Laura Lippman's blogging about her spring cleaning project, which gives us a peek at her pat-rack tendencies (not to be confused with Rat Pack tendencies). She's also offering fans a chance to vote on what gets tossed; thanks to Reading Local: Baltimore for the tip. By the way, her latest novel, "I'd Know You Anywhere," is scheduled for a mid-August release. Here's what her office includes:
-- index cards used for "To the Power of Three," connected by seven shades of curling ribbon.
-- every computer she's ever used, except "a really problematic laptop that was left in the trunk of my Toyota when I traded it in for a new car eight years ago."
-- a thank you note from Stephen Sondheim.
-- a CBS News contract to co-host "a kiddie version of Charles Kuralt's Going Places." (And the TV Guide with a listing for the show's pilot.)
-- favorite clippings from her years as a Baltimore Sun reporter.
-- press badges from the Republican National Convention 1988 and Pope John Paul II's 1987 visit to San Antonio.
I'm aghast -- how could she throw out any of that great stuff? As someone who still has his baseball cards from the 1962 N.Y. Mets, I'd keep it all.