Joanne Rock: My Secret Fantasies?

This month, I am in the Harlequin Blaze line up with a book called MY SECRET FANTASIES… a steamy title to a sexy read. But since the course of true love never runs smooth, my heroine’s secret fantasies are thwarted by old hang ups. She’s writing a “naughty” novel as a form of self-therapy, writing about what she wants in bed and an in a relationship since she’s never had much luck expressing herself… er… physically.

I loved writing this heroine and her quirky, can-do attitude despite some major personal baggage. And in thinking about the title the other day, I realized there are lot more “Secret Fantasies” at work in this book beyond the obvious. Sure, Miranda Cortland daydreams about erotic encounters with a guy who looks more and more like the hero as time passes. Yet there are more secret fantasies just beneath the surface.

One of them is the fantasy of controlling your own destiny. Miranda felt trapped in her upbringing and couldn’t wait to light out of her Midwestern childhood home so she flipped a coin at seventeen to decide which coast would be her destination and off she went to L.A. She found a paying job and worked part-time at another in the hope of making it as an actress. Surprise, surprise, she found she liked her day job in a tearoom more and her dreams turned to opening her own tearoom.

Which brings me to another secret fantasy so many of us harbor—being self-employed or owning our own business. Not quite the sexy stuff the cover implies, but working independently is a real fantasy we can relate to! Maybe you’ve dreamed of writing your own book, opening your own boutique, running a restaurant or hosting a new and improved cooking show ala Ina Garten, but certainly you’ve thought of some way that it would be more fun to carve out a living, and chances are it would be a venue where you make your own hours.

The hero has a secret fantasy in this book, too. He runs a thoroughbred farm in Sonoma County and had made it a thriving venture. But having grown up in a wealthy, prominent family, Damien Fraser wants more than financial success. He needs to give back. His private secondary venture isn’t a money-maker at all. It’s a thoroughbred rescue that re-trains racehorses for adoption and provides a place of retirement for others. In the beginning of the book, it is this facet of his work that he’s expanding.

Seeing characters explore their goals and test their strengths is a really rewarding part of writing romance. The pay-off in finding love along the way is all happier when the hero and heroine have undergone a transformation—not just as a couple but individually. I like to think that falling in love forces us to be our best selves, to grow, change and adapt. Or maybe that’s just my secret fantasy ;-).

What about you? Have you ever dreamed of opening your own business? Being self-employed? Or maybe you’ve just fantasized about taking over the company you work for so you can run things the right way! Tell me about it today on the boards and I’ll give one random poster a copy of MY SECRET FANTASIES.

***Joanne's winner is Laney4!  Please email totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your mailing details!***

The IMportance of planning ahead by Michelle Styles

So far 2014 has been one of personal crisis for me. It start on New Year's Eve when my father in law had to go into hospital and had failed to make provision for my mother in law who suffers from dementia. I won't bore you with the details but  my mother in law was taken into care and my father in law has moved in with us. They are both now safe.

Although my mother in law had been diagnosed in 2011 as suffering from dementia, they had not taken any steps or indeed learnt much about this very cruel condition. Instead they opted for the head in sand approach and tried to cope. We  live four hours away and it was very easy for them to pretend that everything was all right. Apparently this happens quite often as dementia sufferers can be quite adept at hiding things until it is far too late. My mother in law decided that she did not need to go to see doctors -- something we were unaware of. It is all terribly sad but the real reason why I am writing this blog is to urge other people not to sleep walk into such a situation.

My in laws singularly failed to appoint anyone to act as their attorney in event of their own physical or mental incapacity. Because of this, we now have to go down the route of having my mother in law declared mentally incapable and having my husband (hopefully) appointed as a Deputy of the Court of Protection to safeguard her financial affairs. It is a much more expensive and traumatic way to have to do it. In the UK, the lasting power of attorney only come into effect when you are no longer capable and you are able to stipulate many things about your care which must be taken into consideration. The Alzheimer's Society has links to the forms. It can easily be done when people are drawing up or updating their wills.

