L.L. Nelson's Blog

Beginnings

When I was little, my parents gave me the greatest gift ever; the love of reading. Our entire household would sit around reading the newest Terry Pratchett or Dean Koontz novel. Dad usually got the first crack at a new book because he read so fast. I later discovered his secret. He skipped the filler. He once showed me how a best selling author spent two pages describing the sky. Not the weather. Just the sky. So he skipped it. You see, Dad wanted action. He wanted just enough description to whet his imagination. After that, he wanted the characters to entertain him. And woe to any character that sat around whining about his circumstances. Even when Dad was at his sickest, he never said, "Why me?". That's an attitude that I try to incorporate into my writing. I want to entertain and spur your imagination. After all, it's an election year and God knows we all need an escape from that.