1. I can't remember when I didn't like books. The first book I ever owned was a collection of Mother Goose rhymes. My father would read it to me when he came home from work. My mother said that I'd greet him at the door, book in hand, saying, "Eeed Mama Goose. Eeed Mama Goose." The book is pretty much in tatters now, but I still have it.
2. A few other early books I owned were G & D editions of some Tarzan novels and the Hardy Boys. My cousins, who figured they'd outgrown them, gave them to me. I thought they were the most wonderful things I'd ever gotten my hands on. I still have those, too. I guess I never outgrew them.
3. Those books weren't actual gifts. The first book I remember getting as a gift was the Whitman movie edition of Peter Pan, much simplified from the original. My sister gave it to me for my birthday in 1953. And, yes, I still have that one, too.
4. I started collecting paperback originals around 1965. It occurred to me that a lot of those might disappear if someone didn't save them, so I picked up a few. Now I have a lot more than a few, most of them bought for pennies. Some of them aren't worth even that much now. Some are worth a good bit more.
5. My first published book was Nick Carter spy thriller, The Coyote Connection, written in collaboration with Jack Davis. It was pubished in many foreign editions and probably sold more copies than anything else I've ever written.
6. I buy too many books. I now have to rent air-conditioned storage units to keep them in. That's pretty sad.
6 Things About Me and Books
1. The first book I ever received as a gift from a friend for my birthday was: A Cap for Kathy, a novel about a young nurse. By the way, it did not make me want to be a nurse. Oh, I still own it. It's in my children's bookcase.
2. The first book I can remember weeping over was Rusty, A Cocker Spaniel. I was in the 3rd grade I think.
3. Favorite movie about a book writer: Romancing The Stone.
4. My favorite book manuscript that I wrote: In the Garden of Memory. So far unpublished.
5. I reread books because as you grow and change, what you get from books changes. Six books that I've read several times: Watchers, also Lightning, by Dean Koontz;Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier; Artifact by Gregory Benford; The Forever King by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy; The Career Novelist by Donald Maass.
6. Only in the last few years have I been able to read a book, place a bookmark, close the book, and set it aside until I again have free time to read. Prior to that, I simply could not put a book down until I'd finished it even if it meant staying up all night to read. I'm either growing as a person, or I'm not finding as many compelling page turners as I did in previous decades. Or maybe I just need my sleep more now than before.
1. The first book I ever received as a gift from a friend for my birthday was: A Cap for Kathy, a novel about a young nurse. By the way, it did not make me want to be a nurse. Oh, I still own it. It's in my children's bookcase.
2. The first book I can remember weeping over was Rusty, A Cocker Spaniel. I was in the 3rd grade I think.
3. Favorite movie about a book writer: Romancing The Stone.
4. My favorite book manuscript that I wrote: In the Garden of Memory. So far unpublished.
5. I reread books because as you grow and change, what you get from books changes. Six books that I've read several times: Watchers, also Lightning, by Dean Koontz;Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier; Artifact by Gregory Benford; The Forever King by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy; The Career Novelist by Donald Maass.
6. Only in the last few years have I been able to read a book, place a bookmark, close the book, and set it aside until I again have free time to read. Prior to that, I simply could not put a book down until I'd finished it even if it meant staying up all night to read. I'm either growing as a person, or I'm not finding as many compelling page turners as I did in previous decades. Or maybe I just need my sleep more now than before.
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