I read. A lot. I always have 3-4 books going at once, and always make a point of stealing back at least part of my badly-raped* and beaten personal time to gaze upon my NookColor or iPad and consume the written word.
* - as opposed to 'well-raped?' Methinks this will not be a phrase that catches on with society at large.
My reading also goes through phases. Before I doused my brain in the Fiction Writing program at Columbia College Chicago, much of my reading was made up of Stephen King and some WWII non-fiction. While at Columbia, I stretched my boundaries a bit to include some of the required reading there. To say that I overdosed on so-called 'blue collar fiction' would be an incredible understatement. While some of it ranks among the greatest literature on which I've ever laid eyes, much of it was little more than a ticket for an undergrad student to name-drop, much in the way that those in the punk community compete to name-drop bands that no one else has heard of. During that time, I fled back to science fiction in a hardcore way, and rediscovered my love for Asimov, my complicated relationship with Heinlein, my deep respect for Clarke, and my torrid love affair with Herbert. All that haughty dislike for genre fiction and nose-in-the-air New Yorker shit drove me back to what fiction means to me, which is a temporary escape in which one can find themselves.
I don't want to read about what I can go outside and do. I want to read about history, I want to read about speculative ideas, I want to be transported to a world other than this.
Don DeGrazia's book, to my right, takes place in real world Chicago, but it's a life few ever get to experience. Best book by a CCC grad ever. Read it now.
Phew. Anyway.
After college, I settled down and got back to a lot of the non-fiction that I'd so enjoyed before. I absolutely buried myself in WWII for a while, and really came to learn at the foot of a lot of great military and world leaders. General Patton, in particular, came to be a hero of mine.
I eventually began to meander and my narrowed tastes began to diffuse again a bit. Spec fiction, straight sci-fi, horror, and that urban fantasy fiction thing began to creep back in, and I even stretched my non-fiction to the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
Now, though, I've been binging on licensed fiction, and I'm not sure how to feel about it.
I've been enjoying the books, namely the Star Wars and Warhammer 40k novels, but the Columbia College Fiction graduate in me is ashamed. I think that, maybe, a lot of these creative writing programs teach genre writers the same thing that bible camps teach homosexuals.
'We can help you. You're a sinner, and you should hate yourself, at least until you accept Christ / Tom Robbins as your savior. You don't really want to (write about space ships / have sex with butts), you want to fall in line and not upset the herd.'
I guess that's a little unfair, actually. It's not the genre I'm ashamed of, it's the fact that it's licensed fiction. Actually, no, it is fair, based on the looks I used to get when reading work aloud.
Maybe this is a rebellious phase. I spent a bunch of years reading some really serious shit, and it's been fun to just enjoy this stuff. And, the Star Wars label employs some damn good writers, too. These aren't bad books, they're just ... tainted.
Hey, but I'm having a great time, and that's what counts, right? It's not like I'll be walking down the street, only to be confronted by a bunch of ironic Mac-toting haughty jerkoffs, one of whom points at me and yells, 'That's him! He graduated from a creative writing program and read a prequel book to the Star Wars prequel films! FUCK HIM UP!' I sense that they'll beat me to death with Cormac McCarthy and Malcolm Gladwell. Fuck, that's depressing (actually, McCarthy's a great author, and I would feel honored to have my brains and blood spattered on a copy of 'The Road,' especially if it was autographed.)
Anyway, what say you? Should I be ashamed? Anyone out there read William Gibson? If so, where should I start with him? What else should I read?
Anyway, thanks for reading, and if you're looking for a good read yourself, check out my first novel (paperback & ebook direct from publisher), now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!
-Blaine
