A friend and avid reader (Hi, Rachel!) asked me a curious question the other day ... one I'm not asked very often.

It was:

It's a fair question ... and a loaded one for me, because one of my favorite for-authors books is Stephen King's On Writing, and in that book King says that writers absolutely must read. He's pretty clear about how he feels. In his mind, people who don't read have no business writing, and wouldn't have the tools needed to write well even if they tried.

I tend to agree. My own writing style was originally inspired by other authors I've read throughout my life, including a hefty dose of Stephen King. If I hadn't read so much, I wouldn't have quietly and subconsciously learned the skills that allow me to earn a living today.

(Fun note: I don't write like King now at all, despite deliberately mimicking his style when I was in my teens. He's one of my favorite authors and inspirations, but when people ask which of my books are most King-like, I've realized I have no answer. I mean, PARTS of my writing feel a little King-like, but not much. I think I write more like Michael Crichton than anyone.)

Anyway, I agree that writers should read. But I also saw the "out" that Rachel was giving me, which a willingness to concede that people like me, who spend all day long in words, might not want to have a lot of words in their free time.

It actually reminds me of something my friend Emma (co-host on our One Drink Book Club podcast) jokes about. She hates it when people advise writers to journal, or when people give journals to writers as gifts. "Nobody asks an architect to go home at the end of a long day and design an elaborate house about their feelings," she says.

So I get it. I get why people might think that authors wouldn't want to read, or why some authors don't. It's not that way for me, though, and I don't think it's that way for a lot of us. Most authors I know are huge fans of reading. Most of us got into this because we love books, after all. (And if you don't love books, why are you a writer?)

Yes, I do spend a lot of time with my own words. I write them, I edit them, I proofread them, and I revisit them in finished form when I need to refresh my memory before writing a sequel. But other people's words are different, because I don't have to do anything with those words other than enjoy them.

It's like being a grandparent: You can enjoy someone else's kids/books for a while, but you can also hand them back to their parents/authors when they get too rambunctious or when a diaper needs changing.

So yes, I love to read. But have I recently?

Well ...

This is where I admit that I've fallen off that wagon -- but only for a while. I've literally rebuilt by entire business and way of working from the ground up in the past year and a half, and it's consumed me like Cookie Monster consumes cookies. I simply haven't had time to read. Hell, I've barely had time to shower.

But now things are starting to ease up, so that will change. And I can't wait.

Because I know you're curious, here's what I responded to Rachel about which kinds of books I like to read:

I'm curious - what do YOU like to read, outside of my books? Hit reply and let me know!

JT