Reading and Other Distractions

I think it's safe to say that if I'd really, really, really wanted to go into the office tonight, which I really, really, really needed to do, I'd have gotten in the car and gone. Instead I've mostly been in front of this computer, beta reading pages 5 through 36 of a fantasy novel and watching a featurette about Groundhog Day, plus the first twenty minutes of the movie itself. Of the two activities, the beta reading has proved more compelling, which is why I haven't even reached Phil's second shot at February 2nd. This is despite the fact that I've wanted to watch Groundhog Day again ever since, you know, Groundhog Day. I even went out Friday night to buy it on DVD. We had dumped our VHS copies on the grounds that we had the movie on DVD - except that we really didn't. We do now. But I'm too interested in the manuscript of a friend's novel-in-progress to put up with nasty, self-involved Phil Connors as he is at the beginning of the movie.

That's right, I'm beta reading a work in progress by one of my own beta readers, Sara. This is actually the only thing I'm interested in doing tonight. It's only a first draft, but it's well written enough to have sucked me in. Until I realized what I was going to write about, I didn't even want to stop reading it long enough to write this blog entry! That's saying a lot. You know there are very few things I find more interesting or rewarding than blogging. (There's a certain amount of shame in that admission, but we'll leave that for another time.)

Considering the fact that I'm a writer, and that I own at least a thousand books (excluding John's), I don't get much reading in these days. Yes, I follow about twenty or thirty blogs, and I suppose that counts as reading. But the last actual book I read, other than unpublished manuscripts by someone named Blocher, was the most recent Harry Potter novel this past fall. Heck, I used to read books all the time. Every day. Most of it was novels, but there were also hundreds of short stories in there. I even bought my share of science fiction magazines, once upon a time. And for years and years, whenever a new L'Engle novel or Pern novel came out, I'd reread all the other books that led up to it.

So what happened? Somehow I just don't have the time anymore. Working full time, interacting with my family (one husband, one dog), and the lure of the Internet are more than enough to fill every waking minute, including a few hours that shouldn't be waking minutes at all. I managed to add schoolwork to that schedule for over two years, and before that, I was writing Mages. And now I'm slowly getting ready to submit Heirs somewhere. Everything else gets pushed to one side, to be done when I either have more time or can't put it off any longer.

But I do miss reading - miss it, and feel guilty about it. And when I do start reading, and if I get past the first few pages, I'm likely to keep going, all night if necessary. I can't stop. I don't want to stop.

So I'm going to wrap up this blog entry, and read a little more about Andricas and Falkus before I go to bed.

And tomorrow, I'd better count on working a few extra hours at the end of the day before I leave the office. 'Cause if I go home, intending to come back later, I'll probably end up reading instead.



Oh, I was going to say something about this picture. This is where I was earlier today, while other people were getting ready to watch football. Me, I don't know or care who won that game. Didn't watch a second of it. But I had fun on Mount Lemmon earlier this afternoon, with a small but diverse group of people. That's all I'll say about it for now, because I'm saving the subject for a future entry. Meanwhile, here's a little teaser. This is Windy Point Vista, and the people in the distance are mostly rock climbers. You'll never catch me doing that stuff! One of these days I'll explain why.

Good night!

Karen