One of my aunts when she learnt about my mother in law's plight asked how old she was as she was certain dementia only happened to people in their 80s. My aunt is in her early 70s and thought she still had some years to go before she had to worry. My mother in law is 78. She has been displaying symptoms over the past decade. A friend of a friend developed dementia when she was 52. It can happen at any age. Nobody knows the precise cause either. There are lots of theories but...

 There are also many types of dementia. Alzheimer's is perhaps the best known form. And sometimes a brain scan can be inconclusive as it was with my mother in law and the precise nature of the dementia can not be pinpointed. Dementia is one of the major hidden problems in our aging population. Unfortunately it still retains a stigma and people can be reluctant to seek help or get involved.

 Dementia is a terribly cruel condition and a bit like a wall being slowly built around a person as they lose the ability to effectively communicate. The person remains inside that wall and is underneath the same person. When the wall becomes too thick, the person does need specialist care but there are a load of things that can be done to slow the building of the wall and enable the person to live as independently as possible for as long as possible.  However the person and their primary carer do have to take responsibility and seek out help. The primary carer needs as much support as the person suffering from dementia. And the people who work with dementia sufferers are not there to judge or point fingers but to help. It is all about dignity and allowing the sufferer to live as full a life as possible.

 I truly wish my in laws had sought help and had not fallen through the cracks. I wish I had nagged more and had not accepted things at face value but I am the  foreign daughter in law and was reluctant. Unfortunately you can not change the past, you can only go forward.

If just one person after reading this blog takes the time to get their affairs in order or urges someone else to, then this blog will have accomplished its purpose.

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romances. You can read more about Michelle and her books on www.michellestyles.co.uk

Christina Hollis - Revisiting Romance

The original cover, courtesy Harlequin Books  S.A

I used to write historical fiction for the Harlequin Mills and Boon Masquerade line, under the name  Polly Forrester. That was in the days before everyone was online, so the books were only distributed in the UK and Europe. Since then, life's changed a lot.  Practically everyone's online, so I'm going though my backlist and gradually releasing my original historical romances as ebooks. The first to come out in this form was Lady Rascal, which is set in 1789, during the French Revolution.

I've learned a lot about the process of turning print into ebooks since that first experiment. This spring sees the release of my medieval romance, Jewel Under Siege. Bringing the prose up to date and creating a fresh new look for the cover have kept me busy during the long winter evenings. Like my heroine Elena, I'm really looking forward to seeing the sunshine again!  At the moment, Jewel under Siege is at the exciting stage of artwork and distribution co-ordination. I'll be issuing a newsletter soon to give my subscribers a sneak, pre-production peek at the new cover. It's been designed especially for the ebook by artist Samantha Groom, who also works with writers like Jean Bull. If you'd like to be one of the first to be in on the secret, you can subscribe by clicking on the envelope symbol here: http://bit.ly/1eKihHg

In the meantime, you can find out more about my first historical ebook, Lady Rascal here (if you're in the US) or here (if you're in the UK).

What do you like best about historical fiction? Is it the idea of familiar passions experienced in different cultures? Or is it the tight breeches and galloping horses? Leave your comment for the chance to win a signed book from my backlist, in a draw to be made on 17th January.

Christina Hollis writes both contemporary and historical fiction - when she isn't cooking, gardening or beekeeping. You can catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.co.uk, on Twitter and Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at http://www.christinahollis.com

And I Would Walk 10,000…er Steps

So what's new with me in 2014??

My husband bought me a FitBit for Christmas.  He bought it because he knows me so well.  Not only is it techy, which he knows I love, but it also tracks steps and miles.

For the last year, I've been trying for three mile walks every day. More when I can get them.  I have an app for that.  But sometimes I forget to turn it on.  This solves that.

Now, the only flaw with those long walks every day is I live in Erie.  According to the Golden Snow Globe site, we're #1 right now with 77.4 inches of snow.  I don't mind walking in the snow, but that Polar Vortex kicked my butt.  So even though I still wanted those 10,000 steps, I wasn't going out in -36 degree wind chills.

