Welcome to our very first interaction on this blog. I'd like to try a particular format. Once a week, I'll send a post directed to readers from my perspective as a writer. Each post will end with a question for us all to contemplate as readers. Let's get started.
Last September, I self-published my novel, "Tanner Blue," with lulu.com. This past May, I self-published, "Music for the Dream--Seven Short Stories," also with Lulu. I'm processing input I've received on my third novel, "Painted Deserts." Next month--yes, September again--I plan to send out this third manuscript to agents and publishers to see what happens.
I've had the good fortune to visit several local book clubs this past year. I'm mesmerized by the comments that I've received from many readers. In listening to those who are solid members of my emerging audience, I felt as if I was witnessing a trance similar to the one that I enter each time I'm in the "writing space." These experiences are tremendously gratifying and I want to build on the positivity of this interaction.
A few book-club members have expressed a lack of fulfillment in their groups. Book clubs are wonderful social gatherings for many book lovers, but I'm discovering that many readers want to take the work more seriously. My sense is that they'd like to apply some analytical skills and practices to their reading. So, this week's question is:
What kind of reader are you?
3 comments:
A few years ago, I decided to start reading all the books I was supposed to have read: Flaubert, Twain, Welty, Stevenson, Isherwood, etc. and I'm still on the journey, augmented by current authors like Eggers, You, Chabon, etc. I still have a long way to go. As the novelty has worn off of staring into screens, the "organic wireless reading device" has taken on new importance in both my mental and physical well-being. I rarely share my responses with others the way a book club might, only offering opinions should the subject come up. Still, engaging literature is important in my life, and to find it coming from people I know and love makes it even more important to my survival in the world. Thank you.
Dear D Money,
Thank you for sending such a forthcoming answer to the question, "What kind of reader are you?" Perhaps it will be a surprise and comfort to know that I've talked with several readers, one on one, who have shared the most remarkable insights into "Tanner Blue." (I must say that you were among the first, as you are the first contributor to this Writers and Readers blog. Thank you!) The "one on one" observation intrigues me. In visiting a few clubs, those same readers were reticent. I'm trying to distill these experiences into words that, ideally, will help enhance our collective appreciation for the interactivite nature of writing and reading. I'm mentioning this in response to your statement: "I rarely share my responses with others the way a book club might, only offering opinions should the subject come up."
As always, thanks for the kind words about my work.
I have seven more topics for this blog and look forward to sharing them.
Peace & positivity,
Val
I'm not particularly conversant with regard to all the works of the authors I should have read, and I'm okay with this. The reason for my okayness is, I think, related to the "fact" that virtually everything is a chip of a hologram so that any one piece inserted into the holographic projector can produce the entire image. Maybe the same is the case with reading, writing and other modes of deliberate and conscious thinking. Maybe it's linked to the feeling we get when we enter a library: we know that the answer we seek is there somewhere in some book on some shelf in some sentence or part of a sentence. And once we discover "it" we wonder how it is that we overlooked "it" for so long when "it" has been so accessible and obvious once we have, of course, become aware of its presence. Maybe that's what "good" books do - keep us actively engaged in the pursuit of wisdom that transcends the ordinary that can ironically only be found in the ordinary. Perhaps book clubs mimic group hunting in that the odds of catching the prey (knowledge or an antelope) can be dramatically increased. Thanks for providing another opportunity for me to babble and to have my words and the thoughts behind them embraced or eviscerated for these are the chances we take upon joining any club.
Ken
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