Ok, I'll stop blathering now, and introduce my Featured Author for October--Stephanie Draven, who's also visiting for her Poisoned Kisses blog tour! We must've had some crossed wires or something, because we were going to post our Q&A today, but no worries, we have a post for you from Stephanie!
About the author:
Stephanie Draven is currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies. She lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.
Stephanie has always been a storyteller. In elementary school, she channeled Scheherazade, weaving a series of stories to charm children into sitting with her each day at the lunch table. When she was a little older, Stephanie scared all the girls at her sleepovers with ghost stories.
She should have known she was born to hold an audience in her thrall, but Stephanie resisted her writerly urges and graduated from college with a B.A. in Government. Then she went to Law School, where she learned how to convincingly tell the tallest tales of all!
A longtime lover of ancient lore, Stephanie enjoys re-imagining myths for the modern age. She doesn’t believe that true love is ever simple or without struggle so her work tends to explore the sacred within the profane, the light under the loss and the virtue hidden in vice. She counts it amongst her greatest pleasures when, from her books, her readers learn something new about the world or about themselves.
Find Stephanie online at her website, stephaniedraven.com, and check out her Poisoned Kisses tour stops at stephaniedraven.com/poisoned-kisses-blog-tour!
FTC Disclosure: I am an affiliate at IndieBound, The Book Depository, and Amazon, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.
And now, Stephanie shares her favorite reads with us! Come and see what they are...
I’m thrilled to be here today to talk about one of my favorite subjects: books! When I was younger, I would stick with a book to the bitter end, whether I loved it or not. Now, it’s the rare book that I’ll read to the end, and those are the books that I treasure. What’s strange is that even though I’m a paranormal romance writer, my favorite books come from all different kinds of genres.
In the fantasy genre, two of my favorite writers are George R. R. Martin and Robin Hobb. On the surface, their fiction is different--Martin’s is more emotionally distant and crueler. But both of them share a smart political sensibility. Their stories are about more than dragons and talking ships. There’s meat on those bones. A Game of Thrones took some enormous risks and I’ll always admire it for that reason. Meanwhile, the Liveship Traders series kept me awake more nights than I care to admit.
I’m also an avid reader of historical fiction--I loved the Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George and I delight in John Maddox Roberts’ ancient Roman detective stories in the SPQR series. I particularly love historical fantasy, which means that I’m a big fan of Jo Graham’s Hands of Isis and, of course, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon.
As for romances, my tastes are all over the map. I am gaga for Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons and my favorite might be On the Way to the Wedding. I always find that a little bit strange, the fact that I write dark and angsty paranormal romances, but when I read for pleasure, I often want the quirkiest, funniest, Rom Com I can find. Kristan Higgins is another favorite of mine. I adored Too Good to Be True.
I also read erotica, in part because I think it’s where the edgiest literary writing is happening in fiction today. Boundaries are being pushed there for the better. I admit that I was moved quite to tears by Megan Hart’s Dirty.
The classics that have a proud place on my bookshelves include Wuthering Heights, 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Gone with the Wind. I’m very tempted to talk about all the classic books I’ve read that I hated with a passion, but I wouldn’t want to start a flame war, so I’ll end here!
Ok, I think I love Stephanie already! How could I not, when George R.R Martin and Robin Hobb are the first authors she mentions? And I've only recently "found" Kristan Higgins, and love the sense of humor that comes through in her books. What about you? What have you read on Stephanie's list?
Giveaway!
Stephanie has a present for you... One lucky winner will received a copy of Poisoned Kisses, US and Canada only. To enter, comment and share what you've read that's on Stephanie's list (what did you think of it?), or by the authors above, or you think she might like (based on her post). Leave an email address so I can notify you if you've won. Do it before 6:00pm CST October 29th. Good luck!!
Extra entries:
+1 Tweet this giveaway, comment separately with your twitter status.
+1 FB share (www.facebook.com/dreyslibrary), comment separately with your FB name.
+1 List this on your blog sidebar, comment separately with your blog link.
7 comments:
Yay! I'm very honored to be your author of the month, and I'll make sure we get our wires uncrossed! ;)
Well, I read George RR Martin, Julia Quinn, Marion Zimmer & Gone with the Wind and enjoyed them.
I read 1984 and Wuthering Heights because I was forced to for school.
chey127 at hotmail dot com
No worries, Stephanie! I got the Q&A late last night, and it'll go up next Wednesday. Thanks for stopping in!
chey, you made me laugh! :)
Stephanie looks like a great storyteller and reads such a variety! I have read some Julia Quinn too and I really loved Gone With the Wind. It's one of those books people should really pick up, it's much richer than the movie.
Memoirs of Cleopatra was fabulous. I, too, am a fan of historical fiction.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
My all time favorite has been Gone With the Wind. I also really enjoyed Too Good To be True.
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net
Hi Stephanie! Loved the post...a lot of the books you mentioned are favorites of mine too. For instance, I totally relate with you on the romance books thing; I love all types! And the classics you named are definitely the best.
Stephanie
thestephanieloves@gmail.com
ps. Love your name! :)
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