Let it snow

Here in Seattle snow is a rarity. Yesterday we had an inch or so and I ran outside (actually I walked cautiously the stuff is slippery!) to take a photo from the front yard through a couple of birches. Alas today we are back to the regular cold drizzeling rain that is the norm for winter.

I'm taking a writing break--have you noticed all the blog entries this week? Gotta get my writing fix one way or the other. While not writing, I'm keeping busy reading, cleaning, cooking, puttering around the house, and playing with the dog--all the usual stuff. It amazes me how busy I can stay without writing.

This year the TBR shelves have seen more progress than in the last three years combined. In fact, I got to order a supply of light contemporary titles because that shelf actually had room! How have I accomplished this? I'm getting tougher and pickier about books. They get a reasonable amount of pages to enthrall me--if they fail they go. Been thinking about the authors who do entertain me consistently. There are some common elements--the alpha hero being the most obvious. It's almost as if the author's all know the same guy. The styles I enjoy reading have no relationship to my writing--strange as that may seem.

All sensible writers have to tell their own stories in their own voices. As a reader I love a diversity (alpha heroes not withstanding) of styles and voices. Light contemporary romance, historical romance, mysteries, thrillers, erotica, and literary fiction I like it all. Currently, I'm reading Elmore Leonard's Killshot it's brilliant.