M.J. Scott: Reading Loves

If anyone asks how I became a writer, part of me wants to point to my parents and grandparents and say "it's all their fault". Not because I come from a long line of writers (in fact, can't say that I know of any in the family tree) but I definitely come from a family of READERS.

My parents are both teachers who loved books and I learned to read before I went to school. Reading was encouraged (well, apart from the odd argument about how I should actually put the books down occasionally to go to sleep or go outside and run around or go to school) and books were supplied and libraries joined. It's been a lifelong addiction.

It was my parents who first gave me books like the Hobbit and the Narnia books and the stories of E.E. Nesbitt and Susan Cooper. They introduced me to the many worlds of fantasy. Elves and magic and secret worlds and great quests. Honor and bravery and good versus evil. I was hooked.

It was my grandmothers, also keen readers, who gave me my first tastes of romance. They gave me classics like Anne of Green Gables (ah, Gilbert) and the What Katy Did books. Hooked again. As I grew older they added Heyer and Austen to the mix. (Romance with men with swords and frock coats and women in gorgeous gowns...plus come to think about it, a lot of honor and bravery and good versus evil in a different way).

Ever since those first tastes, it's been fantasy and romance that I turn to when I want comfort or just to lose myself in my type of story. With all those stories filling my head, I guess it was inevitable that I might start writing down some of my own. I wrote in school but then did more seemingly sensible things for a while. But the stories kept fighting back and eventually I gave in and started writing again. My first book, SHADOW KIN, came out yesterday and it's probably also inevitable that it is a fantasy with a healthy dollop of romance. It also deals with good versus evil and whilst my heroine really doesn't like gorgeous gowns, there's a hero who believes in honor, and the odd sword and pair of breeches make an appearance. Apparently, I write what I know (or what I love, rather).

So let's talk about reading loves. What's your favorite genre or sub-genre? Do you like gritty suspense, sparkling regencies or the drama and glamor of a Harlequin Presents? Kick-butt urban fantasy heroine who can out-Buffy Buffy? Alpha male military heroes? Do you stay true to your love or do you like to mix it up? I’m giving away a copy of SHADOW KIN to one commenter.

M.J Scott is an unrepentant bookworm. Luckily she grew up in a family that fed her a properly varied diet of books and these days is surrounded by people who are understanding of her story addiction. When not wrestling one of her own stories to the ground, she can generally be found reading someone else’s. Her other distractions include yarn, cat butlering, dark chocolate and fabric. She lives in Melbourne, Australia. You can find out more about her at her website or Twitter, Facebook.