Thanks, Charles, much appreciated. I've been writing since I was a kid. But I didn't send out short stories (my usual writing thing when I was younger) to pubs. Real life work jobs got in the way of taking it to that level. I did send a short story to Omni Magazine, a sci-fi mag run by Penthouse (but it wasn't at all an erotica pub) a ve…
Thanks, Charles, much appreciated. I've been writing since I was a kid. But I didn't send out short stories (my usual writing thing when I was younger) to pubs. Real life work jobs got in the way of taking it to that level. I did send a short story to Omni Magazine, a sci-fi mag run by Penthouse (but it wasn't at all an erotica pub) a very, very long time ago, and received a very nice, non-form letter from the editor, Ellen Datlow (I still remember her name), who went into specifics about why she liked the story and why she was also rejecting it. She encouraged me to send more. I never did. My HS also had a creative writing workshop where a sci-fi writer named Gene Wolfe critiqued my work and was very complimentary and strongly encouraged me to keep at it.
I read like a fiend as a young boy. I was reading stuff like Brothers Karamazov in eighth grade because classics were around the house.
But overall, in my adult life, I just did work-a-day stuff, art direction and creative director, then later when the web took hold, software engineering, because I became fascinated by coding. I've always written on the side though. Lots of novels in the drawer that never saw the light of day.
When I "semi-retired," I tried to move full time into writing. I still occasionally get pulled into a software project because I have friends in the business but I try not to, so that's why I call it semi-retirment. I'm trying to do this full-time, now.
I too learned to read at a young age and devoured books in my formative years. Sadly, I don't read as much now. I'm not sure why I got out of the habit, I think partly it's because I was reading so much non-fiction, technical manuals and text books, that took some of the joy out of reading. Partly it's the daunting thought that if I spent every moment reading I wouldn't manage more than a tiny fraction of what's been written, so where do I start? My two favourite authors, Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut, are both dead and I've read everything they've written, not that that's an excuse but they always encouraged me. And I do reread their books regularly. And then there old age that, ironically, rather than making me read more has a similar discouraging effect: I'm reluctant to start books like ‘Gravity's Rainbow’, which took me four attempts and a considerable amount of willpower to finally finish. I'm glad I read it, but if I'd known how it left me feeling I may well not have bothered. Nowadays, instead of reading 20+ books a year I'm down to 3/4. I should do something about that. Unfortunately, I'm a little pig-headed about books I've started, I tend to plough through them however unsatisfactory I find them. It's that fear of making such an effort for what ends up being little reward, at least for me. On the other hand, and this is at least part of the reason I persevere with ‘difficult’ books, there are plenty I've been inclined to give up on that ended up being wonderful and very rewarding. You never know until you finish them! Another negative experience was Joseph Heller's ‘Something Happened’. Then there was James Joyce's ‘Ulysses’. A close friend whose tastes I very much respected and admired urged me to read it. It took me four weeks and when I'd finally finished it and told him I was now ready to discuss it with him he replied, “Oh. I haven't read the book, I watched the film.”! That was frustrating, although it's a book I enjoyed despite it's difficulty. Gore Vidal's ‘Creation’ is one of my all time favourite books in that line, albeit one I've had trouble rereading.
Perhaps I'm too demanding. As with music (and music is my abiding passion – I am a musician), I've become less patient and want something new, surprising and different, something I haven't considered or that gives me a perspective I haven't come across before. That's a big ask and another thing where age makes a difference. I'm not so arrogant as to think I know it all and have experienced everything, far from it, but enough to make me fussier.
I don’t read anywhere near as much as I used to. My eyes, for one thing, aren’t the best. And I get sleepy when I read even something I like a lot. And I’m a lot pickier. If I am not into a book by about 70 pages I just drop it. It’s gotta grab me. I no longer read stuff because it feels like I should, which I have done for years because it seemed like a way to understand all forms of literature.
I am not a musician but I love music so much that I can’t listen to it when I write or work. I just want to listen to the music, lol.
Thanks, Charles, much appreciated. I've been writing since I was a kid. But I didn't send out short stories (my usual writing thing when I was younger) to pubs. Real life work jobs got in the way of taking it to that level. I did send a short story to Omni Magazine, a sci-fi mag run by Penthouse (but it wasn't at all an erotica pub) a very, very long time ago, and received a very nice, non-form letter from the editor, Ellen Datlow (I still remember her name), who went into specifics about why she liked the story and why she was also rejecting it. She encouraged me to send more. I never did. My HS also had a creative writing workshop where a sci-fi writer named Gene Wolfe critiqued my work and was very complimentary and strongly encouraged me to keep at it.
I read like a fiend as a young boy. I was reading stuff like Brothers Karamazov in eighth grade because classics were around the house.
But overall, in my adult life, I just did work-a-day stuff, art direction and creative director, then later when the web took hold, software engineering, because I became fascinated by coding. I've always written on the side though. Lots of novels in the drawer that never saw the light of day.
When I "semi-retired," I tried to move full time into writing. I still occasionally get pulled into a software project because I have friends in the business but I try not to, so that's why I call it semi-retirment. I'm trying to do this full-time, now.
Thanks for the kind words again!
I too learned to read at a young age and devoured books in my formative years. Sadly, I don't read as much now. I'm not sure why I got out of the habit, I think partly it's because I was reading so much non-fiction, technical manuals and text books, that took some of the joy out of reading. Partly it's the daunting thought that if I spent every moment reading I wouldn't manage more than a tiny fraction of what's been written, so where do I start? My two favourite authors, Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut, are both dead and I've read everything they've written, not that that's an excuse but they always encouraged me. And I do reread their books regularly. And then there old age that, ironically, rather than making me read more has a similar discouraging effect: I'm reluctant to start books like ‘Gravity's Rainbow’, which took me four attempts and a considerable amount of willpower to finally finish. I'm glad I read it, but if I'd known how it left me feeling I may well not have bothered. Nowadays, instead of reading 20+ books a year I'm down to 3/4. I should do something about that. Unfortunately, I'm a little pig-headed about books I've started, I tend to plough through them however unsatisfactory I find them. It's that fear of making such an effort for what ends up being little reward, at least for me. On the other hand, and this is at least part of the reason I persevere with ‘difficult’ books, there are plenty I've been inclined to give up on that ended up being wonderful and very rewarding. You never know until you finish them! Another negative experience was Joseph Heller's ‘Something Happened’. Then there was James Joyce's ‘Ulysses’. A close friend whose tastes I very much respected and admired urged me to read it. It took me four weeks and when I'd finally finished it and told him I was now ready to discuss it with him he replied, “Oh. I haven't read the book, I watched the film.”! That was frustrating, although it's a book I enjoyed despite it's difficulty. Gore Vidal's ‘Creation’ is one of my all time favourite books in that line, albeit one I've had trouble rereading.
Perhaps I'm too demanding. As with music (and music is my abiding passion – I am a musician), I've become less patient and want something new, surprising and different, something I haven't considered or that gives me a perspective I haven't come across before. That's a big ask and another thing where age makes a difference. I'm not so arrogant as to think I know it all and have experienced everything, far from it, but enough to make me fussier.
I don’t read anywhere near as much as I used to. My eyes, for one thing, aren’t the best. And I get sleepy when I read even something I like a lot. And I’m a lot pickier. If I am not into a book by about 70 pages I just drop it. It’s gotta grab me. I no longer read stuff because it feels like I should, which I have done for years because it seemed like a way to understand all forms of literature.
I am not a musician but I love music so much that I can’t listen to it when I write or work. I just want to listen to the music, lol.