Don't skip to the end.

I'm an avid reader. I read all the time, whether it be an author that I've newly discovered, or something older that I've never gotten around to reading. I read magazines, newspapers, internet blogs and, of course, my own work.

So, as an avid reader, I have rules to how a book should be read. Any and all books should be read from front cover to back cover, in the exact order that it was written. I absolutely can not stand to see people reading a book and then watch them jump to the back page to see what happens. Noooooooo!!!!

Please, do not do this. A book is in the order that it's in for a purpose. You should read it that way.

My older daughters have turned into avid readers just like their mommy, and I couldn't be happier. But, not skipping to the end is something that I've had to teach them. Unfortunately, I still catch them doing it on occassion.

My oldest was reading the last Harry Potter book a few weeks ago and she came to me complaining about something that she didn't understand. Turned out that she had skipped to the end, from the middle of the book, and was mad about how things turned out.

Yet again, I had to explain to her that she needs to read the WHOLE book in order and then the ending would make sense to her. So when she finally finished the book and exclaimed that it now made sense, I used that moment to reinforce my rule of NO SKIPPING TO THE END!

For me, as an author, I find it highly insulting for someone to skip to the end of my books. Even more insulting if they do it right in front of me. So please, do not do that. If you do skip, do it in private and don't tell anyone. LOL!

This is just my random thought of the day. :-)