Bookmarks

For our What Women Write retreat, Pamela gave all of us personalized charm-bookmarks she’d devoted precious time to making. From mine dangles a pretty marbled stone, a silver and black heart, a Hope charm, and a 2009 marker, a little indication that this was the first of many retreats.

It got me thinking about bookmarks and the little things that, for me, make reading a book more special.

I’ve picked up bookmarks from libraries, conferences, bookstores, even from colleges my son hopes to attend. I’ve received bookmarks for gifts, whether alone or nestled inside one of my soon to be favorites. The ones I like best are from unique places or remind me of good friends.

I’ve got several from Politics and Prose, the Washington, D.C. bookstore one of my sisters frequents. I've collected treasures from other independents as well, such as the fantabulous Powell’s in Portland, where my husband had to drag me away from eight floors of books. From both the Poisoned Pen and Pages in Scottsdale, recent excursions with my cousin Gail. From Four Seasons Books in Shepherdstown, WV, where my friend Devon and I met to browse and reminisce about our time at Oxford. Some remind me that getting published is for real people too, like the publicity bookmarks I’ve accumulated over the years from writers I know, such as my friend and mentor Sophia Nash, award-winning author of seven historical novels; my critique partner Bill Lee, author of The Boys in Blue White Dress and who was recently featured in the Dallas Morning News; fellow board member Rachel DeFriez, author of The Rath Haven Chronicles; and writing acquaintances Candace Havens and Rosemary Clement Moore.

Truthfully, any slip of paper will do and often has. I’ve used an airline boarding pass, a grocery receipt, the empty lines on the bottom of a to-do list. Anything to avoid dog-earing pages, which for me is truly taboo for any true writer or reader.

How about you? What are your favorite and most memorable bookmarks?