My Catchphrases

Saturday 15 January 2011

Saturday Spotlight: Guest Post: Reading Inspirations by Curtis Jobling


I blame Star Wars.
The year was 1977, I was five years old and had just seen a movie that almost caused my tiny head to explode. My imagination has never been the same since then; wild, fantastic and ever so slightly silly. I recall the first time I bought a Fighting Fantasy (“choose your own adventure”) book, aged 10 – Warlock of Firetop Mountain. I cheated my way through it of course (who didn’t?) but it got me into reading in a very big way. From there I remember getting down to my local library and finding The Hobbit. Took me a whole summer holiday to read that bad boy, and even then I had to pay quite a few pennies in fines – but what a book!

The first BIG book I ever purchased was The Fellowship of the Ring, and that was when I hit high school. It took me ages to get through the first Rings novel but I’m thankful I stuck with it – Tolkien and Star Wars are the main inspirations that set me onto a path as an author. As much as I love film and television (I work in both fields as a creator and designer of animation) my first love is still reading. While writing Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf I’d often have a book on the go myself, although it can be hard to find the time to read when you’ve spent the whole day writing! Reading becomes a habit, and a splendid one at that. It can transport you to magical places, fantastic scenarios full of engaging characters.

The mind is a powerful thing – I’ve always found that regardless of what I see on the screen (large or small) nothing can compare to what I see in my own imagination. I used to run role-playing games throughout my teens and young twenties, my mates and I gathering round a table with a collection of pizza boxes and bottles of fizzy stuff. I would run the games, I would tell the story, I would explain what was happening. I LOVED the reaction I got from the players as they imagined what I described. I get the same kick as an author now, and can only hope that when YOU read a book you get that same thrill.

Imagination is a beautiful gift – don’t waste it!


Hope you dig Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf, in fact I hope it excites and scares the pants off you in equal measure – do follow the adventure on the official website http://www.wereworldbooks.com/ and keep up to speed over on the Jobling blog – badablingthing.blogspot.com!

Review Here




Enjoy the booky thing and Bada Bling!

Curtis



A huge thank you to Curtis and Puffin for the guest post - answering my question:
What was your reading inspiration?

2 comments:

  1. Star Wars has a lot to answer for. For me, it was my first fancy dress costume - Princess Leia costume!

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  2. Oh what a wonderful guest post :) I don't really remember any of the movies I watched as a small child. I was always given books so it seems inevitable that I grew up to love them. First book I bought myself (with my own money)? One of the books in the Anne of Green Gables series which I found in a garage sale in my neighbourhood which completed my collection. For a quarter. Before that, I think my dad persuaded me to buy a collection of Frances Hodgson Burnett books with a gift card someone gave me..

    Reading inspiration though. I'm struggling to remember what did it for me. Which books inspired me to keep reading. I'm not sure. Charlotte's Web? The Boxcar Children? Were they the first?

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