I have a motto:

I believe that In order to be a writer, you have to be a reader…

I know some don’t agree. Maybe I should say “I believe this for myself.” Other writers have always been my inspiration and from a young age, I knew I’d have my name on books.

So what the heck do I read?

I like to read what I write. Contemporary Western Romance. Cowboys. Horses. Bull Riders. Ranchers. This doesn’t mean I won’t read historical fiction. It also doesn’t mean I don’t read other genres. I have historical fiction on my “Want to Read” shelf at Goodreads among other genres.

You should see what I have in my Kindle and iPad. What a variety! I DO read a LOT of books written by Indie Authors. My reading time has been cut short since I’m writing and revising now, but I have made it my goal to fit in time to read. So far this year, it’s working.

❤ As a teen, I read historical romance. Historical? Contemporary? ROMANCE? Yes, I see a pattern—romance. It’s my favorite genre, and why wouldn’t I read what I write? I love happy endings. I also read Nora Roberts, Grisham, Sparks, Patterson, to name a few.

I’ve mentioned in other posts that I started out reading Kathleen E. Woodiwiss and loved:

• The Flame and the Flower
• Ashes in the Wind
• The Wolf and the Dove
• A Rose in Winter, and many others.

And, Rosemary Rogers. I loved many, but specifically:

• Sweet Savage Love
• Wicked Loving Lies
• The Wildest Heart

Do I have a favorite author? I know, I know, how do you pick one? Well, I can’t pick one, but the author at the top of my list is #1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Linda Lael Miller.

When I discovered Linda’s books a lot of years ago, I fell in love. When I discovered what kind of life she had from being an author, I fell in love all over again, and I knew I wanted to do that too. Don’t laugh—of course I’m not even close and never will be, but dreaming is not a crime.

Even though I was born a writer, she was my inspiration to put the pen to paper and write a novel. Well, my first two novels were time-travels, so Woodiwiss and Rogers had something to do with it too. It wasn’t until about 2010 that I started writing western romance, but believe me when I say—western romance happened by accident, but WOW, what a good accident!

Honestly, there are too many others to list today. If they write western romance, they’re probably on my list. 😉

What am I reading at the moment?

On my Fiction List:

• Big Sky Summer Book 4 by Linda Lael Miller (Almost finished.)
• Christmas of the Red Chiefs by Linda Lael Miller
• Disguised with the Millionaire by Debra Andrews (Every now and then I have to bring more suspense into my life by way of books.) I actually set this one aside to read Book #1, Weekend Wedding Deception. You might remember Debra from a past guest post.

Non-Fiction:

• Fried Twinkies, Buckle Bunnies, and Bull Riders by Josh Peter
• The Second Collection: Thoughts and Other Writings by Robert Brault (This is a book I’ll read again and again.) I recently wrote a blog about quotes and Robert.
• Master List for Writers, Thesaurus, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More by Bryn Donovan
• Numerous other books on the craft of writing.

 Recently Finished Fiction and Non-Fiction:

• A Paris Christmas by Cynthia Gail
• Big Sky River Book 3 by Linda Lael Miller (Somehow I read these out of order.)
• The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expressions by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi (This is a book to be used over and over.)

So, there you have it. Reading by way of the writer.

To see my reading list on Goodreads, including my own books, you can click the icon below. Thank you for reading today!

Do you have a favorite author, or are you like me and can’t pick only one? What are you reading now?

In Addition:

Reading Order for Mary’s Books.

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