Books and Pet Food

I am not sure most people would think that pet food and books would make the best product mix and I suppose they are probably right. But what does one do when her bookends only eat food manufactured in the US and made from food-grade products and she can't find a local source for their food?

Now, I never used to be this fussy about what my girls ate, until the pet food scare a couple of years ago. That episode resulted in an obsession with pet food labels and I soon discovered that my vet and dog breeder friends were not just trying to sell expensive, designer, dog food, but that there really is a difference.

So now I have moved to this beautiful sandbar only to find out that the nearest retailer who sells Canidae pet food products is located in Corpus Christi - not exactly next door. Since I do believe this is a good product and I need to have it shipped to me anyway, well, maybe there is an opportunity here.

Anyone interested in ordering some quality pet food? Just let me know... When I finally am able to find a spare corner I am seriously considering filling it with Canidae. Any thoughts?

Happy Birthday Hungry Caterpillar

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And for more on Eric Carle and his wonderful books visit the official website.

I Love the Recognition

This morning when I was groggily checking to see if I had any tweets, I was surprised to see a message referring to a mention of Paragraphs in Shelf Awareness, a bookselling industry on-line publication.

There was also a mention of our opening in the American Bookseller's Assn. online newletter Bookselling This Week.

I love getting the recognition for Paragraphs, but also appreciate the exposure it provides our little sandbar.

Someday, if my dream comes true, I would like to see Paragraphs become a destination, a place that people who love bookstores put on their list of places they must visit. Is it possible to imagine a Book People or Tattered Cover giving our little slice of paradise a place on the literary map?

Achieving some level of national attention, no matter how small, makes that goal seem like something I may eventually be able to accomplish.

NY Times Best-Seller List

This Week		Weeks on List
1	THE SHACK, by William P. Young. (Windblown Media, $14.99.) A man whose daughter was abducted is invited to an isolated shack, apparently by God. (†) First Chapter	42
2	THE READER, by Bernhard Schlink. (Vintage, $13.95.) A German high school student falls in love with a former Auschwitz employee.	14
3	FIREFLY LANE, by Kristin Hannah. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.95.) A friendship between two women in the Pacific Northwest endures for more than three decades as they make different choices in their lives.	9
4	SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY’S, by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. (Grand Central, $13.99.) A woman finds an unexpected love.	9
5	AMERICAN WIFE, by Curtis Sittenfeld. (Random House, $15.) A pretty librarian marries the alcoholic scion of a wealthy political family who somehow becomes president. First Chapter	4
6	PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, by Geraldine Brooks. (Penguin, $15.) An expert unlocks the secrets of a rare manuscript.	10
7	A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, by Khaled Hosseini. (Riverhead, $16.) A friendship between two Afghan women against the backdrop of 30 years of war.	15
8	THE ALCHEMIST, by Paulo Coelho. (HarperOne, $13.95.) A Spanish shepherd boy travels to Egypt in search of treasure.	77
9	WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen. (Algonquin, $13.95.) A young man — and an elephant — save a Depression-era circus.	79
10*	STILL ALICE, by Lisa Genova. (Pocket, $15.) A 50-year-old Harvard professor is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.	9
11	LUSH LIFE, by Richard Price. (Picador, $15.) An aspiring writer becomes a suspect in a friend’s murder on the Lower East Side. First Chapter	1
12*	THE WHITE TIGER, by Aravind Adiga. (Free Press, $14.) A chauffeur in India relates the story of his transformation from manservant to entrepreneur to murderer; the winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize.	21
13	THE APPEAL, by John Grisham. (Delta, $14.) Political and legal intrigue ensue when a Mississippi court rules against a company accused of dumping toxic waste. First Chapter	16
14	THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, by Junot Díaz. (Riverhead, $14.) A nerdy Dominican-American struggles to escape a family curse.	27
15	THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG, by Muriel Barbery. (Europa, $15.) A young girl and a widowed concierge, both closet intellectuals, become friends.	10
16*	REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, by Richard Yates. (Vintage, $14.95.) Frank and April Wheeler, a beautiful young couple living in 1950s America, see their supposedly perfect life come undone.	14
17	SARAH’S KEY, by Tatiana de Rosnay. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $13.95.) A contemporary American journalist investigates what happened to a little girl and her family during the roundup of Jews in Paris in 1942.	4
18	LOVING FRANK, by Nancy Horan. (Ballantine, $14.) A story of the romance between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. First Chapter	44
19	SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, by Vikas Swarup. (Scribner, $15.) A poor orphan in India is arrested and must explain himself after winning big on a TV quiz show.	4
20	THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini. (Riverhead, $15.95 and $14.) An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how a childhood friend has fared.	76

A Scarlet Letter - Today in History

On this day in 1850, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was published.

