The Beginning...

I'm not like most other authors...
Most authors you question will say they've read books their entire life, and that they've always found solace in pages and words and paragraphs.
Entré moi - I hereby give permission to all French-speaking folk to correct me. I'm sorry but - for an author - I'm not that great when it comes to foreign tongues. "English my forte be..."

As I was saying, I haven't read my entire life.
For years I thought it was boring, stupid and dull, but nine-year-old James was extremely young, terribly foolish, and incredibly naive...
That's not to say I didn't love storytelling!!!
Storytelling has always and will always be my favourite thing in the world - from rom-coms  to crappy T.V. to epic fantasy! When my friends and I played I was always the villain - because villains are fun - and I just loved making up reasons for their dastardliness.

Now, I remember that we'd always read in primary-school, and I always LOVED LOVED LOVED listen to my teachers doing the voices and getting just as excited as the class. I even remember days going by without  Maths or History or Science and all because my teachers rarely wanted to put the book down.
I specifically remember reading some book called "Stanley" by some author I've forgotten the name of (Sorry about that...), and "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen, "The Silver Sword" by Ian Serraillier, and, of course the classic Enid Blyton series "The Magic Far Away Tree".
But it wasn't until 5th class when we read "Holes" by Louis Sachar that I thought I may try reading for recreation.
I was always ahead of the class - sneaking my copy of the book home and reading beneath the covers.

For those of you who've not yet read these books: READ. THEM. You won't be sorry... And if anyone has ever read a book called Stanley about a little boy who paints his dog black please contact me at 08000-I've-Read-Stanley-and-I-know-the-Author's-Name. I'd very, very, very much appreciate it - though I know that that ain't a lot to go on...

What was I saying...?
Ah, yes. Reading for fun!!!

The first book I remember buying alone and reading in entirety was Derek Landy's "Skulduggery Pleasant", and I can honestly say that--
Well, let's just say that my reading ability wasn't the best and it kind'a confused me...
But, needless to say, big-sis-Fiona persuaded me to re-read it, and I devoured the story. I loved every.single.second.of.it. From the magic system to Gordon Edgley's untimely demise to Derek's hidden-Dublin to the titular skeleton detective himself... He'd me hooked from the get-go.
And then I read the sequel!
And then I re-read the sequel - and, as was the case with Book 1, I enjoyed it a hell of a lot more the second time round. And so book-by-book, year-by-year I made my way through all nine. As well as the novella and short-story-collection.
And on August 28th 2014, when the final book "The Dying of the Light" was released, I'd never been more excited to read anything EVER.
When I turned that final page, however, and let that last sentence sink in, I cried like I'd never cried before...
It was over.
...Skulduggery Pleasant had finished.
...There wasn't going to be a 10th book, or an 11th or a 12th...
And, honestly, it was like having not just one, not just two, but 23-or-so great friends move home, only telling you so when it's much too late for you to stop them -- and that is no exaggeration.
Outside of Ireland and  the U.K. these books aren't hugely popular, and I really and truly do not know why!
Maybe my love of everything goofy, anything wacky and all things zany allowed me to fall utterly in love with Derek's writing, and I couldn't be any more grateful.
Derek made me want to write; he made me want to snatch my ideas, dance with them and wrestle them onto the page. But, of course, you can't just start writing a novel having only read a handful of books!! That's lunacy.
And so, I figured, the best way to learn how to write was to read something else...

___Cue Harry Potter Theme___

'Til the morrow, Stranger-reading-random-blog-post, when I continue with my...er... writing...um......journey.
I bid thee Adieu.