Book

book-67049_1280People are still reading. People are using the library. So many things are going out of style or out of date. Kids hardly watch television and find their shows on-line. They watch at their convenience. Newspapers are scaling back because sales are dipping. Only old people read it…or so I’ve been told. The younger generation gets everything on-line.

So I was very happy to see the library hasn’t turned into a dinosaur yet. I know they have computers and try to stay up-to-date but let’s admit it, it’s a place filled with books. Books! Not much else.

Don’t you love the feeling of stepping into a library? I always considered it a magical place. You go in with high hopes and come out with unknown treasures. If you don’t like one of the gems you picked, you can close it and move on to the next hoping to find the adventure of a lifetime. Nowhere else in the world can you go and get that same experience without spending a dime.

Let’s keep the younger generation reading…for fun. Not because they have to for a school assignment but because they want to. I know there are young readers out there because they blog about books. Young adult is a popular genre in reading.

Life’s at warp speed these days but I have faith in our younger generation. I think they’ll continue the tradition of reading books and supporting their libraries. Libraries may have to continue to change to keep up, adding more high tech advances inside their walls.

Maybe one day a person will scan the walls searching for the perfect book and just hold up their phone to download it. I know virtual libraries already exist and you don’t have to go to the actual place. I use one to check out books at times. But let’s admit it, there’s nothing like walking into the real thing, being greeted by the scent of a good book. Let’s hope it never goes the way of the dinosaur.

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working_class_heroThis post is dedicated to my fellow writers…whether you write novels, short stories, screen plays, blog or secretly write for yourself…don’t give up. I recently read a sad entry. An author with my same publisher blogged she would no longer write anymore of her series. Her words were from the heart and as I read I felt the pain.

She said she wasn’t in it for the money, she just wanted some interest. I think all writers feel that same way. You want someone to notice your work.

Before I read that post, I had begun to analyze this new world of books. So much is out there…self-published books, books with small press publishers and books with the big guys. The last group gets the most attention and publicity. The little guys struggle to get noticed.

When I started feeling sorry for myself, I thought about the entertainment industry. If you think about it, movies have just a handful of stars. Some of them make two or three films a year. Only those chosen few get to make the big blockbusters. Same goes for music or any creative art. These people are stars because of talent, word of mouth, being in the right place at the right time or just plain luck.

I decided the rest of us are working class heroes. We may have to try harder even though our work is just as good or better.

Creativity is a very solitary thing. You have to look inward to find it but maybe it’s time to look around. Let’s open our eyes. Yeah, I’m guilty of reading the next best seller or watching that blockbuster movie just like the next person.

I recently read some self-published books when I became a reviewer. I never would have if it wasn’t part of the job. Some of those books were quite good, others not so much but that’s how it is for everything, right? I’m glad I was exposed to something I never would have explored on my own. It’s encouraged me to explore some more.

I try to read other author friends’ books and support them. If I feel someone would enjoy those books, I recommend them. Just a drop in the bucket, but any drop will do.

So get the word out. Tell people about new or up-and-coming authors, a blog you like or a small play you went to. Browse the internet for on-line publishers and see what books they offer. Read book reviews of other bloggers and follow through on their recommendations.

Let’s not let another author who is talented and has much to give the world, give up. I know there’s too much information out there these days. We’re in an information overload society and I think we let the media tell us what’s good because it’s easy. We’re forgetting to think for ourselves.

We are the working class heroes and guess what? It’s a very large group. We could make a difference.

 

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all-my-children

I’ve been asked if there’s a lot going on in my head and if it’s getting a little crowded in there. When you write books, people tend to ask things like that. They want to know where I got my ideas or how I can write an entire book.

The short answer is, “I don’t know!” That’s not the answer people want to hear so I will try my best to explain.

They are not books to me, they are my children. I send them out into the world and hope for the best, for everyone to like them and think I did a good job raising them. If I hear bad things about them, I get hurt feelings, but also look to how I can improve my skills as a parent. When I get compliments, I burst with pride.

These kids fight with me, sometimes I win and other times they get their way. I suggest a certain outcome and they insist on going in another direction. I may have plotted their course but they seem to have other plans. I hopefully will always know the beginning, middle and end but it’s the parts in between that make life interesting.

I say them when I talk about my books, even though I have an only child out there now. Soon more will join it, as recently as September and as late as next January. Am I nervous to send number two and three out there into the cold, cruel world? Absolutely. It’s just as nerve-wracking as the first time I sent my child out there on its own.

Will there be more beyond that, you ask? How can you fit any more into that brain of yours? Well, like any good parent, there’s always room for one more. I just hope everyone will keep enjoying all my children.

 

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