Time well spent

Do you set aside time for reading, or is it a haphazard affair? Do you think reading helps your writing?

by Dietrich

I don’t have a set routine for reading, but I always manage to find time during the day to read. Reading is so inspiring, and it’s what got me into writing in the first place. Back when I was a kid, it was just the best kind of entertainment. Thank you, Dr. Seuss. Thank you, Roald Dahl. Thank you, Beverly Cleary.

It’s still the best kind of entertainment, and since e-books and audiobooks have come along in all their wonderful formats, it’s broadened the time I get to spend with a good story. Now, it’s not just for curling up in a favorite chair or a just before-bedtime thing. I can listen to a story while I’m cooking, or walking, or driving, or whatever. And e-readers have saved my back from heavy lugging since I don’t need to stuff a ton of books in my suitcase anytime I go on a trip. 

Does reading help? You bet it does. I read the kind of books that I would like to write, and in turn, I write the kind of books that I would like to read — again, it’s inspiring. And reading is like a mental gym too, allowing my mind to create images as the chapters spring to life; it’s like watching a movie, only better.

“‘Read a lot, write a lot’ is the great commandment.” — Stephen King

Here are a few I’ve read lately that I highly recommend: Slow Horses (Slough House #1) by Mick Herron; Stella Maris (The Passenger #2) by Cormac McCarthy; Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson; Drive and Moth, both by James Sallis; American Housewife by Helen Ellis; The Trackers by Charles Frazier, The Ice Harvest by Scott Phillips, and Old Babes in the Wood by Margaret Atwood.

Speaking of reading, my new one, The Get, drops in twenty days.

What’s it about?

Lenny Ovitz has plenty of secrets. He works for a volatile crime boss, is drowning in debt to the wrong people, and he’s certain his soon-to-be ex is aiming to screw him over. Somebody is going to have to get whacked. 

I hope fans of crime fiction will find plenty of entertainment in its pages. You can find out more about it here — thank you. And if you're in Toronto on June 3rd, it would be great to see you at the launch.