Young People Reading

Once when I was at the gym, a gym buddy told me how he felt young children these days aren’t as engrossed with reading as they used to be, that nowadays they are in essence glued to technological escapes rather than literary ones. In many respects I think he isn’t wrong. Technology is constantly changing, and certainly isn’t what it once was. In many ways it has improved our lives, but in others it seems to have taken over our lives as well.

Reading is a great way to escape all that, just as walking or exercising is, because it’s good to unplug and recharge, if you take my meaning. For young children, studies have said it’s important for them to not get glued to technology, because what they really need is that connection and interaction with their parents.

Certainly one of the best ways, if not the best, to get a child to love reading is for parents to read to them from an early age, and it establishes that necessary connection. I remember my own parents reading to me many books when I was little, especially before bed. It’s a great way not only to get children to love reading and spark their imagination, but to forge a bond between parent and child.

Once I was a volunteer for a library that had a special annex. The books there—all children’s books—couldn’t be checked out, just read, and I had to watch over the annex for a few hours. Once in a while, I would offer to read to a child, and even though it didn’t happen often, I loved it.

Some of the best children’s stories began with people telling stories and/or playing with children. A. A. Milne was inspired to create Winnie-the-Pooh by watching his son Christopher play with his stuffed toys. When Reverend Wilbert Awdry’s son (coincidentally also named Christopher) was sick, he told him a story about a sad little steam engine named Edward, which was the beginning of his Railway Series (yes, Edward came before Thomas, as did Gordon and Henry). Lewis Carroll and J. M. Barrie also interacted with children, through which they were inspired to write their respective masterpieces, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Peter Pan.

I have no children of my own (yet), but I do hope to be a father someday. I definitely would read to them my favorite books and series from when I was a child, but I would also encourage them to find their own favorites. Parents have tried to keep children from reading certain titles, even going so far as to ask for books to be banned. While parents seek to protect, I feel they need to let their children make their own decisions too, and teach them to approach reading with an open mind.

The important thing is whether a book entices a child to keep reading. I remember how on an Amazon Prime documentary about Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, a single father raising a daughter said that he knew little about R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, which his daughter read, but knew if they were banned, his daughter might lose the drive to keep reading because those books specifically were what motivated her to keep reading.

Further Reading
  1. Cheadle, Robbie. Teaching your child to read.
  2. French, Charles F. Benefits of Reading Revisited.

The Underground Library Society

Many thanks to author and blogger Charles F. French for this opportunity, inspired by the Book People in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, where I discuss one of my favorite classic stories—why it’s so special to me, and why I believe it’s worth preserving.

Let me say it was a tough decision, for there are many good books out there worth preserving. But when it came down to it—thinking of a classic story I’ve always come back to (in this case every December) and which is special to me—in the end I knew what my choice would be.

A New Addition to the U.L.S., The Underground Library Society: Andrew McDowell and Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

If anyone else might be interested in joining and posting about a book that you would choose to become in a world like the one Bradbury envisaged, please consider it!

What Banned Books Week is all about

Check out my guest appearance with the amazing author Ally Aldridge! On her blog, I discuss Banned Books Week (which is going to be September 22-28 this year) and the importance of creative and intellectual freedom for writers, librarians, and humanity. We have a few months to go, but there’s no harm in thinking about it early! Thank you, Ally, for this opportunity!

via What Banned Books Week is all about

Inscribed #3

The collection grows:

I purchased a copy of Michael Hauge‘s Writing Screenplays that Sell a long time ago, and I read it in time for him to inscribe it at the 2018 Maryland Writers’ Conference, where he was a guest speaker. His book is on my list of recommended readings for authors.

I first met Rafael Alvarez at another Maryland Writers’ Conference years earlier, and I received an inscribed copy of Hometown Boy during a talk he did at the Linthicum Community Library.

John DeDakis signed my copies of Fast Track, Bluff, and Troubled Water at the 2018 C3 Convention. I first met him when he spoke at a meeting of the Annapolis Chapter of the MWA, and he later provided an extremely helpful critique when I was editing Mystical Greenwood.

Last week at the MWA in Annapolis, Susan Moger was the guest speaker, and she signed my copy of her novel Of Better Blood.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the collection, especially if you’re looking for some titles to add to your own to-read list:

I look forward to signing copies of Mystical Greenwood at the conference this weekend!

