The Start up...

It's that time.

Time to split off my regular blog and start a dedicated blog that focuses on writing and the world of books.

If you are coming in on all this in the middle, no worries. You probably found the right site for your wants and will have no need to go find my original blog.

If you've been with me for a while; no longer do you have to wade through my 'everything' blog to get to the writing, or conversely, you no longer have to read about my writing if you just want the other stuff ;)

A little background data:

Amy White

   Librarian
      -not the librarian that gets to order the books
      -not the librarian that manages other librarians
      -not the librarian that processes books either
   I am that librarian you find at the desk, or out in the stacks, talking to kids about books.

   Writer
      -not the writer who has anything published, yet
      -not the writer who is famous, yet
      -not the writer who really knows a whole lot, yet
   I am a writer who, after years of being 'just a reader', had to start writing.

... and so we go

What to look forward to:

The occasional reviews
Links for writers
Booklists for writers
Writing conference reviews
Items that might be of interest to writers, in particular, writers for children

_______________

This is a journey I have been on, most of the time unknowingly, for too many years to safely say.

I didn't start out a writer; I didn't even start out as a reader.

I was that kid in kindergarten who decided that, "it's all that Peter Rabbit's fault!" It's his fault I had to write a poem on him, it's his fault I couldn't spell that darn two-letter word 'is' and by darn, I'm not going to read anymore, particularly that Peter Rabbit stuff.

And so I didn't.
Read that is.

I made it through an embarrassing amount of years faking it.

It wasn't until I stumbled over a librarian who showed me a book like I had never seen before. To be truthful, how could I see if I never looked, but that's beside the point. It was Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Below the Root. Wow. What's this about a place where there was so little gravity you could float to school? I had finally found 'that book' that turned me into a reader.

I was hooked.

I became a voracious reader. I had missed so many books! Granted, I still had a few hang-ups, some false starts - books that sucked - but I soldiered through because I found out that if I kept at it, I'd find those hidden treasures.
Eventually I got a job at my local Waldenbooks. Wow. All those books. Neat, shiny and wonderfully brand new. My job? To sell books! You betcha!

Many years, and several moves, later I applied for a job at the Orem Public Library. "You mean I get to send patrons home with stacks and stacks of books and I don't have to worry about the end price tag? Oh, baby!" I started out in the General Reference, but within a year I moved into the Children's Wing. It's where you will find me today.

My goal as a librarian: To be 'that librarian' to the kids. I believe that you just have to find the right book to turn a kid onto reading. I aim to put 'that book' into each kids hands.

My goal as a writer: To write books that can be 'that book'. Unfortunately, or fortunately - depending on how you look at it - my young library readers are even more voracious than I. And, even worse, they are running out of books to read! I know it seems impossible, but it's true: We need more good books. And, well - I happen to have a few ideas...

To wrap up - -

These last 15 years at the library, in Utah -a known hotbed for aspiring writers- have been more than an avid reader can handle. All those conferences, all those workshops, storytelling festivals, seminars, author visits!!! The voices in my head will no longer allow me to be 'just a reader'. I give up, I will do it, I will place words on paper and I will write.

Now quiet all you characters in my head, I need to get some work done…