| Reading |
| I'm an addict. I love to read. I am particularly a science fiction and fantasy reader, however I will read nearly anything. In a pinch, I have been known to read ketchup labels and tissue boxes. I'm an addict, like I said. Some of my earliest reads are The Last Unicorn, Charlotte's Web, Nancy Drew and the first Choose Your Own Adventure series. In fourth grade my teacher, then Miss Chapman (now Mrs. Shields), gave an award to every kid in class. I was given Best Reader. I was always a fantasy lover, but I didn't know I was a sci fi reader until I was thirteen. On my thirteenth birthday, my mentor Judy gave me my first sci fi book. It was The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. I read it over the weekend and went out the following Monday to buy more Ray Bradbury books. I proceeded to read many of his works including short stories and novels. Somewhere between Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes, I was hooked on Bradbury. I proceeded to go through phases where I would read different authors. I floated beteween Piers Anthony and Ursula K. Le Guin. I wandered the halls of fantasy and sci fi (BTW--I have always said sci fi like sigh-fye and I'm a sigh-fye writer and reader and be damned with anyone who's got issues about it!), looking for another author to fall in love with. The second year of my high school I had the privilege of studying under the greatest school teacher I ever had. It was Mr. Hooper, English 1AA. When I sat down, I looked around, and a few things caught my attention. Little signs that read 'No Mastication' and the smell of tea brewing made me wonder just what kind of class this was. Five minutes after the bell rang, the teacher walked in. I swear, he looked just like Robin Williams from Dead Poet's Society. Even the cardigan. He walked briskly in the door with a twinkle in his eye. I kid you not. A twinkle. He opened the roll book, and with a bright grin (nobody grinned in those days, it wasn't in style) he said triumphantly, "Good morning, scholars!" He was always fun; I had a blast that semester. He used big words like melodramatic and eloquent and mastication. He assigned things like arguing for or against Pee Wee Herman's (Paul Reubens) right to buff the bishop in public, School Choice, and had us do a book report on Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. He forced us to think, and he forced us to read. Needless to say, forcing me to read is like forcing me to eat dessert before dinner. But I'm serious. For the first twenty minutes of every class, we had SSR (sustained silent reading). Even the day we had an earthquake just before class and we had to read out on the track field. I liked him so much I was his TA the following year. So from Mr. Hooper, I got my first taste of Bob Heinlein, the irreverent great. He is my favorite science fiction writer, and it's a crime that I never got to meet him. But I've read damn near everything of his that I can find, and that's saying a lot. He was really prolific. One of his greatest gifts to the genre was the ability to make the implausible sound reasonable, just by dint (nobody talks like that!) of his characterizations. I love his work; check it out! On the other end of the spectrum is Issac Asimov. Asimov is probably (in my mind) one of the best science fiction writers because he can think in terms of technological advances. His classics are definately worth it. Try his Foundation series, or even just I, Robot. He can convince you of these amazing things because he has the most sound concept of science of any science fiction writer. In my mind, he's the classic example of speculative fiction. It's creepy. I also had a brief but torrid love affair with Mercedes Lackey's works. I even joined her fan club. Who knows where they are now! I still buy her books sporadically, read them as a group, then shelve them away. I was an art student when I was reading her books, and loved the cover art. I found the phone number for her illustrator in an old (then new) print of her Heralds of Valdemar series. One night, I called it to leave a message and say how good the art was. To my surprise, I managed to contact the artist herself, Jody Lee. It was eight or nine in the evening my time. It was midnight over there. Oops. But she was still awake, working late on a piece. Luckily. I told her why I had called, and that I loved her artwork. She and I had like an hour conversation or so. Some time later, I bought a cover print just so I could have a reminder of the cool encounter. My latest obsession is with J K Rowling. Okay, so they are *supposed* to be kid's books. I started reading them because of my cousin's daughter, Marina. She told me that I had to read them. So I did. In case you don't know, Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series. I started to read them in late 2001. As soon as I was finished with them (it didn't take long), I tried getting others to read them as well. Daniel's mom and dad eventually came around. But Steve, one of my good friends, was ready and willing to read them right from the start. He loved them as well. He and I share a love for good fantasy, and Rowling is one of the best. In case you're wondering...the books beat the crap outta the movies! Of course, there's a lot of other authors I have read. Here's a short list: Douglas Adams, Piers Anthony (guilty pleasure), Issac Asimov, Robert Asprin (he's a laugh a minute!), Ray Bradbury, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Peter Beagle, Neil Gaiman (especially the DC comic series Vertigo...Sandman and Death rule!), Robert Heinlein, Ursula K. LeGuin, Mercedes Lackey (the Valdemar books are all top notch), Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, JK Rowling (Harry Potter is a god!), JRR Tolkein (of course), Jules Verne (I had to force myself to read his works; they influence The Masters so much!), EB White, and Tad Williams (Tailchaser's Song is the only thing I've read of his, but I loved it). Strangely, I've always tried to read C.S. Lewis, but I never could. The odd thing is, Daniel read those as a kid and loved them. He *never* reads nonfiction, and it's always been strange to me that the one series that he liked I could never get into. Please take the time to read and enjoy. Keep the printed page alive! |