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Dear Reader,
This week's guest author, Abby Fabiaschi, is a human rights advocate and co-founder of Empower Her Network, an organization that collaborates with domestic survivors of human trafficking on their path to independence. In 2012, Abby resigned from her executive post in high tech to pursue a career in writing. The Associated Press called her first novel, I Liked My Life, "impossible-to-put-down." She enjoys Skyping with book clubs around the world.
Authors love to hear from readers. At the end of Abby's guest column, be sure to send a "Hello" email and when you do, you'll also be in the drawing for a copy of I Liked My Life.
EVERYTHING IN MODERATION?
Everything in moderation is an accepted adage because it's solid advice: be interested without stalking, a foodie not a glutton, confident never arrogant, presentable without vanity. I am a moderate in every way but one: I inhale books. (Alright, fine, I also sometimes have a last glass of wine I regret the next morning.)
It was my high school English teacher who turned me into a lifetime reader. She talked about characters as if they were real, as if to read about them was to be included in their adventures. We joked about 'passing the damn ham' and how grateful we were to not be 'beautiful little fools.' We came up with Catch-22s and agreed with Bronte that 'honest people don't hide their deeds.' When she asked why I didn't care for The Catcher in the Rye, I told her I thought Holden Caulfield was a whiner and a bit of an ass; she didn't comment on my language and she didn't disagree. There seemed to be an amnesty around discussing literature that didn't hold true with the rest of my teenage experience. I could be myself, 'find' myself, through lives lived only on the page without the vulnerabilities of reality.
It was the consumption of books that turned me into a writer. I read so many stories that they began to find me when I was out in the world. The extent of any formal effort to learn the craft came from Stephen King's On Writing and William Strunk's The Elements of Style. Obsessive reading--which was often at the expense of spending time with people I love, and violated the prudent advice of moderation--manifested into an MFA-worthy amount of knowledge that led to a life that suits me better than the one I built with my business degree.
Perhaps the adage shouldn't be 'everything' in moderation. When you think about it, the saying itself is an oxymoron. As it relates to pursuing a passion, moderation versus obsession might be the difference between dreaming and becoming.
--Abby Fabiaschi
Say hello and enter the drawing for a copy of I Liked My Life, email Abby at, abby@readhungry.com.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
**AUTHORBUZZ **
BLOOD AND OIL: The Devil's Tears (Mystery) by Minerva Taylor
Did one of the Tsar's children survive the 1918 massacre at Ekaterinburg? In 2002, Deputy Sheriff Roo Yoder hunts for a hundred-year old treasure and a killer when his high school friend, a financier, is murdered. The only clue-a fragment of a 1900's share certificate--worth a fortune if the other half can be found. In Baku, he discovers his great uncle's connection to the Romanovs during the revolution and a clue leading to the treasure.
Go to AUTHORBUZZ click on BLOOD AND OIL to read more and to email author Minerva Taylor, you'll get a reply.
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