November #IWSG: The Perks of Being a School Librarian

Come join Alex J. Cavanaugh and the Insecure Writer's Support Group. We discuss our fears, insecurities, ups and downs of the writing process and post the first Wednesday of every month! http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html

OPTIONAL IWSG Day Question: How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?

Co-Hosts:  Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Ann V. Friend, JQ Rose, and Elizabeth Seckman!

Over the past few years, my creativity has evolved into an insatiable monster. Events, awkward situations, conversations, and personalities get thrown into a folder in the back of my brain, ready to use in any given scene. EVERYTHING that comes my way in life turns into potential story ideas. That goofy middle-aged man I just met would make a great side character. That annoyingly perky woman would make an awesome villain--hiding her real personality behind her perfect life. 

One of the perks of being a school librarian is the interaction with the kids. Eavesdropping on their conversations and watching them in the "wild" (aka school) provides great material since I write middle-grade.

Can you guess the best perk of being a librarian? Yep, I get to read all the books. The other day as I explored the library I discovered a stack of Mark Twain Award books on a top shelf. A whole stack of unread novels just waiting for me! I dove into the first one, a middle-grade mystery, FRAMED! by James Ponti and I was hooked. I read it in a day. Now I'm onto Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. My kids at school are like, "Mrs. Hawes has her nose in a book again." And I'm like, "What? Oh, hey kids, didn't see you there."

I need an intervention.

Anyone else doing NaNo this month? Do you need an intervention? Are you reading all the books? I'm almost ten thousand words into my next murder mystery!