Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "reading"
Good Reads, Really Good Reads, and Wow! Reads
I can't recall my first book, but it must have been a good one, because I've been reading ever since. I lean toward mystery but have had periods in my life where I read mostly literary, mostly biography, mostly historical. It's no surprise, then, that I write a lot of historical novels with biographical (like HER HIGHNESS' FIRST MURDER) or literary (like MACBETH'S NIECE) slants.
For me, a GOOD read helps to pass the time. I read in airports, doctors' offices, and on long trips (while my husband drives, of course.) Good reads can be set down, maybe left for days or more, and finished at my leisure. My reaction at the end is satisfied.
A REALLY GOOD read is hard to put down, and I look forward to the next chance to get at it. I want to know what happens, want to see if the author can resolve the conflict in a way that pleases. If he/she does, my reaction is excited: it worked!
Finally, a WOW read changes me as a reader. It sticks with me, making me think about the characters, what happened, and how that applies to life long after I've (regretfully) finished the book. English texts call this "application," and it isn't achieved by most books, no matter how much fun they are to read.
Think about the books that changed your outlook. Those are your WOW reads, and aren't you glad you found them?
For me, a GOOD read helps to pass the time. I read in airports, doctors' offices, and on long trips (while my husband drives, of course.) Good reads can be set down, maybe left for days or more, and finished at my leisure. My reaction at the end is satisfied.
A REALLY GOOD read is hard to put down, and I look forward to the next chance to get at it. I want to know what happens, want to see if the author can resolve the conflict in a way that pleases. If he/she does, my reaction is excited: it worked!
Finally, a WOW read changes me as a reader. It sticks with me, making me think about the characters, what happened, and how that applies to life long after I've (regretfully) finished the book. English texts call this "application," and it isn't achieved by most books, no matter how much fun they are to read.
Think about the books that changed your outlook. Those are your WOW reads, and aren't you glad you found them?
Now That's Funny
I can't do it. I envy those who can.
I will admit that as a playwright, I wrote some things that were funny. But in my novels, nobody's going to laugh out loud.
I note this because I started reading a friend's MS last night and I did...laugh out loud. She has the knack of being funny without being silly, and entertaining without stooping to farce, which irritates me. I was never a fan of the Lucille Ball-type heroine, so overdrawn and asinine that I wanted to slap her. My friend's small-town heroine is sharp-minded and sarcastic, but on the inside, where she keeps up a running commentary on the ironies of American life. Unlikely to buck the system, she recognizes its weaknesses, and the reader gets the benefit of her sardonic observations in just a few words: that feeling of "here we go again" as we deal with personalities and situations we meet today and will see again tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
I think it's hard to balance murder and comedy, so when I find an author who does it well, I am particularly thrilled. In one of life's odd moments, I met this author at a booksigning of another author (Deb Baker) whose comical Yooper mysteries made me laugh. Deb introduced me to Janet Koch, and we started swapping MSs for editing purposes. The one I'm reading now is due for publication in September, 2010. I'll be sure to remind everyone when that date is closer, because if you like humor in your mysteries, it's a keeper.
I will admit that as a playwright, I wrote some things that were funny. But in my novels, nobody's going to laugh out loud.
I note this because I started reading a friend's MS last night and I did...laugh out loud. She has the knack of being funny without being silly, and entertaining without stooping to farce, which irritates me. I was never a fan of the Lucille Ball-type heroine, so overdrawn and asinine that I wanted to slap her. My friend's small-town heroine is sharp-minded and sarcastic, but on the inside, where she keeps up a running commentary on the ironies of American life. Unlikely to buck the system, she recognizes its weaknesses, and the reader gets the benefit of her sardonic observations in just a few words: that feeling of "here we go again" as we deal with personalities and situations we meet today and will see again tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
I think it's hard to balance murder and comedy, so when I find an author who does it well, I am particularly thrilled. In one of life's odd moments, I met this author at a booksigning of another author (Deb Baker) whose comical Yooper mysteries made me laugh. Deb introduced me to Janet Koch, and we started swapping MSs for editing purposes. The one I'm reading now is due for publication in September, 2010. I'll be sure to remind everyone when that date is closer, because if you like humor in your mysteries, it's a keeper.
