Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Midlist Writer blog, where he talks about writing, adventure travel, caving, and everything else he gets up to. He also reproduces all the posts from Civil War Horror, so drop on by!

Thursday, June 6, 2013

You never know where your books will end up

A couple of days ago I needed a new book to read. Luckily my hotel in Ljubljana had a book exchange, one of those handy take-a-book-leave-a-book services. I dropped off the novel I'd just finished and rummaged around their selection.

Immediately I came across a name I recognized. Jane Toombs is an experienced midlist writer with almost a hundred books under her belt. I interviewed her for an article on midlist writers and have chatted with her online many times over the years. The book was Designated Daddy, a Silhouette Romance.

Not my kind of thing, so I picked a different book, but it made me realize that you never know where your books will end up. It looked a bit tattered, like it had been on the road for a while and had changed hands more than once. Of course, all the English-language books on that shelf had traveled a long way. It's just that seeing one by an author I know really brought the point home to me that our work is an enduring thing with a life of its own.

Who knows? Maybe I'll come across one of my own books one day.

4 comments:

  1. Can the same be said for an ebook? We won't see an ebook lying on the counter for recycling, will we? Swapping books is something we did in Paris, too. I left Neil Gaimon's Neverwhere in the apartment and hubs took a Steve Berry thriller. That's something I'd miss.

    How can we ever share an ebook like this? It's something that the ebook pubs should consider.

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  2. Wouldn't that be wonderful!
    I'm always happy when I run across a book in the library or a book store written by someone I know.

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  3. That is wild to think where our books might end up some day.

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  4. Hi Sean .. great thought about your books popping up around the world .. love the idea ...

    Cheers Hilary

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