Swaying Stacks ~ by Maressa Mortimer

 I only found out a few years ago what a TBR Pile stands for. I didn’t even have one, just a few books I had waiting for a quiet evening. When the children joined, eight years ago now, I couldn’t read for a whole year. I wouldn’t have believed it if somebody had warned me of this. How can you not read?

When I started writing, my evenings suddenly were filled with storytelling rather than reading. Even now, three years later, I have to make time to read as well as write. That means that some evenings only one of them gets done.

English isn’t my first language, and one of the things I noticed is that I have no idea what books to choose from. In the Netherlands, I had a few writers that I liked and I was familiar with others that I might read if I couldn’t find anything else in their ginormous library. When I moved to England, it was different. The only authors I recognised were Enid Blyton, Shakespeare, George Orwell and Roald Dahl. We had to read several books in English, and although they had been “interesting”, I didn’t want to read them a second time.

So I ended up walking around the library rather aimlessly, feeling lost. I found a few crime books set in the Cotswolds, which I enjoyed and stumbled across books about Maisie Dobbs. I enjoy crime books but don’t like bad language or bedroom scenes. We don’t let visitors upstairs, so I have no desire to go upstairs in somebody else’s house.

So how did I end up with a precariously swaying TBR pile, as well as various TBR stacks around the house? It’s because of friends. People in wonderful groups have been recommending books, I was asked to join a book tour group which has been great fun and a week or so ago, Wendy H. Jones came to stay in our holiday cottage. We were planning a kind of writing retreat, which didn’t see as many words written as we’d hoped, but was definitely a great treat.

We went to Hay-on-Wye for the day and drooled our way through the many bookshops there, my favourite being Murder and Mayhem. Of course, Wendy knew loads of the authors, so I managed to get home with a bag full of mysteries. My Mother-in-law is downsizing and some of her books ended up at our house. I did recognise a few, but thanks to Wendy, I ended up with a huge stack in my lounge.

I love it when people recommend books, especially when they know you well enough to suggest the right kind of books. I love sitting down with a recommended book, and thinking, “Yes, this is a brilliant read, I’m glad she told me!” It’s easy to stay in the corner of a particular genre unless somebody points out other books you might enjoy. I don’t mean change genre necessarily, but other authors on the same shelf that are worth reading.

I would love to hear where you find books, how you expand your interests and how you decide to go along with somebody’s suggestion, for this whole writing malarkey is new territory to me, so any ideas are welcome!

Maressa Mortimer is Dutch but lives in the beautiful Cotswolds, England with her husband and four (adopted) children. Maressa is a homeschool mum as well as a pastor’s wife, so her writing has to be done in the evening when peace and quiet descend on the house once more. She loves writing Christian fiction, as it’s a great way to explore faith in daily life. Because of her interest in writing, Maressa is part of a brand new book coming out September 2021, Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion For Writing.

Her debut novel, Sapphire Beach, was published in December 2019, and her first self published novel, Walled City, came out in December 2020, followed by Viking Ferry, a novella. Beyond the Hills is the second book in the Elabi Chronicles, and was released on June 18^th 2021. All of Maressa’s books are available from her website, www.vicarioushome.com, Amazon or local bookshops.