I’m Gail Barr. I always imagined I would be an author, and maybe it was because I’ve always felt so good with a book in my hand. Not just comfortable, but good. Saying I would be an author sounded like something adults weren’t expecting to hear out of an eight year old when they asked that tired question of what do you want to be when you grow up. I think there was a part of me hoping to discourage further questions with an offbeat answer. Successful, sometimes.
As a kid, I was always reading, but I was confined to what was on the shelves at my local library and school library for the most part. There was the periodic and beloved Scholastic Book Sale that held promise of new material (I’m nodding at you, fellow GenXers), but their offers were mostly fluff.
Never wanting them to be over and actually grieving a bit during final chapters, I would re-read books I loved until I practically knew them by heart. Growing up, I found much of the teen literature positively nauseating and then struggled to find any appealing adult fiction in my twenties. Eventually, reading was paused while I raised children. During those years, I read newspapers, bedtime stories and spelling lists, but I desperately missed reading for pleasure. My children are now grown and flown and it’s time to get back to it.
I love books that make me think about them when I’m not reading them. I love stories that change my mind about something. I love authors who manage to surprise me with a plot twist that blows my doors off. I want to read about relatable characters that I can sink my teeth into, even if their thought process, choices and behaviors are the antithesis of my own. I can fall in love with fantasy-based stories (I’m thinking Harry Potter here), but I need characters who are eyebrow-deep in real feelings and actions. Stories can take place in gopher holes or on Mars, but don’t give me any cheesy characters that do and say things that would never happen in the human experience.
I’ve had decades to write a book, but I haven’t done it. When I read a terrible book, I think, “Really? This got published?” and I experience a brief wave of confidence about writing my own book. Then I read a stellar book and think, “You can’t do better than this”, and my unfinished book ideas remain saved in a folder on my desktop labeled “Potential Stories.” In the meantime, I hope that sharing my ideas about books I’m reading and getting feedback from other readers will help me to practice my writing and inspire me to finally write a book of my own.
