Reading is like dating

When I discover a new author I really like, I tend to glom his or her books. I’ve been wondering why I do this, and I think it’s because I like the particular world that the author has created. Something about that world resonates with me on a deep level, and I want to experience more of the same, and so I delve into the author’s backlist.

Often the world an author creates remains the same from book to book even if the stories are different. I suppose it has less to do with plot or character and more to do with setting and voice. The setting becomes a familiar place, somewhere you can go to when you need a break from your own world, a place where certain themes tend to play out or issues are explored, a place of contemplation, perhaps, or even nostalgia.

I guess you could say that you simply like the author’s company!

The same applies, I believe, to romantic relationships. You tend to return again and again to a particular person because you like the world they create and how you feel around them. Something about them resonates with you on a deep level and you know that you want to delve into their life and find out all you can about them.

It starts with the first date, where you experience the same sense of guarded anticipation you may feel when you try out a new author. Will you be attracted to your date? Will you like their world view? Will you enjoy their sense of humour, their mind, their way of expressing themselves? Will you experience chemistry with them?

There are numerous authors out there whose books you may only sample occasionally. It takes a special author to pin you down to reading their backlist. It’s the difference between “dating” a particular author (reading one or two of their books) and being “in a relationship” with that author (where you commit yourself to reading all their books).

If you get beyond the third or fourth date with someone, you’ve decided that their backlist may be worth exploring – and the best part of the experience is that you may even decide to glom them and spend the rest of your life exploring the world they’ve created.

Read The Dashing Debutante, Lord Fenmore’s Wager and Send and Receive