Hello!

Ever since I was a kid I have loved books.  Whether I'm learning how to do something, experiencing how people have lived in different times and places, or just escaping into a fantasy land, books have had a big influence on my life from an early age.

And ever since my 1960s-era paperbacks of the Lord of the Rings trilogy started crumbling to dust, I've been interested in how books--the physical objects--are made.  I learned how mass market paperbacks are slapped together, and how trade paper is similar but very different.  I learned that an acid-free hardbound book can last hundreds of years before deteriorating.  I even learned that buying a book online labelled "hardcover" does not necessarily mean it's going to be hard-bound.  I took up the hobby in college of making simple unlined journals, with computer paper folded and sewn to cardstock with sewing thread.

I eventually had to stop making books and start making a living, and the journals that I had made were slowly doled out to friends and family, or used by me.  Once in a while, however, I get the urge to write.  I don't write anything anyone would find interesting, but it clears my head so I can go to sleep.  One night, the writing muse hit me and I had nothing to write in.  My journals were full.  My college comp books were full.  And it was almost midnight, so I couldn't just go get one.  I started to wonder if maybe I shouldn't make myself another journal or two.

Only days later, I was walking through the local art store and saw that they had some bookbinding supplies.  Everything was screaming to me, "make more books, make more books".  My girlfriend encouraged me to take the hobby back up in whatever spare time I could muster, and I have!  And it's fun!  I love reading books, but there's a certain joy I get in making them, and knowing that (hopefully) someone is finding them useful to write in and delightful to look at.

Cheers!