This book sounds fascinating! It was just reviewed in the New York Times: Rome, 1950: The diary begins innocently enough, with the name of its owner, Valeria Cossati, written in a neat script. Valeria is buying cigarettes for her husband when she is entranced by the stacks of gleaming black notebooks at the tobacco shop. … Continue reading The Forbidden Notebook
This week’s addict is the award-winning author of the bestseller Graceling, among other books. She wrote the first draft of one of its sequels, Bitterblue, in seven wire-bound notebooks, with some serious editing happening on many of the pages, as you can see from her photos below! It’s a fascinating view into a novelist’s … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Kristin Cashore
Jake Seliger is a novelist, (see his novels here) and blogs at The Story’s Story, where he has a variety of posts about using notebooks and reviewing various brands, some of which I’ve linked to before. I think this photo of his notebook stack qualifies for addiction! Some of Jake’s very valuable reminders about the … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Jake Seliger
This week’s addict is a writer who does much of his work in notebooks. He recently finished a novel consisting of “116,386 words, 472 pages (almost a ream of paper), and numerous books of hand written script.” “I always write the first draft by hand, I find it more intimate than typing directly onto … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Kevin
Senator Bob Graham’s notebooks are in the news again, as he’s published a thriller based on his experiences with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the inquiry into 9/11. You are known to take notes and keep a very strict record of everything you do. Do you still do that? Yes. When did you … Continue reading Senator Bob Graham: Notebooks and a Novel
Blythe Woolston is feeling the love. The author of The Freak Observer shares her affection for Moleskines: I love my own Moleskines. I love to draw things I see when I visit museums. I enjoy the act of writing things out long-hand. That notebook on top has notes for The Freak Observer and for my … Continue reading Moleskine Monday: Blythe Woolston’s Love
There was a neat article in the Wall Street Journal the other day about the writing habits of some well-known novelists. I’m sure it will come as no surprise that many of them mention notebooks! Orhan Pamuk: “Mr. Pamuk writes by hand, in graph-paper notebooks, filling a page with prose and leaving the adjacent page … Continue reading How Great Novelists Use Notebooks
Here’s a notebook addict who used her collection to accomplish something amazing: A Wisconsin teenager named Cayla Kluver kept notebooks, lots of them. These colorful spiral notebooks are the kind you get at the local pharmacy or supermarket. Nothing fancy, but the perfect canvas for personalizing, or maybe writing a narrative. On those pages, Cayla … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: A Teenage Novelist
Last weekend, I read a wonderful novel called Andorra, by Peter Cameron. It’s elegantly and beautifully written, with some lush descriptions, including this scene, which takes place right at the beginning of the book, just after the narrator has arrived to start his new life in Andorra: I decided to visit the stationers. The front … Continue reading The Euphoria of Buying a Journal: Andorra, by Peter Cameron
I like the look of this forthcoming book! What a beautiful cover. The Blue Notebook is not available until July 2009, but here’s a teaser: An unforgettable, deeply affecting tribute to the powers of imagination and the resilience of childhood, The Blue Notebook tells the story of Batuk, a precocious 15-year-old girl from rural India … Continue reading The Blue Notebook, by James Levine