Library Lovers & Celebrate the Small Things

As it's still Library Lovers Month I thought I would share another library I happen to love. This is the Thompson Library at Ohio State University. I worked there throughout my college career and I loved both my job and the place in equal measure.

I mentioned in my post about the Bexley Library that I like interesting doors and the Thompson doors fit that bill. There are three evenly spaced identical doors at the entrance, behind the statue of Mr. Thompson in the above picture.

Once I walked inside that door though, nothing about the library looked the same as when I worked there. The building was renovated from 2007-2009, and the inside is now unrecognizable to me.

But that doesn't make it a bad thing. The atrium is airy and open, and the floors of books are enclosed in glass.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The first floor houses special collections from the University archives, and I found this fun display of paper dresses from the 1960s. I had no idea that paper dresses were ever popular, but my mom assured me they definitely were, especially the Campbell's Soup style. Bizarre!

The Thompson Library may not be the library I remember, but I love it just the same. I'd like to go back sometime when I have more time to explore.

And now to Celebrate the Small Things! This fun weekly hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge, Tonja Drecker at Kidbits, and Katie at The Cyborg Mom. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

This week I'm celebrating:

1) My new iPhone. I love it!! I loved my old Samsung phone for a long time but it was now close to giving up the ghost and I knew I needed something new. I decided to go with the iPhone and I can see now why they are so popular. I am totally addicted to the phone, which may not be something to celebrate after all. ;)

2) I had a great time at the Sisters In Crime writer's group meeting I mentioned last week. The guest speaker was an author who loved writing about history and ghosts, When I heard that, I knew I was going to enjoy this talk. :D

3) I've been inspired to get back to an old story idea I'd left sitting for over a year and I'm really excited about it. It's historical and includes a ghost! :D

Happy weekend, all!

FABLE RANGER: SUMMONS by A.L. Brown

I'm excited to help spread the word about the latest release from my friend and fellow Untethered Realms member Angela Brown. FABLE RANGER:SUMMONS is now available! This is Angela's debut MIDDLE GRADE title, which makes it all the more exciting. Congratulations, Angela!

About the book: 

Take care of what you wish for. You just might get it.

Twelve-year-old Casey doesn’t think life could get anymore unfair. Plans for her special basketball tournament are tossed aside by her sister’s change in wedding plans. She even has to be a bridesmaid now, with all the lace and silk and - oh the horror! All she wants is an escape, but she never imagined she’d be swept away to a world of Mother Goose rhymes, fairy tales, stories of Arabian Nights, and oh, by the way, all but one fairy godmother is kidnapped.

Casey learns she’s been summoned as the Fable Ranger to lead the search and rescue of the missing wish-makers. She also discovers she isn’t the hero they would accept. In the world of fairy tales, damsels aren't meant to swoop in to save the day.

Now all Casey wants is to go home, a wish easy to grant if the veil between worlds weren’t on lockdown. Taking fate into her own hands, she embarks on an airship flight to find the phoenix tears that can help open her way home. Her journey would’ve gone as smooth as the perfect layup if it weren’t for that pesky bounty the evil Dovetail placed on her head. Casey refuses to fail knowing it would allow the legends of Arabian Nights to disappear forever and leave her trapped in a world unraveling one fairy tale at a time.

Buy link: Amazon

About the author: 

Born and raised in Little Rock, AR, A.L. Brown now calls Central Texas home. She's a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy, and paranormal to contemporary — mostly young adult — fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, her life stays busy. Her favorite quote keeps her moving: “You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

She is the author of the upper young adult paranormal Neverlove and its new adult follow up They All Fall Down of the Shadow Jumpers series, Frailties of the Bond and Atone of the NEO Chronicles: Characters Revealed series, and Beacon, the first action-packed title in the young adult urban fantasy series, Ripped Ties. Her debut MG (middle grade) title is coming soon from Dingbat Publishing: FABLE RANGER: SUMMONS.

You can find her on her blog, Dingbat author page, and Facebook.

Celebrating the Small Things

Here we are at another Friday, which means it's once again time for another Celebrate the Small Things hop. This fun weekly hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge, Tonja Drecker at Kidbits, and Katie at The Cyborg Mom. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

There wasn't much going on here this week, but I'm celebrating that I have a three day weekend ahead. The college where I work is closed today so I am off for three days. Always something to celebrate, right?

I'm also celebrating the return of The Walking Dead! I love this show and was so anxious for it to return for the second half of its 6th season. The premiere episode didn't disappoint! It was shocking and scary and so tense I thought I would have a heart attack more than once. In other words, it was everything I love about TWD. My Sunday nights are once again complete. :D

Finally, I'm celebrating that I'm heading up to Columbus, Ohio tomorrow for a meeting with a writing group I belong to, the regional chapter of Sisters in Crime. I always enjoy these meetings and feel fortunate to belong to such a great group. Plus the weather is supposed to be beautiful so it should be a nice day for a drive. I actually like driving when the weather is nice and I'm not fighting traffic so I'm looking forward to the trip.

I hope everyone had a week filled with lots of things to celebrate, and has a great weekend coming up.