While the work was fiction, and the existence of the well-worn letter "A" found in the Salem custom-house was certainly a literary device, Hawthorne's famous story did come from the experiences of his ancestors.

From Today in Literature:

Among his seventeenth-century ancestors were two sisters who had been forced to sit in the Salem meetinghouse wearing forehead bands identifying their incestuous conduct (while their brother hid out in Maine). The Scarlet Letter also came from Hawthorne's general guilt over the Puritan enthusiasms of some of his other ancestors -- one had been a judge at the witch trials -- and his feeling that his hometown was a place of gloom and convention.

King continues

Hawthorne's attempts to escape Salem included a short stay at Brook Farm, the Transcendentalists' utopian community outside of Boston. Although at first invigorated by the new thinking and fresh air, he soon found himself permanently volunteered to the manure pile, and reappraising town-life: "a man's soul may be buried and perish under a dung-heap, or in a furrow of the field, just as well as under a pile of money."

So Hawthorne returned to Salem and his work at the customs-house while continuing to hope for the time when he would be able to make a living from his writing. Not until he was fired from his job in the summer of 1849 did he make another attempt at the tale which had been previously been know as "Endicott and the Red Cross" about "a young woman with no mean share of beauty, whose doom it was to wear the letter A on the breast of her gown."

Despite his predictions that it would "weary very many and disgust some," The Scarlet Letter was immediately popular, allowing Hawthorne to move away from Salem with this good riddance: "I detest this town so much that I hate to go into the streets or to have the people see me. Anywhere else, I shall at once be entirely another man."

Love Your Small Bookstore Month

Hey, friends and neighbors

Will you help give Paragraphs and South Padre Island a little national exposure? I could use your help. Do you want to help get the Island known for something other than Spring Break in March? Read On..

From Indiebound.org

Author Joe Hill has officially declared March Love-Your-Small-Bookstore Month.

In a couple of recent blog entries, he's talked about how important it is to shop at your local indies. The best part? All the comments from like-minded indie fans! Always great to read.

And to get even more people excited, he's throwing a contest: March-is-love-your-Indie-Bookstore-Month: The Contest.

From Joe:

How to Play: Go to a local independent bookstore. Buy something. Save the receipt. Send a photo or scan of the receipt to this address: indie@joehillfiction.com. Make sure either your e-mail or your receipt includes the name and phone number of the bookstore in question.

There is still time. And if you have already purchased something at Paragraphs this month, come in and I will be happy to print a new receipt.

Reading During Spring Break

I am not expecting crowds of spring breakers to be waiting at the doors of Paragraphs each morning next week, but on Monday the blog, The Elegant Variation had this entry:

Sisyphus chuckling: Trying to get college students to read over spring break.

The link is to an article appearing by Chris Pellegrini, arts and entertainment editor for The Stentor, titled Reading Over Spring Break is Not Blasphemy. He continues:

Spring break beckons and Foresters' thoughts turn towards debauchery. Alas, life does not have to be this way, even with official classes in recess the quest for knowledge can continue. While you sit on the beach, at the pool, or the bar longing for the days of lectures consider throwing a book into the beachbag. In this spirit, The Stentor asked members of the English department for their recommendation and a sales pitch selling their choice.

Anyone out there listening?

RIP - Horton Foote, Texas Playwright and Screenwriter

The past few months have been spent trying to get some order and routine into my new life as a bookseller in South Padre Island, TX, and as such I have not been keeping up with the world around me, so this may be old news to many of you.

From AP News:

Playwright and screenwriter Foote, who movingly portrayed the broken dreams of common people in "The Trip to Bountiful," "Tender Mercies" and his Oscar-winning screen adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird," died Wednesday, March 4, in Connecticut. He was 92.

