This is one
of the few times I can say to anyone living in an exotic location: Too bad you
don’t live in St. Louis, Missouri, because you really missed out on a great
event last Tuesday. The Not Your Mother’s Books combination book signing event (NYMB…On Being a Mom and NYMB…On Family) was about as perfect as
these things get. We were graced with uncharacteristically cool weather for
July—which was a gift all its own because of the way the crowds spilled out of the independent and community-minded bookstore, STL Books, and onto
the sidewalks of quaint, historical Kirkwood.
Wine and the most delightful little nibbles and
noshes were served while NYMB...On Family coeditor Linda O'Connell circulated around exclaiming, "Eat! Eat!" Several contributors read their humorous stories. If that weren’t
awesome enough, owner Robin Theiss donated 10% of all sales proceeds to Family Resources
Center in support of their work to reduce childhood abuse and neglect. I admired the selection of books offered in that lovely store: classics, popular, children’s,
local. Perfect. And as luck would have it, they ship books! Check it out if
you’re so inclined.
Thank you again to NYMB coeditors Linda O’Connell and Dianna
Graveman!
Succinctly Yours #174: Baa Wow
Many thanks to Grandma’s Goulash for herding us together once a week for Succinctly Yours, where willing participants are called to spin yarns of photo-inspired microfiction that is sheered down to 140 words or 140 characters. The bonus word this week was “quantify:”
After Granny’s eyesight
went, it was hard to quantify the joy she received from her dog, Wolfie. So no
one told her that he was, in a sense, a sheep in Wolfie’s clothing. 138
I find I have…a tendency
to overwrite, to use two or three words where one will do better. I have to go
back and cut and cut. ~John Steinbeck
