To this day I still sigh to hear "Oh I can't read that stuff, it is so complicated, and I just can't get my head wrapped around it!" or some other comment along these lines when asked:"Do you read Science Fiction?" Some would say that Fantasy is easier as is Horror because there nothing complicated in those stories, to which my eyebrows crawl up my head and down the back to blow out you guess what.

Oh PLEASE! Brains are not jackets you wrap around something you do. They are in fact, muscle. Something that needs to be stretched, built up, and used. NYC Crossword Puzzles are all well and good, but it not the end all of learning something new. Why not read something that actually uses a lot of the vocabulary you figure out? Here is another thing, reading Science Fiction is not like reading a technical manual, even for people who enjoy such things. Lets look at some common excuses we can kill right here and now.

Complaints and Responses

1. There are strange words and odd sounding names I never head or can pronounce!

A. Guilty as charged. That is actually part of the fun. So here the thing, have you ever gone to a Italian, French, Mexican, Asian, or any other "outside the realm of your experience." restaurant? You go there to what? Try something new. So, let the new names be something new, and the odd phrase such as 'dimensional space', don't sweat it (it means HERE). Keep reading, in time you will get it.

2. "Oh, I am not that smart to read that stuff."

B. If you have a drivers license, can follow maps, or learn something new. Guess what, you ARE smart enough.

I am not the kind of person that reads that stuff!

Trust me, you will not sprout weird looking head gear, turn purple, or have to wear a space suit to some strange convention, when you read this "stuff". Not now or ever. People who do that, actually do it voluntarily believe it or not. Here is the other thing, just what kind of person do you think reads this stuff? People like you. Book readers who know how to read for fun. So what are you waiting for? Want Romance? Adventure? Thriller? Historical? You name it, Science Fiction has it. As for Fantasy or Horror being "simple", I beg to differ. Those genres have depth that go way deeper than the cover of the book and guess what? Reading Science Fiction will help you to see that as well.

Nancy Louise