#WriteWed Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss

shannaI think I’ve mentioned that I wanted to be a writer since writing my first book in the fifth grade. After that taste of story-telling, I keep on writing and of course, reading. I read anything I could, even the cereal box at the breakfast table. I was an avid reader and a lot of what I read was passed down to me by my mom.

Back then we didn’t have young adult books. We just kind of jumped into adult reading. So at an early age, I was reading the Brontes and then Taylor Caldwell and whatever else I could put my hands on.

But even then I gravitated toward stories with a strong romantic element, not knowing that I was meant to be a romance writer. In fact, it wasn’t until one summer that I realized that’s what I wanted to be.

Back then, department stores had book sections and since everyone at the store (B. Altman’s, now long gone sadly) knew that I liked to read, I was the natural summer fill-in for someone who was on medical leave.

My job was to recommend books, ring up the sales, and fill in stock when it emptied. There was this one dump, a bright orangey one, that was empty when I got there and people kept on coming in and asking for Shanna. I had no idea what it was and after some research, discovered that it was a novel that had been sitting on the NY Times bestseller list for a while.

When we finally got a shipment, I was kind of surprised by the cover. Orangey pink and with a couple in a passionate embrace, it wasn’t like what I’d seen before at home. I was kind of put off by it for a moment, but I had a job to do, so I filled the dump and within a couple of days, it was empty again.

This continued for the next week or so. Got a shipment and it sold out.

Well, I finally had to find out what the big to do was about and bought myself a copy with my store discount.

Wow. I could not put it down. Action. Adventure. Romance. More action. More adventure. Betrayal. More romance. Hot steamy romance.

Not only was I hooked on the story, but it occurred to me at that moment that this was the kind of story I wanted to write. This was just like the stories I’d had rattling around in my brain for so many years.

This was the book that made me realize I wanted to be a romance writer.

Thank you, Ms. Woodiwiss. I am eternally grateful for that and for one of my all time favorite books – The Wolf and the Dove.

If you’re a fan of historical romance and haven’t checked out these books, take a moment and do so. You’ll be glad you did.

13 Favorite Books

Welcome to today’s Thursday Thirteen! I don’t know about you, but way before I was a writer, I was an avid reader and even now I try to get in a number of reads during the course of the year. Amongst those are some favorites which I’m sharing with you today. Feel free to add your favorite ones to the list!

    1. WOLF AND THE DOVE by Kathleen Woodiwiss
    2. NAKED IN DEATH by JD Robb
    3. The rest of the IN DEATH series by JD Robb
    4. WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte
    5. WE by Eugene Zamiatin
    6. LOOKING BACKWARD by Paul Bellamy
    7. SHANNA by Kathleen Woodiwiss
    8. AND TO THINK I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET by Dr. Seuss
    9. PILLAR OF IRON by Taylor Caldwell
    10. GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell
    11. IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote
    12. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
    13. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler

As for what I’ll be reading this summer, I’m going to catch up on a lot of the IN DEATH series books I’ve missed, mix in some wonderfully romantic and sexy HARLEQUIN DESIREs and tackle ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand. I’ve heard quite a bit about it and it seems like a great time to consider what happens when there is too much government in our lives.

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