In between work, home, and the constant urge to nap lies the writing. And, of course, the reading.

I seldom reread, but now that I have an ereader, I find myself rereading way more often than before–previously, if I reread that meant there was another book I wasn’t reading for the first time. With an ereader, all of those books are still right there, which means that if I so choose, I can switch out to another book with a literal press of a button.

So this week I reread one of my favorites, Amanda Quick’s Deception. When I returned to reading romance, it was Quick whom I first glommed (before I even knew what glomming was!). Deception was my favorite of her single-title books, telling the story of Jared, the very organized, slightly dull businessman who looked like a pirate (one eye, velvet eye patch, long hair, refusal to wear cravats), and Olympia, the self-proclaimed “woman of the world” who’d nonetheless never left her small village.

The prose veers on the purple–“womanly portal” is used more than once, and there are some parts I, admittedly, skipped. But the passion between them is delightful, and the book–and the others I’ve been reading–help inspire me to write my own romance when inspiration flags. Because, you know, it can be difficult to get inspired for all kinds of romantic frolics when the dishes have to get done.

Many authors can’t read within their own genre when they’re writing; I find the opposite, that I crave reading historicals when writing them, and definitely want to read as much romance as possible in general. There is only one author whom I cannot read while writing myself, and that is Carla Kelly, whose voice is so strong it infects mine, and I find myself writing a lot like her, which is not me.

If you’re an author, can you read within your genre when writing? What old favorites do you like to go back and dive into again? Are there authors that just haven’t stood up to the test of time?

Megan

I read in many genres, but one thing that stays consistent throughout all the genres I read is that I like there to be many, many dark moments.

I like it when I read something and I get that scared whoosh in the pit of my stomach as one of the book’s characters does or says something that moves them irrevocably towards a terrible end (although it’s not irrevocable, is it, since this is a romance, and we have an HEA. But at that moment it seems irrevocable).

I think that’s why I like Mary Balogh so much; her dark moments are so agonizingly painful for one or both of the characters. It’s too easy, as a writer, to want to keep things easy for your characters; after all, you created them, you like them, and they feel like friends (not to be all woo-woo, but that’s how I feel, at least).

But as writers, we have to make things difficult, or the ultimate payoff won’t be as sweet.
Some of my favorite authors–Anne Stuart, Stacia Kane, Karen Marie Moning, George R.R. Martin (still waiting for the payoff there), our own Carolyn Jewel, Brent Weeks–are amazing at tearing their characters apart as they try to reach some form of happiness.

Do you like the superdark moments in books? Which authors do it the best?

Megan