by Katherine Reay, @Katherine_Reay
After finishing a manuscript, I feel dry. All my creativity has been spent and I’m a little tired. We all have times in which we need to recharge and that moment is always mine. I believe writers need to be voracious readers. We need to be inundated with stories. But in the last days of writing something new, I can’t read a word…
There is a period when I’m deep into a manuscript that I need to protect my voice and even my imagination. Every writer both — that voice that is uniquely theirs, the lens through which they see the world they’ve created and the beauty they are expressing within and the imagination to bring something new to the page.
Other voices — other novels — can create too much background noise for me at those critical last creative moments. Yet when that time has passed… Bring on the books! I am ready to fall in love with new ways of writing, new stories and new authors.
Here are a few thoughts on reading this fall:
- Read something outside your genre, both in writing and in reading. This will allow to explore new ways to convey story. Stretch here and have fun! It was a horror novel for me last fall. This year I’m looking for a medical thriller.
- Read a Classic. I truly believe it is important to read books from a time and a worldview different than our own. I don’t mean a different country — I mean a different era. Pick up Homer. Pick up Shakespeare.
- Pick a few nonfiction books. I believe most of us here are fiction writers. I understand that does not mean we are exclusive fiction readers — I am not. But if you lean heavily towards reading fiction, add a few nonfiction titles to your fall list. Again, you’ll find new ways to express yourself and your voice will grow.
- Read the book everyone is talking about! And decide for yourself why or why not it deserves such adulation.
- Finally… Read that one book that has been on your TBR list FOREVER. For me, it’s War and Peace. Perhaps this will be the fall I tackle it.
Enjoy reading this fall. As the leaves change and the temperatures drop, it’s the perfect time to curl up with a new book — or several.
Happy Reading!… And Happy Writing!
Katherine
Katherine Reay returns to the cozy and delightful town of Winsome where two people discover the grace of letting go and the joy found in unexpected change.
After fleeing her hometown three years earlier, Alyssa Harrison never planned to return. Then the Silicon Valley start-up she worked for collapsed and turned her world upside down. She is broke, under FBI investigation, and without a place to go. Having exhausted every option, she comes home to Winsome, Illinois, to regroup then move on as quickly as possible. Yet, as friends and family welcome her back, Alyssa begins to see a place for herself in this small Midwestern community.
Jeremy Mitchell moved from Seattle to Winsome to be near his daughter and to open the coffee shop he’s been dreaming of for years. Problem is, the business is bleeding money-and he’s not quite sure why. When he meets Alyssa, he senses an immediate connection, but what he needs most is someone to help him save his floundering business. After asking for her help, he wonders if something might grow between them-but forces beyond their control soon complicate their already complex lives, and the future they both hoped for is not at all what they anticipated.
With the help of Winsome’s small-town charm and quirky residents, Alyssa and Jeremy discover the beauty and romance of second chances.
Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels, including Dear Mr. Knightley, The Printed Letter Bookshop and the upcoming Of Literature and Lattes. She has enjoyed a lifelong affair with books and brings that love to her contemporary stories. Katherine’s has also written one full-length nonfiction work, Awful Beautiful Life. She holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University and currently lives outside Chicago, IL with her husband and three children. Publishing credits also include Redbook, USAToday, Christianity Today and FamilyFiction. You can meet Katherine at www.katherinereay.com or on Facebook: KatherineReayBooks, Twitter: @katherine_reay and Instagram: @katherinereay.