Pictured below are some of the writers and editors I've been lucky enough to meet.
Pictured below are some of the writers and editors I've been lucky enough to meet.
I read all the time. Although for the last decade and a half, I've focused on gay fiction, I enjoy all fiction, some poetry, some humor, and biographies. I have a literary background, because I was an English major, but I've never been a snob about what I read. I'm a Southerner, so I like good storytelling. I don't usually read horror, suspense, science fiction, or fantasy. I'm more partial to layered characters than I am a strong plot. And when I see lists of what people are reading that are full of critically acclaimed books or literary novels, I always wonder what they're REALLY reading.
Books I've read or re-read lately:
Villette, Charlotte Brontė
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
The Road Home, Michael Thomas Ford
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Steve Hockensmith
Still Life, Louise Penny
Murder Past Due, Miranda James
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontė
The Fashion Hound Murders, Elaine Viets
Murder With All the Trimmings, Elaine Viets
Accessory to Murder, Elaine Viets
Dying in Style, Elaine Viets
Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick, Molly Ringwald
Sizzling Sixteen, Janet Evanovich
Seven Year Bitch, Jennifer Belle
Hissy Fit, Mary Kay Andrews
Lips Unsealed: A Memoir, Belinda Carlisle
Little Bitty Lies, Mary Kay Andrews
One Good Dog, Susan Wilson
Savannah Blues, Mary Kay Andrews
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
Nightlight: A Parody, The Harvard Lampoon
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, Stephenie Meyer
Run, Ann Patchett
The Lost Girls, Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, Amanda Pressner
The Cat, the Professor and the Poison, Leann Sweeney
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Alan Bradley
The Carrie Diaries, Candace Bushnell
The World According to Garp, John Irving
The Rapture for Big Sinners, Ian Philips
The Collected Stories, Amy Hempel
The Patron Saint of Liars, Ann Patchett
Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo
Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow
Jane Bites Back, Michael Thomas Ford
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Winnie's War, Jenny Moss
Plum Lucky, Janet Evanovich
Plum Lovin', Janet Evanovich
Visions of Sugar Plums, Janet Evanovich
Murder in the Garden District, Greg Herren
The Withdrawing Room, Charlotte MacLeod
Glamorous Disasters, Eliot Schrefer
Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
The Manny, Holly Peterson
New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella
Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Barbie and Ruth, Robin Gerber
The Wedding Girl, Madeleine Wickham
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
Barely Bewitched, Kimberly Frost
The Magician's Assistant, Ann Patchett
Leaving Church, Barbara Brown Taylor
Crystal Clear, Jane Heller
Mommywood, Tori Spelling
In the Beginning, Chaim Potok
Sis Boom Bah, Jane Heller
The Secret Ingredient, Jane Heller
Cha Cha Cha, Jane Heller
Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman
Candy Apple Red, Nancy Bush
I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason, Susan Kandel
Lucky Stars, Jane Heller
Female Intelligence, Jane Heller
The Givenchy Code, Julie Kenner
B Is for Beer, Tom Robbins
Name Dropping, Jane Heller
Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak, ed. by Smith Magazine
What We Remember, Michael Thomas Ford
Finger Lickin' Fifteen, Janet Evanovich
The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse, Leann Sweeney
Loop Group, Larry McMurtry
Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival, Anderson Cooper
