So often I am inspired by the authors I publish. I spent last week working with Annie Burnside's manuscript for SOUL TO SOUL PARENTING and was left with an undeniable desire to nurture myself and my space. As I read Annie's beautiful book, I kept recognizing books she mentioned that I have loved over the years, and I was compelled to collect them all together after two decades of being boxed, stored, or forgotten, and create a space for them, and for my kids and I to discuss why they have meant so much to me. This past weekend we made my new Book Nook!
This space in the corner of my office used to be filled with boxes and boxes and boxes of RETURNS. (Bookstores work on consignment - books spend two months on the shelf and if they do not sell, they are sent back.) The difference in the energy of the space now is absolutely unbelievable – and it has worked to attract my kids to hang out while I work, and inquire about the books I have been collecting since high school.
It was a "Sell This House" project – one of my favorite weekend joys is watching Tanya Memme and Roger Hazard spend $200 and two days to make a house look amazing. Taking their lead, we painted the walls and an existing white bookshelf in a luscious moss green. The old bricks, which were originally on the outside of our little farmhouse and looked pretty bad, were painted with "Boston Brick Red" and I pulled out a wonderful old poster from 1992 signed to me by cartoonist Jim Borgman. We hung some inexpensive shelves and found a gorgeous wandering jew for $4.99. The seat is an Ottoman from an on-sale sectional for a fraction of the regular price and the reading light was $11.99. Pillows were from St. Vincent DePaul (6 for the price of one from Pier One) and a new dogbed for "Book" also from St. Vincent (helping homeless families). We did it!
So this is where you can picture me... reviewing book proposals, sketching cover designs, and brainstorming branding campaigns... or taking Wyatt and MacKenzie down my own memory lane of books that have shaped their mom's life.
