Once Upon a Time I was one of those kids who was always reading books until the wee hours, under the covers, with a flashlight. I always thought my mom didn’t know how much I sneaked my reading, but have since learned she knew alllll about it and just didn’t mind – she was just glad I loved books. All that anxiety about being caught for nuthin’.
I’m still a voracious reader of fiction, normally going thru two or three novels a week. I’ve been thru a fantasy phase (Tolkien’s Middle Earth were my first “adult” novels), a sci-fi kick (couldn’t get enough Heinlein and Bradbury when I was in college), deluged myself in suspense (Kay Scarpetta was a hero/antihero of mine), and I’ve dabbled in Allende (my daughter’s name is Isabel).
All thru each of these fiction phases was the constant thread of romance. I seem to gravitate back to it no matter what writing genres I’ve visited. It can be contemporary romance, historical romance, suspense, paranormal, sci-fi, urban fantasy, you name it. I think I’ve read them all and enjoyed each and every one.
However, if I had to say I had a favorite, it would be sci-fi and futuristic romances. I LOVE Jess Granger, Gena Showalter, and, while John Scalzi isn’t technically a romance writer, he still pens romantic sci-fi stories.
And there’s so many more. I can’t even begin to name all the terrific writers. I love Moning‘s paranormals, Singh‘s shapeshifters and angels, Briggs‘s and Wilks‘s wolves, Kleypas and O’Shea of all flavors. If I find a writer who knows how to write a steamy love scene, a good action scene, and still make me cry, I’m their bitch forever.
I confess to being a picky reader. Good editing and careful proof-reading mean a lot to me. I get too distracted by simple errors. I remember one particularly poorly proofed novel when “brooch” was used when it was obvious the author meant “broach” — it totally threw me out of the book. I kept going back re-reading that sentence to make sure I saw it correctly. Occasional simple errors are unavoidable when talking about the printed word. However, my skin starts crawling when the sheer quantity of errors jumps up and slaps me – I just want to throw that book at a wall (a desire that is thwarted by e-books, by the way).
As a reviewer I have authors I love but I’m not afraid to tell them if their book disappointed and why. I’ll also gush a little when an author gets it right, but only a little. I can be cynical, but I’m always polite – there’s no room in reviews for personal attacks. It’s all about the writing.
And huge thanks to Sybil for providing such a terrific forum for sharing ideas and our passion for good writing! I love swimming in this pond.
