Hi, Douglas, thanks for taking the time to answer my Q&A. Tell me a little about yourself in a few sentences. What do you do for a living, and other than reading, what do you do for fun?
I am recently retired, made enough good decisions that I retired at 57. I have 4 kids 3 daughters and 1 son (in Kuwait). I was in Logistics/Field Support for the US Army and spend most of my days just taking care of day to day things, solving problems for my kids (still) and taking care of a few things for my son since he can’t do it from Kuwait. I am involved in doing a bit of political blogging and expanding my weapons collection (I am a bit concerned with the way bits of the 2nd Amendment get chipped away).
Douglas
How and when did you pick up your first romance? Was it in a sub genre (as in paranormal, thriller, contemporary etc)?
Been reading fantasy since mid 70s when I read Lord of the Rings, the first “romance” was PNR and it was probably Anita Blake or if you consider that to UF then maybe it was Lynsay Sands Argeneau vampires at least 6+ years ago.since I was looking for something that attracted me like Those Who Hunt the Night and Traveling with the Dead both by Barbara Hambly.
Why does reading romance “click” for you? Conversely, do you find room for improvement in the genre in general (or any sub genre in specific)?
I like good endings, if I want to be depressed I can watch the news. It is nice to see something out of the norm on occasion since many of the plots are very similar.
Who are your favorite romance authors? Non-romance authors? Can you give a percentage (just a rough off-the-top-of-your-head guess) about how much you read of each?
Nalani Singh, Lynsay Sands, Ilona Andrews depends on my mood. You are not accounting for UF which can overlap since I read the Cal Leandros novels also but the only mainstream writers I read anymore is Dean Koontz. About 80-90% of my reading is in the PNR/UF genre.
If you could make a wish-list of a story you would like to read but haven’t yet, what would it be?
I have a stack of TBR books here and a ton in my Kindle, throw a rock and hit one 🙂 Right now I am about to start the Walker Papers series and waiting for the release of the last 2 books in the Elemental Mysteries by Elizabeth Hunter.
Since I’m approaching this as a conversation, would you like to ask me something in return?
After writing a ton of reviews on Amazon and several on Goodreads I have begun to receive ARCs from a few authors and would be honored if you would consider me for inclusion. I and most of the members of the forums I contribute to have read all your books and while we loved them most of us had numerous reservations about Serpent’s Kiss and the pacing (or lack thereof) . I and others are hoping for a return to the amazing story that hooked us into your series, I hope Oracle’s Moon will be a bit more action paced.
ME: I must say, I’m honored that the Elder Races series has generated so much discussion, and I appreciate your interest in receiving an ARC for review. I do have an agreement with Penguin that the publicist they assigned to me, Erin Galloway, handles this sort of thing. Her email address is posted on my website if you would like to contact her. She’s very nice, and I know she’ll help you if she can!
Is there anything you would like to add?
Think I have groveled and shared enough 🙂 If you need any additional info just drop a line. I read this PNR/UF because it entertains me, I don’t worry too much about losing beloved characters (although it does occasionally happen) and I look forward to each book. I read tons of history and murder mystery for years before I started fantasy which led me to this genre which I find what I consider better “story tellers” than writers (great writers spend pages on pages describing the scenery, nice touch but boring), good story tellers give you enough to make your own picture and get right into the story which is why you bought the book.
Thanks for the visit and for sharing your views, Douglas. I wish you many hours of happy reading!
Douglas, thank you for sharing your thoughts. You sound like a proud–if slightly harried–papa. No wonder you like to escape into PNR/UF. 😉 Warm wishes to your family and may your boy return hale, whole, and hearty.
Well I don’t raise jaguars but I get by, reading is my best escapism and I could not do it that much for many years so i enjoy it as much as I can these days 🙂 Just so everyone knows, Oracle’s Moon exceeded my expectations, well done.
BTW that picture is about a year old now, I was/am going for that Sons of Anarchy look, I am told I nailed it. Hair grows slower at 50+
Thought I should update this since it was written before I read Oracle’s Moon so here is a sentence or 2 of the review I wrote:
“The characters are exceptional; the dialog was at times heartfelt, funny and always entertaining. In my mind this is the best book since her first book of this series Dragon Bound. “