Goddess, I Am.

I read a lot, so if somebody asked me who my favorite author is, I would probably end up with a list to rival that of Extenze’s cache of sexual enhancers. (Please don’t ask me why or how I know.) But if I were to pick one (author, not sexual enhancer) who I love most, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash when I say Colleen McCullough.

The first McCullough book I ever picked up was Antony and Cleopatra, and from the very first page, it was love – love for the story, love for the history, and love for the author. Because of that, I spent the better part of last year acquiring and reading her entire Masters of Rome series. I thought my love for her books would end there, but then I found an old copy of The Thorn Birds (definitely among my top 3 favorite stories of all time!), and she got me hooked once again. Since then, I’ve been making it a point to find copies of all her stories, which really isn’t an easy thing to do when there aren’t a lot of her books floating around. So far, I’ve managed to acquire 10 of her books (from the most unlikely sources, mind you), including the 7 Roman ones, and I’m still on the lookout for more.

I love how she writes, and I won’t even try to describe why when, for me, the reasons are intangible. All I know is she writes about the very things that I personally would’ve liked to write about but could and would never ever give justice to. And it’s because of this that she almost feels like family – so much so, in fact, that I now ‘know’ her writing well enough to recognize styles that are unique to her, such as her penchant for throwing in a Roman nuance or two even in her most un-Roman stories, be it as a character’s name, or a subtle metaphor. I find myself smiling each time I see a Roman-esque word or phrase in one of her books. I like to think of it as her personal tribute to that period of history she loves so much, and I join her in that tribute.

Thank you, Colleen, for giving me Caesar, Ralph de Bricassart, and Joshua Christian. I look forward to finding more of your stories in places where I least expect them.

Tags: Antony, author, Caesar, Cleopatra, Colleen McCullough, favorite author, Joshua Christian, Ralph de Bricassart, Rome, The Thorn Birds

Trackback URI | Comments RSS