This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Books have played a huge part in my life. Our family didn't own a television when I was growing up – to the bemusement of my contemporaries – so my entertainment, escape, comfort, and biggest pleasure was reading, reading, and reading. I would read three books from the library every week – the most you could take out at the time – usually finished over a period of three or four days.Books were at the top of my Christmas list every year. I was easily pleased back then.
Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree was a firm favourite as a youngster, but the book that really stands out for me is The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend. I was in my early twenties when I read it, and it was the first time a book had ever made me laugh out loud – something of a revelation. Who knew that a novel about a adolescent boy could be so funny it would make me cry with laughter?
As soon as I'd finished it I read it again, which is something I rarely do, and I've read it again a few times since the TV version came out soon after I'd read the books (I have my own television now and I enjoyed the series too). The actors playing the characters were pretty much how I'd imagined them.
When I began writing my first novel, I knew it would be something humorous. I can't claim to be anywhere near as funny as Sue Townsend, but I hope I've managed to make a few people laugh.Being Brooks Simmons by Karen Clarke is out now.