Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Sensual western romance. Heartwarming stories. Strong family ties.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Mailing List Sign Up
  • Contact Mary
  • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
  • Holiday Books
  • Two-Five Ranch Outlaws
  • Double Dutch Ranch Series
    • Visit Canyon Junction
  • Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love
  • Bull Rider Series
  • Character Family Connections
  • Reading Order
  • Meet Our Heroines
  • About
  • Tag: Favorite authors

    • Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse: Reading

      Posted at 9:27 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on February 16, 2016

      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.

      Mailing List Sign Up.

      Posted in #AmWriting, Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse | 6 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, bull riders, C J Hollenbach, contemporary novels, cowboys, Favorite authors, Feisty heroines, full length novels, Gentlemen Cowboys, mary j mccoy dressel, ranchers, Reading, series romance, valentine's day, western romance
    • This Site is Not Intended for Children Under the Age of 13.

    • COPYRIGHT 2007 – 2023 by Mary J. Dressel All Rights Reserved

    • Follow Mary J. McCoy-Dressel on WordPress.com
    • Click to sign up for Mary’s Newsletter. Powered by MailChimp.

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • Link
    • THANK YOU READERS!

      I appreciate your support.

    • Search this Sight

    • Bull Rider #1
      Bull Rider #1
      #2
      #2
      #3
      #3
      Heartbreak's Reward, Mary J McCoy-Dressel
      #2
      Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Blog post snippet
      #3
      Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Western romance, series romance, book cover, cowboy, barn, two horses
      #4
      New Release, Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, western romance, small town romance, first love. second chances
      Spin Off Series #1
      Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Secret Santa's Rundown Sleigh A holiday romance novella, New Release, Book Cover man and woman embraced at dark with snow falling, blog post Mighty Mac the Mackinac Bridge
      Single Title
      BlueSnowintheMoonlight_MED
      #3
      #3
      #2
      #2
      new release Seasoned with Destiny: A Gift of Love Book #5, Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, book announcement on Series page
      #5
      #1 Double Dutch Ranch
      #1 Double Dutch Ranch
      #1 Two-Five Ranch Outlaws
      #1 Two-Five Ranch Outlaws
      Book #2
      Book #2
    • Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance, cowboys, series romance
    • Top Posts & Pages

      • Get Caught Reading — The Sign of the Ape 4
        Get Caught Reading — The Sign of the Ape 4
      • #AmWriting ~Life Lessons in Books~ #MFRWauthor Blog Hop
        #AmWriting ~Life Lessons in Books~ #MFRWauthor Blog Hop
    • Follow Mary J. McCoy-Dressel on WordPress.com
    • Website Last Updated February 1, 2023

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • Link
    • Updated Mailchimp Newsletter Privacy Policy 2022

      Privacy Policy

      Terms of Use

    • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    • © Mary J. Dressel, Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel and Mary J McCoy-Dressel Books 2007 – 2023. All Rights Reserved.

      Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and prospective copyright holders, e.g., guest posters, is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary J. McCoy-Dressel and Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books and/or the author of guest posts with appropriate and specific direction to the original content with this Site’s URL.

      Read additional Terms of Use.

    • Terms of Use & UPDATES FOR MAILCHIMP NEWSLETTER Privacy Policy

      Terms of Use

      Privacy Policy

       

    • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Privacy Policy Link is in the Menu.

      Join 6,050 other subscribers
    • Blogroll

      • a) Professional Bull Riders (PBR)
      • Apache Trail
      • Automattic Inc.
      • Bloganuary 2023
      • Chicago Manual of Style
      • Marketing for Romance Writers Blog MFRW
      • Military Working Dogs: Facebook
      • MockupShots
      • Romance Writers of America
      • South Mountail Park Stables
      • Suguaro Lake in Arizona
      • Superstition 1 Arizona State Parks, Lost Dutchman State Park
      • Superstition 2 Superstition Mountain
      • Superstition 3 Apache Junction Public Library
      • Superstition 4 Welcome to the Superstition Wilderness Trails
      • Superstition 5 Superstition Search & Rescue
      • Superstition 6 Hiking Flatiron
      • Superstition Mountain Trail Rides
      • The Writer's Forensic Blog by D.P. Lyle, MD
      • Tonto National Forest, Arizona
      • WordPress.org
    • Follow Mary J. McCoy-Dressel on WordPress.com
    • Meta

      • Register
      • Log in
      • Entries feed
      • Comments feed
      • WordPress.com
    • Mary’s Publishing Imprint

    • Follow Mary on BookBub

      western romance, series romance, mary j mccoy-dressel, cowboys
  • Click to Subscribe to Mary’s Newsletter. Powered by MailChimp.

  • © 2007 – 2023 by Mary J. Dressel, Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

    © Mary J. Dressel, Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, and Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books, 2007 – 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary J. McCoy-Dressel and Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

    • Get Caught Reading — The Sign of the Ape 4
      Get Caught Reading — The Sign of the Ape 4
    • #AmWriting ~Life Lessons in Books~ #MFRWauthor Blog Hop
      #AmWriting ~Life Lessons in Books~ #MFRWauthor Blog Hop

  • Follow Following
    • Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
    • Join 326 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.