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This week: Bits and Pieces of a Life Edited by: fyn  
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I love reference books, especially collections of memorable quotations, world almanacs, and atlases. Facts to me are like candy or popcorn, small, tasty delights, and I like to gorge on them now and then. ~~Walter Kirn
I have collections of quirky things from places I've been to, like a set of Russian dolls. ~~Emma Watson
Since I'm a fan of collections and anthologies, believe that the best writing often shines in shards and galloping stretches, I never find myself lobbying for a writer I enjoy reading regularly to hole up in Heidegger's hut for four or five years to bring forth a mountain. ~~James Wolcott
If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I'm very sensitive to the English language. I studied the dictionary obsessively when I was a kid and collect old dictionaries. Words, I think, are very powerful and they convey an intention. ~~Drew Barrymore
What you collect says so much about who you are. ~~Ben Silbermann
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One of my authors who became a dear, dear friend passed away recently. She was an amazing, quirky, eccentric lady who was part Bohemian, part hippy, part collector and all heart. She (and her hubby) lived down a long, wooded driveway in a unique house set on a rise above a river--out in the middle of nowhere. They reviled in the birds and assorted critters of the forest. One wall, all windows looked out over the river and, for them, it was their TV. "The shows are endless with no repeats and the cast of characters is extraordinary," Katheryn said to me the first day I met her.
Her home is part museum, part library, part hodgepodge and full of whimsey, cats, books and tons of 'stuff!' Antique dishes lined high railings, books were shelved or piled or displayed in baskets. She wove baskets and they, too, were everywhere. Victorian couches vied with comfy ottomans for floor space. There was a narrow 'path' round and through - for her and her hubby used scooters to get around. Crystal ornamented trees reflected sunlight, tossing rainbows on the ceiling. A catalog shopper, there were piles and piles of every catalog imaginable. Bronzed busts, Viking ships, paintings, swords and antique (the early 1800s) guns hung on walls, perched on moldings, hung from rafters. Organized chaos; very her!
She was quite the clotheshorse and when she found something she liked; she bought one in every single color offered. Thus, when helping her husband sort through closets, bins, trunks, armoires, and chests of clothes, we'd find nineteen of one style blouse, fifteen of another, and twenty-three of yet another. Same with skirts and sweaters. As we sorted through piles of clothes, it looked like a rainbow had exploded! We spent a day separating clothes by size (three differing, mainly) and keeping like with like, although we were (jokingly) afraid they would breed! When I found variations of one blouse that now had stripes, plaids, flowers and other designs, we were pretty sure they had! It was fun and we laughed and Kathy would have loved it. I buried (for his sake) the odd feeling that most of these clothes had never been worn, were still in packaging or had price tags still attached. "I'll get better, just you wait and see!"
Totes began to pile up as we sorted by size and style for this person and that friend. Numerous totes for her two friends with size six feet. (She tended to do the same with shoes as she did blouses!) As we sorted through, I was told to take whatever caught my fancy--the more; the better. Then, seeing what I got excited about, snuck similar clothes in bag after bag. I have a brand new hippyish, Bohemian-ish, crazy and wonderful wardrobe. So does my daughter. (So glad we wear different sizes!) When my daughter came over to see her 'goodies' we laughed and changed outfits faster than any model on a catwalk. We had a blast and I could feel Kathy wafting through, hear her laughter because she would absolutely have loved the two of us acting like two kids in a candy store!
I told Dan, Kathy's husband about our day and he was so happy. He got a kick out of hearing about the two of us half buried in clothes, how my husband was banned from our end of the house, and that I was able to actually find a place for it all! (Mental note: call Purple Heart for a pick-up of my old clothes!)
I'm going back there tomorrow (Monday) because he says we still have work to do. The second bedroom, six more trunks, and three other dressers before we start downstairs. Downstairs: her quilting room, her craft room, the immense library, all her basket-weaving stuff and more closets, trunks, and dressers. She collects old books. Can you say heaven?
She collects jewelry. Tons of funky costume jewelry, three cases of beautiful pieces, bracelets by the hundreds. I never knew there were green pearls! Here too, she was eclectic. I'm glad the 'good' stuff is all locked away, but he wanted me to see it; to hear the story of each piece, to share more memories. I was thrilled to listen to the adventures behind some of the jewels. It was like stepping into Sheherazod's boudoir! Past mysterious lovers, far-flung travels where dukes and princes sought her favor, and enigmatic gentlemen lavished trinkets and baubles upon this wonderful lady.
Everything seemed to have a story and my mind was busy tucking away all the myriad details because she SO will surface in a book down the road,. I only hope I can do her justice! Tomorrow will be another adventure and I am unapologetically excited to embark into Kathy's world yet again!
Added Note: Paul  just commented: You've painted the picture of a fascinating woman I'd have loved to known. What a bright and open person you describe. <--I really appreciate the comment. 'A woman he'd loved to have known.' This is what we want our characters to feel like; which, of course, is the purpose of this piece. It is important to grab hold of your reader and let them know your characters so they can feel emotions connected to them. Make your characters live and breathe!
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For Authors: June 27, 2018 Issue [#8972]
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