Bookishly Ever After

Words are like oxygen to me. Too long without them, and I actually get wobbly. So I find ways to work them into every aspect of my life. I sing and tell stories to my children, I fill my house with books, I write and edit and read more hours of the day than I do anything else.

[I’ll pause for a moment while you envy me that luxury. It’s only natural.]

When I see something made out of old books, a thrill zings through me. I have a purse made of a copy of Jane Eyre. I have a copy of Anne of Green Gables a dear friend gave me, the pages artfully folded to spell out the word “Joy.” And, were I as crafty as the people who made the items featured below, there would be no room in my home not adorned with a piece of literature turned to art.

Of course, there are those who think using books as art materials is sacrilege. Others think there’s beauty to be found in the preservation of their fading glory. What do you think?

Kimberly Vanderhorst is a speculative fiction author who cherishes a love for all things strange and beautiful. Claims to fame include running Prism Editing, serving on the committees for the annual LDStorymakers Conference and The Whitney Awards program, and co-hosting the annual Pitch Slam contest. Despite being a city girl with a tendency to cuss too much, Kimberly is married to an LDS minister and lives in rural northern Canada. There, she helps raise her four lovely daughters while pretending not to be afraid of the neighbour’s chickens.

www.kimvanderhorst.com

BLING YOUR THING: Falling in Love, AGAIN

Are there any book addicts in the house? *raises hand*

Yay! You're in good company. (The cheesy kind.) *breaks out the popcorn and kindle* 

When did you fall in love with books? It happened to me when I was in third grade. A classmate read a story to the whole class that won my heart and imagination. The reader became my hero. The book became my FAVORITE. 

From that day on, the scholastic order form was my best friend, the library was my happy place, and book fairs left me drooling. I'd stockpile books all year so that when summer hit, I had a stack of 8 to 10 to start. As soon as those were done, I'd beg for a trip to the library.

Here's where the story gets sad. Somewhere in high school I lost the drive to read independently. (About the same time I hit the pause button on writing.) Maybe it was the amount of school work. Maybe the number of required reading books. Don't know, but I missed my books.

It wasn't until I'd been a mom for about eight years that I gave myself permission to pick up anything other than a picture book. Going to the library almost made me feel guilty. All those pretties. Was it really okay to pick one up and *gasp* open it? What about the time I should be devoting to my kids, my house, other responsibilities?

All it took was one book. The love had never disappeared, it had just been suppressed. The written page swallowed me whole and I began reading one book a month, then two, then five, then eight or nine. They fit in cracks of time--waiting in the car, while exercising, while brushing teeth, while sitting a stoplights.

We have the power to fall in or out of love with anything in our lives. It's all a question of which appetite we choose to fill. Let us be wise--both to ourselves and life--with which addictions we decide to feed.

When did your love of books start?


Crystal Collier is a cheese-loving blogger & author who pens out funnies, deep thoughts, and book giveaways. She's the author of the Maiden of Time series, a 2012 winner of PitchWars, and a 2016 IWSG writing contest winner. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.

The third book in her Maiden of Time series releases November 1, 2016. Find her and her books online.