Straw bale housing, subterranean homes, houses made of flying concrete--prospective homeowners and contractorsare coming up an increasing variety of alternative building materials that are environmentally friendly and sustainable. But I've got another idea; I want to build a home out of Danielle Steel novels.

I got the idea during a period when I was selling some of my book collection over the Internet. When I ran out of my own books I started looking for more at yard sales and library book sales, and quickly learned that some used books are worth more than others. How-to books did well, as did New Age spirituality books.

You couldn't pay people to take Danielle Steel novels off your hands. The reason? The things were bestsellers, and were printed and sold in the millions. Everyone who could conceivably want a Danielle Steel novel had apparently already bought one.

And there came the idea. People make houses out of straw bales; why not Danielle Steel novels? Create chicken wire walls, shore them up with plywood casts, dump in the Danielle Steel novels along with John Grisham books, Readers' Digest Condensed Books, and other pulp fiction, and pour on the concrete. Voila! A Danielle Steel home, perfect for the literati and the romantics among us.

Imagine how the cost of a home would decrease if, say, Habitat for Humanity would go on a pulp fiction drive, asking for donations of battered, beat-up paperbacks to use for the walls of its homes. Imagine the families that would be able to buy these low-cost homes.

There is a potential housing revolution out there just waiting for us--all thanks to Danielle Steel.

About the Author

Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for local and regional newspapers and for a number of Internet websites, including Tips and Topics.