NICHOLAS CRABTREE, AUTHOR
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Has Reading gone to the Dogs?

3/5/2015

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So where have all the readers gone?
I recently did an unofficial survey of my close family, a cross section of ages and backgrounds. I simply questioned the last time any one of the family members sat down and read a book, turned the pages and enjoyed the written word on paper.

To my astonishment only a few members had read any kind of publication or book since high school. So I applied math to the result and found only 15% of my survey subjects read books. (a good basic number to be aware of if you are a writer)

I suppose in this day and age of technology and the incessant need for instant gratification in the newer generations the results are not that much of a surprise. Even this blog falls in the same category.

Currently, I am working on a novel and to make sure that the facts contained in the novel I had to do some scientific research. I could have easily "googled" the information but I decided it would be much more fun to hunt down the information I was looking for in the library's reference sections. As detective sleuth would track down any information pertaining to the case I tracked down the information I needed to support the technical parts of my story.

Along the way, I encountered curious other library attendees, some inhabitants were there to read, some to research and some to just evade the cold outside. One of these frigid weather evaders asked me what I was doing so I explained. The returning comment was "why not just google the information". My reply was simple, "If I had googled the information then I would not have met an interesting character such as yourself"

My point is, reading, writing and researching is not just satisfying and relaxing, but it also gets us in touch with our fellow man in person. Entirely the opposite to the technologically obsessed generation of today that communicate with their thumbs.


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Story Ideas

2/15/2015

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I am often asked where my story ideas come from, and the simple answer is, everywhere. They come from everyday observations, triggers, such as news items, travel experiences or a simple conversation.
For example, my story The Oncers is an adaptation of my childhood fears. I grew up in a traditional English house with a formal lounge or family room as we call it, the house had a simple dining room off the kitchen. The only trouble was that the dining room and the lounge were on opposite sides of the house forcing a young boy to go from the dining room to the lounge at various times of the day. This meant he had to pass through the dreaded front entry and pass by the bottom of the stairs. His imagination had told him not to look up the stairs in case the Oncer was returning his look. So That is one example.

One of my newest stories involves a Doctor who is obsessed with the afterlife, or life after death, he endeavors to follow souls or life forces at the moment of passing. He hand his assistant create and environment and a piece of equipment to follow the life force as it leaves the human remains, only to find that the journey does not end there. They follow the life force or entity as it moves on only to be totally surprised and shocked at where the life force finally ends up.

This story comes from a personal experience in an MRI machine, while in the machine for a lengthy period of time this idea came to me, so I embellished it and am in the throes of completing the story.

There are many more in the archive, it is just a matter of putting them on the page for all to enjoy, think about and may be even a little thrilled at times.


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    D.E. Jackson(Nick Crabtree)

    My imagination allows me to go wherever I want to go, no tickets, no timetables no limits. By releasing myself from these constraints I am able to think outside of the rules and regulations imposed by singular thinking.

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