Imagination

Today is the birthday of Jules Verne - the man responsible for stories like "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Around the World in Eighty Days". I have read and enjoyed his stories for years. I even enjoyed the movies made from his stories.

He was known as one of the early pioneers in the genre of science fiction and I thank him for that. Although my earliest readings tended to be in the areas of horse stories and Nancy Drew, once I got hold of science fiction and fantasy, there was no stopping me. I read everything I could get my hands on. The places those books took me were fodder for my developing imagination.

I traveled the world with Phineas Fogg, dove under the sea with Capt. Nemo. With other sf authors, I flew to other galaxies, traveled through time, used a gold watch to stop time. There was no limit to what I could do when traveling with those stories.

Even now, my shelves are mostly filled with stories that are beyond the norm - fantasies and sf still remain my favorite genres and it is due mostly to those earlier writers that I read.

So, to those of you, who like myself, write fantasy, science fiction, paranormal stories, I thank you. May we all touch someone and spark their imaginations as Verne and other early writers sparked mine.

Today's author birthdays: Jules Verne, Robert Burton, John Rushkin, Kate Chopin, John Grisham

Today's thought: "See life as it is, but write about life as it might be." - Paul Martin

Today's teaser: Make a list of every place you’ve been in the past 24 hours. Describe each location in detail and the feelings associated with it. If you’ve not been anywhere, pick the last time you went somewhere and describe that.