Foote left the cotton fields of his native Wharton, Texas, as a teenager, dreaming of becoming an actor. But realizing his gifts as a storyteller, he embarked on a writing career that spanned more than half a century and earned him two Academy Awards ("To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Tender Mercies") and a 1995 Pulitzer Prize for "The Young Man From Atlanta

The stories and lives of the people Foote loved in Texas became the bedrock for many of his plays, with the fictional Harrison, Texas, standing in for Wharton.

Dividing his time mostly between Texas and New York, he kept the Wharton home in which he had grown up and did much of his writing there. "I picked a difficult subject, a little lost Texas town no one's heard of or cares about," Foote told The New York Times in 1995. "But I'm at the mercy of what I write. The subject matter has taken me over."Never one for urbane and trendy topics, Foote instead focused on ordinary people and how their nostalgic recollections would mislead them.

For more information on Horton Foote see my post dated February 23 or click here for a short slide show.

Paragraphs Is Open

It is hard to believe but after nearly four years of planning, dreaming, problem-solving, visualizing and just plain hard work, Paragraphs is a reality. The shelves are still a little bare but filling up each day as new books arrive and the used ones are cleaned up, prepared to begin a second life, and get placed next to new friends in their category of choice.

I have been so very pleased and quite humbled by the awesome support we have received in the first few days. Even an incorrect address in the first piece of current advertising we placed could not keep the truly interested away -- thanks to the kind folks at the Visitors Center and Chamber of Commerce who sent any confused people in the right direction. Everyone has patiently waited while I learn the ins and outs of operating our new point-of-sale cash register system even after they willingly negotiated the unmarked categories, alphabet soup and chaotic free-for-all that exists on our shelves.

But, with each passing day we become a little more efficient and section by section a little order returns to the shelves. The historical romance have found their way out of history-- although a little Galbadon mixed in with McCullough did add some spice to the historical narrative--and the Bibles have found a proper measure of respect, separated from Bonk.

Chairs, wi-fi, and other amenities are being worked on to make Paragraphs a more comfortable place to sit, read and visit. Magazines, newpapers and small gift items are being ordered along with shopping bags (no more Wal-Mart plastic bags when it is raining).

Thanks to all who have so generously given of their time and talent to help make this dream a reality. And to my lovely mother and father in-law, the flowers are beautiful and have added a wonderful touch of color. They have meant a great deal to me during these first days of frightening and exhilarating chaos.

And I have really appreciated all the compliments on the design and appearance of the building. We want Paragraphs to be a positive addition to the community and the comments are encouraging and most welcome. Eventually, it is my hope that Paragraphs will become a destination of its own and as such, add to the appeal of South Padre Island, Tx. With all your help I think we can achieve that goal.

Well, I need to go to work now. Later...

Some of Life's Little Setbacks

I find it hard to believe that I haven't written anything here since Christmas and that seems like a very long time ago. Life has been getting a little frantic and most of the day to day tales of my joys, troubles, frustrations and achievements have been recorded on Twitter. It is much easier to rant or do a quick, happy dance, in 140 words or less than it is to write a fully thought out and coherent blog post.

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men frequently go awry and as everyone obviously has figured out the title of this blog had to be changed since the "Coming to South Padre Island in 2008" could be construed as false advertising and more importantly it just sounded a little silly. I have been making some giant strides, however, toward actually getting this bookstore open and filled with happy readers. I will write more about that in later posts.

My mother, aunt and I actually moved into the new residence right after the 1st of January since we needed to wait for some bedding to be delivered. For several days before actually leaving our peaceful sanctuary at the La Quinta--where hot water is abundant, cleaning is done by a competent staff and cable TV is included--we spent the time cleaning up some old, or I should say antique--it sounds better--furniture. We buffed and polished a pair of brass-looking twin beds, repaired the legs on some cedar chests, scrubbed, sanded and polished a couple of wooden dining room chairs and tables. As soon as the mattresses were delivered we made the trek from La Quinta to 5505 Padre Boulevard.

