I was at Chapters again today. I've been at Chapters about 4 times in the past two weeks; it's becoming a bit of a fetish, I think. I truly love books too much. I just want to buy more, more, more. I buy far more books than I have time to read.
It's the cover designs and the richness of the textures that thrill me. And nothing compares to well-set type on a printed page. It's part passion for book design and part sublimation of my desire to write. What I really want is to be able to design, set and print my own novel. That would be incredible. Just to hold it, knowing that I created every piece of it.
I keep reading things and saying to myself, "I could have written that." The most recent example is a line of children's novels called A Series of Unfortunate Events, dark, wry stories about the terrible tragedies that befall three young orphans. The book are written in a particularly appealing tone that resonates with me. I felt a bit cheated, though, after finishing the first one, as if that book would have come from me had I been listening a little more closely to my muse.
I remember once reading Kim Stockwood comment on her song
The books are perfect. Both elegantly written, and beautifully designed. The illustrations are haunting, gothic creations that echo the books' tone well. They are released only in hardcover, with a thick textured fabric with an inlayed illustration and glossy varnish. The text pages are untrimmed on the fore-edge to lend that old-styled traditional book-making feel to its aura of foreboding. The books, in every way, are a delight. Even the pseudo-author Lemony Snicket is a perfect addition. This fictitious character has also released the so-called Unauthorized Autobiography.
Yes, I am jealous. That's okay, though. I try to think of it as an impetus to get writing again. It's time for another course, I think. U of M, know anything about plot structure?
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