So I got creative.  I walked in place while I talked on the phone.  I put clothes away, one item at a time, leaving the basket in the sitting room and walking back and forth.  And finally, I watched a television show and walked in place.

Needless to say, I've made it to 10.000 steps each day.  Some of those steps were creative, but I got

them in.

I'm the mother of four, so finding a creative way to meet a goal is something I've done for years.  When I first started writing, my youngest hadn't started school yet.  Let me tell you, writing with four kids under foot takes a lot of creativity.  I called those years my "Vampire Years."  I wrote after they went to bed.  I wrote until my eyelids wouldn't stay up another minute.

And here I am, years later, more than fifty books.  Those Vampire Years paid off.  So, I'll be as creative as I need to be in order to get those steps in.

Oh, and my word of the year?? (I don't do resolutions—I pick a word to build my year around.) This year, my word is…you guessed it, STEP.  It sort of ties in nicely to my goal of 10,000 steps a day, and really does apply to my writing, too!  At the moment, I'm a bit swamped.  My desk is groaning.  But I'm simply taking things one step at a time.  The day before yesterday I finished galleys for June's Just One Thing, and yesterday I did a fact sheet for October's Christmas in Cupid Falls.  Today, I'm planning to work on a new article that's due in Feb and working on February's final Maid in LA Mystery, Swept Up…step by step, I'm crossing items off.

How about you??  Do you have a word of the year, a resolution, or simply some goal you're working toward?

Wishing you all a very happy 2014!!

Holly

Ring in the new? with Kate Walker

 

Happy new year!

Is it too late to wish you all that?  I don’t think so  - but then I’ve never been one  for celebrating the official

New Year very much.  After all, it’s really just a change of a set of  numbers – 2013 to 2014  -  and not really actually that, seeing as the dates of months and years are  ones that have been arbitrarily forced on to our lives in order to measure it. 

And I’ve never really thought that the middle of a cold, bleak winter(if you live on this side the world anyway)  is the time for resolutions and to decide to  change your life – to get  rid of the ‘old’  and  bring in the ‘new’.  Not totally sure that ‘new ‘ is always better, really. But the whole ‘New Year’ thing does make me rather restless and unsure, with all the celebrations, the fireworks, the resolutions. I feel I should make resolutions – but I don’t.  I quite like the prospect of having new calendars, of writing in the dates of birthdays, of things planned, into diaries  - but that’s because I love any excuse for new stationery! And I like to feel organised.

So when Lee suggested that I write my blog for the 12^th of every month this year, instead of the first Sunday of every month I was really rather happy about it. Especially for this month’s post. It meant I didn’t have to write a real ‘new year ‘ or a ‘resolution’ post. 2014 would be well settled in before I was here chatting with you.

But I do have one small ceremony that the Babe Magnet and I carry out as the ‘old’ year turns into the ‘new’. We each take 2 pieces of paper and write down  the things we disliked about the past year – the days we’d rather not  remember  - and on the other go the  days we’d never want to forget. Then we burn the ‘bad’ ones in a red candle and light a fresh candle for the year to begin – keeping tight hold of all the good memories.

That’s in my desk drawer as I write this blog. I thought  about sharing it with  you but then, thinking about this old and ‘new’ thing – I thought I’d rather share some things I’m looking forward to  - the good things coming up in 2014.  So here  - well, here is the ‘In with the New’ in my world:

1.     .   

I have a new kitten  - one of the bad things about 2013 was that we lost our beautiful Maine Coon female to cancer. I didn’t think I was ready for a new cat, but just before Christmas I was adopted by a little homeless black and white 8 week old kitten. People think we adopted her – but she knows different. Ruby – that’s here name – picked us. Very definitely. (If you want to read the story of how she came into our lives – it’s over on my personal blog  here.)

2        I have a new book coming out in June 2014 – that’s A Question of Honour with a very sexy sheikh hero - Karin Al Khalifa  - who is sent on an important mission that demands he lives by his code of honour, only to find that  meeting Clementina Saveneski   tests that honour to the utmost.