Library Lovers' Month & The Bexley Public Library

February is Library Lovers' Month, which has inspired me to start a blog series celebrating some of the libraries I love. Some of my very earliest memories are of going to the library with my parents and getting to pick out my own books, which nearly always included at least one Beatrix Potter title. I've loved libraries ever since so I figured what better time to celebrate that than during Library Lovers' Month?

The first library I'm spotlighting is the Bexley Public Library. Bexley is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, and a charming little village in its own right. The library definitely adds to that charm.

I have been there twice in the past year for meetings with the Sisters in Crime regional chapter, of which I am a member. Maybe it helps that I've really enjoyed these meetings, but for whatever reason I am totally enchanted with the Bexley library.

I love the building itself, especially the gold door. The library was built in 1929 by architects O.C. Miller and R.R. Reeves, who were influenced by 17th century French and Italian architecture for the design, and I love that the original building is still in use. I love old buildings and the history they bring with them, and it often seems like we are all too quick to tear down and rebuild in this country.

When you first walk into the library, there is a reading room off to your right that is a book lover's dream. I didn't get a picture of it, but found this from the State Library of Ohio site. The room is gorgeous!

Source: State Library of Ohio

The basement holds the brightly colored children's area, and I have no doubt I would have loved exploring these shelves as a kid.

Source: State Library of Ohio

Right outside the library sits this statue. I couldn't make out the inscription on it, but I like it just the same.

To me the Bexley library has the feel of an old-fashioned library in an era when those are becoming increasingly uncommon. Both times I have been there I've felt like I was returning to the libraries of my childhood when I entered the building. That alone is reason to love it.

I hope to share more libraries I love even after Library Lover's Month has ended. Do you have a favorite library?

Celebrating the Small Things

Time really got away from me this week and I couldn't believe it when I realized it was Friday and time for another Celebrate the Small Things hop. This fun weekly hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge, Tonja Drecker at Kidbits, and Katie at The Cyborg Mom. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

I think the main reason the week flew by was because I was busy writing, which is always good. So today I am celebrating that I finished the first and second drafts of the children's story I am writing. I'm so excited!

Once I started writing this little book I couldn't stop. I had such fun writing the animal characters and I found myself smiling almost the whole time I was writing. It's hard to beat that feeling!

I hope you all had a good week as well and also have a good weekend coming up. Happy Friday and Happy Valentine's Day!

Source

Celebrating the Small Things

Happy Celebrate the Small Things day! 

This fun weekly hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge, Tonja Drecker at Kidbits, and Katie at The Cyborg Mom. Visit Lexa's blog here to see what to do if you want to join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

This week I'm celebrating a few book birthdays. My first book Polar Night will be three years old on Sunday, February 7. I can't believe my baby has been out in the world for three years. To say it's been an amazing few years is an understatement. Also, Polar Night's sequel Polar Day is one year old today.

So far I haven't succeeded in coming up with another sequel, although I spent most of last year trying to make one work, but I still hope to continue this series. For now though I will just wish both books a happy birthday. :)

I'm also celebrating that my other book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, is part of TB Markinson's monthly giveaway this month. I'm very grateful to TB for including me in her event! If you'd like a chance to win my book along with four others, visit TB here or enter the rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

Finally, I just want to thank everyone who left kind words and good wishes about my mom's birthday and one year anniversary of being cancer free. We had a great time taking her out for her birthday and she really enjoyed the day. So that's one more BIG thing to celebrate. :)

Happy weekend, all!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

IWSG & Ringing Out the Old

Today's the day for the February meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Visit here to see this month's co-hosts, a list of group participants, or to join the group yourself. The IWSG is a welcoming and supportive community and if you decide to join I know you won't regret it.

I know New Year's is generally the time we "ring out the old and ring in the new," but I am doing that a month late this year.

I've whined for probably six or eight months about the story I've been working on and finishing, then starting again, then finishing again, and then oops, still not really finished. I wrote about throwing in the towel on it more than once and also wrote about finishing it more than once. But last week I realized that it's not only not finished, it simply isn't a good story. IT. DOES. NOT. WORK.

I came to this realization while I was lying in bed enjoying the fact that I did not have to get up for work that day. For whatever reason, it became crystal clear to me that I was not going to finish that story and that was okay. Sometimes you just have to accept that something doesn't work and all the revisions in the world aren't going to change that.

It sounds crazy, but this simple realization caused me to breath a huge sigh of relief. For almost a year now I've been putting everything else on hold saying I needed to finish this story before I started on anything else. I stopped nearly all blogging and social media insisting that I needed to simply focus on this story. The story had become an albatross around my neck. So being able to give myself permission to let it go and move on was just what I needed!

Now I'm excited to be back to blogging again and giving other forms of social media another try. I've got some ideas for blog topics lined up and I even signed up for a blogfest, (see above) which I was fairly sure I'd never do again.

Source: publicdomainpictures

I'm even more excited to be working on a new story, something totally out of my comfort zone. I've had an idea for a children's book based on the farm animals I met at Sunrise Sanctuary last year and I actually started working on it now! I have no idea where it will lead but it's fun to try something totally different. My main characters are an ambitious but naive cow, an anxiety-plagued dog, and a streetwise but compassionate cat. My goal is to write a book I would have loved reading as a child.

I hope your month is off to a good start and I look forward to visiting and getting caught up with everyone!