Reading is fundamental, so the truism goes. It is the basis for ideas that stir the imagination, inform the mind and inspire the soul. This is as true for fiction as it is for non-fiction. Often, readers think of fictional works as nothing more than entertainment and fantasy, but fiction is so much more than that. Just think of the innovations that began their germination through the works of sci-fi writers like H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. The late (and great) Octavia Butler showed an uncanny prescience in her Parable tales, some of whose plotlines seem to be coming to pass. Many literary genres (even the much-maligned Romance) offer gems and pearls, if only we would seek them out.
I don’t know exactly when it happened. Maybe it started around the time I began seriously writing a little over a decade ago. But somewhere in the last few years, the thrill of picking up a book and reading it has ebbed to the point that it’s almost a crisis for me.
