"We have some amazing writers in the Cleveland area, and how often do writers have a chance to sit in the window of their neighborhood bookstore and write?" asked Jane Rothstein, of Appletree Books. "And how often do people see writers writing?"
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio - In one of Appletree Books' picture windows, Christine Howey, a local playwright, poet and theater critic, was sketching out a new book-length poem on a yellow legal pad.
In the other window, Sarah Bania-Dobyns, a historical fiction writer from Case Western Reserve University, was typing up a fictional account of a 15th-century Czech heretic named Jan Hus.
Sarah Bania-Dobyns, a historical fiction writer from Case Western Reserve University, writes in the front picture window of Appletree Books in Cleveland Heights. Appletree Books, an independent bookstore in Cleveland Heights, is celebrating National Novel Writing Month by featuring local writers in its front windows. As in, having them actually sitting in the windows furiously scribbling or pecking out their masterpieces as cars and pedestrians pass by on Cedar Road.
"We have some amazing writers in the Cleveland area, and how often do writers have a chance to sit in the window of their neighborhood bookstore and write?" asked Jane Rothstein, of Appletree Books. "And how often do people see writers writing?"
Appletree Books, founded in 1975, and located at 12419 Cedar Road for 41 years, has always used its windows to spotlight the work of local artists or nonprofits. "This November, we wanted to feature area writers plying their craft out in the public eye," she said.
The event is timed to coincide with National Novel Writing Month, #NaNoWriMo ("NA-no-RYE-mo") for short, a nonprofit that challenges participants to write a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. But participants can be writers of all ages, formats and genres, working on notebooks, tablets or laptops.
"So far, our sign-ups have spanned from middle schoolers to professional writers and include novelists, short story writers, playwrights, journalists, graduate students, and more," Rothstein said. (For information, or to sign up, email jane@appletree-books.com or call the store at (216) 791-2665.)
"You can think of it as performance art, a way to gain a different perspective on the world, a break from your routine, or just a unique way to embed yourself in the workings of a bookstore. In the spirit of NaNoWriMo, which values imagination, enthusiasm, determination, and the value of having a deadline (write a novel in a month!), Appletree wants writers in our area to come write in a space where readers value writers."
Last year's #NaNoWriMo attracted 43,626 participants around the world, including 80,137 students and educators. They "started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists," according to its website.
Appletree Books is inviting local authors to write in its front windows for National Novel Writing Month during November. Deborah Leonard, executive director of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association in Ypsilanti, Michigan, says having local authors showcased in local bookstores is a natural and mutually beneficial collaboration.
"My local bookstore in Ann Arbor is connected with the University of Michigan's first authors program, and many first-time authors launch their books there," she said. GLIBA represents 127 independently owned bookstores in Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
Contrary to what critics said would happen to independent booksellers after Borders Books & Music closed, "we're growing, and we've been growing for the last five years," she said. "Not only are more young people starting bookstores, it used to be very difficult for people who were ready to retire to sell their stores, and now there are people looking all the time for bookstores to buy."
Consumers are coming, too, Leonard said. "People are thinking more about where they spend their money, and where their dollars are going in the community."
Bania-Dobyns, who heard about the Appletree Books event from former store owner Jane Kessler, isn't concerned about finishing her book about Jan Hus within a month: "I'm trying as much as possible to include the real characters he knew and the real events that happened in his life. It was a long time ago. We just don't have all the resources necessary to know all the characters he might have come across.
"He lived before the Reformation, but in the Czech Republic, he's become the symbol of Czech freedom. He believed that lay people should have access to the Scriptures in their own languages," in defiance of the Catholic Church, Bania-Dobyns said. "It's too much to complete in one month, doing the research and writing in this kind of format."
Howey, whose latest poetry book, "Playing Tennis with the Net Down" was just published by locally owned Night Ballet Press, said she was surprised by how nonchalant some passers-by were. "It's like a person's writing in the window all the time," she said.
Cleveland Heights resident Helmut Kramer, who stopped by the store to browse, was delighted to see people writing in the windows. "We absolutely need more of this," he said.
Kathleen Calby, who was one of the first two to step into the windows at 10 a.m., said: "I thought it was really fun. Just bringing attention to this is really wonderful." Writers spend so much time by themselves that having some social experiences is really important."
She used her time to create excerpts of her just-finished spiritual memoir about Ancient Egypt, called "Pyramids of Love."
"People were walking along and were kind of surprised by it. One man poked his head into the store and asked: "So what are you, the writer in the window?'
"That's right, I am," Calby told him. "I'm here to sell books."
