Non-romance books

It probably goes without saying, but I love to read. I love a book that draws me in and keeps me up all night. I’ve read a lot of books that I’ve just never been able to finish. However, that’s the topic for this weekend’s Sunday Six – what makes you throw a book at a wall AND leave it there.

Today, I want to blog about books and authors I’ve loved, specifically, the non-romance ones. (Gasp!)

I didn’t start reading romance until later in life. I didn’t read it consistently until my 30’s. Romance novels would never have been allowed in my mom’s house, so I wasn’t all that tempted by them.

I was a nanny to 3 boys in college. Their mom had a whole stack of Kathleen Woodiwiss books, of which I made quick work. Her books were the first romance novels I ever read. That summer was one of the few times I read for pleasure between high school and finishing graduate school. Even after grad school, new to the real world work force, I didn’t have time for a lot of leisure reading or money for a lot of books, for that matter.

However, as I settled into real adulthood, I reconnected with that passion I’d had as a youth and teen – reading.

A great many books have captivated me and captured my attention at the expense of a great deal else.

What non-romance authors held my attention through my late 20’s and early 30’s?

Michael Crichton. I’ve read every book he’s written. I have his newest one waiting in the wings for a road trip I have to take soon. What do I like about his work? Well, it’s technical and sciencey. (Yes, I made that word up. Deal.) I love science. I love it when authors write it well, getting the facts correct and presenting it in a way that’s easy for anyone to understand. I think that takes great skill.

Perusing Michael’s site, I found that he has some great advice for writers and some interesting anecdotes. Here are a few.

Where do you get your ideas for your books? I wish I knew. They just seem to come from nowhere. But often I think people put too much emphasis on the "idea" behind a story, anyway. First of all, there isn't just one idea in a story, there are lots of ideas. And second, an idea by itself isn't worth much until you do the work necessary to get it down on paper. And in the course of doing the writing, the idea often changes. It's similar to the difference between having an idea for a building, and actually constructing the building. The building often turns out differently from the original plan or intention.

How long does it take to write a book? It's difficult for me to say. Usually, an idea "cooks" in my head for a very long time before I begin to write it. During that preparation time I will make notes and do research. The actual writing can be relatively quick---four to fifteen months---but I could the preparation as part of the work. So in that way, The Great Train Robbery was 3 years. Jurassic Park was 8 years. Disclosure was 5 years. Sphere is an odd example: I started it and wrote part of it, but didn't have a good ending, so I stopped. Twenty years later, I picked it up again and finished it in about two months. So: did it take 20 years, or two months?

Check him out if you are so inclined. I’m sure dinosaurs and killer viruses are not what most of you are into, but if you decide to give his books a go, you’re in for an exciting ride.

What other authors have I profoundly loved? The incomparable J.K. Rowling. Yep, waiting eagerly for her final installment.

Who else? Anne Rice. I read her books until the darkness in them started following me. For me, she’s like Stephen King, whom I read voraciously in high school. I have to take long breaks from both their writing after awhile. It’s too dark to consume regularly.

James Patterson is phenomenal. His Alex Cross books are some of the best reads out there. Start at the beginning if you read him. They’re better that way.

Others I’ve loved include Mary Higgins Clark, Sydney Sheldon, Orson Scott Card, Robin Cook, and early Laurell K. Hamilton.

However, lately I’ve read romance much more than anything else – more than sciencey fiction, more than suspense and mystery, more than horror and fantasy.

I changed that with the last book I read – well I’m reading it, but it will be in the “read” pile soon.

On a whim, I recently purchased The Trudeau Vector by Juris Jurjevics. While I have a few POV issues to pick with him, it’s a great read. I’m sure that not everyone agrees with me that lines like, “Houston, the Beagle has landed,” spoken by the epidemiologist heroine when she lands precariously after a harrowing trip to the artic circle, are hysterically funny. However, he nails his characters. He nails his science – except one little slip up about cholinesterase, but most people wouldn’t catch it. He nails a gripping, edge-of-your-seat, sciencey tale full of espionage, killer viruses, bioterrorism, ecological mysteries, and fascinating history of the Arctic’s indigenous people.

What a great read!

Do I still love romance? Absolutely. I need HEA tales. The world is too dark without them. Will I still write romance? Of course, but as always, it will have that suspense or fantasy spin to it. However, every once in a while, I need to feed my inner geek.

Tonight, she is well-fed.

Macy