I have a confession to make.

I subscribe to several fashion magazines.

I keep them in the bathroom, mostly. Sometimes I take them on airplanes.

But, see, they are good for my writing. Really.

Fashion magazines are very image-heavy. They make a nice break from reading prose, and (unlike comics) let my mind wander a bit while I look at them. Fashion photography is often very strange, juxtaposing languid women in sleek outfits with bizarre settings, such as a lipstick factory. Even the more ordinary photographs sometimes, to me, seem bizarre, like science fiction. They spark weird ideas in my mind, unlikely connections.

They take me into a different world. Sometimes, that’s what you need.