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.