Teasing Readers
I'm reading Kate Morton's THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON, a sort of classy soap opera. I don't usually like authors who tease the reader continually, "I didn't suspect at that moment what I would soon encounter" can be used once or twice, but soon I want to shout: JUST TELL ME! However, she does it well, always delivering the answer to the tease within a few pages and making it worthwhile. Like everything else in writing, it's a balancing act, and readers fall along a continuum in which some will hate waiting even one paragraph to learn the secret and others will happily wade along for half the book to find it out. It's all about how much tension you can stand.
Reading Straight Through
I'm always flattered when a reader tells me he/she couldn't put one of my books down. It 's a high compliment to be told I caused a person to be so caught up in a story that he couldn't stop until the end. The best books, of course make us rather sad to get to that last page, but we rush ahead to it anyway, accepting the inevitable destination in exchange for the excitement of the journey.
I mentioned that I'm reading THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON by Kate Morton, and I was reluctant to put it down this morning and come to the computer. It almost feels as if I, as the reader, am holding these poor people up, making them wait to find out what happens in their lives. That's the spell a good writer weaves: readers feel their presence, their participation, is required.
Even when it isn't possible to read a book straight through, and for many of us it seldom is, the author has succeeded if the desire is there to put our own lives on hold while we "help" the characters sort theirs out.
I mentioned that I'm reading THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON by Kate Morton, and I was reluctant to put it down this morning and come to the computer. It almost feels as if I, as the reader, am holding these poor people up, making them wait to find out what happens in their lives. That's the spell a good writer weaves: readers feel their presence, their participation, is required.
Even when it isn't possible to read a book straight through, and for many of us it seldom is, the author has succeeded if the desire is there to put our own lives on hold while we "help" the characters sort theirs out.
The Dreaded Read-Aloud Phase
...is over. I read the whole darned WIP (the sequel to HER HIGHNESS' FIRST MURDER), which took days and days, a lot of water, and a lot of stopping to fix what my ears heard that my eyes didn't. (Funny how eyes don't hear a thing!)
It's one of the most valuable things a writer can do, and it's also boring. But how clearly those repetitive phrases pop out. How easily you spot a point where there's not an adequate segue. How plainly you see that a character would not use that vocabulary, that tone, that phrasing at that moment.
Downside: today is go-through-and-fix-all-those-spots day!
It's one of the most valuable things a writer can do, and it's also boring. But how clearly those repetitive phrases pop out. How easily you spot a point where there's not an adequate segue. How plainly you see that a character would not use that vocabulary, that tone, that phrasing at that moment.
Downside: today is go-through-and-fix-all-those-spots day!
Second Gold Ring Question
Who in your life had the most influence on you as a reader/writer? I'm not talking about writers here, so don't say Shakespeare or John Irving. I mean who interested you in the printed word.
Aside from my teacher/reader/mother, I'd have to say our elementary school librarian, an elderly lady with the construction of a stork and a penchant for rococo jewelry. She read to us, and I couldn't wait to be able to devour those stories myself and not have to wait until next week to know the ending.
Aside from my teacher/reader/mother, I'd have to say our elementary school librarian, an elderly lady with the construction of a stork and a penchant for rococo jewelry. She read to us, and I couldn't wait to be able to devour those stories myself and not have to wait until next week to know the ending.
Talking About Books
Met a friend for lunch yesterday for the express pleasure of talking about books, publishing, authors, reading, and writing. Some of you might have regular contact with others in the biz, but living in rural northern Michigan limits my opportunitites, and I'm lucky if I get to speak to someone who really knows the stresses of publishing once a month. I'm sure I bore my friends silly with talk of edits and pub dates, and many of them struggle to keep up with the argot.
But lunches with those as crazed as I am on the subject are days to be savored. Topics are visited and revisited: what is it that's wrong with that cozy? What was Author X thinking when she wrote that one? Will Author Y's new stand-alone be well received, and how did he get his publisher to agree to that new direction?
Others might wonder (I'm sure the waitress did when we hit the third hour) what is so fascinating. But we know. We know.
But lunches with those as crazed as I am on the subject are days to be savored. Topics are visited and revisited: what is it that's wrong with that cozy? What was Author X thinking when she wrote that one? Will Author Y's new stand-alone be well received, and how did he get his publisher to agree to that new direction?
