I debated if I should write this blog post. There’s a small part of me that feels a slight ping of guilt that I’m not a typical author. When I say typical, I’m referring to authors who are also avid readers. Yes, I read every day, usually news articles, blog posts or something work related. When it comes to reading for fun, however, I’m more sporadic than consistent.
I know, how many authors fall into that category? I’m likely not the only one, yet I’m probably in the minority. When I think of authors, I think of coffee fiends with towering, overstuffed bookshelves and stacks of loose novels nearby. They’ll have all the classics with worn spines, several bestsellers with folded corners across multiple pages and an array of hidden gems, many that they’ve read through more than once.
When they have free time, it’s usually spent in the halls of a bookstore or in a quiet nook. When they look back at the previous month, they wonder if they could have squeezed in one more novel on their reading list.
I wish I could say that’s me, but it’s not. Yes, I do enjoy coffee. No, I don’t have a towering bookshelf or a loaded e-reader. I have my share of books (some classics, some bestsellers, a few hidden gems), but not enough to fill a bookshelf for a cool BookTok backdrop. I recently renewed my library card at least, but I don’t want to admit my old one dated back to my college years (why am I admitting that?).
It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading during my leisure time. I do, but curling up with a book tends not to top my list when I find downtime. Instead, I find myself torn between several passions and a handful of obligations.
No surprise, but I like to write in my spare time. If I’m not writing, I might be out on the town singing at karaoke or open mic night. If I commit to a play, I’m memorizing lines and fine-tuning my character. Sometimes watching sports or a movie grabs my attention. Sometimes playing sports takes up that time. Then there are the requirements of running a household and staying in touch with friends and family.
Sitting down with a book is a very deliberate thing for me. I won’t jump at the trendy bestseller promoted by BookTok or the New York Times. I’m not really interested in what A-list celebrities or politicians have written. Even if it’s a favorite author, I won’t rush out to get their latest work.
For me, as a predominately fiction reader, an intriguing plot will sell me on a book. Jurassic Park immediately comes to mind. Scientists recreate dinosaurs, which break out and run amok at a theme park. Now that’s an intriguing plot. Ready Player One stood out when I read the synopsis. So did The Ruins, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, The Long Walk, among many others. Some of the classics stand out too, such as A Christmas Carol, To Kill A Mockingbird, And Then There Were None and Of Mice and Men.
That’s not to say I don’t enjoy great characters or strong themes. Those are great elements in the books I mentioned. But the plot is what hooks me and makes me want to invest my time further. Similarly, that’s how I approach writing a novel. A concept comes to mind and then I use that to build a fascinating plot.
That’s how Legend Has It came together. I wondered what would happen if a handful of friends were trapped in a haunted house attraction with real monsters. From there, I used a real-life legend and created a main character with a love for horror and nostalgia.
For me, reading for fun is similar to playing video games. I’m not always doing it and might go for a month or longer without picking one up. But when I game (or read), I get fully invested and get lost in the story for days or weeks at a time.
Maybe that’s not typical for an author. Perhaps it’s more common than I realize. I guess there’s not a right or wrong way to go about it. As I’ve learned over time, there’s so much nuance to the human experience. After all, it would be quite boring if we all followed the same drum beat.
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