3.      This book has a rather more personal connection with my own family than most of the others. I’ll be explaining and talking about that in May.


4.       I’m busy with a new book that I’m really enjoying. After a difficult year for my writing  in 2013 (guess what else was burned up in that candle flame?) I’m back to enjoying so much more and I’m hoping to get this one scheduled just as soon as I can.  I also have planes for a book that will be closely connected to A Question of Honour.  Do you enjoy linked stories? I hope you do.


5.       Oh – and while we’re talking about books – if you missed the publication of  Good Greek Wife?  bac

k in  2010, this book is being reissued as the lead title in a 3 in 1 reprint   Eligible Greeks – Sizzling Affairs in April this year.


6.       At the moment, one of the things I’m most looking forward to is the Advanced Romance Writing course that I shall be running in Fishguard in Wales in February (always hoping that the violent storms, high winds and torrential rains don’t prevent us getting there!)  That one is already booked up but if I’m talking about ‘new’ things, then there are  two new courses I’ll be running  - Writing Romantic Fiction (May) and Before you submit your Novel - The Practicalities (October). Both of these courses will be organised by Malaga Writing Workshops  Relax and Write weekends.  at a 4 star venue, Weetwood Hall, in Leeds.  I always enjoy running courses and meeting other writers – so these will be great.  I'll be posting details about these on my web site Events page just as soon as I get organised.


7.       Oh yes – and thinking about teaching writing – this year marks a while new beginning for the 12 Point

Guide to Writing Romance. I’m going to be publishing this myself and making sure that it is more easily available in ebook formats in the future. I need to tweak a couple of sections to bring it right up to date – but the new edition will be ready just as soon as I can manage it.

Well – I think that’s enough ‘new’ to be going on with! Unless of course I mention the huge selection of new books I was given as Christmas presents. One of my gifts to myself is going to be time to spend curled up in an armchair, with one or other – or both  - of the cats on my lap as I read my way through the wonderful titles I have to look forward to.

So yes, I’m looking forward to the new things coming up.  But I’m also going to be holding on tight to some of the very precious ‘old’ things – there’s my DH for one thing, my son and his lovely fiancee – and we still have Charlie the Maine Coon. The Babe Magnet and I are still enjoying celebrating out Ruby wedding year (guess where Ruby’s name comes from!) .

Oh, and come December I will be celebrating the 30^th anniversary of my very first book The Chalk Line

 being published. I’m not sure if that’s an ‘old’ or a ‘new’ but look out for some special celebrations coming up.

Well, that’s my look ahead at 2014 – I hope you all have some lovely things to look forward to in this New Year.  

Do you have something new that you’re looking forward to? I’d love to know.

And once again – Happy 2014 to all of you. I hope it’s a wonderful time, filled with happiness and joys so that when you reach this time next year you have some wonderful memories to look back on.

Where Do I Begin?

I hope that title hasn't led you to expect a piece on how to start a novel!

It's a phrase that's been ringing in my ears for the last few weeks because Santa came a little bit early for me last year by way of talented Australian author Gracie Macgregor,  Gracie was clearing out her house preparatory to moving and she delivered a huge box of sheet music to my place.

What a treat! Fabulous, fabulous stuff!

Mainly hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s, with a very nice smattering of musicals like SOUTH PACIFIC and GUYS AND DOLLS and LES MISERABLES. The neighbors have started dreaming a dream - it involves me moving VERY far away!

And as I'm sure anyone of a certain age has guessed, among the jewels from a rich musical past comes the theme from LOVE STORY. Hence "Where Do I Begin?"

I'm still making my way through this collection. So far favorites include the aforementioned LOVE STORY theme, the GODFATHER theme, and Ballade pour Adeline which I've never particularly liked to listen to but which turns out to be fun (and reasonably easy - always welcome!) to play.

