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| photo: Jared Thayne | |
On your nightstand now:
I'm reading at least four different books. At the top of the pile is Map of the Heart by Susan Wiggs. She writes truly beautiful stories. Also Tangerine by Christine Mangan, because I've visited Morocco and loved it; Too Wilde to Wed by Eloisa James; and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Oh, and I'm listening to A Conspiracy in Belgravia, Sherry Thomas's delicious take on the Sherlock Holmes books.
Favorite book when you were a child:
I adored Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery and read it every year from around age nine until past college age. The book still charms me when I re-read it. What's not to love? It features a sweetly blooming romance as well as a plucky heroine with a vivid imagination who loves to read.
Your top five authors:
I always struggle with this question because I'm developing new favorites all the time. I can't really choose my top five, but I can name five authors who have profoundly impacted my life. J.K. Rowling has had a deep and meaningful role in my life and my children's. We have forged cherished memories, discovering the adventure and magic of the Harry Potter books together. Other favorites who move me every time I read their books include Kristan Higgins, Robyn Carr, Jill Shalvis and Sarah Morgan. I still pinch myself to think that I can also call them friends!
Book you've faked reading:
Jane Eyre. Sorry to the diehard Charlotte Brontë lovers, but I could never get into it.
Book you're an evangelist for:The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, which somehow managed to be heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. I've bought copies for friends, spoken about it during writing workshops and read it myself multiple times.
Book you've bought for the cover:
I don't believe I've ever purchased a book purely because of an appealing cover. I can say sometimes a beautiful cover on a book by an unknown-to-me author will prompt me to pick it up and read the blurb. If the blurb catches my eye, then I'll buy it, but not from the cover alone. The cover might tease me into looking at it, but if the blurb doesn't suck me in, I'll set the book down again.
Book you hid from your parents:
Nothing. I never had to. My mom was a voracious reader and encouraged me and my siblings to read widely and constantly.
Book that changed your life:
The very first romance novel I ever read was The Enchanted Land by Jude Deveraux. I fell in love with the hope and joy of the genre and also the power of story, which led me first to a career in journalism and later to pick up a pen and start writing the kind of stories I love best.
Favorite line from a book:
"It was hell being a hero." This is the opening line of Seize the Fire by the incomparable Laura Kinsale.
Five books you'll never part with:
This one is hard to answer, as I have hundreds of books I can't bear to let go. My bookshelves are overflowing (into my office next door, too!). Books I read again and again (and own several versions of) include the Simply Quartet by Mary Balogh, several Georgette Heyer titles, the In Death series by J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts and anything by Loretta Chase.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Pride and Prejudice. I read it first in a high school AP English class and actually found it boring, likely because I was so worried about book reports and exams, and trying to find the subtext (and because I probably wanted to get back to the delicious Elizabeth Peters mystery I had tucked in my backpack!). I would love to read it for the first time now, when I can truly appreciate it.