Reading.
When you are asked about your hobbies and pastimes and list
this amongst them, people still look at you askance.
Why?
It’s so passive,
Dude! You know; you just sit there and turn pages, hardly any effort involved.
Even less if it’s an e-book. Hey, forget that! Come do some Hang
Gliding/off-road driving/downhill skiing – live a more adventurous life –
experience, Dude!
And they are right.
But not why you think.
We readers of the World, we billions of readers, are too set
in our ways.
Reading is a passive activity – yes, in that we don’t move a
lot – physically, that is. Yet there are very few pursuits available to
everyone that can take your mind to places that stir emotions, allow
involvement in life-threatening pursuits, introduce you to memorable people and
places that will change your whole outlook on life, that allow you to live
outside your boundaries… and with NO RISK.
Vertigo, as you scale the sheer rock face alongside the
hero? Just put the book down.
Anxious, as you see the speeding train near and the chains
tying you to the track won’t budge? Just put the book down.
Trembling, as the assassin’s blade nears the throat of your
beloved heroine? Just put the book down.
It’s controlled madness!
And there’s a whole bunch of writers out there finding new
ways to make our senses tingle every minute of every day.
Excitement. Danger. Exotic places. Evil villains.
Exceptional heroes. Mind-blowing tales.
So why do we insist on reading only in our comfort zones?
“I like police thrillers, so that’s all I read”
“Me, I only read paranormal stuff with vampires.”
“I like a good suspense novel. I just read these two or
three authors”
And so on…
What a boring life!
Look, you have no risk. Just put the book down. Try
something outside your comfort zone. Just be a little adventurous… find
something NEW!
Remember this:
Once upon a time, not that long ago, J. K. Rowling, Dan
Brown, and even James Patterson, were unknowns. Someone discovered their books
and experienced a sensorial thrill from their prose long before people bought
their works just for the author name (it’s a XXXXXX XXXXXXX so it must be
good!)
Experiment and discover the new Indie authors out there and
the fresh air they are bringing to your favourite genres. It’s like that moment
when someone thought to put a twist of lemon into sparkling water!
So make a NEW YEAR's RESOLUTION:
Read outside your comfort zone!
This message has been brought to you by Eric J.
Gates, author of a vampire novel where the creatures DON’T have fangs! And
they’re Irish! What, how dare he!
Eric @ www.ericjgates.com
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