I sometimes have to wonder if my bibliomaniacal tendencies border on the edge of insanity. Here I am, driving over two hundred miles to get a glimpse at a book that will ultimately influence only a sentence or two in the novel Tides of Blue. Or, if traveling to a place, to soak up its aura and general feel will add to the lyricism of a paragraph in a novel? I wonder.
It’s about the book. It always ends up about the book, sucked inside of the happy vortex of writing and story. One of my greatest hopes is that it comes out well and the reader can love and cherish the tale that has been stuck in my brain.
This poem has been floating around social media and I’m searching for the original source. It’s attributed to “Amy LV.”
Once I dive into these pages
I may not come out for ages
Books have power over me
Inside a book, I am not free
I am a prisoner in a land
Of print on paper in my hand
But do not worry, do not fear
I am a happy captive here.
And, I am a happy captive to writing and reading. When the story has a hold on you, there is no escape. Tides of Blue is changing and flexing and (hopefully) becoming a better story. As I work on the historical portion, new facts come to light and I double and triple check certain facts and they lead me on a merry chase to other pieces of titillating information about the time period that I need to research to give credence to the story. I am a happy captive.
