NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW AND WHY DO YOU READ?

                 I’m sooooo behind in my reading. Best I can do these days is 3 books a week and I listen to 98% of my books. Yesterday I checked my TBR list. Eleven. ELEVEN. I’m trembling. I’ve never been this behind. What’s even worse is there are over 100 books on my wish list. A blanket of sadness has fallen over me as I realize there will be no way to read the hundreds of good books out there. I will unintentionally miss brilliant stories in many genres.  
                Recently I encountered three young ladies who are avid readers. They read every genre and an average of five books a weeks. They rarely watch TV.  Sigh. I so envy the young. I’m so old we called the Polar Vortex winter.  In my past there are many years I only read a couple of books a year. Imagine a flash bang of guilt being released here. To assuage my guilt I encourage people to look for new to them authors. Part of me is consoled with the knowledge my four children are avid readers. I like to think they’re taking up my slack. But geeze, so many books.
               How do you make decisions about what and where you read?  I asked this question in a group with several literary fiction and non-fiction writers and….eeep… was absolutely stunned by the amount of,  never romance and NEVER a self published book answers. BTW, I considered leaving the group but decided to stay and, shall we say, educate them on occasion.  I mention this because the three reader gals said they NEVER choose a book by the publisher. Only by the sample or blurb.  
Time for some questions. Do you read print, digital device, or listen? If you live in the snowmageddon and storm areas that frequently lose power, do you have a little generator dedicated to keeping your computer and reading devices alive?  How do you, strictly as a reader, find your next read? Word of mouth? Ads? And, sigh, how do you find the time to read your selected book treasures?
                Oh! One other thing for writers. Does reading inspire you to write?  It does for me. 
  
Rita writes thrillers with military heroines. Extraordinary women and the men they love.     




10 comments:

Anne Marie Becker said...

I'm sighing along with you, Rita. Life got busy somewhere, about 12 years ago, I'd guess, when I started having kids. Reading time was sacrificed, but I've been slowly carving out more and more time for that each year. I find it recharges me, and I sleep better at night if I can get lost in someone else's world for fifteen or twenty minutes before my head hits the pillow.

Oh, and I love to read either print or digital. Depends where I happened to pick up a copy of the book. I tend to buy from ads these days, on BookBub or eReader News. But those are mostly new-to-me authors. For my favorite authors, I'll see something on their newsletter or on Facebook that reminds me to pick up their latest.

Rita said...

Anne Marie I feel like it just isn’t fair. Why wasn’t I born beautiful AND rich so I can have time to read all I want?

Anne Marie Becker said...

Exactly, Rita. Not fair. :P

Marcelle Dubé said...

Rita, now I feel... inadequate. I'm lucky if I read a book every three weeks. And it's only the half-hour before bed. Unless it's Christmas time, and then I get long lazy days of reading. I read mostly print and a growing number of e-books. Like Anne-Marie, I learn about my faves on Facebook or newsletters, but for new-to-me writers, I go by the blurb and the back cover. If the premise is interesting, I'll buy. I rarely listen to audio.

Rita said...

Marcelle if I didn't have audio I would die. To me a well narrated book is better than a movie. I listen when I have to do something I hate doing. Makes my life a lot easier as I hate doing a lot of crap.

jean harrington said...

Yes, books are an inspiration, and once in a while a lesson in what not to do. Currently reading The Art Forger. Wonderfully well plotted with a heroine who's brilliant but deliciously screwed up. So much to learn, so little time. Rita, thanks for the thought--and emotion-provoking blog.

Rita said...

So true about lessons Jean. I have a book the was a hot item. Ugg. I found it awful and bought a print copy to mark all the 'never do this' passages. Another book people were raving about drove me crazy. He used suddenly 2-4 times on each page.EACH page.

Wynter said...

My TBR pile grows every month! I try to read every night before bed, but I don't always succeed! I mostly read on mu Kindle in bed while hubby is sleeping. And yes - reading a good book always inspires me to write.

J Wachowski said...

Oh you make me laugh, Rita. "Call the polar vortex winter?"

I read everyday and it does recharge me--except when it doesn't. If I'm at a tender place in my work, reading non-fiction is a better match. Reading fiction can gum-up my works. (I'm a freakish mimic. I'll start writing like whomever I'm reading.)

J Wachowski said...

Oh you make me laugh, Rita. "Call the polar vortex winter?"

I read everyday and it does recharge me--except when it doesn't. If I'm at a tender place in my work, reading non-fiction is a better match. Reading fiction can gum-up my works. (I'm a freakish mimic. I'll start writing like whomever I'm reading.)

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