What's on your bulletin board?

ROSEMARY: The bulletin board in my office is barnacled with pictures, clippings, post-its with passwords,Greek worry beads, a Bettie Page air freshener, pins..including an ancient one that reads I Believe Anita Hill, a picture of Marlon Brando from The Godfather, a french postcard for On the Waterfront, advice from Horace on how to be happy, advice from Voltaire on how to live, the Gettysburg Address, and any number of quotes I have printed out for inspiration.

Here are two of my favorites -

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do" Eleanor Roosevelt
and

"All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on." Havelock Ellis

I can't claim to agree with some of the speakers' other statements and philosophies, but these two quotes strike a chord with me. There's a matter-of-fact fearlessness in them which appeals to me.

So first off...what's on your bulletin board, and are there any quotes that give you a little extra inspiration when you need it? (Two pix are my bulletin boards, I actually have four. And the third pic is Roberta's but blogger keeps jumbling them up. You should be able to guess!)

ROBERTA: Those quotes are terrific Ro! I have tons of pictures over my desk, along with some postcards, and a few quotes. One from a former student is so faded I can't read it anymore. I believe it's in Hebrew and it means "May you go from strength to strength." Another is from Kinky Friedman: "They say when you die and go to heaven that all the cats and dogs you've ever had in your life will come running to meet you." Boy, I sure hope that one's true!

HALLIE: I agree, great quotes, Ro. I keep a ladder of fortunes from Chinese fortune cookies. My favorite: "You will succeed in a far out profession." I got that right before my first book sold. Prophetic.

As far as quotes, my husband once did a caligraphy of one of my favorite quote from a children's book, Rootabaga Stories by Carl Sandburg:
"An ambition is a little creeper that creeps and creeps in your heart night and day, singing a little song, 'Come and find me, come and find me.'"

HANK: Hallie, that sounds like a great title...hmmm. Oh, yes, on my bulletin board are several quotes. My favorite right now: "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"
I also have the whole poem "Ithaca," by CV Cavafy. Here's how it starts:

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.

The rest is just as great. I almost cry every time I read it.

JAN: Hank, that's a terrific poem. I have a poem on my bulletin board, too. My son Spike wrote it after a friend in high school died tragically. It's sad, but really, its a poignant insight of a kid trying to deal with the incomprehensible that's neither hokey nor in denial. It's a mother thing, but I read it every morning before I write. !!

Also just last week, Pat Marinelli, one of the participants in the Writers Challenge wrote a post:

I am in control of the Internet. It does not control me.

I copied it in red on a sticky note and posted it on the bulletin board behind my computer.

RHYS: I love the poem too, in fact I carry a pocket sized Walt Whitman around with me for that same reason. Oh, and I don't have a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt on my desk--I have the person. I was once given an Eleanor Roosevelt doll--the ugliest thing you've ever seen but I've grown very fond of her and she sits on my computer--constantly imparting wisdom to me.

I only have one quote on my bulletin board. It's No Pressure, no diamonds by Mary Case. Apart from that it's mainly photos: a huge glossy of Robert Redford when young with his shirt open (I've had it for a long time!), my parents, sadly no longer with us, me with Lyn Hamilton, also sadly no longer here, me with Parnell Hall--he dressed as the Puzzle Lady and me as Lady Georgie,and me holding the Agatha teapot. At the moment only one piece of paper as I've moved all the to do stuff to the white board below. The piece of paper is the IMBA bestseller list that shows me at number 1, ahead of James Lee Burke, Daniel Silva, Ridley Pearson, Janet Evanovich, Thomas Perry etc.

As you can see it's a board designed to remind me that all things are possible.

ROSEMARY: So What's in your office that gives you inspiration?...Oh, there's one other quote I love and have on the board. No idea who said it -

Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.

Try to do all those things.

Method to the Madness

HALLIE: Okay, how I wrote it--"1001 Books for Every Mood" was written at a dead run. Six months, start to finish. My husband donated an old library card catalogue box (see photo) to the effort, and I started with the moods. "For a Good Laugh" and "For a Good Cry" were quickly followed by "For a Wallow in a Slough of Despond." Then "To Behave." Followed of course by "To Misbehave"--entries for that one include "Fear of Flying," "Moll Flanders," "Wicked," and "Where the Wild Things Are."

Of course they include my personal favorites, but the truth is, most of the books I've read I wouldn't include because I wanted (as Miss Jean Brodie would have said) the creme de la creme. For months I carried around 3x5 cards and asked everyone who had the temerity to be carrying a book--people on trains and busses, in restaurants and on street corners. I got some pretty strange looks, but most of the time people are delighted to be asked. I also asked booksellers and librarians and book groups.

I jotted each title on a card, and gave the ones I hadn't read my unscientific "sniff test"--I read the opening, sampled more pages, and then checked out all the book reviews and readers' comments I could get my hands on. If the book "passed," I found a mood for it and added it to the file box.

HANK: So it just got bigger and bigger? I love organization--files and charts and lists. So I think the process sounds like so much fun, and like putting together a wonderful jigsaw puzzle when you don't even know yet what picture it's making. (But then, I don't have a deadline.)

How did you decide to use all the icons? Knowing in one glance if a book is provocative, or funny, or a page-turner--it's like a Michelin guide for books, you know?

How did you decide literary merit, if you can reveal it? And how did you do the quizzes? And oh, was there a book that everyone wanted? That came up again and again? And you said you included your favorite..will you tell?

Ah, reporter me can't stop with the questions. You can see I think this book is fascinating. Not only the result, but the process.

HALLIE: Yup, it grew like Topsy. My pile of discarded titles is about 500-strong.

You're right, Hank, I sort of thought of this as a Michelin or Zagats for books...hence the icons. How many stars to give for literary merit? It was easy if the book won book prizes, but otherwise I based the rating on the excerpts I read, the book reviews, and reader comments.

Yes, there were favorites that kept coming up over and over. But once you get past Austen, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner (yes, there are people who can read Faulkner), and Stephen King. there's a surprising diversity among the books people suggest. That's because there's no one "reader" out there--there's the occasional omnivore, but there are also those who read only literary fiction, or history, or mystery, or romance, or sci-fi, or sports or ... That's why there's such a range of titles in there.

Okay, okay -- here are some of my favorites:
- The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (Mark Haddon)
- The Thurber Carnival (James Thurber)
- A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
- Rootabaga Stories (Carl Sandburg)
- Alice, Let's Eat (Calvin Trillin)

And I had a great time putting together the quizzes. Here are some opening lines. What books are they from?

• Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,’ grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.


• Amerigo Bonasero sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her.


• In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together.


• In a country such as Amerika, there is bound to be a hell-of-a-lot of food lying around just waiting to be ripped off.

No cheating by looking them up! Titles will be posted Friday.