Reading is a Part of Writing and Writing is a Part of Reading - Isn't it Obvious?!

I like to read.  If I hadn't first enjoyed reading, I never would have thought to myself: Hey, I can do that; I want to be a writer.  So, I read a lot; certainly more than the average person.  I've found I'm lucky to run into anyone around me in my daily life who reads more than a couple of popular books in a year--I read almost a book a week, depending on whatever else is going on in my life.  (I'm that weird awkward guy who reads!  WTF?!)  What amazes me, is the sheer number of people I've run into who want to be writers, but don't ever read.  Why do you want to be a writer?  How can you expect anyone to read what you write if you don't read what others have written?  Come on, seriously.  Then, there are those who claim to be writers, but don't actually write.  Coming from academia, I can attest for this sad fact.  There are a lot fools running around who claim to be writers--I suppose this holds true for many cavorting around in artistic circles--who don't write, not really, not ever.  Come on, seriously; write something down once in a while.  Writing is a lot of hard work; quit making those who actually care and are passionate about writing look bad.

Anyway, here's a cool blog I found with a lot of pictures of old horror novel covers that's pretty cool:

Too Much Horror Fiction

Reading: And here are a few things I've read this month:

House of Leaves -- What can I say about this book?  Wow.  Different.  Oddly engaging.  Some of the story is a bit dense and one can't help but wonder if all the strange postmodernist formatting is always necessary or not, but a solid horror novel.  I'm surprised, actually, that no one had turned me on to this book yet since I'm always looking for things that are different, unique, and creepy.  This book is certainly all of those things.  It is something of a literary (and literal) exercise on Nietzche's idea of what happens when you stare into the Void.

Watchmen -- Okay, graphic novels?  I don't have much experience with them either, and, to be honest, I kind of felt like the graphic were dated and unnecessary (I guess you might call me a "literary elitist" ;-)), but it doesn't matter--the stories that run through this book are fantastic, intelligent, and interesting.  The story is character driven and apocalyptic.  There are also some very cool decisive things that this book does with the way it's formatted.  For horror fans, pay special attention to the pirate story that runs throughout; it never appeared in the movie.

Abarat: Absolute Midnight -- I love these books.  Clive Barker has a fantastic imagination and the world he portrays in the Abarat books (this is the third in the series) is detailed and wonderful.  His plots are also unique, unpredictable, and often brutal.  He's not afraid to kill his characters, even in a children's book series.  These characters are, sadly, not always fully developed, but the whirlwind plotline and densely packed imaginative imagery more than makes up for it.  Barker's artwork is interesting and colorful, but adds only marginally to the story itself.  But, don't listen too seriously to such criticism; get these books!  They are amazing!