A friend told me the other day that she was
deliberately reading my book, Unchained
Memory, slowly, so as not to get to the end too fast. She wanted to savor
it, she said, so she was holding herself back.
I wasn’t sure whether to be complimented or
insulted. I have to admit I don’t really think of my work as fine wine, to be
sipped and rolled around on the tongue. It’s more like a good beer on a hot day—drink
it down in a rush of pleasure and plunk your mug on the table with a grin of satisfaction
at the end.
So when people tell me that they couldn’t put
the book down, or they stayed up way past their bedtimes reading it, I feel
like I did my job. That’s the way I read—in great gulps and marathon binges. I
developed my reading style as a child, when I could take a thick book—Swiss Family Robinson, maybe, or Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland—and get
lost for a whole rainy afternoon. I don’t have the time to do that anymore—an hour
is usually all I can manage at a time these days—but occasionally I will get
caught up late at night and forget to go to bed until the couple in question
finds their HEA.
But the reader I was speaking to is not the
only one out there who might be described as “story sippers” in reading style.
These folks like to take their time with a book, lingering over the passages,
thinking about the characters. My childhood friend, Joyce, who provided
professional advice for UM in her role as a psychiatric nurse, is one of these
kinds of readers. It took a while to get the manuscript back from her!
It should be noted that reading style need
have nothing to do with actual reading speed. Story sippers don’t read
particularly slow. And I don’t read particularly fast. I wish I did. Then I
could read more books and join the ranks of those Super-Readers out there who
fuel the romance-buying engine. These readers buy (and read!) multiple books per week; they become loyal to certain
authors, series, characters; they are active online in book-related forums;
they are voracious; and they are the Holy Grail of book promotion. (Cue Heavenly
Choir Music.) (Read more about these Super-Readers here.)
In the meantime, my story-sipping friend
wanted to know when my next book would be out so she could time the conclusion
of Unchained Memory to coincide with the
debut of Trouble in Mind. Since that
would be some six months from now, I proposed a different solution. Why not
give in to temptation and finish this book that you like so much? Then you can read it over again while you wait for
Book Two in the Interstellar Rescue series.
After all, people do it with movies. I’ve seen LORD OF THE RINGS countless
times. (Of course, I’ve also read Tolkien’s trilogy every other year or so
since I was 16.)
My friend nodded her head. “You know, that
just might work!”
Maybe it would work for all you other story
sippers out there, pondering what to tell your writer friends about their
latest work. As for us speed readers? All we ask is five more minutes.Really. It’s
just getting to the good part . . .
OVER TO YOU
What about you? What’s your reading style?
And do you even have time to read anymore?
MELANIEANU, WHERE ARE YOU?
MELANIEANU was the winner of my launch week
giveaway of an ebook copy of Unchained
Memory plus a signed cover card. I still haven’t heard from you, MELANIEANU!
Please contact me at dsfrelick@msn.com
with your email and home address so I can send you your goodies.
Cheers, Donna
I binge. Then if I *really* loved the book, I read it again and savor it. I've read Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon three times, and I'm feeling the need to read it again here pretty soon. The first time I inhaled. Every time after I savor.
ReplyDeleteI have to deliberately set aside time to read these days, because otherwise I just wouldn't read. I've devoured books all my life (and I'm a speed reader because I want to read as much as possible as quickly as possible because there are soooo many books), but I now prefer shorts and novellas because there's a better chance of me finishing it in one sitting without deadlines or real life or little monsters disturbing me (which I hate). I want to read the whole thing without any interruption to pull me out of that world which is why I now tend to shy away from long novels these days. I also tend to binge read - several in a day or two, then it might be weeks before I read again.
ReplyDeleteI'm a book guzzler. Then if I really liked the book, like Rachel, I'll read it again and slowly savor it. I can understand your friend's wanting to read your book slowly. I couldn't, not the first time. I'd say she was paying you a compliment. She really likes your writing.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say I read every day, but only in short blips. It's not my preferred way to read, but at present, it's the ONLY way I can find the time. I'm not willing to forego reading altogether. Writers HAVE to read.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I've gone back to print versions too, since my Kindles are both on the blink.
I agree with you, Laurie, that reading is as much a part of our "job" as writers as sitting down at the keyboard. Luckily it's the fun part! And I'm glad I'm not the only one who reads a book more than once, Rachel and Diane! I had to laugh about the little monsters part of your comment, Pippa. My grands were here Easter weekend and I got maybe one sentence read--over and over again!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful compliment!
ReplyDeleteI power through books, for sure. Just like you guys it's a time thing. Plus if a book hooks me, it's all I want to do in any "free time" that comes my way. I used to re-read favorites. I mean SERIOUSLY re-read, as in reading A Wrinkle in Time a dozen times. I hardly do anymore just because of time constraints. But a few years ago when I was going through a separation and divorce, a week of evenings re-reading Outlander with a glass of wine for company was just what the doctor ordered.