Why I'm reading books I don't like

You may remember that I was reading books that I don't normally care for, such as a James Bond adventure by John Gardner. I mentioned that the reason for this is a professional one. Well, I'm compiling and editing a reference book on thriller writers. I'll be writing entries for MacLean and Gardner, among others. It also seems that I have to write ones for Sidney Sheldon and Ridley Pearson, too. What one does for a living...

This merits mention because the postman brought today a letter announcing a 3,000 euro grand for the book! Yikes! I didn't actually believe for a second that I'd get this, since my experience has been that edited books don't get grants. But I'm not complaining.

(Foreigners reading this, especially Americans, must be pretty confused as to why I get grants: they are the most important source of income for Finnish writers, from poets to non-fiction writers. In Finland, there's no opportunity to live solely on book sales. Maybe for five writers, tops.)