Reading for Life

I have been reading voraciously since I was four years old. I distinctly remember the first word I read. It was d-o-o-r. I still remember the brilliant flash of the moment when I realized combining the sounds of those letters meant the same thing as the wooden-paneled door between the kitchen and hallway of our old farm house on Bunn Road, south-west of Jonesville, Michigan. Looking back it is entirely appropriate that my first understood written word was 'door'. Books have provided me a multitude of doors; doors to knowledge, enjoyment and perhaps most poignantly, escape. I have had a pretty decent life so far, but there have been some terrible patches. One surcease from the pain of those times, when I was physically trapped in grim reality, was reading. It never failed to bring me a measure of ease when I swam into the story and left the harshness behind. By the time I surfaced I was able to face the ugliness again, for a while. It still brings peace, and escape from physical pain although I have some other tools ready at hand that also help. Knitting is one of them, the repetitive motion goes a long way toward softening the bad days. When I am caught up in designing, the rest of the world fades away. And sometimes when I write, the words flow and grow bright between me and the rest the world for a time.
Books however are my first  love, the first time I discovered my mind can take me anywhere the author leads. I think that is why my deepest dream is to write fiction, preferably genre fiction with a kick-butt heroine, fantastic danger, some laughs, and always, always a happy ending. The authors I depended upon for release and relief of stress and painful parts of my life gave me so much, it seems natural to desire to give back and hope some future reader will also be able to find escape, relief and maybe even some perspective from something I write.

Since starting this blog, and even more now  that I am writing reviews almost every day I have felt my skill growing. I feel ready to tackle the first of the books living inside me.Whether it  is published or not, I think I owe it to myself to try.