Others might wonder (I'm sure the waitress did when we hit the third hour) what is so fascinating. But we know. We know.
Speaking Tudor - Hannah
(Recap) Amazing News! Modern science has developed the ability to bring people from the past to our time. It's a huge secret, of course, but I have discovered the method and brought four characters from HER HIGHNESS' FIRST MURDER to 2010. In the coming weeks, you'll hear what they have to say about our time, their time, the best of times, and the worst of times.
(New post) "I am Hannah, and I work at Hampstead Castle, where the Princess Elizabeth has been staying. I suppose that is why I was brought to your time, but it is not for the likes of me, I must say.
"I am an orphan, sent to Hampstead to make my way in the world. There I learned how to work hard, for Hampstead is a constant trial to its inhabitants. Built long ago, it has no modern comforts, certainly nothing like the homes of today. Still, it is better than the place I come from, a foundling home overcrowded and grim. In truth, Hampstead is grim, but it is not crowded, and there are folk there I have come to know and like.
"When Her Highness was sent to us, we were all very excited. I was nervous at first, but she is not so frightening when one gets to know her. Not that I claim close acquaintance, of course. I know my place. Still, she speaks when we meet on the stairs, and she once took me with her to carry her things home from a shop, and that day it was almost like we were friends, for we laughed at the antics of the street vendors and she asked my opinion on which ribbon best matched her new skirt.
"Now that we are here, in the year 2010, she bids me to be strong and not cower at motorized traffic and the constant din of electonic devices. "They are still people, Hannah," she says. "No matter their wondrous machines and their learned ways." I try to keep it in mind, but I am not used to it. I'm told that here I am as good as anyone else, that there is no servant class. People serve others everywhere I look, but it is apparently different these days. I'm not sure how. I will ask Simon Maldon to explain it. He is common, like me, but ever so much wiser."
(New post) "I am Hannah, and I work at Hampstead Castle, where the Princess Elizabeth has been staying. I suppose that is why I was brought to your time, but it is not for the likes of me, I must say.
"I am an orphan, sent to Hampstead to make my way in the world. There I learned how to work hard, for Hampstead is a constant trial to its inhabitants. Built long ago, it has no modern comforts, certainly nothing like the homes of today. Still, it is better than the place I come from, a foundling home overcrowded and grim. In truth, Hampstead is grim, but it is not crowded, and there are folk there I have come to know and like.
"When Her Highness was sent to us, we were all very excited. I was nervous at first, but she is not so frightening when one gets to know her. Not that I claim close acquaintance, of course. I know my place. Still, she speaks when we meet on the stairs, and she once took me with her to carry her things home from a shop, and that day it was almost like we were friends, for we laughed at the antics of the street vendors and she asked my opinion on which ribbon best matched her new skirt.
"Now that we are here, in the year 2010, she bids me to be strong and not cower at motorized traffic and the constant din of electonic devices. "They are still people, Hannah," she says. "No matter their wondrous machines and their learned ways." I try to keep it in mind, but I am not used to it. I'm told that here I am as good as anyone else, that there is no servant class. People serve others everywhere I look, but it is apparently different these days. I'm not sure how. I will ask Simon Maldon to explain it. He is common, like me, but ever so much wiser."
The Author's Advice for the Reader
I've been following a discussion on Goodreads that concerns historical novels and the "truth" they present. I also spent many, many years teaching history, using novels as a way to make the past more interesting to students than the history books seem able to do. What I see is that there are two purposes to reading historicals, and the wise reader understands what her goal is and then how much she cares about truth as opposed to an exciting story.
First and maybe foremost, we read for entertainment. We love a certain era, certain characters, or certain events from history and want to see how each author presents them. We want to be swept away from the now, want to know how they did things back then, want to think about differences and similarities between us and people in other times.
The other reason we read historicals is to learn about the past. Many of us get most of our understanding of history from novels, and there's the rub: not all novels are created historically. A reader who picks up a certain book with no historical background to call upon may conclude that everything in the book is true, and that's probably a mistake. Almost all authors have to bend the truth a little to make a novel work, even if it's just telescoping time or adding minor characters.
