A reader's journey with the publishing industry

My journey as a reader started with my parents, as is the case with a lot of people. More specifically, it started with my Dad. He used to gather my sister and I up onto the bed, pull out this book we loved that was filled with fables and folklore and read to us while we listened in ore. That's when I fell in love with the written word.

My favourite story he used to read to me was Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby. I loved the ending, how the rabbit managed to outsmart the fox. "Please don't throw me in the briar patch."

Then as I got older I craved more. In primary school (middle grade) I would get a list of books from the book fair and buy whatever I could. One that stuck in my mind is FIFTH GRADE CAN REALLY KILL YOU. It's also when I started reading ghost stories and good old Twistaplots. But I was finding them ultimately unsatisfying, so I started on books for teens (there was no 'YA' at that stage). I remember on called THE TEN CUPCAKE ROMANCE that was about a girl who swears off boys, but dates one for research for a book she's writing. But it still wasn't filling the void.

I moved onto Stephen King (oh the sleepless nights over IT), Virgina Andrews and a bunch of trashy novels from the adult section. I still would try the stories for teens, but they were very short and not always satisfying. At about fifteen I became obsessed with David Eddings and fell in love with one of his characters Sparhawk. High fantasy, such as The Keltiad series, consumed me.

Unfortunately then I left home and went to uni, which meant I was poor and away from my mother's large high fantasy and horror collection. My reading consisted of text books. Luckily in my second year of university I switched courses and got to read short stories and plays as part of my study. But my reading habits had been lost. But my writing habits started. I wrote short stories and play. I wouldn't share them, until I met my first Alpha reader "She-who-must-not-be-named" (she's very shy). She loved my writing and encouraged me to do more.

But I read for my own son, like my father read to me. And when he got old enough to start reading on his own, I started reading his books too. Goosebumps, Deltra Quest and then, Harry Potter. My love of books was reborn. And I noticed something else too. The quality of books that my son was getting to read was far higher then anything that I had gotten when I was his age. The publishing industry had matured to produce engaging adventures that could be loved by all ages. I had tried penning a middle grade book, but it didn't work (it still sits on my computer hoping to become a YA novel eventually).

I keep reading with my son, and my daydreams started running wild. This is when my first YA novel idea hit me. I had no idea it was a YA novel as I hadn't read any and my son was still reading MG books.

I wanted to start reading more as I knew it would help make me a better writer. The first YA I read was the Twilight series, then The Host. I was hooked on YA and paranormal then. My book collection rapidly expanded, being filled with YA titles and adult authors such as Charlaine Harris.

Sometimes I wish that I had the range and depth of books to read as a teenager as the current teens do now. But I still wouldn't swap Sparhawk for the world.

So - what are your favourite childhood books? How have books impacted on your life.