Yesterday marked my five year anniversary at Gulliver’s. I can’t believe I’ve been in Alaska that long. Last week I decided I was going to bring brownies to celebrate, but then I clear forgot about it until Maria walked in with a box of goodies from her garden for me. Among other things, I’ve got a Gadzooks Zuchini, some peppers, tomatoes, and other delicious homegrowns along with a lovely boquet of nasturtiums, parsley, and mint. I just can’t believe I’ve been there for five years. I suppose my over-stocked bookshelves are proof enough!
Archive for August, 2010
Five Years at Gulliver’s
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010Saturday Morning at Gulliver’s
Saturday, August 14th, 2010I thought life would have slowed down after the write-a-thon ended. Not a chance. The bookstore is down three people in the café, which by necessity is now being staffed by book clerks.
I worked the front counter for a few hours this morning. It was fun. It’s been a long time since I rang up customers and did used book trades. Maria and I went on a rampage around the counter, cleaning up and reorganizing. There is always so much to do in the front of the store. Four hours went by fast.
I saw people that I haven’t seen in months, or even years. Several expressesd surprise at seeing me. I think they thought I had left, since most of the time I’m chained back in the office, slaving away at the computer.
Dinah’s vet walked in the door with an armload of books from the cart outside. “I hate this place,” she said, set the books down on the counter, and went browsing for more.
“Try working here,” is always my response; working in a bookstore is dangerous. I didn’t ring up her sale, but I don’t think she made it out for less than $50.
It was a nice change of pace from the usual routine. That’s going to start up again Monday morning. But until then, I’m going to catch up on my reading and my writing.
Finally Over
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010The Clarion West Write-a-thon ended three days ago and I can’t tell you how relieved I am to be done with it. I took Sunday and Monday off writing to recover.
For the last two weeks, it has felt like a chore to sit down and write 750 words everyday. I usually do write everyday because I want to. For me, there’s something about having to do something that makes me not want to do it.
Anyway, I raised a couple hundred bucks for the organization. Thanks to everyone who donated! I met and exceeded my goals. I submitted six short stories to markets and I’m still waiting to hear back from all of them.
I wrote over 750 words per day on the still un-titled novel for a total of 36,180 words. I had wanted to do 31,500 so that’s 4,680 more than planned. When you combine it with what I had already written on the story I’ve got 48,725 words. I’m at the halfway point for the first draft. It’s a very exciting place to be. I’m taking a break from it today to work on a short story and then I’ll be diving back into it.
Breathing an exhausted sigh of relief aaahhhh.
