Okay so I have a confession to make. And I feel pretty silly saying it’s a confession, like it’s some tawdry secret I should be whispering or something, but I feel like I’m breaking some kind of unwritten author’s code by saying what I’m about to say.
I love my books.
Okay. There. I said it!
It’s really interesting because I never see authors expressing pride in their work. I’m not saying they don’t. I’m just saying I don’t see it. In fact I see the opposite. I see a lot of “this is a piece of crap.” Or “I NEVER read my book ever ever ever again after final galleys.” or “I never want to see this again. EVER EVER EVER”
I’m not ragging on these authors whatsoever. This is a stressful enough business without me giving people grief or telling them how they should or shouldn’t act (okay so that’s a whole other topic I’ll never get into ;) I’m merely saying that the mindset seems to be it’s not okay to love your book. Or at least ADMIT to liking your own book publicly. (I imagine that’s more the case than really not loving your book)
But I’ll say it again. I love my stories. It wouldn’t make sense if I didn’t! If I didn’t love what I wrote, I wouldn’t sell them so that other people could read them. I simply couldn’t write a story that I didn’t love and have an emotional investment in.
Here’s another deep dark secret for you. I reread my books from time to time. To me, there’s nothing quite like reading a finished book. It feels completely different than reading a word file a million times and then reading a PDF galley. I like holding it in my hands and revisiting characters that I put my heart and soul into. I mean hell, I lived with them while writing them. It’s not like I can just turn off my emotions for them.
Yesterday I was in a bit of a funk so I picked up my first Desire trilogy and read all three books. Know what? I love those stories! :) Book two, The Tycoon’s Rebel Bride, is still my favorite, but I love all three.
There you have it. My deep, dark, shameful secret. *snort*
I love my stories, too. I’ve never sat down just to re-read one but, for instance, the other day I needed to look up a detail from No Surrender for the 4th book and I ended up sitting and reading from that page all the way to the end. I’ve re-read both my westerns and I don’t know how many times I’ve re-read the Devlin Group series. I HEART those books.
A really great book deserves to be read and reread over and over again. And, I think, with a really great book you will always find something new every time you read it. I love and still have all three Desire books and if I think back correctly this is where I discovered you as an author and my obsession with your books took off from there. By the way..I love the first one, Chrysander is hot, hot, hot!!!! So…sit back, relax and enjoy them just as much as we do!!!
I don’t see how an author CANNOT love their work. I mean,if I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t want other people reading it. I reread mine as well and although I occasionally see places I which now I could have gone more in depth, I really enjoy each one of them.
Gosh, I don’t think of it as shameful. I’m glad that you say outloud you LOVE your books, darn it – you better be, ’cause I sure DO. You reread your books? Great! Me too! If I as a reader get to enjoy the characters you created over & over again, it’d be kind of sad if you as the one who created them get to enjoy them once & that’s it. Not to mention unfair, since you worked so hard bringing them to life for us. It’d be even sadder if author feels for whatever reason that they can say publicly they reread their books. Trust me, no one will think of you guys as bragging & if some do, so what?
I reread your Sweet & Colters series just before their new books come out & reread your non-series just because.
Glad you confessed to loving your creation, ’cause we sure do.
As a big time fan girl I love your books too! I think it is great that you love them, you are an amazing writer and should be incredibly proud of your work! I can also tell you that Ethan, Adam, Ryan, Holly, Seth, Michael, Dillon and Lily are never far from me. :)
I couldnt have put it better amen sister!!!
Thank you for sharing that. When I hear an actor or an author make a comment like “I never watch the finished movie or I never go back and read by books I’m all about going forward”. Well, what that says to be is, this is a business for them, period. They don’t have any emotion involved in their craft. I invest something in every book I read and I read about 400 books a year, so it just plain pisses me off to find out an author expects me to spend money to read their book when they have made less of a commitment than they are asking me to.
Sorry did mean to rant, but you just happened to touch a hot button for me. I’ve loved your work for awhile and now I feel that my belief in you as an author and person has been affirmed. Thank you.
Lol Maya…you make me laugh and smile with this post and yes- I hope you love your work because we all do too…funny thing you mention your Desire trilogy because I keep it by my bed and when I need a quick, fun and happy set of books to read- I read them again…I’ve read them like 3 times this year already:)
I admit I have a hard time re-reading my books by the time I get to the final galley stage. At that point I’ve read the chapters so many times my head is numb. But that’s just part of my process. Later, when I read them to get ready for the next in a series or just decide to check one out, I remember how much I love them. Wouldn’t write them if I didn’t love them.
