On writing and reading…dipping my toe, again, into this world of blogging

In order to write well, you must read.

I am tempted to say that I do not get the chance to read as often as I would like. The truth is that I don’t prioritize reading the way that I believe I should. This is a truth that I wrestle with every day. I have a huge stack of unread books next to my bed. I always have. I am currently reading 7 print books, 7 ebooks, and listening to 2 audiobooks. My list of holds from the library is long and detailed. Some of these books I have been working on for years. Some of them I will never finish, but I love them all and I am learning from them all. They teach me style, voice, and grammar. They give me self-confidence and courage. They provide me with an escape as well as joy.

Erotica is my passion, so most of the books I read are related to it in some way, but I do read a little of everything. I will pick up just about anything if it is by someone who is a master of the craft of writing. Reading well-crafted sentences, paragraphs and chapters can only serve to expand my world and make me a better writer, and I am grateful to live in a time and place where I have access to so much.

I also LOVE audiobooks. I believe that they are just as valuable as print books. I started listening to audiobooks when I was in graduate school and had a really long commute. I used the drive as a chance to expose myself to books that I knew I would never pick up in print. Books such as Exodus or Shogun, books that were long and heavy, but held a place in the cannon of literature. I was hooked immediately and now, if you see me with headphones on, that is what I am pumping into my ears. Stories and stories and more stories!

I used to have a subscription to the Audible Escape catalog. I went into a depression when they got rid of it. It was my lifeline to discovering good erotica. There is a LOT to sort through! Erotica, even moreso than other genres, is subjective. You have to find that one author that lights you up. But through that catalog, I was able to swim through the sea of erotic works and find the stuff that turned me on. It was a creative and invigorating lifeline.

What else…I don’t know. I needed to write today, to put something down on paper that was not a WIP or important or particularly creative or part of my Twitter persona; something that was a little more me, a little more personally Hedone. Thanks for reading.