SJ Kincaid is obsessed by history. So why is she writing SF?
I know a book has the potential to change a life, because one novel totally changed mine. The novel was Legacy by Susan Kay.
My sister had an obsession with Tudor England for many years. It perplexed me; but when I was in seventh grade, I found Legacy sitting in the bathroom in strategic reach of the toilet, so I read the first page.
I couldn't stop reading it.