One of my resolutions for 2014 was to read more. Big surprise! It often is one of my resolutions, and all too often, it’s the first one chucked out the window by the time February rolls around. But this year feels different already, because I’ve been building off “newish year resolutions” that I set back in October. I’ve been keeping up with all my other resolutions so far. I’ve even been going to the gym! So why not be good to my resolution for reading?
It’s been going so well that I’m up to three books read already, and the year is only fifteen days old. Here’s hoping I can make a dent in the four walls of books I have on my TBR pile.
On the surface these three books have nothing in common. Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic is fantasy with Douglas Adams-like humour. Dennis Lahane’s A Drink Before the War is…not. That one’s hard-boiled crime detective fiction. And most recently, I’ve finished reading Urve Tamberg‘s The Darkest Corner of the World, which is Young Adult historical fiction. These are three books that have absolutely nothing in common – except for one detail.
They’re all rookie cards.
Originally published in 1983, The Color of Magic is the first in a really long series by Terry Pratchett, and the first of several Discworld series. I didn’t really like it (sorry, Pratchett fans), but Michael Lorenson has promised me that the series gets way better after the second book.
Originally published in 1994, A Drink Before the War is the first not only in the Kenzie & Gennaro detective series, but the first full length credit in Dennis Lahane’s career. And if you don’t recognize his name, you will likely recognize some other titles of his, namely Shutter Island and Mystic River. But you know what? I wasn’t over the moon about A Drink Before the War. But Tobin Elliott has promised me that the series (and the writer) gets way better after the first book.
I sense a trend.
Imagining myself in 1983 or in 1994 (assuming I’m the same age and in the same job, etc.), I’d probably pass up the opportunity of buying the second or third book. Given 2013/2014 reviews on Goodreads, I think there are many others out there that would have done the same. And yet, even though these first works may not be their best works, the books and authors seem to be doing pretty darned well for themselves right now.
So if these weren’t their best books, what landed them that second book contract? What helped to build the following a book or two later?
Frankly, I don’t know.
But this experience has taught me two big lessons.
1) Don’t stop with the first, especially if you know that this is part of a series.
Just because you don’t like the first in the series, that doesn’t mean that the author is finished fleshing out the characters yet; there’s plenty of room to grow. As a writer, you should know that anyone worth their salt (including you) will improve with each title.
And if you start reading with The First when it’s still The Only, then you’ll have the pleasure of watching a writer’s star rise. You’ll be able to say, in a sense, “I knew him/her when…!” Call me a hipster, but “I’ve been reading their stuff since before it was cool” is a pretty darned awesome thing to say – especially if that author happened to be, I dunno, J. K. Rowling or Stephen King.
Image may be NSFW.
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2) Take. A. Chance.
Everyone has to start somewhere. Buy a book by someone you’ve never heard of before. If there are few to no reviews online, take a chance and be the first to leave useful feedback. Encourage that writer with detailed reviews. If you don’t like it, say why without being a dink about it. If you love it, be specific about what you love. If you’re on the fence, explain that 3-star review – the positives and the negatives.
If you like their work – even if it has a certain awkward, rookie charm to it – encourage that author any way you can. And if you knew that author as a friend or family member first, start by buying the book and reading that book. Then, if you feel like chatting up your friends about it, bless that bubbly-soft heart of yours.
Can you imagine, being among the first dedicated fans of Terry Pratchett, and now, thirty-one years later, he remembers you by name? Or shaking hands with Dennis Lahane twenty years ago and saying, “Wow, dude, that book was awesome!”
Listen: someone was the first to get Ian Rankin’s autograph. Someone was the first to shake Walter Mosley’s hand. Someone got all googly-eyed at J. R. R. Tolkien back in 1937, 17 years before The Lord of the Rings was A Thing.
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Urve Tamberg
And if this is her quality with the first book, I’m looking forward to the second, and the next, and the next.
So, dagnabbit, go skimming through some of these interviews I’ve posted of late, and find just one author – even if it’s just the one – and buy something from them. Buy it, read it, leave comments in the interview you read. I’ll make sure they hear what you have to say.
Or post it on Goodreads! While you’re there, add me as a friend. You can find me here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8578007-patricia-flewwelling. Find more reviews for this book here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15813194-the-darkest-corner-of-the-world.
For more information about Urve, check out her blog at http://utamberg.wordpress.com/ or her website here: http://thedarkestcorneroftheworld.com/, and shop for The Darkest Corner of the World at Amazon or wherever you normally browse.
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Now, on a more personal note…
I’ve got two rookie cards of my own, and I could use a little support too (bless your cookie-dough hearts).
Judge Not was officially my first full-length credit, and you know what? Folks have been kind enough to leave some overwhelmingly positive reviews. And while I’d rather drive out to your house and sell you a signed copy, I can’t be everywhere at once this year. If you’re looking for a reasonably-priced book, take a chance on me, wouldja? It’s a non-fiction ditty about what happens when the RCMP goes after the wrong man with all the dogged determination Mounties are famous for.
The other rookie card? The Fog of Dockside City: The Obliteration Machine. This is the first in a fun and eerie, four-part science fiction series, with the proceeds of this book going toward literacy programs now and indefinitely. Pound for pound, I’ve sold as many copies in person as I did with Judge Not, which is great. But for the love of mercy, please don’t let my Mom be the only one who’s left a review. If you haven’t bought a copy, I’d love you even more if you went out and got one now. If you have a copy already, and if you’ve got the same reading resolution I do, consider adding me back on your To Be Read pile and leave a comment on Amazon or on Goodreads. Okay, seriously, I’m begging you. Read the book, leave a review on Amazon or on Goodreads.
Barring that, find a rookie to believe in. We’re all new at something, sometime.