Books books books

I have been ravenously reading books lately. Devouring them one after another. It helps that there are so many amazing writers out there and their books yank me out of this mortal world into a place of their choosing. At one of my talks, an audience member asked me if I worry about reading something amazing while I'm writing my book, like, does it make me feel jealous, or do I worry that it will affect my writing.

That was a really great question, and I've heard some writers say that they can't read other people's fiction while writing their own. That would be a total deal breaker for me. It takes me years to write a novel. I could never go that long without reading fiction! In fact, if I read something totally kick-a**, it fires me up. It energizes me. It reminds me how amazing fiction can be, how it can take you to a different place and teach you some new facet of human truth, often times better than anything else "true" or "real." (Notice my disdainful use of quotation marks.)

So I simply have to share a few of the novels I've read in the past couple of weeks.

All of these novels were amazing in their own way (totally different from each other, like snowflakes) and they inspire me to try harder and think more carefully in my own writing.

Next up: 

I cannot wait!

More later,

Tammar