My Summer of Reading

Is your To Be Read list as long as mine? Seems I’m constitutionally unable to visit a bookstore without buying at least three books. Last week I picked up THE TORQUED MAN by Peter Mann, THE ENGLISH HERETIC COLLECTION by Andy Sharp, and THE ART OF SLOW WRITING by Louise DeSalvo.

Two days later, I added THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse and GUTTER CHILD by Jael Richardson (for my book club). And I’m still reading the monstrous (672 pages) ORDINARY MONSTERS by J.M. Miro.

And, of course, my bookshelves are sagging with books that I will get to someday … if I live to be 200 years old.

I find a great comfort in buying books and giving them a home on my bookshelf. It’s a nod to the author’s hard work as much as it is a symptom of my extreme bibliophilia — a condition I nurture like a beloved pet who demands food and attention every day.

I spent hundreds of hours in the past two years writing two books, and I found that my reading time had greatly suffered. When I would finally pick up a book to read for pleasure, I found my focus easily slipping. Either I would quickly get impatient and put the book aside, or my critique demon would sit on my shoulder and pick the book apart. (I would have written that this way …)

So when I finished my second book and turned it in to my agent, I was ready for my Summer of Reading. I vowed to get back my powers of focus. I would once again be able to sit up all night with a good book and music in my earphones. It took about a week to retrain my brain, but it worked. Just last night, I stayed up reading til 2am — and still I didn’t want to go to bed. My reading brain is back.

I write literary speculative historical, but I also enjoy reading thrillers, mysteries, horror, sci-fi, fantasy. Writers are often told to read as much as possible across multiple genres. After all, reading is the best writing coach there is. But it’s a common complaint among writers — How are we supposed to find the time to write a book AND read everything we can get our hands on? (Not to mention work full-time jobs to pay the bills AND take care of our families?!) And I’m a bit wary that the voices and idiosyncrasies of other authors will bleed into my own writing, if I don’t take care to separate reading time from writing time.

There’s no easy answer … but my Summer of Reading is a great start. Each of my first two books took about 6-7 months to write, followed by 2-3 months of editing before submitting. So at that pace, I can spend fall, winter, and spring writing, and then relax with my TBR list under the summer sun.