That would have been well and good but we have had a few bugs to work out in the last few weeks. Folks have been scurrying around here for days getting the last details ironed out. Everyone has done their best to make sure my dream is everything I could hope for but life seldom goes according to plan.

Catching up on laundry was an objective of my mother's in the first days after the move. A little delay in finding a dryer vent and getting it hooked up delayed matters but finally she was ready to put these shiny, white and brand new appliances to work. Everything was great as the soothing slosh/slosh of the water acted as a tranquilizer on our shattered nerves....until I walked by and saw the water running out into the hallway from the laundry room. Thank goodness for concrete floors. As I write this Sears is working on figuring out how they are going to replace a machine which was purchased in August but not installed until December.

This would have been no big deal except for a couple of other details. First, most of our clothes, hangers, cosmetics, personal hygiene products and other stuff is coming from Denver and will not arrive until the 26th of January. So, with a limited wardrobe and no washer, I am beginning to look a little ragged, which leads me to the second highlight of the last few weeks.

I have tried and been assisted by a wonderful architect and builder, to make Paragraphs as energy-efficient and "green" as possible. One of the new technologies we used is a tankless water heater. The concept is absolutely beautiful, the water is heated when the faucet is turned on and the water flows through a series of elements-- there is no standing tank, full of water, to heat, cool, and heat again and it takes up an area about 2 ft. square and 6 inches deep on my closet wall. Best of all, when I want to take that long, relaxing, soak in the tub I won't run out of hot water.

Great concept but on the first day we arrived we could only get a little warm water. Some investigation, turning up the thermostat, adjusting for air in the pipes from the irrigation installation, yada, yada...and we were all looking forward to a hot shower. Disappointment reigned. The builder investigated and tried everything until he finally realized that the electrician had installed this new technology the same as an old style water heater with a tank. After a week of tepid showers we were giddy with excitement that a solution had been found. Dirty clothes don't seem as bad when one is clean underneath and we were noticing that no one wanted to get too close so our enthusiasm cannot be understated. Arriving home after a trip to Brownsville TX, where we had been negotiating with the nice Sears salesperson, to no avail, I headed straight to the shower believing all had been resolved with the addition of a couple more circuits. Alas, all was well until someone turned on the kitchen faucet and my never ending supply of hot water did the unthinkable -- it ended.

Now, by this time I think BJ, the builder, and John, the architect, had serious doubts about my sense of feeling. Surely there is hot water, there has to be. Joni is getting a little stressed out and you know how women are. Now mind you, no one actually said any of this, but I can imagine what was going through their minds. So, yesterday, they both arrived on the scene, determined to solve this mysterious situation.

After finally deciding that I wasn't delusional and that one should be able to expect enough warm water to shower while someone else washes the dishes, calls were made to the manufacturer. At first everyone was convinced that this was the best that could be expected and we began discussing what to do next. Then, someone decided that this was just too strange, if this was the best performance one could expect from one of these new-fangled contraptions the company would not be selling any and so the manufacturer was called again and the individual elements within the unit were tested. Voila, problem located, and will be solved someday soon. Meanwhile, one person can have a nearly unlimited supply of almost hot water.

To our delight, we have also discovered a temporary fix to our washer problem. The bad transmission makes the agitator go a little haywire which is what causes the water to overflow, and eventually run out the bottom. If one only fills the tub halfway, it can slosh around all it wants and the water still stays within the tub. So, until Sears decides to do the honorable thing we can have clean underwear--just in case one of us is in a car accident.

I know this blog is supposed to be about opening a bookstore, but in this case the store and my new home are all wrapped up in one package and I am doing everything at once so all these little annoyances are part of the day to day process of getting ready to open Paragraphs.

And just so no one gets the idea that everything is going badly or that I am completely discouraged I need to tell another story. Several evenings ago, mother and I took the bookends for a walk on the beach. We were near what is known as the end of the road where there is not any development and all one can see is the gulf, dunes and the bay. As we looked west the sun was sinking below the horizon and casting a beautiful deep pink glow over everything. To the east we could see the full moon rising over the white-capped waves of the gulf and at that moment we spotted one of the most perfect yellow blossoms tucked into the sheltered side of a wind-swept dune. Yes, no matter what, life is going to be good on this sandbar.