The Joy of Reading

This morning, Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite authors, posted a wonderful blog on Lewis, Tolkein, and Chesterton. If you make the jump, he'll share with you his memories of discovering these men and the ways their work has become a part of him. His relationship with Lewis bares an uncanny similarity to my own. And though we came to Tolkien in a very different way, I think we also feel similarly about his work. Anyway, Gaiman's words reminded me of the power of reading, and how each story we find and love and cherish changes us in ways we may never fully recognize or understand. Yet, those changes live inside us where they grow to shape our lives. So, thank you Neil for the refreshing reminder. It went quite well with my morning coffee, and it put me in the perfect frame of mind to enthusiastically tackle the long list of things on my agenda.

The agenda includes several looming deadlines for which I am actually grateful. Though I am farther behind than I had hoped today, I'm thrilled by the work and this is always a major plus. I'm working on an extremely exciting super secret project. More on that later. I'm grateful for the deadline because I work best under pressure, often turning out my best writing when the shadow of a due date is looming. But, I am also headed to the Roanoke Regional Writer's Conference at Hollin's University tomorrow, which shaves quite a bit of writing time off said deadline. Perhaps sleep could be put off for a few days. Better brew another pot of coffee. 

This may very well mean no blogs for the remainder of this week, unless some miracle occurs and all of the words come pouring out today without the need for edits. Stranger things have happened. But, I'll look forward to sharing my adventures at the writer's conference with you when I return next week, and very soon the big secret will be revealed. So, no worries, you won't have too long to wait. Until then, may you find a good book and bask in the joy of reading!