Reading interests, D&D and the reason for the hiatus. [ - 1983]

As I'm Dyslexic I was slow to learn to read so I found books later than most but once I could read I was an avid reader and was deaf to all when my head was in a book. Sure I could answer 'Yes Mum' to the call from downstairs, but I had no recall of the request or my response.
As a child happy with my own company books only made it worse as I travelled the universes of the authors' imaginings.

Enid Blyton was a starting point for all children back then and still is, some suitably amended to be PC, I don't think there is a book of her's I missed.
The local library in Keynsham was a required weekly visit back then as I took out the allowed maximum of 4 books. I can still remember the trepidation I suffered when I took back a Thomas the Tank Engine book that I had somehow missed and that was 12 weeks overdue.
I think I read many of the edwardian classicchildren's stuff like The Water Babies, Robinson Crusoe, Settlers in Canada, Alice in Wonderland and Coral island some of these were my Father's childhood books books that I read when I visited my grandparents in Southbourne, quietly reading when I should have been asleep.
I also read Billy Bunter, Biggles, Swallows and Amazons , comics were the Victor, Valiant, The Beano and The Dandy as well as the comic format 'Commando' stories.

At some point I discovered Science Fiction and to a lesser extent fantasy, until I picked up Lord of The Rings, what a game changer that was, but I'm still a 1930-1950 era sci fi reader.

Amazing story line like all his writing

My diet was primarily the works of those groundbreaking 50s authors; Asimov, Heinlein & EE Doc Smith amongst them. A lot of the books went the way of the soldiers, but the SciFi and Fantasy was too weird for mother to use and I still have it and indeed have added considerably.


I have read my books many times, some I have had to replace.


In the Stars Like Dust is a single verse of what I believe is a fictional poem. I felt the need to finish i see later post.

"The stars, like dust, encircle me
In living mists of light;
And all of space I seem to see
In one vast burst of sight."

The fantasy reading made me want to play RPGs, however I only found/coerced a group in the late 70s', lots of fun and never enough time. I spent hours creating scenarios and as Dungeon Master watched the players scupper many plans and go off in the wrong direction ignoring magic weapons and magic pools of potions.
Those of you who have payed or indeed run such  games will know how frustrating it can be. It is also a lot easier to see the models and floor plans on the table, so character models were purchased, assembled and painted (enamel paints and varnish) as were various skeletons, Orcs etc. GMs will also acknowledge that some newbie players may need a little push in the right direction. In the end I created two NPCs that their group met in the dungeon which balanced the group and allowed me to push a little. The models used dictated the names for them, Torpedo Titties, and Lotof Brawn.

Fond memories of those times.

However a small thing called marriage put an end to that run, and by then I had accumulated a fair number of metal models and peripherally discovered games Workshop, though I'd not realise till later that the Shepherds Bush shop I had used was in fact their first shop!

So all this nonsense got boxed and stored, along with the stamp collection, coin collection, Brooke Bond tea cards and all my books. If I wanted to revisit to a book I had to fish it out of a box in the loft. Plenty of space in the house for her stuff, but she was/is a minimalist.