I have been looking into schedules. Even when we read physics, we inquire of each least particle, What then shall I do this morning? How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.

On the first of each month, a guest writer shares how he or she spends the day.

April 1, 2013: Alexis Smith

Alexis Smith is the author of the alluring new book, Glaciers, published in January by Tin House New Voice. I wish I could give you details and quotes that would make you rush from your computer to the bookstore or cause you to abruptly click away from this page to hit buy, but for the time being you’re going to have to trust me on this one.

I had to leave for AWP in a bit of a hurry and left my copy of Glaciers–with all my notes–sitting on my desk. So I had Glaciers–along with some clothes I also forgot–sent to me in Provincetown, where I am now for a retreat with my writing group. When I arrived last night, the package was not waiting for me as it should have been. But the tracking showed the package as delivered…

The upside of the possible theft will be that I will have yet another good reason to reread Glaciers. Until then, please trust me. You will love this book about Isabel and how she spends her days. Among other things, it will make you long to search for and write postcards.

And I agree with Dianah at Powells: Alexis Smith’s diminutive novella lies somewhere between poetry and prose. So lyrical and so delicate, Glaciers slowly unspools as we follow Isabel on a routine day.

Come back on April 1st to read how Alexis Smith spends her days.

The next writer in the series is announced on the 8th of each month so you can read ahead!

*The photo of Alexis by Megan Mayhew Bergman, of Glaciers by Monica Drake.