One source of really lovely music has turned out to be something called BUGS BUNNY'S BIRTHDAY ALBUM. Wasn't sure what to expect when I opened this one but it's full of all these beautiful songs from Warner Movies over the years published to celebrate the Warner Brothers 50th Anniversary back in the 90s. 

There's also a smattering of popular classics which I'm looking forward to bashing out. And some rather groovy 80s numbers which I don't actually think I'm hip enough to play. There's a reason I've steered clear of playing I Got Rhythm. I don't!

The photos only convey a smattering of the glories hidden in Gracie's present. I had a lovely time over the Christmas break bashing out showtunes and revisiting memories of my youth. Music is one of the quickest ways to access those memories, isn't it?

So do you play an instrument? Do you have a favorite show tune? I grew up on musicals so I'd be hard put to think of just one! 

Ah, "Memories light the corners of my life..." Yup. The Way We Were came in the box as well!

Brrrrrrr!–Anne McAllister

I am a bit late with this blog post because I forgot it was the 10th because all week long it has seemed like one long IceFest here. In the worst possible way.

We are no strangers to winter, the Prof, my husband, and I.  Though he was born in Florida and I was born in California, we’ve lived in the upper midwest for over forty years. We know snow. And ice. And frost. And all that stuff.

But this past week has been one of the more memorable ones we’ve endured (and I use the term ‘endured’ advisedly).  On Monday when we went outside in the morning, it was –19 Fahrenheit (all future temps will be in Fahrenheit. I have to do Celsius in my head. I can’t do that and write a blog post at the same time] on the front porch. The snow squeaked when we walked on it. And it had been snowing for, literally, days. Usually when it is that cold the skies are clear and there’s not a lot of moisture in the air.

Not this year. This year the humidity was 75%. The cold went through us like knives. When it got up to –2 we walked the dogs. They went willingly, but for once they were quite happy to get back home.

The next morning the skies cleared.  The snow still squeaked. The stars were brilliant [at 6:30 in the morning]. And the thermometer on the front porch said –24.  We didn’t bother to take the dogs out that day.  Or the next.  It never even got to zero.

Today?

Well, today it’s all ice. That’s because it’s raining, it’s 32 degrees, and the ground is so cold from the earlier temps that it’s freezing the minute it hits the ground.  We walked the dogs.  Or we skated the dogs around for a while.  They thought it was a challenge. We thought we were crazy. But they needed to get out and so did we. 

The remedy for this is, short of a vacation in Florida or Texas or some place else warm, to sit up in my office and write about summer in New York, which is what I’m doing.  My heroine has just tipped her kayak into a Brooklyn marina in the East River.  She’s shivering.  I’ve just told her that she doesn’t know what cold is. 

But it’s not a bad way to cope – to think your way out of situations that you can’t change. My editor appreciates that I’m working in dire conditions (though how dire can it be when I only have to walk into the other room? I don’t even have to scrape the windshield first.)  Besides, it’s far cheaper than a trip to Florida, the Prof says. 

What are you up to this winter? Or summer if you are down under where I understand from the news that bats are falling out of the sky due to excessive heat. Give me ice any day! 

 

Credits:

icicles: Barfooz at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Come visit Dolphin Bay! - Kandy Shepherd

One thing I really love about being an author is creating settings for my books. The most fun are settings that spring from my imagination but are heavily influenced by real life places I have visited.

The beautiful south coast New South Wales, Australia, is the setting for The Summer They Never Forgot

 For my fictional small coastal town of Dolphin Bay, the setting of my February 04 release, The Summer They Never Forgot, I was influenced by the beautiful south coast of New South Wales, Australia, about four hours south of Sydney.

I wish I was there right now!

 I have spent many happy vacations there and plundered memories of quaint towns, pristine beaches and unspoiled bushland to create Dolphin Bay. One early review of the book says the setting “is described so beautifully, readers will almost feel the sand between their toes”.

The town of Penguin has penguins everywhere, my fictional Dolphin Bay has dolphins

 The people of my fictional Dolphin Bay celebrate the dolphins that come to frolic in their waters in images and representations of dolphins all over town, from decals to trash cans.

