What do writers read? Bestsellers reveal all!

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In my continuing quest to blow your minds, I again present three very different authors whose answers to the same questions may surprise you.

Sydney Landon is a New York Times bestseller-listed author of romances, including the Danvers series; David C. Cassidy’s books, including Velvet Rain and Fosgate’s Game, defy categorization but might be called “speculative fiction” (but isn’t all fiction, by definition, speculative? Isn’t fiction a form of speculation?). And Patricia Sands is the award-winning author of The Bridge Club and The Promise of Provence.

Name three characteristics of books that you like.

Sydney Landon: Humorous dialogue, a strong introduction and a realistic plot.

David C. Cassidy: For me, a story has to have depth and feeling. It’s got to have characters I love, and those I love to hate. Above all, it’s got to be real. When you strip away all the obviously impossible stuff, the story has to hit me with reality at some point. The danger, the struggle — it has to be something I can feel. The best stories do that. Avatar would be just another sci-fi adventure without the deep-rooted threat to the indigenous people of Pandora — the threat to their core beliefs. For me, that’s gold, and James Cameron is a master at this kind of storytelling.

Patricia Sands:

• A compelling style that immediately engages.
• Strong imagery that draws me into the emotion of the scene, setting or location.
• Creativity that captures the imagination.

What makes you keep reading a book?

Patricia Sands

Patricia Sands: All of the above (answer #1), plus a good plot and well-developed characters.

Sydney Landon: Connecting with the characters. Otherwise, I lose interest and have a hard time finishing.

David C. Cassidy: The characters. Whether they’re larger than life or just the guy selling hot dogs on the street, I’m always observing characters in books and movies. I watch. I listen. I learn. The best books have all those little nuances in the characters that make me want to follow them to the bitter end.

What are some books that you weren't able to put down until you finished them?

David C. Cassidy: Abarat by Clive Barker; The Thief of Always by Clive Barker; In Cold Blood by Truman Capote; Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom; Salem’s Lot by Stephen King.

Sydney Landon:  Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James; The Faces of Evil series by Debra Webb.

Patricia Sands: There are few books that I begin and don't finish.

Do you consciously try to emulate these books? If so, what form does that take: plot, structure, characters, settings, author's voice and word choice?

Patricia Sands: No, not consciously. However, I know that the more I read, the more I become aware of incorporating the traits I admire of other writers into my own style.

Sydney Landon: No. I believe every author has a certain style and that generally comes through no matter what. 

David C. Cassidy: It might be the sincerest form of flattery, but I don’t consciously do it. I would say most authors don’t, but I would also say that unconsciously, we probably do. It’s natural to emulate those we admire. I’m a photographer, and the only way I became the creative photographer that I am was by studying photographs of the photographers I admire. That didn’t mean I went out and copied their style. It meant that I learned new ways of thinking — new ways of looking at the same subject. Some of my biggest influences in writing have come from three very different authors: Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Mitch Albom — and I’m probably a hybrid of all three to some degree. I’ve studied their work and a lot of other authors from different genres, and have tried to incorporate their techniques in all facets of my writing. Not by copying strict rules or things that they’ve done, but rather their way of thinking or looking at the world and the characters who inhabit them in different and unique ways.

Do you try to avoid any of the techniques or conventions followed by your favorite writers?

David C. Cassidy: For me, each story has a different feel to it—the writing has a different feel to it. I just write it. I don’t worry if someone sees or doesn’t see similar techniques used by other authors. You can’t shackle yourself by saying, “Oh crap, King did this like this.” Why? Because at one point, King probably said, “Oh crap, Poe did this like this.” And Poe probably said, “Damn that Shakespeare. He took all the good stuff.”

Patricia Sands: No. Many of my favourite writers have decidedly different styles than mine. I believe it is important for each of us to find our own unique voice and hone that craft.

Sydney Landon: Not at all.  I never know where a story will take me and what means I'll use to get there.  I've probably tried them all.

What rules of writing do you intentionally break?

Sydney Landon: Grammar. Sometimes the rules say it's wrong, but it sounds so right!

Patricia Sands: None intentionally and probably several unintentionally.

What rules of writing do you intentionally break?

