Tuesday, June 28, 2011

I'd rather live in a book!

I know many people read to escape real life and I have to admit, I often do. It's so much easier to deal with someone elses problems in a book than it is to deal with the problems that seem to bombard us day after day and living with 4 teenagers and trying to run a business there is never a lack of stress or issues to deal with.

Lately it seems that I try to find uplifting books, ones that are empowering, make me feel stronger so I can deal with all the junk life is throwing at me these days. Books like Jane Porter's 'She's Gone Country' or 'Mrs. Perfect' are great examples. Jane knows how to weave a story around life's ups and downs and make them managable and wonderful and valuable in spite of how hard they are. It's a beautiful thing when an author can do that.

So this week I picked up a book by an author I've never read, Jane Feather, and thus far I'm captivated by the heroine's gumption, how she sacrifices so much to solve a problem in her life yet comes out so strong in the end. Do I do that in real life? I'm not sure, I guess because I'm so caught up in the problems that it's hard to tell how I'm dealing with it until it's over and by that time I don't want to look back because I'm getting ready for the next blow, so to speak. I guess I should pay more attention to what I'm learning through life's issues so I'll know better how to deal with them next time...not to mention how to better write about them in my own books.

Do you read to escape? What are your favorite types of escape stories when life is really stressing you out?

And just in case you're interested, the Jane Feather book I spoke of is called, "Rushed To The Altar"