I am Maddy McBride, a reader and a writer, in that order. I became a writer when I couldn’t find enough of the kinds of things I liked to read – particularly, historical fiction set in the distant past, especially in places and time periods from which there are few if any written records. I like historical fiction set in more recent periods, too – but I (usually) prefer it when it’s about fictional characters, rather than actual historical personages. Alternate history and history-inspired science fiction are favorites, too.
Once I started writing, I was hooked – and though I started by writing historical fiction, my writing soon branched out into historical fantasy, and then poetry, and then picture books…and my next project is again something completely different, genre-wise.
I am the worst writer ever, by which I mean I have a hard time sitting down and doing it every day. If you read writing blogs you’ve probably encountered the “you must write something every day” advice. I am, I’ve discovered, totally incapable of following this advice. I either write all the time, or not at all.
By contrast, I’m a pretty good reader: it a rare day in which I don’t read something (I mean, something beyond billboard advertisements and stuff required for work). I’m eclectic in my reading tastes: in addition to the historically-inspired and speculative literature I describe above, I read a lot of poetry, picture books, cookbooks, and essay collections. I like mysteries and thrillers too, and I’m especially fond of literature in translation. I do also read non-fiction beyond cookbooks and essays, though I can’t pin down my own taste in that area. I don’t read much horror, romance, or (for lack of a better name) book club fiction, and I don’t read many biographies – but those aren’t hard-and-fast rules. If something in those categories catches my eye, I’ll read it!
Mostly, I guess, I just like reading.
Thanks for visiting! If you would like to get in touch, I can be reached at maddyjmcbride at gmail.com.