My Favorite Things

My favorite things are books. When I glance at the new Oprah Magazine, I see a lot of wonderful gifts that could become my favorite things, but I always come back to books. When I’m stuck in a TSA line at the airport I just whip out my small version of the Kindle and start reading. I’m pacified until they ask for my boarding pass and ID. If the plane is late, no worries, my trusty Kindle will keep me occupied.

I have favorite books that I cherish more than gems in my jewelry box. I go back to them years later and delight in them once more. Now that I’m older and an author, I read them with a deeper understanding of the writing process and I savor the rich words and imagery. I’d like to share a couple of those that I cherish.

I am a super fan of author Ann Rice. I once stood five hours IN HEELS just to meet her and have her autograph a book. My feet were swollen to the point of bursting through my shoes.

No matter. I met the Queen of the Damned and was thrilled. Rice was gracious to her readers and sat in that chair for hours scribbling her autograph.

Here’s a passage from Rice’s  Interview With A Vampire: “They were all dressed in black, which was their at-home custom, and in the dark the black shapes of their dresses, massed together with their raven hair, so that in the glow of the candles their faces appeared as five soft shimmering apparitions, each uniquely sad, each uniquely courageous.”

One more paragraph from Interview with a Vampire: “She gasped as I broke the flesh, the warm current coming into me, her breasts crushed against me, her body arching up, helpless, from the couch. And I could see her eyes, even as I shut my own, see that taunting, provocative mouth. I was drawing on her, hard, lifting her,and I could feel her weakening, her hands dropping limp at her sides. ‘Tight, tight,’ I whispered over the hot stream of her blood, her heart thundering in my ears, her blood swelling my satiated veins.” Oh, my! Give me more of that.

Another classic book imprinted indelibly in my brain is The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough. The scandalous book is about a life-long love between Father Ralph de Bricassart and Meggie Cleary. Here’s a sample. “The priest smiled wryly and clasped his thin, very beautiful hands together so they made a pointed church roof. ‘I’ve known Meggie since she was ten years old, only days off the boat from New Zealand. You might in all truth say that I’ve known Meggie through flood and fire and emotional famine, and through death, and life. All that we have to bear. Meggie is the mirror in which I’m forced to view my mortality.'” Poor Meggie. She’d fallen for a truly unavailable man. I can only imagine what Dr. Phil would say to her!

Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward from the TV miniseries The Thornbirds.

These are two of my favorite books. What are yours? Are there books you go back to again and again over the years and relish them just as much as you did the first time? I’d be interested in hearing about your faves. Add your comments below.

I had a wonderful time at the Enumclaw Wine Walk on 11/12/16. It’s always a treat to meet readers. A number of them bought my books and I want to say a big thank you. Congratulations to Maria Wilke of Lake Tapps WA who won a copy of  Black Phoenix.

 

I was recently notified I am a finalist in the AUTHORSHOW.COM contest 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading. Earlier, I had asked you to vote for me to get me to the finals. Now, I am asking for you to vote for me to win the grand prize. It includes some very nice things like a marketing package. I’d be ever so grateful if you voted just one more time for me. Here’s the link:http://www.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?id=5429436. I appreciate your help.