere on my internet haunts about where this love comes from. Going to dig it out and maybe share as part of a post at some point inspired by you! What an amazing idea you had there for the Library story and what an amazing apartment you imagined in place of any real possibility for you to live there. Lovely advice to write from "the heart, from a place of joy or longing or both". Thank you and congratulations for your happy news - another "baby" ready to fly! Your podcast was very comforting to listen to also, your voice is so rhythmic and soft. I prefer to read so didn't listen to the whole thing, it tempted me in however.
Thank you for your kind comment. Aren't libraries special?! I'm so pleased you feel inspired to share your library story (please do!!). Re my voice - thanks for saying so...I'm recovering from a cold, so I am a bit "husky" ha ha , and I also worry that people may not understand my accent - but I guess we are allowed to be individuals here...and that's what I'm aiming for. Thanks again and look forward to reading your story too!
Congratulations on your publication success!
Thank you.
To write from the heart is sage advice. My most successful stories have been the ones that made me laugh out loud while I was writing them. Regardless of genre or subject matter, they all felt like an honest representation of who I am.
Yes, Vicky! Me too. My earliest acceptances were stories where I reached the end with a satisfied smile, or a chuckle, or a tear - stories that I knew someone like my reader (at that time, my mum) would be satisfied with. Those emotions are universal and when you tap into them, the reader feels it when they read. Well done, you, on recognising what works with your stories x
I would add - not just my earliest stories lol, but I was able to recognise this early-days with my acceptances, so that I kept that aim in mind as I continued, so my writing would be triggered from this place of...feeling.
Thanks for the restack! I appreciate it! x
Love your story, I miss the library I used to visit as a child, no idea what it's like now, but I am busy stocking up books so someday I can have my own library! ❤️🌻