#thecommonlibrarian

1. What are the contents of your current handbag? Wallet, keys, sunglasses, Special K protein bar, business cards, Ibuprofen, and a few different shades of lipstick.

2. Have you ever lost something that meant a great deal to you? If so, what? Right now I can’t find my college ring; rings were a big deal at my liberal arts woman’s college, with a whole big week-long decorating and gift-giving celebration culminating in a scavenger hunt and big party to celebrate receiving the ring. I’m sad I can’t find it.

3. If you could meet one author, living or dead, for one hour, who would it be and why? Virginia Woolf. She’s probably the single most influential author on my life, aside from Madeline L’Engle (who I already met!).

4. If you could only ask the author one question, what would it be? How can I help?

[#5 moved to the end for reasons of length]

6. We already know you’re amazing (I tagged you, so this is a given) but what is one amazing fact about yourself that your followers might not know? The first vehicle I learned to drive was a tractor, and I spent the first 18 years of my life working on my grandparents’ ranch in central Oklahoma on school holidays. I can tell you things about Charolais cattle you probably never wanted to know.

7. What is your favourite dessert or pudding? Baked New York style cheesecake.

8. What do you do with odd socks? Make new hair bun rolls, or sometimes use them as dust rags.

9. An important visitor is coming over in one hour. What do you do to prepare? Clean up as much as I can and light a candle.

10. You are a non-superhuman superhero. What is your special skill? I make all the best mix tapes for long flights in the SHIELD jets.

11. What is next to your bed/on your bedside table/locker? Humidifier and my glasses case.

[I moved this down here because it got a bit long]

5. If you had a limitless gift voucher for either a large drugstore or a large stationery shop, which would you choose? And why? (Feel free to list all the awesome stuff you’d buy!). OMG, Katie, of course you’d have to ask me this one. The answer is, without a doubt, stationery shop. I would start by designing a custom monogram and then choose the creamiest, heaviest, highest-linen-count paper available in every shape and size possible, and emboss each sheet with the monogram. I’d get several sets of heavier single-side thank you cards in various color combos, starting with navy and silver, black and gold, green and black, and then all the houses of Hogwarts. Then I’d order eggshell cotton-linen blend writing paper in stacks of 250, each sheet with a much smaller version of the monogram stamped at the top. I’d design eggshell envelopes with a variety of different inside flaps, again in Hogwarts colors and a few other combinations. Many of these would be variations on pinstripes (ala this Crane set I’ve used in the past). I’d have a variety of return address rubber stamps in different shapes and sizes, as well as some cut in the shape of the monogram. I’d order another set of rubber stamps with various quotations I love. I’d buy every Montblanc fountain pen in the joint, and then a few bottles of every color ink in stock. I’d also grab every thickness of calligraphy pen in every color available. I’d also order a set of common occasion cards (congratulations, condolences, births, graduations, etc.) in the same eggshell linen of the thank you notes, but more generalized with black and silver accents. I am stopping here because this is getting ridiculous and I could go on for hours.