Looking Back and Forward

During the pandemic, I wasn't reading. Like a lot of people, I binged TV, but it was older favorite series: Friends, Jem and the Holograms, The Big Bang Theory, etc. All of my friends were suggesting new shows. Finally, DH and I started watching them last week.

We finished the first season of Picard last night, and we started Ted Lasso last night. Do I wish we started these before now? Yes. Do I regret waiting? No.

I don't think I would have enjoyed these shows in the middle of the pandemic. I needed comfort viewing for the emotional support. While Star Trek: The Next Generation is a favorite, I would have lost it over Picard's bittersweet ending of its first season. At the opposite end of the spectrum, I would have had trouble connecting with the characters of Ted Lasso. Not with all the fury and agony swirling around me.

What does this have with the publishing industry?

Readers are the same. They may not be in the right mood to read your stories. I know if I'm feeling down I pull out my copies of Stephanie Bond's novels. When I'm feeling nostalgic, it's my boatload of Star Trek tie-ins, my comics collection, or the Oz series. If I'm super-stressed, then it's romances.

Not everyone is going to love my stories. But more likely they haven't had time to read them yet. And I say that as someone who has roughly 3,000 books. And those aren't counting comics or GK's children's books I'd like to read to my grandchildren if I ever have them.

Otherwise, I may create a new position: rent-a-grandmother.

What Are You Reading?

I know a lot of people thought the COVID-19 pandemic would be over by now. Unfortunately, the Spanish Flu pandemic a century ago took roughly two years to play out. I resigned myself to that fate back in June. Ironically, accepting that potential outcome helped me shake off the low-level depression I had in the spring.

Like many of you, I've taken refuge in books. Not so much new ones though, for which I apologize to my fellow authors. I've been reading a lot of things I found comfort in while I was in high school.

Stuff like the Star Trek Original Series novels. Hell, Barbara Hambly managed to cleverly insert the cast of Here Comes the Brides into the Star Trek Universe in Ishmael. (For those who don't get the joke, Mark Lenard, who played Spock's father Sarak in the original series, also starred in the other TV show.)

Then there's Patrica McKillip's Riddle-Master series, Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series, and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series. I could keep going, but you get the gist.

 

So, what are y'all reading that's gotten you through the last seven months? What's on your list for the next seventeen?

Rain, Rain, Stay Here. . .

Currently reading - Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison

The Houston area has been hit with the second tropical system in less than a week. Last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Mother Nature dumped the remains of Hurricane Alex on us. It was Tuesday before the yard was dry enough to mow the towering St. Augustine grass.

Now a second wave that never made it to named status is alternately trickling and pouring more precipitation.

Am I complaining? Heck, no! It's perfect weather for curling up on the couch with a glass of iced tea and a good book.

So let's pretend I don't have a towering TBR pile and a column deadline. Anybody have recommendations for a good adventure book in any genre?

Too Cute!

Currently reading - Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

My friend sent this link to me this afternoon. Go Ocoee Middle School!

Speed Reading

Currently reading - Flesh Circus by Lilith Saintcrow

If you read my blog on a regular (or semi-regular) basis, it may seem like it takes me forever to read a book. My normal reading speed is around 300 words per minute, roughly a page, which means I can finish the average novel in five hours or less. This assumes no interruptions from dogs having to go outside, family wanting dinner, phone calls from friends and relatives, etc.

Lately, I've been restricted to fifteen minutes a day during my break at work. Maybe an hour after I get home, assuming there aren't magazine deadlines to meet or football uniforms needing washed.

Since this week is Spring Break, maybe I can par down the TBR pile. Too many of my favorite authors are just waiting to be devoured.

Reading, Writing and Homeschooling

While this subject may seem off the usual writing topic, there's a reason for it.

Genius Kid ("GK") has been seriously struggling in the public school system since kindergarten. He went from reading and drawing rudimentary stories before he started school to refusing to read at all by the end of kindergarten. And don't get me started on writing. It's been a battle since then to keep him on track with what I know he's capable of.

I felt like a failure. Why hadn't I conveyed my love of the written word to my child? I'd been reading to him since his birth. I had Green Eggs and Ham memorized for cryin' out loud!

Don't worry. I also blamed a Certain Unnamed Teacher who called GK stupid because he had problems sounding out unfamiliar words. That insensitive comment along with GK's penchant for perfectionism led to a downward behavioral spiral, resulting in eighteen months of hell dealing with the school administration.

After much soul searching, the DH and I withdrew GK from public school. We're homeschooling for this year and possibly next year. I expected a lot of crap from those outside our immediate family.

And it didn't happen. Homeschooling doesn't hold the social stigma it once did. In fact, the only person who gave me a hard time was my mother. As a public school teacher for over thirty years, she took our decision as a personal slap in the face.

But my concern, first and foremost, is GK. Now, he reads when he thinks DH and I aren't looking, his vocabulary has improved, and he's found the joy in making up his own little stories again.

I may not be pumping out a couple of thousand words a day on my own wip. But it's worth GK's giggles as he reads the adventures of Nate Twitchell raising his triceratops in Freedom, NH--all by himself.