Are Your Interrests the same in real life as what you read?

[Spitfire]

Just thought I would put that question out there. I generally like to escape reality when I choose reading literature. That is why I am attracted to Historical Fiction. It is so different from my everyday life. But some of the characters that I really am drawn to in literature, I must say I would probably hate in real life. How about the rest of you?

[Divia]

Well, sometimes I dislike them, but most of the times I like the otherwise I couldnt read the book :D I finished the Tsar's Dwarf and I hated her character which made teh book difficult.

I also like HF cause I was a history teacher and have my BA in History.

[Telynor]

That's a good question. It's funny -- in real life, I ended up getting my degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, not art or history. For a hobby, I picked up historical reenactments, and dove right into the middle ages, and started to pick up the skills and knowledge that a woman would have had then. Now that I am 'retired,' I do quite a bit of cooking and embroidery, not to mention reading and writing. So it's hard to say, really. Now I have the freedom, somewhat, to do as I please.

[Lady of the Forest]

I am pretty much obcessed with all things of the past, and history, and have been for a long time. Much of the poetry I write tends to reflect the style of the romantics, I prefer it over most contempary poetry. I love to do the Ren fairs, and other simillar things, and I have been known to wear a cape in public when it was not halloween, I am also a collector of weaponary, and I want to learn archery I also thought it would be cool to be a falconeer, and jousting is one of my favorite sports.

[LCW]

My real life has nothing to do with the fiction I read. I do read non-fiction science related books as well as lots of journal articles but that's really to keep up with current knowledge in my field and other scientific disciplines. In fact, I'm probably drawn to HF because it is so different from my daily life that it's easier for me to be transported to another place and time while I read for pleasure.

[nona]

better late then never...

As a pre teen my love for history drove me to want to be a history teacher for high school students or middle school. I excelled in it and I read everything the library had to offer, but with age life changed. I still day dream of myself as a teacher or professor of History but for now thats out of the question so every night I settle down with a little key in the form of a book that opens that historical portal for me and I escape for a time.

[donroc]

I majored and have a degree in History, taught European and U.S. and World History, and have never stopped reading History. I write Historcal Fiction too. The only thing I have not done regarding History is make it. But, some of my avatars may.

[Leyland]

My interests and HF do coincide whenever I visit museums or historical sites. Unfortunately I can't visit those in Europe, South America and Asia on the occasional weekend as I can now in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama. Well, I could do Europe for a long weekend if I had a personal jet, but that isn't gonna happen.

Otherwise, I read a lot of urban fantasy (like Patricia Briggs) and I really don't get to hang with werewolves and vamps in real life all that much. Unless I actually am and that wolf just ain't talking about it. :rolleyes:

[Julianne Douglas]

Unfortunately, yes, my interests and my reading/writing completely overlap. Sometimes I do wish they were different. They've remained constant over the years, though, so I doubt they're going to change much at this late date.

Somebody mentioned above how they read about people they'd probably hate in real life. I'm in a similar situation now, about to write a novel about someone I'd probably have a hard time admiring in person. I hope I can pull it off...

[JMJacobsen]

I suppose my interests are certainly the same, I am certainly obsessed with history. Unfortunately, my day-job only encompasses math and science, with a bunch of technology thrown in for good measure. Hard to find any historical relevance there.

Oh well...if I were forced to rely on my historical interests for a living, perhaps it wouldn't be so enjoyable anymore.

[EC2]

My interests and my day job overlap. I've always got some book on the Middle Ages on the go - but it's always factual research reading.
As far as leisure reading goes. I used to read every piece of fiction set in the middle ages I could lay hands on. However, I found that as I researched further I became more and more picky about accuracy which means that my author pool diminished to a minute handful - and that's how it remains today.
I will read fiction set in any period and across all genres. It's variety that matters. I will read a historical, followed by a thriller, followed by a Terry Pratchett, followed by another historical, followed by a Tim Severin travel book, then a literary book. I don't care if the books are by men or women, or whether the protags are male or female. It's all grist to the mill. I struggle with chic-lit. I won't say never, but two a year is about my limit, and any heroine who displays symptoms just for one minute of TSTL is on her way to hitting the wall with the rest of the cast!

[Ash]

I wish I could make a living in history, I've always loved learning about it and reading books about it. But my other passion is teaching, something I came to early life. You'd think I'd be teaching history. Nope. I teach preschool kids with disabilities and wouldn't do anything else. But when I come home, you bet the first thing I do is grab up the book Ive been reading...

[Misfit]

Well since my day job is something mundane (not!) like chasing contractors for money (it does have it's interesting moments), I am more than happy to lose myself in the past once the workday is over.

[chuck]

Early on HF has let me escape and do some time traveling through the reading experience......some authors are better than others in describing the place, the characters and the sense of time..........

[Ash]

. I will read fiction set in any period and across all genres. It's variety that matters. I will read a historical, followed by a thriller, followed by a Terry Pratchett, followed by another historical, followed by a Tim Severin travel book, then a literary book. I don't care if the books are by men or women, or whether the protags are male or female. It's all grist to the mill. I struggle with chic-lit. I won't say never, but two a year is about my limit, and any heroine who displays symptoms just for one minute of TSTL is on her way to hitting the wall with the rest of the cast!

Throw a non fiction history into the mix, and thats pretty much my reading style. I also tend to have two or three books going at once. I am also a HUGE Pratchett fan; eagerly awaiting my copy of his latest, "Nation". BTW do you read Gaiman as well?

I struggle with chic-lit. I won't say never, but two a year is about my limit, and any heroine who displays symptoms just for one minute of TSTL is on her way to hitting the wall with the rest of the cast!

Oh, I can't bear that stuff. And now that I know what TSTL means, yes, it becomes a wall banger for me too, chick lit or not!

[Carine]

I just love history ! I read rarely anything else but HF or sometimes non fiction but still historical.
My job has nothing to do with history at all, I work in an office of which the main purpose is to pay bonusses to people that work in the territory of laying out of gardens.
But if you could enter my house you would see that a history-loving person lives in it :)
I love knight-related ornaments !!
Plus, last year we broke down the existing mantlepiece and built a new one and at both sides is a medieval figure, a woman on one side and a man on the other side.

[Alaric]

Most of my time is spent doing readings for my classes, a lot of those deal with history and most of my reading for leisure is either politics or historical (non-)fiction, so definitely they overlap.

[EC2]

But if you could enter my house you would see that a history-loving person lives in it :)
I love knight-related ornaments !!
Plus, last year we broke down the existing mantlepiece and built a new one and at both sides is a medieval figure, a woman on one side and a man on the other side.

LOL, I identify. When my son moved into his own house, I took over his former bedroom and turned it into an overflow study. All my re-enactment show and tell equipment are displayed in there, including my sword and shield and helm.
I have some slightly tacky but fun drunken knight bookends in my main study, their task being to hold upright the books I'm currently using for research, and a table in there is covered by a Milles Fleures tapestry - of the kind in the Gryffindor common room in the Harry Potter Films.

Ash, I haven't read Gaiman but I intend to. He's a definite gap in my reading awareness and he's always being recommended.

[Madeleine]

I used to quite like history at school and at one time wanted to work either in a museum or be an archaeologist, however more mundane things came my way and I worked in an office for 23 years. HF has re-awakened my interest in history and is a form of escapism whilst learning about real people and real events, and a way of shutting off from all the irritations of modern life (although I expect there were just as many in the past!).

What does TSTL mean?

[diamondlil]

Too Stupid To Live.