Monday, July 5, 2010

Burrowers, Books and Balderdash

In June 2005, when Countess Vera Rassakoff proposed opening an online café where writers and readers could gather for coffee and books, everyone laughed at her. She stubbornly refused to listen and opened the Café Steinbeck. Within hours, she gathered a loyal following- most of whom came for her famous Sachertorte and stayed on for the discussions. When the Café was forced to down its shutters two years later, its walls were adorned with paintings, and its shelves with the ghosts of future books.

The Café is no more, but the writers who got started there are very much around.

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Many of the writers are already known to you, but starting today, seven of us would also be coming together for a collective blog- Burrowers, Books & Balderdash.

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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

16 comments:

Jan Morrison said...

congratulations to fulfilling dreams! Yay - quadruple yay! I've been - it's lovely.

Deb and Barbara said...

Congrats! Will definitely go visit.

One of my best friends opened a similar kind of coffee shop about ten years ago called "Wuthering Bites". It was amazing -- we writers could read excerpts of our WIPs as well as drinking delicious fair trade coffee and discussing books of every kind. Sadly, she only lasted two years. But the memories (and book club) linger on.

Barbara

Helen Ginger said...

Love the name, burrowers, books & balderdash! What a wonderful name.

(I gave you an award today, Rayna.)

Straight From Hel

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Very interesting this one, I love reading these,

Take care,
Yvonne,

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

I'm excited about y'all's new blog! Love the look of it...and the name.

And your blog is looking very spiffy these days! Love the new look. :)

Laura Eno said...

I'm glad to meet you! Thanks to Helen for sending me over your way.

Marjorie said...

I'm glad you all got the Blog up and running. I loved the Cafe. It was like a little cozy home inside a larger home. I am sending lots of love to all you Burrowers.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm seeing a lot about this blog today!

Cruella Collett said...

That was a very nice ride down memory lane, Natasha :) It makes me so proud to think of all the work we have put down to transform the lovely cafe into a more permanent work space.

The Burrow said...

Kind words you speak! You all must know what these rings mean: Make writing an olympic discipline!

STG

Jemi Fraser said...

This looks like a great new blog :)

Unknown said...

That was an awesome drabble. It brings back so many warm memories of the Cafe. Thank you Tina, Jason and Natasha for bringing us all together and giving us all the opportunity to dream, be creative and write collectively. You are all a wonderfully supportive writer's group!

*hugs*

Unknown said...

Ive become a follower of your blog. Can't wait to read the posts.

CD

Saumya said...

Oh wow, this is awesome! Can't wait to check it out!

Ann said...

Love this new blog. Well wear!

Natasha said...

@ Jan- oh yes, it is fantastic, isn't it?

@ Barbara- that must have been fantastic!

@ Helen- it is, isn't it? Not my idea, unfortunately.

@ Yvonne- thank you.

@ Elizabeth- thank you.

@ Laura- glad to meet you to.

@ Marjorie- thank you. You have great memories of the Cafe, don't you?

@ Alex- we are good at marketing ;-)

@ Cruella- it is worth being proud of, isn't it?

@ Sera- that is an idea!

@ Jemi- trust me on this- it is!

@ Chary- thank you, Chary. You were such an intrinsic part of the Cafe.

@ Clarissa- have fun!

@ Saumya- do. You wouldn't regret it.

@ Ann- thank you.

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