Book Fairs, Comics, and the Dopamine Hit of a Library Card

You need to read a lot to write well. I’ve set my reading goal at 36 for 2020, which means I’m knocking out at least three books (fiction… I will not be counting non-fiction or books read for work) per month. Another thing you must do as a writer aspiring to be published is learn your market and, in thinking about how many recent works I’ve finished (disgustingly few… a longer conversation for another blog post), I started thinking back to the stories that inspired me to write. You know a little about me already but here’s another layer to my origin story.

Through grade school, I absorbed the works by authors like Walter Dean Myers (Slam), Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird), Jack London (Call of the Wild, White Fang), and Gary Paulsen (Hatchet). When it comes to fantasy and sci-fi, I got my first tastes with C. S. Lewis (The Magician’s Nephew), Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach), K.A. Applegate (Animorphs), J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone), Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), and Stephen King (The Gunslinger). 

There are more, but these resonate with me now. I developed an intense desire to read as I grew older, reaching a peak when I knocked out one of the lengthier Harry Potter novels in one day. Plus, if I got in trouble at home and ended up on punishment, they left me with my books when all tech was taken away. 

Pratt City Library

My home away from home

When it comes to reading for leisure, there were two specific avenues that fed my desire to read: Scholastic book fairs and the library. I was excited anytime my school hosted one of the fairs at my elementary school. Often they’d pop up when I didn’t expect it and wouldn’t be able to afford much, but other times I’d save up and grab a couple books. Once I got my library card, though, that’s when my love for reading was really cultivated. To this day, I get a lovely dopamine hit any time I step into a library. I get it when I go into bookstores, but the understanding that I have to exchange some money to walk out with a new world to explore levels out the initial jubilance. The feeling you got as a teenager when you got your driving permit and got behind the wheel of a car? I feel that with my library card.

My routine as a young man was to explore the entire library and walk out with a diverse collection that I’d speed through. My library use as an adult is, sadly, very minimal but I’m fixing that this year (otherwise, that 3-book-per-month effort could get expensive). I’m also planning a few stories that will immortalize my love of libraries and my favorite librarian, as well.

Another key expansion to my reading happened when my father, Charles Sr., shared his collection of comic books with me. That initial exposure to the medium ultimately led me to some of the most incredible stories written by Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, Ex Machina, The Runaways), G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel), Dwayne McDuffie (Static Shock), Felicia Henderson (Fresh Prince, The Punisher), Brian Michael Bendis (New Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man), Kelly Sue DeConnick (Bitch Planet), Robert Kirkman (Invincible, Oblivion Song), and Rick Remender (Tokyo Ghost).

The vibrant worlds and characters were brought to life like artists Fiona Staples (Saga), Sana Takeda (Monstress), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Jae Lee (The Dark Tower, The Sentry), Valentine De Landro (Bitch Planet, X-Factor), and John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men).

I was ignorant of specific comic writers for a long time as I followed the characters and teams themselves as opposed to the writers. I was even more uneducated on the incredible artists bringing these stories to life, but I’ve even become more conscious of my taste these days. I count Fiona Staples (Saga), Sana Takeda (Monstress), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Jae Lee (The Dark Tower, The Sentry), Valentine De Landro (Bitch Planet, X-Factor), and John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men) among my absolute favorites.

I always mention comics as a key interest for me because, often, adults (some teachers) would tell me that “picture books” were childish. They weren’t speaking of comic books specifically all the time, but it’s something my impressionable young mind embedded into my subconscious. I rarely thought of these writers, artists, pencilers, and colorists when asked what my favorite books are, but they have produced some of my favorite works. I want to recognize them for it. Tokyo Ghost, for example, is as scathing a cultural commentary as Orwell’s 1984.

Where did your love for writing and/or reading originate? Share a tale with me.