Friday, September 01, 2006

Books on the mantle in September



The shades of fall--fall back east, that is, or up in the mountains--are back on the mantle. Here in the O.C., a few blocks from the beach, yards and trees glow green. If you want to see evidence of fall, you look to the hills. The South gets hurricanes; Southern California is headed into fire season.

It's Friday afternoon. Travis is at the beach with a friend and his mom. Brian's out doing errands. I just worked on Starletta's Kitchen using the timer; the timer works over and over again, no matter how long you've been writing. Once you set it you just can't turn it off. You've got to write till it goes off on its own.

I bought a paper shredder today. TC Boyle's novel (Talk Talk) and his words on my show--"I shred, and then I burn"--are fresh in my mind. It shreds credit cards, staples, paper. Cross-cut shreds.

Travis is shredding his workbooks from the 6th grade, now that he's veering into 7th.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That has to be the most clever method for showing off what a person is reading I've yet seen.

Deborah said...

ahhhh, so many books - so little time. I sometimes do the manic thing - a total sensory immersion. I get my favorite knitting project, a book on tape and some great music going on in the background; delicious wine, some cheese, a particularly textured cracker; I light a candle and rub my favorite hand cream on before I start...

Nicholas Borelli said...

Shredding is good. It keeps the garbage pickers looking for idenitities to steal at bay. I've been shredding for a long time--Paranoia!

However, never, never, ever shred those manuscript drafts. When you become a doubly famous author, they'll be worth a fortune at a Sotheby's auction.

Best

Nick

Endment said...

What a lovely assortment of books - I am inspired - I will go read many of them - thanks for the inspiration