The Indie Bookstore Issue
"Every bookstore ... is like a safe-deposit box for civilization.” – Liam Callanan
Last Saturday, April 29, marked National Independent Bookstore Day. Last year, my NEHS co-sponsor and I started an annual NEHS Independent Bookstore Day Bookstore Crawl for our school’s NEHS chapter (more on that below). In my own personal celebration of indie bookstores, I plan to start inventorying books I’ve bought at indie bookstores. I imagine this exercise will show me exactly how important they are in my reading experience. Off the top of my head, I know I need to catalog books from:
Richmond, Va.
Small Friend Records and Books
The Eastern Shore of Virginia
Peach Street Books —Cape Charles
Sundial Books — Chincoteague Island
Southwestern Virginia
The Curious Quill — Draper.
What I’m Working On
My Debut Novel: An Expected End
Tuesday, April 16, marked the five-year anniversary of my dog, Jack’s, crossing the rainbow bridge. In honor of him, for every copy of my book purchased that day, I donated $10 to Eden, a dog in need, who shares the name of a character in my debut novel, for a total donation of $30.
Two weeks later, April 30 marked National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day. As the Littles are both shelter alums of the Richmond SPCA, I ran a promotion during which I planned to donate $10 to the no-kill shelter for every copy of An Expected End sold that day, resulting in a $10 donation.
My Next Novel: Goodbye For Now
Remember when I said revising is an overwhelming process? I’ve finished the easiest step: re-reading the manuscript. Now, it’s time to do the messier, more creative, more taxing work of actually rethinking and rewriting. It’s a little daunting to look over my general notes, shared withy you below.
Major revisions needed include:
Add James’s medical condition to explain why he can’t swim
Sort through why the Wilders don’t have any more children after James
Change the setting for the Wilder family’s chapters from Florida, to Michigan
Change the fictional Strayerville, Virginia, to Richmond
Change the order to chronological
Change the time of year for Marissa’s chapters to either summer break or winter break
Change Marissa’s timeline/stage of life
Continue developing Argos the dog’s role.
Major revisions I’m considering include:
Change Ty’s reasons for proposing to Marissa and Marissa’s reasons for rejecting the proposal
Decide between first and third-person narration
Decide between past or present tense
Restructure the manuscript into three books instead of alternating perspectives
Add Donnoway childhood chapters to parallel Wilder childhood chapters
Add Ty childhood chapters
Change ages of Donnoway children to make them older
Why does Marissa leave college—pregnancy, Ty’s death, or Claire’s cancer?
Outdoor Writing
I turned in my article about viewing wild ponies on Assateague from a pontoon boat for my May “ExploreMore” deadline. Look for it in the June issue of Cooperative Living Magazine. I’m currently working on a piece about dog-friendly adventures across the state of Virginia, and creating a catalog of all my outdoor articles for my own records.
Teacher Life
As mentioned in the introduction to this issue, the NEHS chapter I co-sponsor at the school where I teach held its annual Independent Bookstore Day Bookstore Crawl on April 27. We started our day in Carytown, fortifying ourselves at Minglewood Bake Shop. From there, we walked to bbgb, which specializes in children’s and YA literature, before visiting Shelf Life and its resident rescue cats. Then, we drove over to the dog-friendly Small Friend Records and Books, followed by the equally dog-friendly Fountain Bookstore, before snagging lunch at Proper Pie and paying our respects at Poe’s mother’s grave.
Our Bookstore Crawl began at 9:30 that morning and wrapped up just before 2:00 that afternoon, not leaving us much time to visit some of my other favorite indie bookstores. Still, in honor of what they do for the literary community, I want to pay them homage here:
Books, Beads & More — Mechanicsville (books and handmade gifts)
Book People -- in Short Pump (dog-friendly and right next to Glory Days--super yummy)
Resist -- Petersburg (focuses on inclusivity)
The Bookshelf on Church —Kilmarnock (began as The Bookshelf, Irvington and will open their brick-and-mortar storefront later this month)
Peach Street Books —Cape Charles—so charming!
Sundial Books — Chincoteague Island, right on the water
The Curious Quill — Draper, right along New River Trail State Park, featuring a tea house, bakery, and a few other little shops as part of The Draper Village
Buxton Village Books — Cute little place for your OBX beach reads this summer.
As a follow-up to our NEHS Bookstore Crawl, this afternoon’s NEHS meeting will feature a panel discussion including three indie booksellers: Resist, The Bookshelf on Church, and Shelf Life Books, whose generous owners will all spend their afternoon today speaking to our students about the important role indie bookstores play in the community. Look for a recap in the next issue of this newsletter on May 21!
Writing Community
I’m looking forward to next Thursday, when I’ll speak with fellow writer Lisa Cooper Ellison, recording a short episode for her podcast, Writing Your Resilience. Lisa and I plan to discuss the question: “(Why) does my writing matter?”
What I’m Reading
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’m still reading Nikki Erlick’s The Measure. I truly am enjoying it, but sometimes, a week or more goes by between my opportunities to open it.
Links to My Latest
“Paddles, Puddles and the Great Outdoors: Exploring Virginia state parks by water” appears in the “Explore More” column of the the April Cooperative Living Magazine.
Listen to a 5-minute podcast episode featuring An Expected End here, or anywhere you get your podcasts.
Archie and The Littles
The Littles and Mylar the rescue cat pose for a photograph at Shelf Life Books on National Independent Bookstore Day during the Second Annual NEHS Bookstore Crawl.
Archie enjoys some fresh air on the back deck.
Nacho relaxes on the back deck.
Archie and the Littles spread a lot of joy when they made an appearance at Arts in the Park over the weekend. The photo below was taken by one of the lovely and talented vendors, Made by Bee Jay Fine Art.
Soda winding down for the evening
What I Saw Outside
Virginia spiderwort growing along the trails at Pony Pasture, and a visiting bumblebee
Literary Calendar
September
September 19, 2024 | 4:00pm-6:00pm | Beer Dogs with Jackie McCool at Richbrau Brewing
Stay tuned for more details!