Why do we read?

I was just looking at my facebook page. It's a tangle of high school friends that I never see but would like to say hi to once in a while; authors (mostly romance cohorts from RWA); and academics from various places...be it coaching or psychology. Anywho, Eric Selinger (brilliant academic from DuPaul University)....passed the article along that I'm blogging about today. It's not a "what I like about you...'re book" blog, but instead a commentary that is related to my blog.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-pinter/jodi-picoult-jennifer-weiner-franzen_b_693143.html


Why do we read? Because we can loudly boast to have read something so painfully boring or poignant that it brought tears to our eyes? Is it because we want to grow, learn, live, feel or experience something that wouldn't otherwise have occurred to us? Or, perhaps it's a testament to our adventurous side, challenging us to dare to dream or dream of daring. Maybe, it's all of the above. Maybe, it's just good 'ol fashioned entertainment.

So, should anyone dictate what we read? Or, what we write? One of the glorious benefits of reading is to expand our minds. One of the glorious benefits of living in a free society as men & women equally (or so we hope)...is that we CAN read what we want, when we want, with whom we want, and then.... talk about it openly! Sure, there are the occasional zealots who try to ban our minds from reading freely, BUT they are afraid. You can't blame or force terrified people, blind to the power of the unknown for feeling that way. It's human nature to want to stay within a framework of sameness or even, like mindedness. We simply have to be confident in knowing that we know that the change can't hurt us.

The same can be said for commercial vs literary fiction. Some of it is good. Some of it is crap. We are all individuals with individual tastes in what we read. So, what's great to me, may be bunk to someone else. Visa Versa. I'm NEVER going to sit down with a pompous "intellectual" smart ass snob and try to have a conversation. I won't respect that person, and clearly, they won't respect me. It's OK. We are all individuals and we are all different.

However, we do have one thing in common (even if the wind bag won't admit it). We all LOVE to read. Even people in the art of story telling......reading optional......love a good story. Some cultures live their history by story telling. It's older than any of us will ever be.

So, War & Peace; Spell of the Highlander; The Bluest Eye; The Lakeshore Chronicles; The Troubleshooter Series; Pride & Prejudice; Last of the Mohicans; Moby Dick; Darkfever; The Bible; Pillars of the Earth, Boyfriend Trouble; On Writing......you get the picture. I've read them all. I love them all. I don't care if the writer is a woman a man, a transgendered person or an alien. "Don't ever let anyone tell you what to write. If it's good, it's good." - Jodi Picoult (words to live by)....and I'm PROUD to say...that was from her directly to ME in an email.

Here's something that you should know that I DO know about people  who write fiction. They are powerful in the way they band together to support each other to write BETTER each and every book. They are brilliant at knowing human emotion. They are in tune with what odds are stacked against them, and yet seem more resilient than any other profession I've been exposed to....and I've seen quite a few. The female authors that I know are smart bitches! Just visit the website for them. Seriously....it's their name! I dare anyone to out-know about writing OR reading with a critical eye than them! I'd actually like to invent a reality show with the Smart Bitches vs the Bow-tie wearing intellectual types mentioned in the above referenced article. It would be a really great show!
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/

So, to ALL the members of IASPR &  Jodi Piccoult (who does not write romance but does write a mean "women's fiction")...I salute you! Let me introduce you the International Association for the study of Popular Romance. Since our original article didn't get that far. http://iaspr.org/


Now, back to our regularly scheduled happy thoughts (say the Lost Boys to Peter), for I am forever a Female Peter Pan at heart. Or, maybe a tinker bell as I do have a cranky side.

OH...one more thing. Check out the Maui Writer's Conference or the Field's End Writer community (I'm sure there are hundreds of other conferences like these). WRITER'S who are GOOD, are also happy. Writers who are happy are also generous with their helping each other, supporting each other, sharing knowledge with each other. They are both men & women. When I went to Field's End...I got to meet Susan Wiggs, Sheila Roberts, Robert Dugoni & SO many more in every walk of the writer's life. It's the BEST conference I've been to....and the most beautiful. http://fieldsend.org/Conference.html


K
Here's my positive psych. side of this whole thing. I found a new author that I need to read! Thanks Huffington. Jennifer Weiner, I look forward to reading your stuff & contributing to your royalty check!