The Authors Behind Their Stories

I will admit to being guilty of looking at a book, maybe reading it, but never once giving thought to the author behind it.  Half the time I can't even remember the author's name.  But the title, sure, no problem, I can remember the title and the story.

I work in a library.  I handle books all day long.  Really, since this collection is still in some senses new to me, I am discovering new stories and authors all day long.  In the past few months I have been repairing files at work in the fiction section.  I've been taking books off the shelves in alphabetical order, searching them by barcode (and when that fails, title), and then going through the entire catalogue record to clean it up.  All because when we switched systems, some glitch stopped the files from transferring nicely.  At first this was a major chore.  Seriously, I've been doing these repairs since I started work here in September whenever I have some free time and I'm only into the CANs.  This won't be a process that will be finished when my break comes in June.  This will be a many year ordeal.

But looking at all these books, I am learning about all these publishing companies, big and little, all these story ideas, and also all these authors.  These people that no one else would know existed in some cases, except for the proof in the book and on the cover that they do.

I repaired a file for two books written by one author.  The first book cover looks exceptionally ordinary with the usual illustrations and the usual back cover blurb.  The second also looks exceptionally ordinary, until you read the back cover.  The author had cancer and worked diligently to complete her novel but realized she never would.  Her request was that what was complete of her novel be published exactly as it was written.  And so it was.  How tragic and heartwarming at the same time.

Since then I have caught myself looking at these stories and wondering what the authors are like.  It's incredible how many different stories can be created.  Basically, if you can think it, you can make it a story.  But who thinks up these things?  Does a story about depression mean the author has witnessed it before?  Does a story about a cow come from someone with a farming background?  Was the last book you read written by a celebrity or an average Joe?  And if you were to compare two books written by two people from different walks of life, how would they match up?

My challenge to anyone wishing to accept it is this: next time you read a story, take just a moment at the end to think about the author.  To imagine what are the people behind these stories like.  Just imagining that is enough to create a story of your own!