Finished the show today. So many kids (especially some of the vendors’ children) are pretty awesome.

There was one parent (attending, not a vendor) I had during the show who walked up to my booth and told his son to look at the books. The kid swung his arms, slouched his shoulders forward, belly out, and shook his head, wandering away to another booth. It was clear that he didn’t want to be there and that he would have rather been home playing video games. I asked the dad if he read, and he told me, “No, but I’m trying to make him a reader.” Okay, I wanted to come unglued and ask the father what was wrong with this situation. Yes, part of the problem was the kid, but that’s because he’s already been trained. The real root lies with the father who doesn’t read. If he read, chances are very high that his son would read too. You can’t force someone to be a reader if you’re not. Monkey see, monkey do.

And more so, it doesn’t start when the kid is 10 years of age. It’ starts when the child is 10 months old (or younger). Read to them then.

I could go on about this, the fear parents have to even buy their baby a book, but I won’t. My kids both ‘owned’ books before they were born. Granted, I still wish they would read more than they do play video games, but at least they read and enjoy books too. That poor kid doesn’t even have a chance if he’s being commanded and having to fight for what he wants all the time. He will dislike reading even more.

There are so many people who also tell me that they like reading but they don’t have the time. Okay, this might be valid for some people, but it’s not hard to find a little bit of extra time to read. I’m glad whenever someone tells me that they do read, but are reading non-fiction, or like a different type of fiction than I write. I certainly don’t expect to be everyone’s cup of tea. Nor do I want to be. I want to find people who will love my stories and want more. That’s not everyone. The world has plenty of authors. I’m glad to be one of them.

Thank you for listening to the rant today. I’ll have my dragon put my soapbox away now.

In better news, 1-800-Lok8 is available where ever ebook pre-orders are allowed. If you need to see if it’s available at your favorite retailer, click books2read.com/1-800-lok8 to find out.

Tomorrow it is back to writing and audio work. Woo hoo!

Until then, happy adventuring.