RIP Whitney...

I remember when Whitney Houston hit big and her great talent and many videos on MTV. She had a lot of troubles with drugs and booze, but I'm sad that she's gone. I loved this video when it came out. I remember dancing to it back in the day too...

Rest in Peace, Whitney Houston.

I've Fallen in Love with Josh Lanyon

You should always listen to your critique partner. Or at least I should. I bow to her infinite wisdom. My aforementioned critique partner, Paris Brandon, has been telling me for months…MONTHS…that I should read Josh Lanyon. My reply was always, “I’ve got him on my TBR list. I really do. I’ll get there.”

Well, I finally got there. What does he write? Well, Mr. Lanyon has been writing gay mystery, adventure and romance fiction for over a decade and it shows. Oh wow.

So, I downloaded Josh’s Adrien English mystery series to my Nook Color last week and over the weekend (it was Thursday or Friday night) I opened my first book. It was not the last I opened all weekend. In fact I read all five of the Adrien (with an ‘e’) English series then downloaded the Holmes and Moriarity mystery series too. I finished Somebody Killed His Editor on Sunday night and  All She Wrote on Monday morning. This week I've also read Lone Star, Icecapade and I'm working on This Rough Magic.

Oh. Ma. Gah! They are the best!

Now when I opened the first Adrien book – Fatal Shadows  – I started reading and I groaned. It’s in first person. Generally, I hate reading first person stories. It has nothing to do with an author’s ability or anything else. I just don’t enjoy reading it. I think I finished page one then promptly forgot which “person” the story was being told in. It was that damn good and I was totally hooked.

I loved the voice. I loved the humor. And MAN did I love the characters. I also loved the romance and the sex. Josh writes very hot and deeply emotional stories. So I'm in love with Josh. Well, with his writing anyway. If you've never read a Josh Lanyon book, I highly recommend giving his work a shot. You'll be glad you did.

And you won't have to bow and scrape before your critique partner when she tells you, "I told you so." Yeah, Paris honey. I know you did. Sigh. You were totally right.

Obsessed with e-books

I'm officially obsessed with e-books. I'm also obsessed with my Nook Color e-reader. I love it and I carry it everywhere I go. I find myself trolling the Barnes and Noble site with great regularity.

I look for inexpensive books, sure. But I'm also looking for old favorites that I'd like to have on my reader. Agency pricing doesn't seem to deter me either. In fact, since I bought my Nooks (I have one of the original e-ink Nook readers too), I've spent more on books than I've done in years. Really!

I've also done more reading. Not only of books that I've bought, but my library subscribes to Overdrive so that I can check books out too. It's wonderful to be able to read a book I'm not sure I want to purchase. I get a taste for an author or the latest popular flavor (aka a book that's on the best seller list or whatever) and I can figure out if it belongs on my "keeper" shelf.

And the cool thing is that my "keeper" shelf weighs a WHOLE lot less than it used to. I love the fact that I can carry around my favorite books and they all weigh less than a pound (or the metric equivalent). I love that fact most of all because I have boxes and BOXES of books. Some are mine. Some were my mom's but I've kept them for sentimental reasons. Well, now I can replace the old paper copies with digital and it is so freeing. I love that.

I really didn't expect to prefer electronic reading. I'm definitely one of those people who love to curl up on the sofa with a book. To feel the weight of it in my hands. Hear the crinkle of the paper. But you know, I don't miss the crinkle as much as I thought I would.

Am I totally anti-paper? Nope. Not at all. Perish the thought. I'm a librarian (when I'm not writing). Most of my research books I still have in print and probably will continue to do that for the foreseeable future. But my pleasure reading will be on my e-reader from now on.

I'm still really irritated that there are some favorite books I can't get electronically - like The Belgariad, The Mallorean, The Elenium and The Tamuli  - ALL by David Eddings. Some of his books are available electronically but not my favorite-est of his series. I regularly send requests to have the books made available electronically but so far the publisher is ignoring me.

Are there any favorite books from your past that you'd like to read electronically? Do you - like me - want to kick the collective/figurative tushes of the publishers so they'd make your faves available? Let me know what you think.

Remember, I have a contest running all February long. Comment on my blog posts here, at Authors by Moonlight, Sweet and Sexy Divas, 1800DOMhelp, or anywhere else you see me (like Facebook) and each response will count as an entry for the contest.You can win gift cards and buy your favorite-est electronic reads or try out some new reads as a Valentine's gift from me!

On Monday, I'll be at Authors by Moonlight! Follow me there!