Trying to form the reading habit

Lately, instead of waking up and scrolling through the horrible news on my phone, I’ve been reading short fiction. The goal is to form the reading habit that has eluded me my whole life. The morning alarm was set to one hour earlier, and first thing before the sun comes up, I’ve been grabbing that first cup-o-joe and a collection of H.P. Lovecraft and Others - Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Never been a huge reader. But so far so good. I’ve opted to focus on short horror stories which work for my attention span. I like Lovecraft alot, and on recommendation from a gamer buddy Tim. S. I snagged a used copy of this particular volume because it was not just Lovecraft but a group of horror and fantasy’s finest that pay tribute to the master of the macabre. These authors were considered the aptly titled “Lovecraft Circle.” This group wrote stories that frequently shared details among them, and often would put each other in their stories back and forth. Of Particular note, I’m enjoying the few shorts in this collection of Clark Ashton Smith. His The Return of the Sorcerer is fantastic. It is a dark little story of an old mansion where the guests are assailed by strange happenings as old dark shadows gain new life.

After the Clark Ashton Smith collection, I’ll be heading back to another book of Terry Pratchett’s The Watch series, The Fifth Elephant. These are insanely funny and breezy reads. I cannot recommend these enough. Think Monty Python meets Lord of Rings, and you can get close.

Last in the que is John Truby’s Anatomy of a Story. My good friend Lael T. recommended it ,as we often talk about short fiction writing. Lael is a phenomenal short story writer, right on the cusp of getting published. He often encourages me to take up short fiction writing, and it is on my short list of skills to start working on. That list never gets shorter does it? Much like The Reading Pile. What does your reading pile look like?

Thanks for spending your time here.

Best, Sumrow

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Early to bed. Early to the ever growing reading pile