Scrapbooker publishes story in ‘Chicken Soup’ series

Connect an obsession with a skill for writing and what do you get? For Gwen Calvetti, you get a story published in “Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker’s Soul.”

Calvetti’s story, “The Little Black Scrapbook,” was published in the book that came out earlier this summer.

“(Scrapbooking is) something that I enjoy doing among my many hobbies, and when I saw they were looking for stories, I thought, ‘Oh, I have a story about that,’” Calvetti said.

Her nonfiction story is about how her friend, Julie, thought scrapbooking was a ridiculous hobby, up until Calvetti made her son a scrapbook as a high school graduation present.

A few weeks later, Calvetti got a reaction from Julie. “Now I get why you do this,” Julie told her. “This is one of those things where if there’s ever a fire, this is a thing I’m supposed to grab.”

Calvetti, who’s been scrapbooking for about eight years, also has a background in writing.

She’s written articles for various craft magazines, had a chapter published in the book “Telling Stories to Children” and has been a community columnist for the La Crosse Tribune.

“So it’s something I enjoy doing,” Calvetti said. “But I’m realistic enough to know no one gets rich from writing unless you’re Stephen King.”

She said in the past she’s usually known within a month of submitting a story whether it would get published, but the “Chicken Soup” book was a different story.

First, she was told the book’s publishers were considering publishing the story. Then she was told they needed to get a release from the subject of the story. Then they told her they were 99 percent sure the story would run in the book.

“I was excited at each point because you know you can get cut at any time,” Calvetti said.

She said it was exciting when she finally got a letter from the “big names” behind the book saying her story had made it.

Curiously, when submitting her story to the book, her interest in scrapbooking wasn’t nearly at the level it once was.

The hobby began after she returned from a mission trip to Kenya in which she took a lot of pictures. Normally, she didn’t do anything special with pictures.

“When I got back, I thought, ‘I can’t just leave these pictures sitting around in a box,’” Calvetti said.

And that’s when her passion began.

But she hasn’t bought any scrapbooking things in months, which is odd for scrapbookers, Calvetti said.

“I think a lot of people who get involved in it go through these weird phases, and I think at one point I was just almost obsessed with it,” Calvetti said. “You get to this point where you think you’re giving away the rest of your life just to scrapbook.”

Emily Wilson can be reached at 786-6815 or emily.wilson@lee.net.

http://www.couleenews.com/articles/2006/09/14/features/01scrapbooker.txt