Reading is my most powerful motivation to write
I must say, reading makes me want to write so bad I can taste the words in my mouth. I get this sensation in my stomach that feels like nerves but has more in common with a heart attack than an upset stomach. My chest feels tight and my breathing turns shallow. It’s a very physical sensation and I love it and I hate it. The spring winds up and I’m torn between the desire to keep reading or to just set my book aside and go at it on my own computer with my own work. I know some authors say that they avoid reading other people’s work when they’re writing but if I did that, I might lose some of my best motivation for creating my own worlds.
I’m sure I sound crazy. I’m sure I don’t care. Once the urge to write takes over, I can’t find much to hold my interest in another author’s book anyway, because of course, nothing is exactly the way I would have done it and I begin to rewrite sentences in my head. Not plot details, and I don’t know why that is, but word order and word choices and the use of clauses and adjectives. I rewrite them all, but only in my head–and do you know how hard it is to read a book when you’re reordering a sentence’s structure because it just doesn’t feel right the way it’s written?
What brought this up today is the shopping trip I just finished. I’ve bought a few of my favorites tonight, and although I’ll have them in hand in just a few days, I can’t wait to get them. I’ve actually been fighting off the urge to write until I get through a few more books, simply because I really want to read these books. However, I’ve already noticed myself rewriting sentences in my head, and when I start doing that to the likes of my favorite authors, I know it’s time to get busy writing. I have an unfinished manuscript that I left alone when I took my little hiatus last year and I have a crazy hot desire to get it completed. No particular reason except that the characters seem to deserve better than to be left as they are, in limbo. I feel bad for them, even if it doesn’t make sense that I have feelings for them.
Anyway, I thought I’d share my upcoming reading (my book order I made tonight).
Lost in Shadow: Nethercott Tales #1 (Signet Eclipse) Jocelyn Kelley
Kindred Spirits: Nethercott Tales #2 (Signet Eclipse) Jocelyn Kelley
These Jocelyn Kelley books are something I’m looking forward to, because I love paranormal, but I don’t usually enjoy vampires and the like (a major exception is Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series, which I talk about constantly on The Erotic Reader website). These Jocelyn Kelley books are about ghosts, which I love dearly! And although I haven’t read any Jocelyn Kelley books before, I have no doubt these will be good, because I have read her Jo Ann Ferguson regency romances, and they’re some of my favorite books. In fact, one of my favorite regency romance novels of all time is her A Phantom Affair. It’s an old one but if you can get your hands on it and you enjoy traditional regencies, read this one. There’s even a ghost…
Captive of My Desires (Malory Family) Johanna Lindsey
I bought this because Johanna Lindsey has written some of my all time favorite books. Ever.
White Lies (The Arcane Society, Book 2) Jayne Ann Krentz – I have waffled with this book simply because of the $9.99 price tag which seems excessively high to me for a paperback book. But…my library has never gotten a copy in and I have just finally given in. I WANT to read this book. Desperately. I really do love JAK/Amanda Quick books.
Second Sight (The Arcane Society, Book 1) Amanda Quick; Hardcover; $6.99 – This was a bargain price for the hardcover copy and I LOVE hardback books! I couldn’t believe my luck. The link takes you to the bargain book, so if you’re like me and can’t pass up a good deal on a hardback, get it before it’s gone. Not to mention, I wouldn’t miss an Amanda Quick book. Love her stuff, seriously.
