It's A Bookie's Life For Me by Reese Mobley

Ever have a stranger creep out of a dark alley, approach you and offer you a book?  Find ominous packages on your doorstop marked in red ink, “Read it.  Or else.”  Or how about opening your locker at the gym and discovering a stack of books, tied with a pink ribbon, waiting beside your clean underwear? 
 
Nah.  Me either. 
Our topic this month is what book rocked your world.  Changed the way you see things—writerly speaking.  Influenced you to reach new heights while typing your current work-in-progress.  I didn’t grow up reading romances like so many of you.  I didn’t open my first romance until my early twenties when my mom dug out a yellowing Harlequin from a box of books someone had given her.  I do not remember the title or the author but I do know this type of story resonated with me.  Happily Ever After.  I’d died and gone to heaven. 
I became an official BOOKIE.  Some might say book-a-holic or even Barnes and Noble nerd.  Friends and relatives started recommending titles and authors to me.  I loved most; liked some, while others left me scratching my head wondering how this book ever made it to print.  I devoured so many books my office looked like a library.  My nightstand resembled a used bookstore.
I was in deep.     
Then, my dearest friend got published.  Her books became my new inspiration.   My social circle expanded to include several honest-to-goodness authors.  The nerd in me listened in awe as they discussed books and issues exclusive to them. 
Being a bookie became the in thing to do.  I was a bookie groupie. 
So today if you ask what books influence me, I’d have to say ALL OF THEM.  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.  I learn something from all of them.
Hugs,
Reese
 

8 comments:

Joan Vincent said...

Well, fellow bookaholic, I can't wait until we add your published work to the list of books to influence us. It'll come one day when you least expect it. It's a good thing even bad books can influence us to be better. After I became a writer I found it sad that we do devour books so much more quickly than they can be written! It took forever for the last Robert Jordan book to come out so I could learn how it all ended!

Melissa Robbins said...

Too funny, Reese! Love the title too.

Rox Delaney said...

There's a lot of worse things people could do instead of reading.

Joan is right. Good things happen when you least expect it. If you knew when, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun, and think of the books you wouldn't have time to read. ;)

Reese Mobley said...

Thanks, Joan. You're sweet. Hopefully it will be the good and not the bad or the ugly.

Reese Mobley said...

Thanks Melissa!

Reese Mobley said...

Rox, I miss reading but there are times when I am reading I know I should be writing.

Pat Davids said...

Reese,
Like you, I don't remember the name or the author of that first Harlequin I read, but I was hooked and hooked good by the HEA. I love other genres, westerns, sci-fi, paranormal, but they had better have a HEA or I won't go back to that author.

I have much less time to read these days and that's sad. I need more HEA in my life. Thanks for reminding me of that.

Rox Delaney said...

I decided last night to get back to reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I wasn't far into it when I had to stop, so it was a perk I gave myself before shutting down for the night. I don't think I've read King since before I started to write, or at least very little, but I was amazed that I recognized the plot structure. I checked to see how far I was into the book (via % on Kindle) and noticed it was around the 25% mark into the story, and lo and behold, there was a strong turning point. Amazing what I've learned that I didn't know before.