Let me introduce myself to you. I Am A Book. I have millions of brothers, sisters, and cousins inhabiting bookstores, libraries, computers, and countless other cubbies, backpacks, and closets. Yet, none of us are exactly alike. Each of us is unique.
Between my covers, worlds are created and destroyed. Epic stories of life and death, joy and sadness, love and hate, failure and redemption, and war and peace play out against the backdrop of new worlds.
Memorable and entertaining characters are formed and brought to life. As these characters are fully known and fleshed out, they become part of the lexicon of your thoughts and words. You find yourself thinking of things these imaginary people said. Or perhaps you remember their failure or success in a tough moment and take valuable lessons from it, applying them to your own life. They are now family in some odd, inexplicable way. Even if you dislike them or hate them, you know and remember them. You probably even recognize them. You root for some to prevail and others to fall hard, just like you do in your own reality. These new friends beckon you to join them again even after you have closed my cover and decided it was time to do other important things, like get some badly needed sleep. But as you try to ignore their siren call, you wonder what the next chapter holds? What triumph or tragedy or unseen turn of events awaits you at your next reading? Can you wait until then to find out? Are you feeling compelled to go back to our secret world and make sure your new favorite character is going to make it? Do you dare believe you’re being there at a crucial moment might even make the difference? Thus, the pages are re-opened and you return to help your friends while sleep is sacrificed on the altar of high adventure.
And what of these worlds you find within my pages? Some are imagined and some are real. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. My pages will transport you to distant towns, countries, or even universes. You can travel anywhere you want, anytime you want. The ticket price is the small cost to purchase me. Like an old friend, you can join me again as many times as you like. I am always waiting and I promise new things will show up the next time we travel together. You never find it all in one reading.
You prefer to watch videos and movies, you say? Oh yes, they tempt you and seduce you with all the interesting images and music and noise they serve up. But, search their opening credits carefully and you will discover many are adaptations of books. Of me. We books provide the fertile ground the movie scripts grow from. I dare you to read the book version of these movies before you watch the movie version of me. You will discover there is no comparison. I will provide you with a textured and nuanced journey not often found on celluloid or videotape. I will dive deeper and linger longer. I will allow you to decide what you see and how long you see it, not a director. I will leave nothing on the cutting room floor. I refuse to be gutted and subverted in the interest of time. I insist on being a guilty pleasure without boundaries or restrictions, as I always have. You will imagine my scenery and you will create the images you behold. They will be uniquely yours and yours alone. Everyone who reads me will conjure up their own personal version of what unfolds within the sacred space between my covers.
I Am A Book. I have informed, transported, and entertained untold millions of people for centuries
Perhaps as you read these words, it will rekindle our love affair. We need each other. If you have not spent time with me lately, or ever, maybe you will be moved to do so. I desire to slip into your mind and become part of you…and you are part of me. After all, are we not all books being written every minute of every day?
Make sure your book is well written my friends…make it a classic, one for the ages.
Larry Hamilton
