Keeping in touch

One of the amazing things about blogging is the ability to connect with people. I have been contacted by an old friend...no, that's not right. She's not old....--a friend I lost touch with many years ago. I, one day, would very much like to be able to bring all my friends, many of whom I have lost touch with, together for a big party, the Willena's Friend's Bash. That would be fun. Poker player Jamie chatting up poet Debra, epidemiologist Lou debating with writer Tim, all under a great big circus tent. What a fabulous idea.

I'd like to invite all my favorite writers to the party too, whether they know me or not. Don't you feel like the books you read are all old friends when you re-read them? I do. Which is why I have such terrible trouble getting rid of books, even if I no longer have any bookshelf space. The folks from Designed to Sell would have a field day with my home, since I have bookcases blocking the top and bottom of my staircase. Several times I have moved and given away some of my books, an act that I have always regretted. Always. Does anybody know the name of a children's book, set in London, the main character is a lonely little girl who discovers she is a witch. There is a scene in which she ends up inadvertently shoplifting candy from a store and she gets in trouble... I loved that book when I was little, and I can not remember the name of it. It drives me crazy, because I really would like to re-read it, but I gave it away over twenty years ago....