Hello, there! Happy New Year and all that jazz! Sorry for not logging on sooner but, like most people, Christmas is a very busy time of year and I have neglected my blog. But I'm here now so you can dry your eyes and read whatever intellectual and challenging thoughts I have for you today (if only.)
Yesterday I came across this article on The Guardian's website and thought it made for a very interesting read. If any of you have read my articles on Story Star Publishing you will know that I am a huge advocate for reading, especially among children and teenage audiences and what Rachel Cooke says in the article did make my heart sink a little. I have nothing against technology (heck, this blog wouldn't exist if I did) but I don't see why it can't happily co-exist with more traditional past times such as reading. I know there are a lot of apps now that incorporate stories and make them come to life on the screen as you read them, which is great, but I am worried that sitting down and just reading a book, whether it's in print or an e-book, is no longer seen as a viable use of our time. As a child I would often pick up a book, quickly get lost in it and forget the outside world and then when I was finished I wouldn't know what to do with myself because my head was still lost in the story. The older I get the less that this experience happens, probably because I'm more able to separate fiction from real life these days, but when it does I both adore and hate the feeling. I love it because it makes my brain pulsate with thoughts and emotions and I hate it because for those few days afterwards I don't see how any other book could possibly be as good as the one I've just read. I think we can all agree that magic doesn't exist in our mortal realm but I truly believe that the experience I've just described is the closest thing we can get. It's not a physical, tangible thing but one of the strongest emotions you are ever likely to feel and it's all down to some words on some pages! So who wouldn't want to feel that? Who wouldn't want their child to feel that? As Cooke writes, we have been telling stories since the beginning of time in the hope of fathoming the world in which we live and, to be honest, does Facebook even come close to doing that? All we find out there is who is sleeping with who or get an update on the latest weird cat video. I myself am guilty of wasting hours on the internet rather than reading a book but when I do finally drag myself away from the temptations of the twenty first century I chastise myself for taking so long. That book has been waiting for me to devour it and I haven't shown it the least bit of respect by staring at my computer screen. It's pretty clear that I am a mad woman, especially when it comes to books, but I don't care. Not everyone shares this madness but I firmly believe that's because they haven't found the right book and I urge you to keep looking until you do, even if you leave fifty or so half finished. Because when you find that book that makes your brain want to explode you will never look back.
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