I created the name InsomniMommy a few years ago, when I began to stay up late at night and write. Sometimes I wrote for the blog, sometimes I wrote for me. Every so often, the writing stalls and I go back to my first love, what first inspired me to put a pen to paper back in third grade: reading. It's so hard to read when you are the mother of littles. I feel like no one really told me that before this family thing happened to me. I used to spend whole days reading, would pile books onto the library counter to check out for the week. I got in trouble in elementary school for hiding a book within a book and trying to read Encyclopedia Brown during Science (apparently, I wasn't very sneaky). Growing up, I would frequently become entranced by a new book, and completely tune out the world around me. The daylight hours weren't enough, so I would sneak into the bathroom after my parents went to bed and read in there for a few more hours (when I found out that my husband used to do this too, I knew we were soulmates). Even the first year after I had my first baby was a wonderland of reading. I read Tess of the D'Urbervilles while breastfeeding. I read The Quiet American while my baby slept. I read I Love You Through and Through while he stared up at me, our bodies close. I read Belly Laughs waiting for my husband to come home at night. I read What to Expect the First Year whenever I was overwhelmed (which was pretty much all the time).
Like most writers, reading is as important to my continued existence as breathing and eating, and I've struggled through the days when all I read was Harold and the Purple Crayon five times. I decided to start this secondary blog to review the books I'm reading, with the hope that this will spur me to try to read at least a book or two a month. Sometimes friends will ask for a recommendation, and even if I've read something I love, I can't remember it. So hopefully this will be a replacement for my memory, which is probably never coming back.
Three years ago, I picked up a book called Bird by Bird. I was looking for anything by Anne Lamott based on a recommendation from a friend, and this was the only one the library had available. I went searching through the stacks and pulled it from the shelf. "Some Tips for Writing and Life" the cover promised, and I was intrigued (who would pass up advice on life? I am always open to suggestions). Little did I know that book is practically the Bible for writers. As I read it, ideas floated to the surface of my mind. Characters for a story, hypothetical situations rife with drama, phrases and bits of prose. She made me think I could do it too, this craft of writing. I followed her instructions: butt in chair, one inch frames, [crappy] first drafts. Blogging was perfect for the short assignments, and getting my fingers to move and my brain to power on served as a jumping-off point for further writing. Plus, the book is hysterical. Later I purchased it, and whenever I am struggling to write, overwhelmed at the enormity of FINISHING, full of both self-loathing and self-aggrandizement, I turn to Anne for words of wisdom, and she never disappoints. Through these three years, she has helped me to realize that all the insanity that I feel is actually normal, which is both comforting and concerning. If you want to write, if you have been thinking of starting a blog for months but don't know where to begin, if you think you have something to say, GET THIS BOOK. Odds are, you are ready, and the world needs your story.
Welcome to InsomniMommy reads! Check back each month to find out what I'm reading.
