Writers as Readers

2. What genres (types of writing) interest you?  What specifically about this genre interests you?  Why are you drawn to science fiction books, for example?

A few of my favorite types of genres are science fiction, fantasy, suspense, and dystopian.  I find these types of books exciting and hard to put down.  They also offer a very interesting read.  These types of books are usually not set in the real world, or the world as we presently know it.  The setting could be in the future, space, or a land completely created by the author.  I love escaping from normal, everyday life, and walking into the life of a fallen angel or a newfound king.  These genres of books are different and creative, and they offer people and places that you cannot see in everyday life.  Each book is an adventure.

4. What is one of your best memories connected with reading?

One of my best memories connected with reading is reading in a beach chair in Cozumel this summer.  My friend, Coral, and I would lie on the beach reading when we were tired of swimming in the ocean.  We were shaded by the softly swaying palm trees, our view consisted of the magnificent blue ocean with smiling people galore.  It was an extremely relaxing time, and there was so many beautiful things to look at if I looked up from my book.   

6. Who was your first reading teacher?  Why do you remember him/her?  Was it a “teacher” or someone else (a family member) who “taught” you?

My first reading teacher was my first grade teacher, Mrs. Barnes, who read us Junie B. Jones books each day in class.  She would sit us all down on her carpet in front of her rocking chair, and simply read.  Being a first grader, I instantly fell in love with the way each sentence flowed into the next, and the humor that lie in the books.  This was when I fell in love with reading.  After Mrs. Barnes had read the first Junie B. Jones to us, I wanted to read every Junie B. Jones that there was, because I desperately wanted to know her insane adventures at home and in the classroom. 

8. What is your favorite book or series? Why is this your favorite?

My favorite book series is the Gone series, by Michael Grant.  In this book series, a small town, Perdido Beach, gets trapped under a dome, and all adults 15 and older disappear.  Children are left to fend for themselves in a world that quickly turns mad.  Panic, theft, and hunger take over the town.  Thugs rule as tyrants, forcing the children into fear.  Mutations of all kinds have also been growing in the children of Perdido Beach for months, causing some to become more powerful than others.  Little do the children know that it is not just them that has mutated.  This is my favorite book series, because it always kept me on my toes.  Grant’s style of writing made it extremely difficult to guess what would happen next, because there would be so much going on at once.  He wrote from many different perspectives, which I love to read. Reading from many different perspectives helps me to get to know the different characters, and allows for the author to create suspense by switching perspectives at a defining moment in the book.  This made me want to continue reading, and figure out what would happen next.

12. Do you think that someone who reads a lot might become a stronger writer?  Do you think we pick up vocabulary, sentence structures, themes, etc. from the books we read that come out directly or indirectly in our own writing?

I do think that someone who reads a lot could become a strong writer, especially if they set their mind to it.  Reading and writing have always gone together in my mind, so a person may write about what they read.  A person may not know that they are doing this; they simply enjoy writing about this particular topic.  This person could also love to read about what they are writing, and subconsciously gather ideas for their writing from the different books they read.  I do think that writers pick up on vocabulary, sentence structures, themes, etc. from the books that they read, whether directly or indirectly.  The more that a person reads a certain type of genre, the more they will be used to that style of writing, or to specific ideas.  For example, a person may have an open-ended conclusion to their short story (or a cliffhanger), because that is what this person’s favorite author tends to do in their books.  The books that one reads has a powerful impact on what one writes.