The Book That Changed Me

Michael Connelly's THE POET is, undoubtedly, the book (maybe I should say, the first book) that changed the way I feel about reading and writing; and thus, changed a lot in my life.
I can't continue until I make a confession. Librarians and teachers aren't going to like this. But here it is: Unlike most readers and writers, I didn't have a childhood filled with the love of books. Actually, I didn't read a book for enjoyment until I was about twenty-six years old. Seriously, I never read Judy Blume or Trixie Beldin (my BFF Chris read those) or Nancy Drew...none. But, (and this is a big BUT) I always wrote stories, and poems, even plays.
As an undergraduate English major, and French literature minor, and I read only what I absolutely HAD to, which familiarized me with a vast array of fancy writers and poets. I did well in a Shakespeare class. I loved studying Shakespeare...I did not, however, enjoy reading Shakespeare, (I opted to watch the BBC movie version whenever possible) or Chaucer or Thoreau. Yet, I admire, like and respect those works.

This is all kind of messed up, huh? Here's where the story changes.

At about 26 years old I had my own apartment, as in 'no roommates.' And I was finishing my MBA, and I did a lot of text book readings, as well as trade magazines, newspapers, and stuff like The Economist. But, not for enjoyment.
One day, I can't remember the circumstances, I find myself in Borders flipping book jackets. There is a new release called THE POET. The cover looks good. Never heard of the author, but I'd never heard of any main stream authors.
I bought it, and read it...the WHOLE book...cover to cover. I loved it so much that I went back, and spent my precious waitressing dollars on everything else written by that author, and I built a relationship with his main character, Detective Harry Bosche, and followed him from case to case. I quickly branched into The Firm (Grisham), Disclosure (Crichton), The Body Farm (Cornwell), Orchid Beach (Woods). I loved them too. So the mountain on my nightstand grew with every book those authors ever wrote. I became a real mystery lover...still am, but I like to think I've diversified. I read and/or listen to twenty-thirty books per year. And the more I read, the more my left brain re-awakened and wanted to write again. As you know, in the last six years I've written three and a half novels. KELLY QUINN'S SECRET COOKING CLUB (due out from Aladdin next fall) is the first middle-grade project. One of my many objectives with KELLY is to draw kids in and keep them turning because I don't want them to miss out on twenty-six years of reading.

It all comes back to Connelly's THE POET. It convinced me that I could enjoy reading a book.