My new affair...

Yep, I've got a whole new love in my life. Audiobooks. Wow!

Since the boys went back to school at the beginning of August, I determined to take back some of "my" time, which included exercise and reading. I used to take a book the gym with me...but it's difficult reading and cycling or reading and elliptical training. All that bouncing around made me a little sick and I ended up feeding my brain with useless news shows or worse yet, daytime dramas, playing on the gym televisions.

My husband listens to podcasts (yawn), but I got to thinking about books. Audiobooks. The first one I tried out was the lastest Diana Motts Davidson, Fatally Flakey. Cute book...it got me through a long car drive to San Francisco and loads of laundry. So...could it survive a walk?

Oh, yeah...it was even better than I expected. This week, I finished up The Rule of Four, by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. I love a literary mystery and this one kept me pounding the pavement and was interesting and thought provoking enough that I actually looked forward to my walks!

And whoever said that nothing can be learned from genre fiction needs to have their head examined. There was a fantastic image at the end of the book. That the present is a reflection of the future. Like looking in a mirror, the things to be stretch out behind you. There's a great temptation to turn away from that mirror in order to face the future. However, that only serves to take a person OUT of the picture....

What a fantastic concept. And it's so true in so many ways. As a writer, I find myself concentrating a lot on my future (when I get that book deal, when I get an agent) without enjoying the process of achieving success. I still get a stab of disappointment with every rejection and I keep wishing I could "make it"...but if I had "made it" with the first query to an agent back almost 2 years ago, I wouldn't be the writer I am today. I've learned sooo much in those ensuing days, months, and years, knowledge that will serve me well when I finally get "there". So, I'm determined to start enjoying the journey more...I'll get to my destination when I'm ready.