Saturday, March 1, 2008

Cleaning up the odds and ends

I'm writing an urban paranormal. Not anytime soon, and probably not next year. But since it takes place here I thought I'd get the research in while I could. I'd aways meant to, but with one thing and the other--there was never time. Stupid, I told the woman at the library--I could have come anytime over the last twenty years. Instead I waited.

It was musty and "book-smelling". Like a library should be, and never is anymore. Old libraries are like that. I live next to a new one. It's all shiny glass and computers, but the one in Old Town Portsmouth is the real deal.





The historical document room is down in the sub-basement, and there were card catalogs, maps, and stuff dating back to the revolutionary war, all sitting out for people to read, like three hundred year old newspapers are normal or something.
I got lots of research in. Maybe I'll go back next Saturday, I don't know. Their hours are limited. Not too many people want to sit in a basement digitalizing old records. It's run by volunteers.

...oops, got to back up--it's an urban paranormal set in the eighteen hundreds. I spent the next hour driving around taking pictures of churches and stuff.

8 comments:

Jennifer McKenzie said...

VERY COOL!!!!! I love libraries that smell right.
Ours is "new" and doesn't smell right to me at all.
It's got that "computer techy" smell now.
I can't WAIT to read your urban paranormal.

Kaige said...

I miss flipping through card catalogs. There's just no good browsing or stumbling across things by accident any more it seems. Loved the pictures!

Unknown said...

lol--I have a digital camera, and I'm gonna use it. (at least a little before I leave.)

the woman down in the basement (sounds like an rs) showed me all three of hers, and let me fondle the Howard Report on the Pestilence in all its crackly paged glory (although I did wonder if it was contagious anymore)

lol, Jen--you've got a long wait. I think it's a sooner or later thing, but gotta do the research now. I don't think I'm coming back.

Anonymous said...

I thought part of the definition of "urban" was modern. Now I'm wondering about it. Does "urban" in literature merely mean it's set in a city?

Unhinged said...

I didn't know what an urban paranormal was, so I Googled it. Found a book on Amazon by J.R. Ward. It just so happens that I read J.R. Ward.

Love the photos. I was always into gothic. Victoria Holt-ish, no?

What's your definition of an urban paranormal, Jodi?

Anonymous said...

I've got a meme up and your name is all over it. Ok, only in one little place right along with unhingy, but you know what I mean. I mean TAG!

Anonymous said...

Loved the pictures. Yep, I love the "old" libraries. They're the only ones with any character.

Thanks for the congrats on my review, btw...

MM

Jeanna said...

Any place with a sub basement is okay by me.