Tag Archives: I don’t have time to read

There is one statement people passing our display table make that chills us to the bone: “I don’t read.”

The response is an answer to a standard question we throw out to grab someone’s attention: are you a reader? “I don’t read” is usually followed by a) don’t I wish I had time!! b) I used to love books, but haven’t read one for years, or c) my job or my kids require all my attention.

It shakes me up to hear those things because I realize that reading is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. I love nothing more than a respite from the job or my family or any of the other everyday pressures that fill everyone’s day to immerse myself in the plots and characters that have nothing to do with my personal challenges. Yet either these poor people can’t find enough time in the day to do something so relaxing or they’ve thrown away the ability to lose themselves in the written word.

I know there’s television, cell phones, tablets and computers to distract and entertain, but it isn’t the same experience at all. When you read, your brain fills in the blanks of what you cannot see. The visualization is an internal experience. If the writer is really good, you feel the deep cold of the blizzard, the light touch of a lover’s lips, the numbing fear of a dangerous situation or the radiant freedom of the character’s epiphany. You’re doing the feeling and thinking instead of letting the images someone else created do the thinking for you.

It’s why mom and I wanted so badly to write books—because we love reading them. As authors, our greatest reward is meeting someone who has read our work who stops to exclaim how they couldn’t put one of our books down. When someone says that, we know we’ve attained our goal.

This September 15, when we gather at Applebee’s to launch Treasured Fate, the fourth Sam Osborne mystery, we are celebrating the blessing of having heard that statement multiple times. Come and share our joy.

Join us Sept. 15 at Applebee’s, 3330 Pine Bluff Drive, Dumfries to launch Treasured Fate

–Genilee Swope Parente