And I love yours, too. :)
I’m glad to hear you love your books. I have 12 of your books on my Kindle and I’ve pretty much read them one right after the other. I’ve already gone back to several of them to refresh my memory of certain events. Good books are like good friends… you keep going back over and over again to visit.
You crack me up. :) Your characters come across as good friends, so it makes sense that you would want to revisit them from time to time. If you didn’t love them, we wouldn’t love them, and the books wouldn’t be so successful.
Maya i agree with u i think more authors should praise their work.because all the other i read are awesome.i also agree with u i as well have reread several of ur books over again.so no shame in that girlfriend.as i always say u ladies keep writing i’ll keep buying
Let me just say I absolutely LOVE your books.. I read, and re-read the books I have, in fact I try and get them in paperback, and on my IPOD if I can, that way I always have them with me :). There is no shame in loving your own books, I think that is awesome!! Why write a book you wouldn’t want to read yourself?
I typically NEVER make comments, but after reading this last post I have to. I think it’s wonderful that you love the stories you write so much because I love them too. Hopefully, the more you love them the more of them you will write. The Colters’ Legacy is my FAV but I love your others almost as much. You have a WONDERFUL imagination that puts mine to shame. The books you write are the kind that can be read over and over again. I never tire of them. You are an excellent author and I can’t wait until FOUR PLAY comes out! So, keep dreamin’, keep writin’, and keep laughin’!!!
I have a confession toooooo. I love your books toooooo. I have book 2 &3 in that series but I haven’t found #1 yet. I supose I should look on Amazon. I also liked Be With Me.
Zina
I love your books too! I know authors don’t usually say it, but you know they have to be proud of what they accomplished and sometimes I’m sure it’s easy to forget how great there are when you are lost in the every day grind of it all. So cheers to you, and may you continue writing stories that you love….so that way I can love them too :)
You know maybe because you love your books it makes it even better for us. Your love comes through to the reader. All of the emotions and hard work come through with characters we want to know in real life and stories that are heartfelt.
Thank you for loving your books as much as we do.
I love you so much for your ‘confession!’ All the time I see authors who I absolutely love ragging on their work, saying how horrible it is and it drives me nuts. I understand where they’re coming from and I know that at the time they’re frustrated, but I get tired of the constant “down-ness”. Now, almost always, these complaints come during the writing process, so I know that they are stressed out and that it’s hard to love your work when you are agonizing over it. And I never really let myself get aggravated because I love these authors, but it is very refreshing to hear from an author about how much she loves her work!
Glad that you love your books…I love #2 also. Love rereading your books….Be With Me is about worn out from all the reading it has gone through!!
Well this is good news because I love your books too!
I love the fact that you tie stories together too. I read Reckless for the first time today and it made me want to go back and reread Brazen XD. There’s something about writing a story you truly love and reading it over and over again.
Just saw the ad for The Darkest Hour. Looks really good. I am new to your books but I love romantic suspense so I bet I will love your novels.
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Nola, I certainly hope you do! :)
You guys are so awesome. Is it any wonder I love you so? :)
I am soooooo glad to see an author voting for one’s own books. Not that most writers dislike their work, but somehow we have all been taught that voting for ourselves or making an up-front confession as this is selfish or self-serving. Balderdash!! And, it the truth be known, I like your books, too. Read lots of them and have some scheduled for review on my blog. Keep them coming!
I just finished reading one of your books and I must say I love your books too! After finishing one I always have to come to your website to find out when I can buy your next release! But as a new writer on the scene who’s in the process of editing my first book, I’ll admit, I love my stories too. The more I read through them the more enchanted with them I get. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. If you don’t love your own books, how can you expect anyone else to either?
Hi, i was just reading your little ‘confession’ about loving your books when i realised that although i love ebooks and have all of yours, i never actually thanked any of the authors for writing them. So this is my apology and my thank you for writing and i hope you’ll never stop. (although i would like to get them sooner but that’s the publishers fault).
Sincerely grateful, Meagan Nugent, Australia
I love your books to and I reread them as well. It is okay to love your own work. I love the stories I write. I believe some of the best fun comes out of something you love to do. Life would be boring otherwise. I also love my own cooking but that is neither here or there. LOL! Peace!
Just saw the picture of Golden Eyes, so I check rewards of Golden Eyes and It look like good to me. So I bought it from my nook. I just new to your books, I love it! So I thought I should get other books of yours. Sorry about my bad English because I am deaf. LOL :)