There seems to be a shift of perspective when we become authors.  We move from being just readers into being both authors and readers.  And so, our relationship with books becomes complicated: I find it hard, nowadays, to just read a book.  I will notice verbs, underline interesting words or even copy something I find irresistible and have to introduce into my own writing.  But I can’t just read a book.  Not anymore!

I have even turned my wife Electra into a critic of sorts, and she keeps complaining that I have ruined her reading experience.  A few weeks ago, she read a book where the author used a lot the expression ‘the brow of the hill’.  She thought that it was a really nice way of depicting the hill, but when she saw the aforementioned expression used for the umpteenth time, she glared at me and complained that I have…