Fear in Writing: The Impetus in the Mail

Today in Literary History

Today in Literary History...December 14, 1907: Rudyard Kipling receives the Nobel prize for literature, the first English-language writer to do so.ud

Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Impetus in the Mail


It came--the impetus I needed.  It came in the form of black leather, silver filigree and red stain.  It came in 1023 pages with an inscription:

To my sister Michele, the next great myster writer.  (Awww, I know!)

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe is beautiful.  It is heavy.  It is dense.  But it is beautiful.  I have already sniffed the binding and felt the whisper-thin pages flutter through my fingers.  I have perused the table of contents and salivated over works not read, drooled over those to read again.

Will this be one more excuse not to write, or a great motivator from the ultimate web spinner?  That is up to me.

It is beautiful.

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18 comments:

  1. A great book always inspires me to write. Even watching a biography on TV of a great writer is good inspiration. Hope it helps!

    Elizabeth

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  2. I do, too. Melissa & I visited Poe's house in Philadelphia last fall. That was inspirational, so I can only imagine how a full set of his actual works will inspire!

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  3. Sounds like it will be a great inspiration, with a few moments to read along the way.

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  4. I hope so. And I have corrected my spelling mistake. It is kind of important to get your main word right! (In this case, impetus.)

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  5. You sniffed the binding? LOL Now that IS excited!

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  6. Anything that wakes us up is good. Like a message from the past into the future - you are a time traveller talking to another time traveller...

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  7. Diane- You better believe it! I thought Saturdays were your day off?

    Jan- Ah, time travel. Now you're dipping into Alex's realm.

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  8. The problem I have with Poe is I stop to contemplate and interpret the smallest of sections. Sure, this is fun to do as I appreciate his unique and madenning brilliance. But this is also a time killer and I know I need to be writing.

    Stephen Tremp

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  9. Alex- I think so, too. And great timing for me.

    Stephen- I could see that. It seems to fit your personality, and I have that problem as well. Man, anything to avoid writing some days!

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  10. I don't post on Saturdays, but I try to get online and check out other posts. Of course, at the moment, I am now WAY behind on my to-do list...

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  11. Definitely looks beautiful. I'm not posting today if that makes you feel better. I try to do it every day but I just have nothing to say today, so rather than boring people with another post I will just let them rest their eyes. :)

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  12. Looks gorgeous! I was inspired by a National Geographic article once and now I have a tome of Herodotus beckoning me. He inspired Book #2!

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  13. I had that weight tome years ago in trade paperback format. Sadly, it succombed to the elements stored in a box in a damp basement and was laid to rest...

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  14. My absolute favourite of Poe's tales is THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO :)) It's beautifully spooky and bizarre :) and the lines and dialogues are amazingly ambiguous.

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  15. Soak up Poe's brilliance & enjoy! The writing will come :)

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  16. Beautiful book and beautiful inscription! Enjoy.

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  17. Oh, have fun! I love an Edgar Allen Poe story!!

    Corra :)

    from the desk of a writer

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