I had a chat with Marshall Payne recently about his favourite bookshop, and what he had to say made me smile.  I think a lot of booklovers would love to have a local bookshop where the staff know everything that’s on the shelves–and even better, have read the books and can offer a considered opinion and some discussion.  Getting a friend and mentor out of it as well all sounds a little bit dreamlike:

I found my way to becoming a fiction writer via an odd path. I was a pro musician for many years, and in 1984 at the age of 27 I awoke one morning on the road and wanted to be a fiction writer. Precisely, I wanted to be a science fiction writer. Odd thing was, I’d never read much of the stuff. Somehow I suspected the field might accommodate my outré ideas, and that there was probably a little niche in it that wasn’t all ray guns and rocket ships. I talk about it in this interview here, if you’re curious, but basically a friend of mine gave me a list of writers to read: Zelazny, Delany, Phil Dick, Le Guin, etc. I had a lot of catching up to do!

So I set out on my search and found The Book Nook, a used book store in Wichita, Kansas, where I was living at the time. It was typical in a lot of respects, divided into sections: mainstream, romance, mystery, Westerns, and yes, SF/F. That day I met its owners, Jim and Cindy Jones. Turns out, they we’re quite well educated and loved speculative fiction. I got more than I bargained for when I walked through their doors. Not only did I get two really great friends, but Jim was instrumental in introducing me to our field. He was also quite helpful in reading over my first few dismal attempts at fiction and telling me what I was doing wrong. Sometimes his crits were harsh, but that’s exactly what I needed. While not a fiction writer, he was a smart man and a voracious reader.

One time he asked me what I meant by ‘her esoteric beauty’ in a story I had just written. I told him I thought it meant that she had an odd beauty about her. He set me straight on what ‘esoteric’ meant: ‘Only for the initiated,’ he said. For one thing, Jim taught me to question word usage and consult my dictionary when in doubt, though a couple of years ago I did finally slip that phrase into a story where it made sense. Mostly to prove I could do it, but also to wink at my old friend.

When Stephanie asked me to write about a bookstore that stands out in my mind, I fondly remember The Book Nook. After that first fledging attempt, I gave up fiction writing for many years to pursue music, so Jim and I lost touch with one another, but today I vividly remember those formative times. The Book Nook wasn’t unique as a book store, but its owner made it that way for me.

Marshall’s been a prolific chap of late, selling stories all over the place and writing thoughtful reviews at The Fix.  You can check out his biography at his page there, or his livejournal.

Previous Favourite Bookshop posts:  Margo Lanagan; Lucy Sussex