Too Many Books…Or Not Enough

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I’ve seen so many young indie authors say they write the things they wished they could have read when they were younger. Or they write because they could never find anything decent to read when they were younger.

And I’m always a little shocked when I hear this because to be honest, I never ran out of reading material when I was younger. And I haven’t yet either. That’s why I’m still reading today. If there wasn’t a single book written in the last twenty years, I would still not run out of reading material. And I mean good solid reading material, too.

If I live to be a hundred, I will still not run out of good books to read. There’s just that many books out there. And I know that many of you are thinking, “But those books are so dull and old?”

It’s true that we all have varying interests. One person may like one book that another person hates. But I still can’t imagine running out of books as a child. In fact, when I got married, I would look at the books on my husband’s parent’s shelves or hear about the books he grew up reading, and I found I had missed a lot of good old books. So, I’ve set out to slowly read some of my husband’s favorites. They aren’t always my favorite, but I have also discovered some really great books through him and his family.

But it doesn’t stop there. Whenever I go to anyone’s house, I discover more old books I haven’t read yet, or authors I haven’t read yet. And as we all know that TBR list just keeps growing. But the thing is most of the books on my list are not books written in the last twenty or so years. And known of the books I’ve written are books I’ve felt like I needed as a child.

Even the romance stories I do write, though I think they are a style that isn’t written much, I feel like I am filling a void that is current rather than what was missing when I was younger. I can find some excellent romantic classics, but I rarely find excellent romantic contemporary.

I don’t write to fill a void. Because there is always an author out there who has written a thousand times better than me. And I don’t profess to have the talent of a gazillion other authors out there who have lived and made a mark on this world. I write simply because I really enjoy it. I love coming up with stories and I love writing them out. And I do hope they make a difference in this world. I hope they touch even just one life who reads it.

But I most definitely do not write because the world ran out of good book.

If you’ve run out of good books to read and thus, have resorted to only writing books, chances are, I don’t want anything to do with your books. And you’re probably writing with the wrong attitude.

Now that I am done sharing my strong personal opinions, what do you think? Are you one of those people who have a hard time finding good books to read? If so, come to me and I can laden you with all the beautiful books in the world. What do you consider your mission in writing?