Sunday, August 3, 2014

August is Read-A-Romance Month!

Join me during the month of August to celebrate Read-A-Romance month.

Authors participating in the celebration are asked to first answer three questions and then spread the word about our personal favorites.

Describe the most daring, adventurous, or inspiring thing you ever did.

That would be travelling almost 1,000 miles towing a U-Haul containing all our worldly goods to a small town in Montana we’d never heard of and without a clue as to where we’d find housing. Fortunately, it was just the two of us, and we were young and eager to embark on the first great adventure of our married life. I’ll never forget Forsyth, Montana, but it was a shock to the system for us Midwesterners.

Tell us about your journey to becoming a writer. (How did you decide to get started? Did you always know or was there a specific moment when you knew?)

I always knew I was going to be a writer. From my earliest memories, I was creating stories in my head and writing some of them down. I put it aside for college, but I picked it up again when my children were small and I started reading Harlequin romances. “I could write better than this,” I decided. Of course, I couldn’t—not at first—but I persevered, and look where it’s gotten me.

Tell us about The (or A) Book That Changed Your Life. (Why?)

The first romance I read was Mary Stewart’s AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND because it had a horse on the cover. (I loved horse books.) That led me to her NINE COACHES WAITING, a gothic suspense/Cinderella romance that whetted my appetite for more such stories. Then Nora Roberts’ IRISH THOROUGHBRED came along and I was hooked on romantic suspense and adventure.

Of course, now I’ve broadened my reading, but I still seek out a great romantic suspense like that currently being dished up by Shana Galen (LORD and LADY SPY series) and westerns by Lori Handeland/Lori Austin (BEAUTY and the BOUNTY HUNTER) and regencies by up and coming author Amy Sandas (REBEL MARQUESS). For a laugh, I’ve got to have something by Christie Craig (DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS series), Lani Diane Rich (THE COMEBACK KISS) and Mary Hughes (BITING NIXIE).

If you’re wondering how other authors have answered these questions or just want to discover more fabulous romance novels and new authors, check out these links:
Curious about the paranormal/humorous side of the romance genre? Check out what Mary Hughes is posting Tuesday, August 5th, about her new novella MURDER AT CHIPMUNK LAKE, featuring my favorite Meier’s Corners’ residents, punk musician/civic savior Nixie and her hot lawyer/vampire husband Julian: http://maryhughesbooks.blogspot.com/


Give me a shout back. I’d love to hear what you’ve put on your romance reading list!

5 comments:

  1. Happy Read A Romance Month! I hope you are enjoying your summer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Danielle! Thanks for checking out my post. This has been a wonderful summer for reading, as you can tell by my list.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the way you just headed out with your U-haul--like a grand adventure. Or like the early settlers, armed with hope, strength and resilience. :) Thanks so much for the shout-out. I love your stories too, a wonderful blend of personal struggle and sweeping sociopolitical concerns. Happy RAR month!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Summer's a great time to read romance. MURDER AT CHIPMUNK LAKE sounds like fun story. I'll look for it.

    http://tinyurl.com/myekw98

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for stopping by, Mia! Summer, winter, fall, spring--anytime is a great time to read romance!

    ReplyDelete