More About My Reading and Writing Interests
I thought about including some of this in my “About Me” section, but decided that it would take way more than a pithy few sentences to explain my preferences. So, here they are, in all their glory (or not–you decide). Probably the most important thing to know about my literary preferences is that I am not a contemporary person. I read to escape (same thing goes for my viewing preferences), and when I want to escape, I REALLY want to escape. I want the words on the page to transport me to some make-believe place, or a time so distant in the past that it feels like a whole different world. This is how I rationalize liking such different genres: fantasy, historical fiction, and historical nonfiction (yes, I know the last two aren’t that different).
I’ve been an avid reader since an early age, but fantasy is the genre that really cemented my love of books. I still have the beaten up copy of The Hobbit that my uncle gave me when I was in the third grade. Third grade-me was thrilled to discover that I didn’t have to leave Middle Earth after finishing The Hobbit, so I ploughed through the entire Lord of the Rings series by the time I finished fourth grade. I probably will lose whatever “cool author” credibility I have by saying this, but I am not afraid to admit that I enjoyed books by some of the big name authors and will forever be a Tolkien/GRRM/Paolini/Sapkowski fan (this is your hint to introduce me to some lesser known authors I should explore).
I think my love of historical fiction and nonfiction probably grew from my love of fantasy, since my tastes in those genres tend to skew toward European royalty, many of whom would be quite at home as main characters (or villains–did Durza make anyone else think of Rasputin?) of fantasy novels. How can you not feel the inherent elements of magic and mysticism when reading about the tsars of Russia or early Plantagenet England? Even as I read about real people in their own real worlds of the time, I can’t help but feel like I am reading about fantasy epics or fairy tales (albeit closer to the Brothers Grimms’ versions than Disney’s). I personally think Richard the Lionheart would be just as believable leading a crusade as he would be leading an army to fight orcs.
As for my writing preferences, I suppose, like many writers, I have derived that from what I like to read, with a little bit of my own life experiences thrown in to muddy the waters. I consider myself a strong woman who comes from a line of strong women, and I have spent the last eleven years making my voice heard in a largely male-dominated environment. It therefore makes sense that I find myself particularly drawn to stories of strong women in history who played outsized roles in the male-dominated worlds of their times (I LOVED Game of Queens). I don’t want to reveal too many details yet for the next two projects I’m dying to start (once I finish my memoir first draft), but let’s just say that is a central theme to both of them, even though they focus on two very different women from two very different realities.
