What are your five favorite books, and why?
"Bambi" and "Bambi's Children" - because Felix Salten was a very talented writer, and a dedicated naturalist. His books were done a terrible disservice by Disney. And I learned a lot about both Nature and human nature, from the two books. Then there's Sir Terry Pratchett's "Monstrous Regiment", which is perfectly brilliant in the way it satirizes militarism, international politics, and patriarchy, all while providing laughs on just about every page. A close runner-up, for me, is his "Hogfather", which even got made into a TV film in the UK. Last, only because I'm being limited to five books, I guess It'll have to be "Cold Comfort Farm" by Stella Gibbons. She satirized ChickLit decades before anybody knew the term or the concept. I only left out many favorite authors, because it's impossible to single out "favorites" from among their entire body of excellent work.
Describe your desk
It has a computer and a printer, a mug with a broken-off handle, full of pens and a letter opener; one of my credit cards, some folders containing works in progress; a clipboard; many half-sheets of paper with notes about stuff I'm buying, people's addresses, etc.; and Katharine Briggs's "An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogles, and Other Supernatural Creatures".
