Other than research books and few (very few) general fiction books, I tend to read a very narrow swath within the romance genre — and historicals are my most favorite reads. Not surprisingly, I tend to read lots and lots of Regency romances and a few medievals thrown in.  When I began writing, I also began reading books that authors I knew or met had written – expanding my horizons into different subgenres. But, when all was said and done, I always return to those historicals-my comfort reads.

 

I’ve always claimed — righteously, I might add — that I don’t like vampires or werewolves or shapeshifters. Then some of my friends began writing them and I tried them. You might know some of them — Kerrelyn Sparks’ LOVE AT STAKE series, Lara Adrian’s MIDNIGHT BREED series, Lynn Viehl’s DARKYN series, and Gena Showalter’s LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD series? The late Ronda Thompson wrote a wonderful werewolf series that combined the Wild Wulfs of London and the Regency time period — loved those!

 

 

 

Then, darn her, one of my favorite historical authors – Claire Delacroix – reinvented herself several times and moved from historical romances t0 contemporaries and then into paranormals with her Dragonfire series of shapeshifting dragons who defend humans against a terrible foe.  If that wasn’t bad enough, just recently one of the romance readers’ groups I visit introduced me to Thea Harrison’s Elder Races series in which humans coexist with all manner of paranormal creatures.

 

Everytime I turn around, I seem to be finding more romances that I never expected to like.

 

How about you? Do you read in a narrow or wide swath? Romance-only or more than that? Have you ever tried reading something waaaay out of your comfort zone – how did that go for you? Let me know what book really worked for you or maybe what TYPE of book didn’t and I’ll pick out a couple of commentors to receive a copy of one of my books – print or digital (if available)!

 

Terri is finally back on East Coast time and heading out for the Novelists’ Inc. conference this weekend for a bit of professional networking and schmoozing in White Plains NY.  And she has some cool news to share — but not quite yet! LOL! Visit her website for more info about upcoming releases and news!