What a great idea!

When we were planning our exciting new version of accentonbooks.com, I thought, "Wouldn't it be interesting to have a page with frequent entries about what was going on at Accent on Books, as well as in the larger literary world. It would be a kind of daily long on the web. Hmmm -- 'web' plus 'log' equals...'blog'! I could call it a 'blog'!"



So I called my friend Al Gore, inventor of the internet, and said, "Hey, Al!" (which happens to be the title of the picture book which won the Caldecott Medal in 1987). I then told him about my idea. "Well," he said solemnly, "I'm afraid that there are already a number of blogs on the internet. And, by the way, tell Barack and Hillary the answer is still, 'No.'"



You can imagine how shocked I was to find that my idea had been stolen from me before I even had a chance to think of it. However, not being a bitter man, I decided to proceed anyway. So, thanks to the genius of our wonderful webmistress Byron, Page 854 -- the blog of Accent on Books, located at 854 Merrimon Avenue -- is now underway.



So what can you expect to be announced, talked about, obsessed about, and complained about on this blog?



-- All the latest news and happenings at Your Favorite Bookstore, located in Grace Plaza in Asheville, NC, including in-store events, new books, forthcoming books and all the dangers and scandals involved in the world of North Asheville bookselling.



-- What the bestsellers are -- or aren't -- both locally and nationally.



-- Articles and sites of interest from around the web.



-- News about the wider world of books, and gossip about all your favorite literary figures, including Wayne Caldwell, Joan Medlicott, Marcus Borg and Paris Hilton.



-- Actually, I just wanted to be the first person in history to write the phrase, "Marcus Borg and Paris Hilton."



So I hope you'll check back often and give us feedback on what you'd like to see on Page 854. And if you see Al Gore sliding around on some glacier somewhere, ask him to take a look at my blog.