Nothing to wear
When it comes to reading, not just anything will do. Sometimes, I want something specific and find myself hunting for something that matches those ephemeral criteria. Last night, wanted something quick and dirty, short and entertaining. I wanted something well-written and engaging that would hold my interest and end quickly with a satisfying conclusion. That's a pretty tall order for a short story.
Like the socialite who throws open the doors to closets bursting with designer garb and complains she has nothing to wear, I scoured my electronic library for just the right thing and complained I had nothing to read.
Of course, that's not true in either case.
The socialite doesn't find precisely what she wants to wear and I didn't find precisely what I wanted to read.
Off to Amazon I went and downloaded a few titles that seemed to promise the quick entertainment I wanted before getting some shut-eye. Of them, I deleted all but one of them without finishing them. To be blunt: they sucked.
The last, however, redeemed itself with adequate writing and an occasional dose of humor. Any book that can make me laugh for the right reasons is worth a second or even third chance. Humor for the right reasons means I laugh with the author instead of devolving into a derisive cackle at the sheer, substandard inanity of the prose.
When I get into moods like that, I become super-critical and almost impossible to please. Each literary failure builds upon the ones preceding it until I'm ready to throw my Kindle at the wall in utter disgust. But I don't. First, I cannot blame the device for the lack of quality material I find. Second, the lack of quality material eventually inspires me to write what I want to read. That's how some of my books came into being: disgust with the examples prevalent in the genre or sub-genre that I felt did the genre (or sub-genre) a grave disservice.
Has my work redeemed the genre (or sub-genre)? Doubtful. Okay, no, it hasn't. But it adds an alternative, an option to the common lexicon of fiction that doesn't quite tow the line along the same, well-trod path. For those looking to venture off the beaten path, my stories offer a guided tour: the reader isn't fully immersed into danger, but gets the thrill of it nonetheless.
I have nothing to read! I have nothing to wear! Both are lies we tell ourselves. Learn to write or learn to sew, then make do or do without.
Every word counts.
#henhousepublishing #hollybargobooks