Sunday, February 12, 2017

Back to Basics

Every year I vow to keep this blog up to date... sorry about that. Everyone says a writer needs to blog. Well, thankfully, it's not an absolute requirement. Otherwise, I'd be in serious trouble!

So what am I up to - Parenting, writing, day job. Basically the usual. What I haven't been doing, and I know this is going to shock many of you, is reading! 

I've been so busy with the day to day stuff, and devoting any surplus time to writing (or, sadly, procrastinating), that I've neglected my impressive TBR pile. It kind of sneaked up on me - after all it hadn't been a conscious choice to not read, it just happened. As with anything I've forgotten, slipped or skimped on, eventually something started to feel off. This may sound unusually dramatic coming from me, but everything seemed dull. Going through the same motions everyday, my energy toward writing dragged... something was missing. Then I glanced at my bag of books, from the last writers' conference I attended, and realized it was reading. I hadn't been fueling my passion, or taken enough down time in the evenings. 

Immediately, I reached into the bag, and pulled out Tessa Dare's, Do You Want to Start a Scandal. I devoured it, I loved it, I laughed, I rooted for the couple, I recommended it to a friend. All those simple things that make reading a pleasure, and what a difference it made! I'm here after all. :) 

When giving advice to newbie writers, most authors often include reading extensively, I cannot agree more. 

What about you? Have you ever found you haven't been reading and missed it?