When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was Richard Halliburton's Book of Marvels. It had a section for Wonders of the New World (which included the Golden Gate bridge, something I'd been driven over many times) and Wonders of the Old World, which included (I think) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Queen Zenobia's desert city. The old wonders made me mad with desire and probably changed forever what I thought I'd be and see in the world.

So it just made sense to pick this as the title for my blog. In my writing life--which is a big part of my life, since I pick away at writing so slowly and allow for so many maddening diversions--I often feel I'm compiling my own Book of Marvels, both fiction and nonfiction. I thought I'd write here about the things that fascinate me-- and these are almost always the things I might want to write about or am writing about.

So there. The first post.  ¶ 9:21 PM