Friday Reader Rambles

            Before this week, the last time I got 5,000 words in one day was in June. I had to go back through my writer log to find that out and it left me scratching my head, wondering what the hell Kel? That’s sad. One of my favorite writers averages 5,000-7,000 a day. That’s what I need to shoot for, and I’ve known this. I don’t even.

            In other news, I’ve been wanting to make Friday Reader Rambles a regular feature on the Kelswitch and that’s going to happen starting now. I’ve been reading two books, The Hunter’s Moon and A Storm of Swords. If that last one sounds familiar, it is the third in the series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Down the road, when someone asks what do you think of when you think 2013, I’m going to answer Game of Thrones. Bear and I have gotten heavily into it this year and as previous blogs will indicate, I’m a Targaryen supporter, even if I’ve heard rumblings about Daenerys I’d rather ignore. Shut up Wrac.

            Last night, as I picked up A Storm of Swords to do some reading before bed, it occurred to me about another wonderful power reading possesses. It reaches across the country, across the world, and gives people a connection they might have otherwise never had. I have a specific example in mind.

            Through the sharing power of Facebook, I came across a fellow aspiring author. A page for book lovers shared his author page and I did the customary follow his page, follow his Twitter. I later find out that he is an administrator, whose sign off I’ve seen many a time, on a Game of Thrones page I follow. Now, this guy lives in Australia. It’s an amazing aspect to Facebook, but it’s more about the reading, something that brings people together. It’s funny that reading is such a solitary activity, but most of us want to turn it into a group activity, because we have to gush about our favorite plots and characters and compare “what’s going to happen” theories with someone!

            My first big, positive Internet experience came with a fan forum I was a part of, years ago. It was for Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels Trilogy and though the forum eventually died off and was taken down, I had some excellent discussions and gushings there. As readers, we compared notes and debated theories and it was just one of the best experiences I’ve had on the Internet to date. It wasn’t always about books. Someone was bored one day and started a thread asking if you wad up toilet paper, or fold it neatly. The thread went pretty far. I was very surprised, but it was all in good fun. When it came down to it though, we were brought together for a shared love of Anne Bishop’s work. I was very sad to see that forum vanish into nothing.

            As a writer, the biggest compliment I can think of receiving would be for someone to tell me that my story changed their life, in some way or another. The other biggest compliment would be if my books brought people together, like so many of my favorites have. Writers were always readers first, and readers never walk alone.