Are You A Book Geek?

That poster above fits me perfectly. I am rarely without a book to read. I learned how much having a book to read means to me only this past week. I finished the novel my book club is discussing this next week, and I didn't have another to begin reading.

Partly because I had not gone to the library to stock up on a few books but mostly because my life has been a real merry-go-round recently. I'm helping out with more than one committee, a convention, other groups and preparing to teach two workshops and give a presentation for another group. Suddenly, it felt overwhelming and I had to give up something.

Sadly, my reading time and even my usual amount of writing time had to be cut drastically. Either way, it's left me with a feeling of being unsettled, uncomfortable. I feel like something is missing in my life right now, and doggone it, there definitely is something missing because I'm a book geek.

I also feel like I'm not participating as much in my online writer's group. It makes me feel a little guilty, even though I know I'll get back to doing more within a few weeks. I miss it, too.

So, what's a busy writer to do about this? How many times have I written on this blog about writers making time to write. Well, I need to take my own advice and create some time to read and to write. I can do that if I put my mind to it. It won't be as much time as I'd like, but I will find bits and pieces of unused minutes in each day. I also know I need to do so for my own peace of mind. For me, reading and writing is like a little pill that provides calm and satisfaction. Emotionally, I need that as much as these other things need my attention.

I visited someone not too long ago in her home. I felt that something was missing although the decor was lovely, everything neat as a pin. On my way home, it hit me that there was no sign of a book or a magazine anywhere. This person is obviously not the book geek that I am.

How about you? Do you miss reading and/or writing when your life takes an unusually busy turn? Do you fret and fume, or do you do something about it? Are you a book geek to the point of choosing a book over other things in life? Have you found a way to balance things? Tell us about it.