Reading...

Writing and reading tend to go hand in hand.  I do not know very many writers who are not also avid readers.  I have 4 books going at all times...really.  One audible fiction, one audible non-fiction, one fiction book and one non-fiction book.  I average about six books a month...sometimes more.

Reading has long been an escape for me.  I love to disappear into the lives and minds of characters, real and imagined, to relive something or to experience something for the very first time.  As an only child of ardent readers, our family vacations were spent reading, I mean we did do other things but reading was always part of the holiday.

I can’t imagine my life without books.  They are part of the structure of my every day.  I love that audio books give me permission to still read while I am busy doing other things like: gardening, driving, or walking.  I also love just doing all of those things silently but the fact that I can disappear into someone else’s story while also living mine is pretty special.

There is almost nothing I love more than to snuggle up on the couch, fireside, with a cat or five, and a book and sip coffee while I turn pages.  It is so soothing.  So comforting.  Like all is right with the world. If it is raining outside, so much the better.  The wet weather expected in SoCal this winter has me already making lists of all the shit I want to read when the weather gives me permission to stay home and chill.

I know how important books and reading are to me, so I am humbled that next month, October 13, 2026, my first book will hit the stands.  I can’t believe it.  I mean, I publish this blog every day and have for years but there is something about solidifying my life into an actual book, instead of daily essays that makes my head swim a little.  I am so excited, terrified, elated, honored and grateful I have found the courage to put it all out there and have already begun working on the second book, that, if all goes well, will be out late next year!

Reading and writing is what I have always loved.  I have kept a journal since I was 9.  I still have them all.  And I am sure there is book in all of that also...so many things I want to create!  Stay tuned, more will be revealed.

I know how much time, effort, thought, imagination, courage and fortitude it takes to write it all down and then put it out there for the masses to get, or not.  I think this is why I feel like reading is such a privilege.  I get to do for others what they are doing for me.  Every single person that reads my words is a gift.  And I like to think that I can give back by being a reader of others.  I can give them the same gift of my time, attention and interest.

Reading is one of my most favorite things to do.  It is healing.  It is educational.  And it is something I am very grateful I get to do more of in my life.  I don’t know that I will ever read as much as my mom, I think she read over 200 books in 2020. But I can aspire!  And I am grateful for my parents taking the time to give me the gift of the love of reading, and in turn, writing.

Again, still...