StreetLib Stories: Dorah Blume

Our StreetLibers are the foundation, brick and mortar of our company. We are only the workers. StreetLib stories are a way to learn about these foundations, one StreetLiber at a time. We discover today Dorah Blume’s publishing story as told by herself. Thanks Dorah for sharing it with us! Here is her story:

AC de Fombelle
Jul 28, 2017 · 5 min read
Dorah Blume

The Earliest Seeds

• A boyfriend of my Bennington classmate Margo commented in 1963 that I resembled someone in a Botticelli painting. It caused me to look more closely at Botticelli’s work.

As the Seeds Took Root, a Novel Grew…

The first few lines of Botticelli’s Muse began as a free-write session in my living room. It took a full year for me to discover the voice belonged to a character in a Botticelli painting. A visit to Italy in the summer of 1993, and an unplanned sojourn in hotel Mona Lisa (a building that had lodged the religious heads from Constantinople and Rome for the Council of Florence in 1438) introduced me to the matron of the hotel, Oslavia, who inspired the character of Sandro’s sister. I searched the archives of Florence’s synagogue/temple library and the Jewish burial grounds, using my inadequate Italian to find names and places that might show me a way back in time. As my imagination expanded these historical scraps, a story began to unfold.

Coming to StreetLib

I first came to StreetLib because they partner with Overdrive which is connected to an international library lending program. To my surprise, StreetLib turned out to be an Italian company. Being the Italophile that I am, I was excited to find them.

Self-Publishing inside the Silver Tsunami

In addition to publishing my own work, one of my goals for Juiceboxartists Press, is to bring the voices of other older writers to the page. There are so many of us who have started late in life because the tasks of day to day survival have often taken us away from our creative passions. The world of self-publishing is transforming books and reading. With each year the products get more and more sophisticated. Self-published books today outnumber trade publications. I’m proud to be a part of this trend, and to be a member of the Silver Tsunami — the rising numbers of silver-haired seniors making their way into the cultural mainstream.

Discover Dorah’s book: Botticelli’s muse

Are you a StreetLiber? Do you want your publishing story to be featured on the StreetLib blog? Please send your story to support@streetlib.com with the subject “StreetLib Story”.

StreetLib

The global gateway distributor of digital and paper books for the 21st century.

AC de Fombelle

Written by

StreetLib

StreetLib

The global gateway distributor of digital and paper books for the 21st century.

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