Straight Lies, Rob Byrnes
Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher
Celebrity Detox (the fame game), Rosie O'Donnell
Changing Tides, Michael Thomas Ford
Murder of a Small-Town Honey, Denise Swanson
Standish, Erastes
Fearless Fourteen, Janet Evanovich
We Disappear, Scott Heim
Lean Mean Thirteen, Janet Evanovich
Auntie Mame, Patrick Dennis
Twelve Sharp, Janet Evanovich
Mysterious Skin, Scott Heim
Eleven on Top, Janet Evanovich
Ten Big Ones, Janet Evanovich
To the Nines, Janet Evanovich
Hard Eight, Janet Evanovich
Seven Up, Janet Evanovich
Hot Six, Janet Evanovich
High Five, Janet Evanovich
Four to Score, Janet Evanovich
Three to Get Deadly, Janet Evanovich
Two for the Dough, Janet Evanovich
A Date You Can't Refuse, Harley Jane Kozak
Leftover Dead, Jimmie Ruth Evans
It Sucked, and Then I Cried, Heather B. Armstrong
One for the Money, Janet Evanovich
The Sourdough Wars, Julie Smith
Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, Barack Obama
Mean Woman Blues, Julie Smith
Louisiana Bigshot, Julie Smith
Louisiana Hotshot, Julie Smith
Naked Once More, Elizabeth Peters
Plum Spooky, Janet Evanovich
Bubbles All the Way, Sarah Strohmeyer
Would-Be Witch, Kimberly Frost
Bubbles Betrothed, Sarah Strohmeyer
Bubbles A Broad, Sarah Strohmeyer
Die for Love, Elizabeth Peters
Bubbles Ablaze, Sarah Strohmeyer
Bubbles in Trouble, Sarah Strohmeyer
Bubbles Unbound, Sarah Strohmeyer
Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins: The Autobiography, Rupert Everett
Them Bones, Carolyn Haines
Fool For Love: New Gay Fiction, ed. by Timothy J. Lambert and R.D. Cochrane
Best Gay Romance 2009, ed. by Richard LaBonte
Murder in the Rue Ursulines, Greg Herren
sTori Telling, Tori Spelling
Welcome to Temptation, Jennifer Crusie
Far Harbor, JoAnn Ross
Haunted, Meg Cabot
Don't Look Down, Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama
Chasing Harry Winston, Lauren Weisberger
Fashion Babylon, Imogen Edwards-Jones and Anonymous
Queen of Babble, Meg Cabot
Fast Women, Jennifer Crusie
But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl's Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous, Jancee Dunn
Sleeping Arrangements, Madeleine Wickham
A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style, Tim Gunn with Kate Moloney
Life With My Sister Madonna, Christopher Ciccone with Wendy Leigh
The Brontė Project, Jennifer Vandever
Wishbones, Carolyn Haines
Mighty Old Bones, Mary Saums
Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever, Joel Derfner
The Prayer Chest: A Novel About Receiving all of Life's Wishes, August Gold and Joel Fotinos
Bones to Pick, Carolyn Haines
The Unkindest Cut, Honor Hartman
Crossed Bones, Carolyn Haines
Buried Bones, Carolyn Haines
Splintered Bones, Carolyn Haines
Plum Lucky, Janet Evanovich
Fearless Fourteen, Janet Evanovich
Wings of Fear, Mignon Eberhart
The Dishonest Murderer, Frances and Richard Lockridge
Visions of Sugar Plums, Janet Evanovich
The Norths Meet Murder, Frances and Richard Lockridge
Murder Out of Turn, Frances and Richard Lockridge
A Pinch of Poison, Frances and Richard Lockridge
Remember Me?, Sophie Kinsella
Little Stalker, Jennifer Belle
Raggedy Chan, Camille Picott
The Red Pony, John Steinbeck
Cannery Row, John Steinbeck
A Crazy Little Thing Called Death, Nancy Martin
Things I Learned About My Dad (In Therapy), edited by Heather B. Armstrong
Michael Tolliver Lives, Armisted Maupin
Cocktails for Three, Madeleine Wickham
Confessions of a Casanova, Chris Kenry
Ever After, Elswyth Thane
Murder in the Rue Chartres, Greg Herren
A Three Dog Life, Abigail Thomas
Bring Your Own Poison, Jimmie Ruth Evans
Clublife, Rob the Bouncer
Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance, Julia Cameron
Paws and Reflect: Exploring the Bond Between Gay Men and Their Dogs, Neil Plakcy and Sharon Sakson, eds.