Looking Back on Summer

This summer has been eventful. In June I appeared on the ArtistFirst Radio Network, which is highly supportive of independent authors:

Not long after that, I went to a wonderful family reunion. I signed their copies of Mystical Greenwood, and they surprised me with a special cake! Here’s a picture of the cake, along with some pictures of relatives from later on with their copies:

Most recently I made an appearance at the Crofton Library, where I talked about how I came to be published, and featured a musical performance of the two songs in Mystical Greenwood by their composer, Lee J. Chapman, and his associates:

Be sure to check my Events page for upcoming appearances in autumn and winter!

Don’t forget to purchase your copy of Mystical Greenwood! Post a review when you’re done! Every review helps! Please spread the word! Recommend it to your local bookstore and/or library! It is available from the following sites:

US$:  Amazon  |  B&N  |  BAM!  |  Goodreads

UK£Amazon.co.uk  |  Foyles

In addition, you can purchase mugs, greeting cards, postcards, magnets, mouse pads, and coasters featuring the cover art, as well as prints, on Deviant Art! If you’re a fan, show it!

Don’t forget to subscribe to receive new blog posts. Check out my Blog page to catch up on old ones! Be sure to visit me on social media too:

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Write in Right Now

For those who haven’t seen these yet, here are some pictures from the event Write in Right Now that I participated in a few weeks ago at the Annapolis Regional Library, alongside fellow writers Lucia St. Clair Robson, Jennifer Bort Yacovissi, Sally Whitney, and Leigh Goff:

I had a really good time there. Some of these pictures might lead you to think the attendance was small. It wasn’t (these were taken near the very end as people began to leave). The turnout was absolutely wonderful.

The Capital Gazette featured a nice article about the event (where I am mentioned for my “dark gray blazer”). For all those who are participating in National Novel Writing Month, I wish you the best of luck. Keep up the good work!

The Tide of Technology

In the fall, I’ll begin studying for my master’s degree in library science at the University of Maryland. When I applied, I wrote about libraries connecting the past with the present and future. They preserve our written past, as well as offer the latest technologies. I have worked for the Anne Arundel County Public Library for over two years, where I bore witness to an evolution in technology available for patrons. The tide of technology making services more efficient is reflected in my thoughts when I think about publication and marketing, as is the relationship of the past, present, and future.

I grew up after the age of the typewriter, so I never used one. For that I’m glad. I am thankful for the computer. A typewriter to me would be a novelty, something to try out for the fun of it. However, I could not imagine writing and editing an entire novel on a typewriter. Nevertheless, there were those who did so once. There were once those who didn’t have the internet and had only physical books to conduct research. When I was at St. Mary’s College and had to write papers, I was able to find sources digitally thanks to that library website and its resources, as well as books. It made life much easier.

It is clear to me that the internet is now becoming the main market for selling and buying books. Nowadays Amazon and other vendors offer greater convenience. You no longer need to go out to a bookstore to search for what you want. You can find it and order it and it comes to you. Even at the library you can find what you want to check out online, place an order, and pick it up at whichever branch you choose rather than browse the shelves. I see many patrons do this all the time. Bookstores it would seem are becoming a thing of the past. I’ve watched several close their doors. While you can still preview books online, for me it isn’t always quite the same as holding it in my hands. Still, I find it very convenient. The internet is essential now to marketing books to as wide an audience as possible. I had to start early and build a following with this blog and website, and other forms of social media.

Even books themselves are embracing technology in new forms. eBooks are now available. They weren’t years ago. I’ve seen them at the library, along with audio books. Once again, to market and sell books as much as possible, I must accept that people prefer different forms of book reading even if I may never use them personally. As a writer, for me nothing will beat the feel of a printed book, to flip through its pages and know I wrote those words. In addition, I find it easier to concentrate with printed page. But yes, others have different tastes. I’ll have to understand these new forms regardless, especially if I continue to work in a library. Some people drive a lot and love listening to audio books. When I was little, before bed I listened to a few children’s books on audio cassette (another technology now a relic of the past), including The Polar Express and The Tale of Peter Rabbit. So perhaps there is a chance I may try other forms of books in my personal life.

Who knows now what the future will bring? Who knows how my future novels will be received? Who knows where this library science master’s degree will take me during and after my studies? I’ll do my best to be ready in the present, but always remember the past. Libraries to me are a community center where people can have access to technology but also walk through a museum preserving our written past. Having studied history, I treasure the past, for it shows how we came to be where we are now. So, while embracing the tide of technology, I mustn’t let it wash away the past altogether.
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