Thursday, August 16, 2012

Life and Reading

Gosh! This has been one of the craziest summers I can remember in both good and bad ways. The news first, I finished my manuscript "Hearts and Horses" for the Curse of the Scrimshaw Doll series with the Wild Okie group. What a grand feeling to finish the first round of edits, re-edits, and more re-edits and finally pass the manuscript on to a critique friend in the group.

I have a publisher interested in the "true fiction" work about my husband's aunt who died at the age of 18 in 1917. It was quite a scandal in small town Oklahoma. Keep your fingers crossed for me . . .

A Facebook friend of mine, Arlie, posted an interesting question recently. It made me wonder about you. I think your responses will be interesting and I wonder if our choices will be affected by location.

So, here are the questions and my answer.

What are the first books you remember reading? What were your choices from childhood through high school?

I remember having Little Golden Books and especially recall "The Poky Little Puppy." The first chapter books I can think of were "The Boxcar Children Series." I loved the sense of adventure the siblings had as they tried to survive without parents. There was a time I was really into anything about circuses. I wanted to be like Toby Tyler and join the circus. Then came Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames--more adventure. Later, in the high school years I was especially drawn in by Gothic Romance. Dorothy Eden was one of my favorite authors. More mystery and adventure. I think there's a theme here . . .

When I was in junior high we moved to a house in Lovington, NM that had an apricot tree in the back yard. It didn't take long for that tree to become my haven. I would climb up with a book, a Dr. Pepper, and a snack then settle into the crook between two branches. I spent hours up there reading and dreaming. When the apricots were ripe I could reach up and grab a handful and eat them warm and juicy right off of the tree.

Questions like those posed by Arlie make me take fond trips down memory lane. I've recalled books I hadn't thought about in years. Books I will make sure my granddaughters have access to when they're old enough to read.

So, what did you read and where did you live when you read those books?