My Secret: A Post Secret Book, compiled by Frank Warren
The Code of the Woosters, P.G. Wodehouse
Lean Mean Thirteen, Janet Evanovich
Shoes to Die For, Laura Levine
Killer Blonde, Laura Levine
The Gatecrasher, Madeleine Wickham
First Person Plural, Andrew W. M. Beierle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Metro Girl, Janet Evanovich
The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
The PMS Murder, Laura Levine
Last Writes, Laura Levine
Candy Cane Murders, Joanne Flick, Laura Levine, Leslie Meier
Singing Lessons, Judy Collins
The Boy Next Door, Meg Cabot
Dead Ex, Harley Jane Kozak
Hallowed Bones, Carolyn Haines
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
On the Slam: A Bridge Club Mystery, Honor Hartman
Thistle and Twigg, Mary Saums
A Secret Edge, Robin Reardon
Twelve Sharp, Janet Evanovich
Sanity & Grace: A Journey of Suicide, Survival, and Strength, Judy Collins
This Pen for Hire, Laura Levine
The Irreversible Decline of Eddie Socket, John Weir
The Mammoth Book of New Gay Erotica, ed. by Lawrence Schimel
Turning Up the Volume, Patrice Melnick
Men Who Love Men, William J. Mann
The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
Dog Years, A Memoir, Mark Doty
Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life, Erica Jong
Post Secret, compiled by Frank Warren
Comfort & Joy, Jim Grimsley
Winter Birds, Jim Grimsley
Dream Boy, Jim Grimsley
Going Down in La-La Land, Andy Zeffer
He's the One, Timothy James Beck
It Had to Be You, Timothy James Beck
Shopaholic & Baby, Sophie Kinsella
Grief, Andrew Holleran
Best Gay Erotica 2007, ed. Richard LaBonte, introd. Timothy J. Lambert
The Landower Legacy, Victoria Holt
The Power of Kindness, Piero Ferrucci
Plum Lovin', Janet Evanovich
American Bistro, Irena Chalmers
Valley of the Shadow, Christopher Davis
In Vogue, Georgina Howell
The Devil on Horseback, Victoria Holt
The Secret Woman, Victoria Holt
Daughter of Deceit, Victoria Holt
Shoot From the Lip, Leann Sweeney
Dead Giveaway, Leann Sweeney
A Wedding to Die For, Leann Sweeney
Pick Your Poison, Leann Sweeney
Fade the Heat, Colleen Thompson
Heat Lightning, Colleen Thompson
The Best of Bad Hemingway, intro. by George Plimpton
Second Son, Robert Ferro
Best Served Cold, Jimmie Ruth Evans
Other Voices, Other Rooms, Truman Capote
What I Did Wrong, John Weir
Ammie, Come Home, Barbara Michaels
From Boys to Men, ed. by Ted Gideonse and Rob Williams
Love, Bourbon Street, ed. by Greg Herren and Paul J. Willis
Best Gay Love Stories, NYC edition, ed. by Brad Nichols
Sweet Son of Pan, Trebor Healey
Eleven on Top, Janet Evanovich
When the Stars Come Out, Rob Byrnes
Is He Or Isn't He?, John Hall
A Little Twist of Texas, Linda Raven Moore
My Lucky Star, Joe Keenan
The Master of Seacliff, Max Pierce
The Time of the Hunter's Moon, Victoria Holt
Our Endangered Values, Jimmy Carter
Liquor, Poppy Z. Brite
Prime, Poppy Z. Brite
Aftermath. Joel Meyerowitz
My Brother Michael, Mary Stewart
This Rough Magic, Mary Stewart
My Lives, Edmund White
The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
Alternatives to Sex, Stephen McCauley
Murder Over Easy, Jimmie Ruth Evans
Mardi Gras Mambo, Greg Herren
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Fated Love, Radclyffe
The Singing Stones, Phyllis A. Whitney
On the Night of the Seventh Moon, Victoria Holt
Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, John Grogan
New Orleans Mourning, Julie Smith
Neurotica, Sue Margolis
Novels Becky has written.
Becky's favorite sites on the Internet.
What Becky has to say at her online LiveJournal.
What Becky's been reading.
Issues and organizations that have Becky's support.
Why Becky paints.