On a recent visit to Penguin the penguins were dressed for Christmas!

 Here, I was influenced by the delightful small, beachside town of Penguin in the southern Australian island state of Tasmania. There are penguins everywhere in Penguin! I personally love dolphins so did for my Dolphin Bay what the good folk of Penguin do for their town.

I loved the dolphin outdoor shower at the Blue Dolphin Inn

 When eighteen months ago I stayed at the wonderful Blue Dolphin Inn in Cambria, California, and saw how cleverly they used dolphins in their décor, I knew I was on the right track!

More beautiful  dolphins at the Blue Dolphin Inn

 Of course in The Summer They Never Forgot the dolphins aren’t what have stayed in my heroine Sandy Adam’s memories of Dolphin Bay—her thoughts center around handsome surfer Ben Morgan, the first love she’d never been able to forget. When Sandy and Ben are reunited after twelve years will they get a second chance at a forever love?

The Summer They Never Forgot, will be released on February 04, 2014 in the US, the UK and Australia. (Yes, I'm counting the days!)

Do you have a special vacation place that lingers in your memory?  Anything quirky about a place that you particularly like? Please leave a comment—I’d love to hear about it!

I have two signed copies of The Summer They Never Forgot to give away. Please include your email address in your comment if you want to be included in the draw.

"Will you please unpack the books and give me the box," my kitty Ivy seems to say.

 Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

Kandy’s contemporary women's fiction e-book, Reinventing Rose, is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and other e-book retailers. 

Her romances include the Amazon bestseller The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, and the award-winners Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Accidentally... Cimil

I’m not really a writer, but I play one on T.V. 

At least, that’s how I felt until a few months ago despite having written and published 7 works.  The honest truth is that the journey to becoming a writer has been more of a spiritual exercise than anything else.  What the hell does that mean?  It’s a very long story, but here’s the gist in a few hundred words…

For 15 years, I worked long hours, managing millions for several global companies.  The joke is that I knew from day 1 it wasn’t my calling.  But my MBA wasn’t free, and I needed to live.  Like most folks, I got married, had kids, and strapped myself to a mortgage.  I can’t say I was unhappy.  The money was great. I got to travel the globe.  I learned enough about business to write fifty books.  But every day I went to work, missing my kids and wondering if this was it for me.  Turns out, it wasn’t.

I remember the moment clearly.  It was a freezing winter morning (that’s anything in the 30s for us Californians), and I stood on the elevated train platform with a hundred other commuters, bundled up in wool coats and gloves.  Shivering and feeling miserable, I glanced at the people around me.  It felt like standing in line for the morgue instead of waiting for the train to San Francisco.  The sun was just coming up over the horizon of rolling green hills, and that’s when I said to myself, “If I ever find what it is I’m really supposed to be doing, I’ll do it. I’ll kill myself to make it happen. ”  Who was I speaking to?  I don’t know.  The Universe, myself, the gods?  But a few months later I woke up with the urge to write a book, the thought never having crossed my mind, and I knew I had to do it.  So I did, and it was…so great!  Fun, challenging, creative—completely fulfilling.  Like a vitamin for the soul.

Fast forward several years to a few months ago when I finally saw my first book sitting on a shelf at Barnes and Noble.  That’s when it finally hit me!  “Oh wow. I really am a writer.  This is what I love to do.”

It was hard to let go of 15 years in a career, but this week is the last at my day job.  And while I can’t say I won’t ever go back to the corporate world, today I am a writer.  Today, I’m doing what I love—making people smile!!  It doesn’t get much better.

Ironically, my novella, ACCIDENTALLY…CIMIL? is coming out at the same time.  She is the insane, slightly tormented goddess who hears voices in her head and fears nothing! 

What’s the one the step you could take today that might move you closer to your dream?  Leave a comment for a chance to win one of two digital copies of my book!

May the Universe inspire you to find your path, too!

Mimi

***Mimi's winners are Mary Preston and Dalitza Morales!  Please email totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your details!***

Is love lovelier, the second time around?

