Guest Post with Romance Author Cerise DeLand!!
Cerise is here today, taking over my blog. She’s talking about her fav novelists.
Take it away, Cerise!!
_______________
I’m a mood reader. Are you?
Looking back over the decades, I find that at different periods in my life I was devoted to certain types of books—and I wonder why that is.
When I was a teenager, I was devoted to historical novels that included Anya Seton’s Katherine, anything that spoke of English or French kings and queens, Egypt or medieval-period pieces like Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe.
During summer breaks from college, I read what was then called pop fiction. Oh, I tried the works on the NYT list that one was supposed to read. But couldn’t!
Later, after I married and hubbie and I lived in Japan for a few years, I used the Post library and the university library where I taught Chinese History. What did I read? Non-fiction! Biographies and histories. I remember re-reading the Tale of Genji, which I had read a few years earilier when taking a Japanese history course. The second time I loved it!
Then as a young mother, I got hooked on historical romances. The new new wave of Katherine Woodiwiss and the throng that came behind her. For decades, I read nothing but romances—and then when I began to write them, I read my friends’ works. Here I think began my branching out because I went with my friends and colleagues as they began to write suspense, mystery and mainstream.
Today, I am an eclectic reader of anything that strikes my fancy. I get a kick out of drama and the subtle phrasing that revs my imagination. I like mystery writers Donna Leon, Elizabeth George and Minette Walters, historical writer Elizabeth Chadwick, comedy writer and good pal, Janet Evanovich. I dig Daniel Silva and Michael Connelly. I adore a good Regency, well-plotted with aggressive heroines. No wimps or drawing room divas for me!
I recently finished A Reliable Wife, a chilling but gratifying tale, by Robert Goolrick. Truly, a new gothic romance for realists. Around the holidays this past year, I was engrossed in Tracy Shiff’s biography of that femme fatale Cleopatra. This was a fabulously written book, combining the sparse facts of her life with other references. Shiff should be applauded moreover for how suspenseful she made the “plot,” thrilling this writer and reader to no end. Soon after, I delved into a history of one of my favorite cities, Venice by Peter Ackroyd.
But in erotica, oh, be still my heart! I have many favorites. Two good friends of mine whose works I adore are Desiree Holt (her recent Downstroke is a winner) and Delilah Devlin (anything cowboy!). I cannot get enough of Debra Glass’s historical eroticas and I am a raving fan of almost anyone writing cowboys or Italian men.
I know my own tastes show up in what I write. I write the plots and the people that strike me including Texas Rangers, medieval knights, Regency lords and ladies, Italian entrenpreneurs and military types!
I would love to learn if others have phases to what they read and if they have any thoughts on the causes of that.
Related posts:
8 Responses to “Guest Post with Romance Author Cerise DeLand!!”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
My Books
Stay Up To Date
Hello Cerise! This is an amazing reading list and I see a few my favorites here too. I definitely read to enjoy the mood and atmosphere of a time or place. Peter Ackroy’s “London the Biography” is next to my writing table. His writing and research is exceptional.
XXOO Kat
i do have phases i go thru. although i usually am reading several books at one time and they are almost always different gernes. for example right now i have 4 different books i am reading. 1 is a romantic suspense, another is a louis l’amour novel,another is a contemporary romance and the last is a crime novel. depending on how i am feeling at the time i will pick up that particular book and read it. this is how i usually read.
Enjoyed your post, Cerise! I, too, am an eclectic reader. My tastes in books, music, and movies vary with my mood and circumstances. Your book sounds wonderful. I wish you all the best!
~Adele
Ya know Cerise, I never really though about mood reading until I read your blog. I see it’s also a right of passage reading. I read the classics when I was growing up and as a young adult: the Bronte sisters, Emerson’s essays, Sir author Canon Doyle both his Sherlock Holmes series and The Lost World. Later, a friend at work introduced me to romance novels with Shannon by the late Kathleen Woodiwiss and I was hooked. You may be right about mood reading because I read all sorts of genres but I’m not sure what my mood is when I switch genres. I must pay attention to that in the future. Books might be the next best thing to mood rings.
Loved your interesting blog, Cerise.
Sarah
Tina, thanks for having Cerise come over to play. I like books by both of you!
I’m a mood reader too. I love romances, especially Regency, Highlander, Historical, Vampire, and Science Fiction. Any and all whether a traditional male/female or male/male. I just finished several books by Claire Delacroix (who also writes Dragonfire romances as Deborah Cooke). Earlier this month at Outlantacon in (where else?) Atlanta, I picked up three Ariel Tachna books at the Dreamspinner press table. Then I downloaded two more from them that week, one by Ariel and the other by Nicki Bennett. That’s 5 m/m romances to read! *rubbing hands together*
I think I get in “author moods” – because I’ll stock up on one author’s books and read a bunch at a time. I joke that if something stands still long enough for me to focus on it, I’ll read it.
I love reading all kinds of genre and a few biography, but when I discovered erotic romance and its many genres, I have been exploring all the different authors a little at a time. Of course I love your Cherise….*S*
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Kayelle! It’s always a pleasure to host, Cerise!
It’s nice to meet another eclectic reader! I love books of all genres, but I started late on romance so I’m still catching up. Cowboy stories are now a favorite, but I’ve only read a handful, so I have SO many more to read:)