I Blame Ava

Back in June, our very own Ava Stone blogged about her Game of Thrones obsession. This wasn't news to me. As a follower of hers on Twitter, I was already well aware of the disease that had taken over her mind and life the last few months as she watched the first season.

I hadn't watched yet, though, so I could only be an outsider looking in.

Now, I knew this was something that had all the makings of a potential obsession for me as well. A series of books turned into a TV series (or movies). An intricately crafted, rich, deep world. A new take on medieval history. A retelling of the War of the Roses. It has all the elements necessary to take over my life for a certain amount of time, so I knew that once I got started, I wouldn't be free from it for quite some time.

You see, I know myself pretty well. With most books or movies, or even series, I can read and move on with my life or watch and the world doesn't stand still. Note the word most in that sentence, though.

When I discovered Harry Potter, there were already four books and one movie out, and I became a zombie for a time, devouring everything that was available to me as fast as I could, and then reading and watching again. Each time Rowling put out a new book or a new film installment was released, the Harry Potter Trance ensued again, as I delved back into the world she'd created to fully immerse myself within Hogwarts. I couldn't help it. It's a sickness I've got.

The same thing happens with Lord of the Rings. I admit, I never read the book before I saw the first film (same as with the Harry Potter series). But that first film was enough to convince me that this was a world I needed to discover. After watching the movie, I went out that night (I'd screened the film at midnight in Juneau, Alaska, and the only place open was the 24-hour Kmart) and bought a copy of the book. I stayed up all night reading, and kept reading through the next day and the next night, and I didn't stop until I'd finished the whole thing. Yes, the whole thing, including all the various appendices and whatnot. I read it again before the next film was released, and again before the final installment. Since then, it has become an annual obsession of mine, extending to include so many of J. R. R. Tolkien's other works. And much like the Harry Potter Trance, I go into a LOTR-induced Zombie-like trance. The outside world ceases to exist.

Since I knew that this sort of thing tends to happen to me, I was very, very cautious when I first started hearing about the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I thought it might take over my life like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings have done. I was right to be cautious. When I finally gave in to the temptation (only after the final installments of the books had been released), the Zombie-trance obsession was activated. Thankfully, those two have not taken over my life as completely as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings have done. I read through all of the Twilight books and the Rick Riordan books once, but haven't (yet) found myself going back to them.

All of this is to say that, before watching or reading even the tiniest bit of Game of Thrones, I knew I might be a wee-bit obsessive about it.

And I was.

I watched the first episode Monday night, intending to watch one and then move on with my life. Yeah. Well. That didn't quite happen. I watched three episodes before forcing myself to go to bed at sometime well after midnight (which is VERY late for me). And when I got up Tuesday morning, I started watching episode four before I even put the coffee on to brew. I don't ever do anything before I start my morning coffee. Ever. Anyway, I finished the entire series before going to bed on Tuesday. Wednesday arrived, and I went to the bookstore.

I don't think I have to explain to you what I bought. ***

Do you ever get so caught up in a fantasy world that you forget about real life? Have you ever called in sick to work because you couldn't put a book down? Do you suffer from a similar obsession to the point that you forget to eat/drink/use the restroom/shower/get dressed? Please, tell me I'm not alone in this.

No matter what, this time, it is all Ava's fault. If she hadn't been tweeting/blogging/obsessing about it all, I might not have noticed. (Yeah, I know. I'm kidding myself. Still, let me have this one, okay?)

***Please note, if I don't respond to your comments right away, it is probably because I've got my nose buried in a book.

**Originally published at Lady Scribes**