One of the special pleasures in a writer's life is that moment when, having reclaimed the rights to a book that has been out of print for a while, she has the opportunity to give it a new life.

Last autumn, the rights of A Point of Pride, my second book, were turned to me and since it was always a favourite - reunited lovers, a marriage of convenience - I relished the opportunity to give it a makeover. Freshen it up. Put on a new cover.

It wasn't a light wasn and brush up, however. A flick over with the spray polish and duster.

As soon as I started reading this book that I hadn't picked up in years, I realised that it was going to be a lot more than that. There was stuff about mobile phones (then new and the size of house bricks) that would make no sense to the modern reader. And while it had a sexy edge it seemed to lack the emotional impact of my later work.

I got stuck in and had a really good time getting to know Casey and Gil again, smoothing out some new writer snags,, giving them both a lot more heart.

A Point of Pride is now on sale (for a limited time only) at the bargain price of 99c. HURRY!

Addison Fox: To Re-Read or Not to Re-Read

My name is Addison Fox and I’m a book geek.

Since I was a small child, I’ve loved books. Both the act of reading as well as the whole process of reading. Anticipating a new book.  Smelling freshly printed pages.  Watching a pre-ordered title appear on my eReader just after Midnight. Hmmm – heaven!

While I suspect those things make me very much like any other book lover, there is this one other thing I do. Um. Well. I keep track of what I read. Let me amend that. I obsessively keep track of what I read.

Since high school, I’ve kept a book diary. I got the idea from a friend and I suspect she has no idea what level of OCD she unleashed in my book-loving heart by showing me her book diary. But….alas, I took the idea and ran with it. Not only do I keep track of the books I read, but I have specific rules about what can go into my book diary. In no particular order:

1.       I must have completed the book.

2.       The books are only listed on the right hand page of my book diary.

3.       If it’s a romance novel, the hero and heroine’s names are written out on the left hand page.

4.       I put the total number of pages in the book (you have no idea what additional challenges my eReader has posed on this ‘rule’ since “percent-read” is not page count.)

5.       All books go into my book diary in the order they were completed. So if I’m traveling and my diary’s not handy, I keep track of the order in which the books were read.

I suspect at this point you’re either laughing at me or seriously thinking of suggesting help. (Please feel free to do both.)

Where things have gotten really tricky, however, has been around re-reading. I was a big re-reader of my favorite books as a kid, but as I became an adult and always had something new to read, I found that not only was I not re-reading books, but I wasn’t interested in re-reading books.

I wanted something new. Something I hadn’t experienced before. My latest fix.

Funny enough, the last year or two I’ve begun to rethink that. There are books that live in my memory that I loved and want to revisit (Jude Deveraux’s A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR). Series I wanted to start again (J.D. Robb’s In Death series). Children’s books that have a special place in my heart (ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET by Judy Blume).

Going back to these old favorites has been a true joy – one that’s made me question why I was so darn hesitant to re-read in the first place.

 

But….what about my book diary? Can I list them again? I still need to follow my rules, of course. The book must be fully read, cover to cover. But does it “count” to count a book I’ve already read before?

As you can probably imagine, my rules ultimately trumped the concerns a book was written down more than once. Though I often have visions of researchers a thousand years in the future uncovering my book diaries like something out of Pompeii and wondering why I kept track of the same book more than once. (And yes…I suspect you’re reaching for that phone number RIGHT NOW of someone who can help…)

So what about you? Where does re-reading rank on your list of reading habits? And please – PLEASE – tell me I’m not the only one out there with a book diary!

Thanks for joining me today!

XOXO,

Addison

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Despite early ambitions of being a diver, a drummer or a doctor, Addison Fox happily discovered she was more suited to life as a writer. She lives in Dallas and - thankfully - doesn't have to operate on anyone. You can find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com. Her latest book, THE LONDON DECEPTION, is out now from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

You can visit her at her website at www.addisonfox.com or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/addisonfoxauthor or on Twitter: www.twitter.com/addisonfox