My biggest fan

My Grandparents have come down for the weekend. It is nice to see them – it has been months. The distance between Kent and Lincolnshire means that we see each other only a few times a year, so I make the most of it. You have to, I suppose.

It is funny how much déjà vu I get whenever I see them. They always look the same. My Grandad, shuffling his suitcase along, his head hanging, shaking, fussing over which way the exit out of the train station is. While, my Grandma scurries along behind him and spotting me waving at the other side of the platform, waves back. 

My Grandma has always been very supportive of me. She is an avid reader herself, making sure to read one book every week. One of the first things she asked me when she arrived was if I had written anything for her. 

The last time I went to visit my Grandparents, I’d given her a printed out copy of a short story I’d written. I was proud of that, and I think she enjoyed it, although I did get a letter through from her with all the grammatical corrections I needed to alter. Nevertheless, she filed it away and says she is going to keep all of the stories I write – she will always get the first copy. 

In a previous post, I said how I had started a short story from an exercise I read in a book. I have finished that story, and so, that’s another one for my Grandma’s collection. I know you are supposed to write for yourself, but always in the back of my mind, I am praying that she enjoys it. 

Earlier today, my Grandma was speaking about her favourite books. One she had been reading, she clearly had enjoyed. She doesn’t read the kind of books I necessarily do, but it’s still interesting to hear what she, as a reader, is into. As she spoke about how she could not bear to put one of these books down, it made me realise that, no matter what a book is about, if it doesn’t grab you – the reader is not going to want to read on. I understand this completely. These are the kinds of books people want to read.

As an ardent reader myself, sometimes no matter how well the novel is written - if there is no suspense or mystery, it is unlikely that it is going to maintain my interest. Whenever I write, I find it’s easier to go straight into the action. Start off right then and there. You don’t want to give too much away immediately, but you want the reader to know enough that they’ll want to read on.

My Grandma said that she’d started another book and because it was completely different to the one she couldn’t put down previously, she simply discarded the new one. My Mum then commented that countless times she’d started reading something and put it down because she ‘knew’ she wouldn’t be able to get into it. 

This made me reason, that people like what they like. People will read the same kinds of novels, even though they are very similar, because that is what they are into. For me this is fantasy fiction, for others it could be romance or sci-fi. 

My sister stayed in her bedroom most of the evening, but I stayed downstairs with my Grandparents (not that I’m trying to sound like the favourite Grandchild or anything). I picked up ‘if i stay’ by Gayle Forman from the library earlier and I was trying not to get distracted by it while they were here. 

I can’t say it has impressed me too much from reading the first so-many pages, but I can tell its gripping enough for me to read on. It goes pretty much straight into the action – an ordinary event of a family going out to play in the snow while the school is closed, to something more out of the ordinary; a car crash. It is no ‘Pride and Prejudice’, but seems like a sweet romantic novel.

After having to suffer fish and chips as demanded requested by my Grandparents – since what is a Friday without fish and chips (ridiculous, British traditions!) – and watching a film, I am looking forward to simply lying in bed and reading my book. 

I thought I’d write about a few segments of my day in this post, but if you enjoyed it feel free to comment and follow :)