In all probability, it doesn't really matter if you think Anne Boleyn had sex with her brother, but there are ways to become better informed. First, read the author's notes; often we want to let you know where we depart from the facts for the sake of a good story. Second, read more than one author's take on a character or time period. There are hundreds of books on Marie Antoinette, for example, so you can get a rounded view and decide for yourself whether she was wicked or merely misguided.
Finally, there's always nonfiction. If you are reading to learn and not just for entertainment, you can look up what original or scholarly sources say on a topic. Just be aware: there aren't any totally objective sources, so you, like the authors who write historicals, must decide for yourself if Richard III killed his nephews or not. (I vote not, but it's just my opinion!)
First and maybe foremost, we read for entertainment. We love a certain era, certain characters, or certain events from history and want to see how each author presents them. We want to be swept away from the now, want to know how they did things back then, want to think about differences and similarities between us and people in other times.
The other reason we read historicals is to learn about the past. Many of us get most of our understanding of history from novels, and there's the rub: not all novels are created historically. A reader who picks up a certain book with no historical background to call upon may conclude that everything in the book is true, and that's probably a mistake. Almost all authors have to bend the truth a little to make a novel work, even if it's just telescoping time or adding minor characters.
In all probability, it doesn't really matter if you think Anne Boleyn had sex with her brother, but there are ways to become better informed. First, read the author's notes; often we want to let you know where we depart from the facts for the sake of a good story. Second, read more than one author's take on a character or time period. There are hundreds of books on Marie Antoinette, for example, so you can get a rounded view and decide for yourself whether she was wicked or merely misguided.
Finally, there's always nonfiction. If you are reading to learn and not just for entertainment, you can look up what original or scholarly sources say on a topic. Just be aware: there aren't any totally objective sources, so you, like the authors who write historicals, must decide for yourself if Richard III killed his nephews or not. (I vote not, but it's just my opinion!)
Who Reads Mystery?
Smart people, of course!
Well, that's part of it. Mystery readers come in all shapes and sizes, but I've been to lots of conventions where they gather, and they are a dedicated lot. Authors sometimes cringe at the thought of meeting their fans, because they'll be put to the question: why was Character C's motive so weak? How did Character A travel from New York to L.A. so fast? And did you know that your Character B has blue eyes in book one and green eyes in book two? Oops!
So who are mystery readers? They notice details, like the sleuths they like to follow. They like a puzzle, but it had better make sense when all the pieces are in place. They gobble up mystery novels like tent caterpillars on a maple tree. And they love, love, love to talk about what they like and don't like in the genre.
The differences seem to come in the type of sleuth mystery readers like. Some really get into the smart-mouth hero; others like the reluctant sleuths. Some want lots of detail from the mind of the killer; others like him/her to be remote until the end, when motives spill out in a final desperate scene. Some want all the ends tied up: justice served, evil defeated. Others want recognition at the story's end that life just isn't like that.
So who reads mystery? I was correct at the beginning: smart people of many kinds, many types. The only requirement is the desire to pit your mind as a reader against the mind of the author. Let the battle of wits begin!
Well, that's part of it. Mystery readers come in all shapes and sizes, but I've been to lots of conventions where they gather, and they are a dedicated lot. Authors sometimes cringe at the thought of meeting their fans, because they'll be put to the question: why was Character C's motive so weak? How did Character A travel from New York to L.A. so fast? And did you know that your Character B has blue eyes in book one and green eyes in book two? Oops!
So who are mystery readers? They notice details, like the sleuths they like to follow. They like a puzzle, but it had better make sense when all the pieces are in place. They gobble up mystery novels like tent caterpillars on a maple tree. And they love, love, love to talk about what they like and don't like in the genre.
The differences seem to come in the type of sleuth mystery readers like. Some really get into the smart-mouth hero; others like the reluctant sleuths. Some want lots of detail from the mind of the killer; others like him/her to be remote until the end, when motives spill out in a final desperate scene. Some want all the ends tied up: justice served, evil defeated. Others want recognition at the story's end that life just isn't like that.
So who reads mystery? I was correct at the beginning: smart people of many kinds, many types. The only requirement is the desire to pit your mind as a reader against the mind of the author. Let the battle of wits begin!
