Everywhere you go, there seem to be readers and non-readers and here in the heartland it seems the weather lends itself to reading. Paul and I are avid readers. When left to his own devices, Paul reads a book a day, mostly sci-fi and thrillers. He has even been known to sit in the bathtub all night to finish a new book that has just arrived in the mail. With so many competing hobbies and interests I only read a book or two a week, mostly thrillers and modern day novels. I seem to have aged out of romance novels and self-help books. A new year’s goal this year was to start reading the Best 100 list but so far it hasn’t happened.
Now that I am writing this column, I have become curious about other area non-fiction writers and have unearthed several; Brent Olsen and Bill Holm who both write short stories or essays about their lives on the prairie. I am captivated by the depth and breadth of experience both authors capture in their writing and they have inspired me to continue honing my own craft. In fact, I am going to go looking for Brent Olsen one of these days as he has been writing a long time and I could use a mentor.
While querying the Ortonville librarian about area authors, she informed me of a writer who was currently in town and would be talking at the Milbank library that evening. I have met authors over the years but not since I started writing for myself and thought it would be interesting to hear from a seasoned writer. So off I went to hear from historical romance novelist, Julie Klasser. She has written at least a book a year over the past dozen years or so and talked about the research required along with the settings, plots and characters of her books. She is a very down to earth person and gladly fielded my barrage of questions about her writing. Again, I was fascinated by her ability to build stories in her mind and translate them into the written word in a cohesive format that becomes a best seller. It seems the weather in the heartland also lends itself to writing and I have become aware of a plethora of area thriller authors whose work I have been enjoying this summer. They include John Sanford, William Kent Krueger, Brian Freeman and C J Box. If you know of others, let me know.
These thoughts have me pondering two questions; why do we read and what prompts people to write? I think “pure enjoyment” tops the list for reading but also to learn and be inspired. For writers it seems “pure love of the discipline” probably tops the list. When I started this column I felt the need to develop an overarching goal which I know is a holdover from my work life but still important to me in determining how/why I spend my time in retirement. As such, my current personal mission statement for writing is: “To use my curious passionate spirit to learn and inspire others to be their best selves.” It occurs to me this is an admirable goal for life in general. Another outcome for me has been personal reflection as writing promotes deeper contemplation of thoughts and experiences which, in turn, has enriched my life. With that I am off to load up my nook with new books to read while off on my travels this summer, both of which will provide fodder for future writing. Life is good! 2018