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My Writer's Journal

Too Many Books?

I've never been a collector. I buy books, read them, pass them on to whoever might be interested. I do tend to let stuff accumulate down in the basement. But now there's a crisis.

We're getting ready to move to a much smaller space, and the big problem is a basement full of STUFF. Besides the usual stash of old tools, the bumper of a long-gone 1997 Toyota Tacoma (for sale, cheap!), there were boxes and boxes of books. Not just any books, but copies of books I've written. I hauled them up, sorted them out, gave some away to schools, but I still have a lot left, more than I want to cart off to our new place. That's why I'm making the offer to give them to friends and fans who want them and are willing to pay the postage.

It seems like a good idea. Let's see if it works. Read More 
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House Calls

About four years ago I got a call from the mother of a student at a local school, asking if I'd talk to the eighth graders about writing. But when the school couldn't arrange it, the mother asked me to come to their home for tea and talk to her daughter, Erika. Normally I don't do house calls, but the mom was persistent: her daughter loved my books, etc.

It was a nice visit. We drank tea, ate chocolate-dipped strawberries, and talked about books and writing. I signed MARIE, DANCING for her. Since then Erika has popped up in the news more times than I can count for winning prizes in science fairs. Last week Erika DeBenedictis, now 18, took the big one: Grand prize of $100,000 in the Intel Science Talent Search.

I sent her a copy of THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF CHARLEY DARWIN, my book about another scientist. Maybe I'll be invited back again for tea.  Read More 
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