My Collection of Treats

from Jody Feldman

I started college as a psychology major. I didn’t get very far; 1 1/4 semesters before I knew the fit was horribly off. What I did, and do, appreciate about the field is the amount of common sense surrounding it. Take positive reinforcement. I’m all over that.

For years, if I worked really hard all week to achieve my goals, I allowed myself to order in lunch on Fridays. These days, when I finish a draft or reach a long-term goal, I reward myself with a trip to the zoo or museum or plop on the couch and indulge in an afternoon of guilty-pleasure movies or TV.

I reserve my favorite treat, however, for the time when a book of mine gets released. I treat myself to a piece of artwork that, in some way, connects to the characters or themes or specific scenes in the books. It’s definitely candy for these eyes. And not fattening.

Eyeballs by Sarah Jane Szikora reminds me of the throngs of people who showed up at University Stadium in hopes of being a contestant in the first Gollywhopper Games. It hangs to my right as I type.

A Day in the Life by Lynn Shaler calls to mind the clandestine activities of a secret society at the center of The Seventh Level. If I push my desk chair back I can see it in the next room.

I usually don’t buy photo art, but the main character in The Gollywhopper Games: The New Champion is always behind a camera. And so Volcano 3.5, a photograph by Maaris Cirulis, hangs in my stairway, right behind me.

I happened upon my latest acquisition when E.B. Lewis was in town for the SCBWI Missouri Conference. Despite the fact I do not fish, I fell in love with The Fishing Lesson. The grandson is how I’d picture a younger Elijah, but I especially chose this for the fact that we have so much to learn from one another, a theme in The Gollywhopper Games: Friend or Foe. It's heading to the framer's and will soon hang near my workspace