12-11-2009, 05:27 AM
Funny to find this, because I started to write this as part of another thread, but then decided to use it for my profile/bio blurb. 
I think my first was Velda Johnston's The Light in the Swamp. I have almost no memory of the book itself, but it must have made an impression, because I remembered the author's name for years, intending to seek out more by her. In those days (early '80s) I had to rely on Braille books, only, so the selection was extremely limited. Now I can scan almost anything I fancy reading!
I believe I got the book in the first place because of the fact of the limited options for reading material in Braille. I used to stay with my grandmother during the summers off from school, and she would take me to get books. She did go to some trouble to find out where to go, and how to find them, which makes me incredibly grateful, and sad, to think of it. It is thanks to her that I am such an avid reader. She also read aloud to me, frequently, something my mother never did.
Anyway, this book's title caught my eye. What 8-year-old would pass up Light in the Swamp? I was already conditioned to gravitate to something like that; my family watched a lot of horror filmss. So I chose that book. My grandmother asked what it was about, and I read her the front matter/summary, in which it said that the heroine has an affair! My grandmother didn't want me to read it, but my mother apparently didn't think it was a big deal (she never monitored anything) and so I kept the book. I'm fairly sure it contained nothing harmful, and if so, I did not understand it.
So that's my long story.
In high school I discovered Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney... but then I discovered V.C. Andrews and other more romance-centric books, and moved away from gothics...although, I do consider the true VC Andrews (not the ghostwriter garbage) as gothics.
I think my first was Velda Johnston's The Light in the Swamp. I have almost no memory of the book itself, but it must have made an impression, because I remembered the author's name for years, intending to seek out more by her. In those days (early '80s) I had to rely on Braille books, only, so the selection was extremely limited. Now I can scan almost anything I fancy reading!
I believe I got the book in the first place because of the fact of the limited options for reading material in Braille. I used to stay with my grandmother during the summers off from school, and she would take me to get books. She did go to some trouble to find out where to go, and how to find them, which makes me incredibly grateful, and sad, to think of it. It is thanks to her that I am such an avid reader. She also read aloud to me, frequently, something my mother never did.
Anyway, this book's title caught my eye. What 8-year-old would pass up Light in the Swamp? I was already conditioned to gravitate to something like that; my family watched a lot of horror filmss. So I chose that book. My grandmother asked what it was about, and I read her the front matter/summary, in which it said that the heroine has an affair! My grandmother didn't want me to read it, but my mother apparently didn't think it was a big deal (she never monitored anything) and so I kept the book. I'm fairly sure it contained nothing harmful, and if so, I did not understand it.
So that's my long story.
In high school I discovered Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney... but then I discovered V.C. Andrews and other more romance-centric books, and moved away from gothics...although, I do consider the true VC Andrews (not the ghostwriter garbage) as gothics.
