While it is true that finishing the first draft of a novel is just one small step on the staircase towards publication, it also a tremendous accomplishment. It takes dedication, and even more so when the goal is to finish a 50,000-word novel draft in just one month, as many do by participating in National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo happens every November and has participants from all over the world. However, NaNoWriMo is more than just a cool writing event; it’s also a nonprofit organization. Their mission statement says, “National Novel Writing Month believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.” On the NaNoWriMo website, writers can create a free account and use it to announce their NaNoWriMo novel, update their word count, and earn personal achievement badges. Furthermore, the website provides things like writing inspiration and encouragement from staff and published authors, a place to connect with the writing community through online forums, and a way to find in-person writing events in your own local community. They also have an active Twitter account, on which they post things to inspire, coach, and help writers along in their novel-writing journey. Even here in the Fox Cities and greater Green Bay area, we have plenty of NaNoWriMo resources and active participant groups. In Green Bay, the Brown County Library hosts regular write-ins at their central location every Saturday…

Autumn Leaves, Ithaca’s beloved source for used books, boasts “60,000 books, 10,000 records and a café, all under one roof.” In the heart of the Commons (115 E. State Street), the basement of the bookstore contains Angry Mom Records, the ground floor contains the main bookstore, and the second floor doubles as the Owl Café (fair trade coffee, of course) and a space for the Tompkins County Workers’ Center. The Workers’ Center, whose mission statement is that all people are respected in the workplace, have a Living Wage, the right to organize, quality health care, housing, childcare, transportation, and access to healthy food and water, establishes Autumn Leaves as a truly Ithacan bookstore with its advocacy of community activism. Part of what I love about Autumn Leaves is that it doesn’t care much about being fancy. It’s well lit, with a few choice armchairs and a big sofa upstairs for hunkering down with a new find. There’s just the right balance between orderly, alphabetized shelves, and disheveled piles of books with the air of bemused chickens who suddenly find themselves roosting in a foreign coop. But the store is unconcerned with giant displays of coffee table books, or other gaudy marketing techniques one so frequently spots at commercial bookstores. The wooden shelves are as plain and functional as the grey-flecked tile floor, and the staff tends to leave you alone unless you look particularly lost or you’re staggering under the weight of your armload of books. And to make things…

Ithaca, New York is more than just “Gorges.” Luminosity recently released a study deeming Ithaca the smartest city in America based on cognitive training exercises. A thriving, progressive college town, Ithaca is certainly a center for learning and growth. But what else makes it such a hotspot for brain power? Ithaca boasts a community of writers, readers, and researchers; one that makes our small city a valuable destination for book lovers. Encouraging news for fledgling Ithaca writers: you are in good company. Ithaca’s literati includes Diane Ackerman, Rebecca Barry, Leslie Daniels, Shawn Goodman, Alex Haley, J. Robert Lennon, David Lehman, Alison Lurie, Vladimir Nabokov, Anne Mazer, Robert Mrazek, Tea Obreht, Carl Sagan, Rod Serling, David Foster Wallace, and E. B. White to name just a few. Ithaca is home to a great variety of libraries and research facilities. The public has access to rare and alternative materials at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC) through Cornell University and at Durland Alternatives Library. The Tompkins County Public Library hosts the Friends of the Library Book Sale every fall and spring. The book sale is one of the largest in the U.S. with over one quarter of a million items. For those seeking out the latest best-selling novel, a classic first edition, or a local author’s debut, there are many local book retailers worthy of support. Autumn Leaves Used Books has a wide selection of used books, also boasting an extensive record album collection and a pirate-themed café above the…