On Snobbery

Current Project: Sadie and William
Status: Still writing first draft, plotting.

I tend to be a reverse success snob; the more popular a thing is the more I resist trying it, buying it, seeing it, reading it. So when a new writing- and romance-reading friend strongly recommended a book by Jude Deveraux, and author popular enough to trigger my problematic snobbery, I was in something of a pickle. This friendship was still fragile, and I wanted to nurture it. I bought the book.

I didn’t read it. I put it on my “to be read/recently read” shelf and ignored it for three months.

This is not all that uncommon for me. When I am engrossed in a series, I sometimes buy the newest book and leave it on this shelf for a month, just to savor the anticipation, especially when I know the next one won’t be out for quite a while. In the meantime I read other things. But three months is a long time.

Each time I was ready for a new book I passed up the Deveraux, again and again, feeling more internal pressure and guilt each time. Eventually it became too much to bear. I opened the book.

Within a few pages I was interested. Soon I was caught. I couldn’t put it down. The story was just too good, the story-telling too fine, to abandon. The last few satisfying pages moved me to tears, and I read them again immediately.

I decided, and told my friend, it was the most romantic story I had ever read. I began thinking about the components of a truly romantic story. I had never before thought about romance in just that way. It was a revelation. I set a new goal someday to write a story as just as romantic. I will continue to explore the elements of truly romantic stories.

So, dear children, what is the moral of my tale? There are several choices; friendship, snobbery, preconceptions, open-mindedness, inspiration. You can choose your favorite. I have benefited from them all.