Friday, December 13, 2013

In Need of a Solutioneer

Each night I think to myself...you should really write a blog post. Then, somehow, the time passes with other duties, and I am too tired to write. It is not that I lack subject matter. There are plenty of books and reading stories to share. Like Max, the title character in Cynthia Voigt's latest chapter book (Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things), I am, perhaps, seeking to define my role as someone who writes about books. Do I write as a record of my own reading? Do I write to prompt others to read certain books? Do I write to create awareness of important ideas about reading? Yes, yes, yes. But I know that others do this far better than me, and so I thought perhaps I should just let this Library Jewel thing go. And yet...I am here again, at least for now.

Mister Max must find a way to exert his independence, manage a household, convince others of his competence, and somehow make a meager living in an English city. Faced with a house full of costumes and a librarian grandmother who only wants what is best for him, Max is fortunate to acquire small jobs that pay enough for him to maintain his art lessons and buy what he needs for food. As word spreads of his work, he sees that he is more than a detective or a problem-solver or spy. He decides he finds solutions for those who seek his services and thus calls himself a Solutioneer. 

Intermingled with his cases are personal matters of great importance, mistaken identities, larger-than-life characters, and a baker whose pastries make my mouth water! Max's story ends with several solutions, but the case most essential for his well-being remains without one, prompting a sequel (to be released in 2014).

4 comments:

  1. Up early, I set aside 1 hour before heading off to work. I pull up my photo of the day. Look and write what comes to me, I do it for me really. It just so happens that others have 'tagged along' for the ride. That's the salad dressing on my salad of the day. hahahaha

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    1. I like your method, Birdman. If I did not have to go to work every morning, I would start that way, too.

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  2. When I wanted to quit my blog, a friend said, why not just leave it up for now...I guess it doesn't have to be all or nothing, but can be both of those as well...Beautiful photo...When did you take that, I wonder....

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    1. That is how I viewed the last month...a break from it. I took the photo in July in Brattleboro in my friends's garden.

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