[Leisha]

I do like that quote.

I've yet to pick up Earthsea, but my mum highly recommends it. I know Ursula has a unique way with words and a rare mastery of the language.

I, do, of course, think that it would be of immeasurable benefit to you to do as much reading as possible. And if you are having trouble concentrating, maybe you are simply reading the wrong books. For a writer, reading (as well as being instructive) should be a pleasure, not an onerous duty. I tell you quite frankly, if a book doesn't engage my interest, if I find my mind wandering, I feel under NO obligation to finish it.

I've tried to read various things, but each one has the same result. The last book I (somehow) managed to finish and enjoy was Guy Gavriel Kay's Ysabel. Unlike all these epics and grand scale books, it was a... subdued story, with subtle undertones. However, I think the problem is that, since I became ill, I find it hard to remember things - names, places, important plot points - so reading uses up a lot of concentration, which I seem to lack right now. Short of reading Spot the Dog (), I don't think I'll ever find a book I can read.

And as a general rule I'm one of them. But you say you used to be a reader, so that counts in your favor. Some people have read more books by the time they're eighteen than other people may read in their entire lifetime.

And there I will disappoint again. At school I was in all the top sets (except maths), and at fourteen my illness began. I had to cope with that, which I didn't even know I had, while having 20-30 pieces of homework/coursework/essays/revising each week. Some nights I was up until 2 am trying to finish it all, and then I was awake at 6 am to get ready for school. And then things just went down from there and haven't picked up since. So my reading went out the window before I got to thirteen years old.


That's why I know the odds of getting published are against me, but it's my dream.




Oh, and yours began as a dream too? Do you find that's where you get most of your inspiration from? I've always had vivid dreams, and 90% of the ideas I have are from things I've dreamt.