What It's Like to be Married to a Non-Reader: A Guest Post by Author Robin Spano

I was so intrigued by the sample chapters I read on the author's website of Dead Politician Society by Robin Spano that I pre-ordered the book and have since read it. Be sure and come back tomorrow for my review. Although the last thing I need is to become involved with another series given my already long list, I'm already hooked. Dead Politician Society is the first in a new mystery series featuring motorcycle enthusiast and undercover police officer Clare Vengel.

When I read in Robin's bio that her husband hates reading, I just had to know more . . . Please join me in welcoming Robin Spano to Musings of a Bookish Kitty!

---

Wendy asked me: What is it like for a writer to be married to a non-reader?

Actually, it rocks.

First, my husband is my biggest champion. Since we met (when I was a strung-out, partied-out 24-year-old and he was a 40-year-old businessman), he has believed in me. He doesn’t read my work objectively or critically—how would he, with nothing to compare it to? He just believes that I’m a writer (and in his warped mind, a good one).

Second, he gets me out of my own head. We don’t sit around discussing literature—my friends and family love to read, so I’m not starved for literary conversation—we go hiking and traveling and do other real world things.

When I say Keith doesn’t read, I mean he doesn’t. The last book he read cover to cover was Spycatcher by Peter Wright. He read it when it came out, in 1987.

“What?” you say. “But Robin, haven’t you written a book? How could Keith read Spycatcher and not Dead Politician Society?”

I mean, Spycatcher was pretty gripping. It’s the true life tale of an MI6 operative who witnessed the Communist betrayal and defection of Kim Philby and his cohorts, a series of events that inspired several awesome Le Carre plots.

And actually, what Keith did for me was even more amazing than read my book in its current shiny packaged form. He read half of my first manuscript at the time when I was both nervous that it was terrible, and toying with sending it out into the world.

He read, he laughed, he commented. He told me he could see the events happening as if it was a movie. (Another great thing about a husband who doesn’t know the writing industry: he thinks that naturally this book will be a movie.)

“Nice,” you say. “But why did he only read half?”

He stopped reading when I got an offer from a publisher. He’d been reading it to be encouraging, to convince me that I didn’t suck. Once the outside world seemed to be saying the same thing, he figured he could go back to his normal, avoid-all-reading self (aka the awesome man I married).

Some parting words for all you single writers: Don’t write off the non-readers. They might be the best match for you.

* * *
Robin Spano is a crime writer from Toronto, living in Vancouver. She loves to explore the world in her boat, on her motorcycle, and traveling new places with her husband. Her first novel, Dead Politician Society, has just hit shelves.

You can learn more about Robin Spano, and her book on the author's website. You can also find her on Twitter and on Clare's Facebook page.

---

© 2010, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved.If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.