David C. Cassidy: Every last one. Even speling and grammer if I have to. Seriously, I do uphold one rule: There are no rules. I don’t get the whole “don’t do this, don’t do that” mentality with writing. I cross genre boundaries in stories—does it lessen the whole? Not for me. It adds to it. A great story is like a great photograph—the best photographs tell the story exactly as it needs to be told.

Thanks very much, all!

Sydney Landon lives in Greenville, South Carolina and has spent the last twenty-five years working in accounting. Sydney met her own prince charming in 2000 and received the most romantic proposal on a pier in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, thus creating her eternal love for the city. The fact that her future husband was a fellow computer geek completely sealed the deal for her. She credits him with keeping her calm and rational while also understanding her need for a new pair of shoes every other week. They have two children who keep life interesting and borderline insane, but never boring. The idea of the Danvers’ Series popped into her head and refused to go away. She started writing the first story never imagining that it would ever be finished. Three months later it turned into her first book, Weekends Required. Within a few months, it had quickly made the best-seller list on Amazon, and went on to make the New York Times Best Seller List.  Barely taking a breath between books, Sydney followed up with the second book in the series, Not Planning on You. Within the first month, this book also became a best-seller. The third book in the series, Fall For Me was released in February 2013 and became a New York Times Best Seller.  The fourth book in the series, Fighting For You releases in paperback in February 2014.  Sydney is currently working on the fifth book in the Danvers’ Series. When she isn’t writing, Sydney enjoys reading, swimming and being a mini-van driving, soccer mom.

Sydney is a member of BestSelling Reads. Visit her website.

Author, photographer and half-decent juggler David C. Cassidy spends his writing life creating dark and touching stories where Bad Things Happen To Good People.

Raised by wolves, he grew up with a love of nature, music, science, and history, with thrillers and horror novels feeding the dark side of his seriously disturbed imagination. He talks to his characters, talks often, and most times they listen. But the real fun starts when they tell him to take a hike, and they Open That Door anyway. Idiots.

David lives in Ontario, Canada. From Mozart to Vivaldi, classic jazz to classic rock, he feels naked without his iPod. Suffering from MAD (Multiple Activity Disorder), he divides his time between writing and blogging, photography and photoshop, reading and rollerblading. An avid amateur astronomer, he loves the night sky, chasing the stars with his telescope. Sometimes he eats.

David is a member of Independent Authors International. Visit his website.

Patricia Sands lives in Toronto, Canada most of the time, Florida some of the time, and the south of France whenever possible. With a happily blended family of seven adult children and, at last count, six grandchildren, life is full and time is short. Beginning with her first Kodak Brownie camera at the age of six, she has told stories all of her life through photography. She is the author of the award-winning novel, The Bridge Club and her most recent release, The Promise of Provence. The latter is an Amazon best-seller that was also featured on the Movers & Shakers Digital list.  Thanks to reader demand, a sequel to The Promise of Provence in in the works! Put your feet up and be carried away to the south of France in this delightful novel.  Her stories celebrate the rewarding friendships of women and examine the challenges life often throws in our paths. Becoming a published author at this stage of her life was not on her agenda but she knows now she will never stop writing.

Patricia is a member of BestSelling Reads. Visit Patricia's

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What do great writers like to read? Terry Tyler and David Vinjamuri stop by

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In the sporadic series where I ask bestselling authors about their reading habits and inspiration, I again turn to two very different authors.

David Vinjamuri is the author of bestselling military thrillers Binder and Operator, as well as two books of non-fiction.

It’s hard to categorize Terry Tyler’s writing other than as “contemporary literary fiction” — or maybe, “really good contemporary fiction that you can’t put down until the last page, even if you’re not the type of reader who normally reads contemporary literature about believable characters.” She has published six novels since 2011, including her latest, Full Circle, plus a collection of short stories, Nine Lives. 

Their books are very different, but both David and Terry are talented, professional authors who know how to spin a smooth, gripping tale. I asked them about what they look for when they open a book. 

Name three characteristics of books that you like. What makes you keep reading a book? What are some books that you weren't able to put down until you finished them?

David Vinjamuri: Three characteristics of books I like:

• a great “hook” in the first sentence that surprises or intrigues me
• deep and realistic characters and relationships that don’t smack of wish fulfillment by the author
• brisk pacing — a sense that every scene in the book is integral to the overall plot.

Terry Tyler: I like back-story that’s another story in itself; Jackie Collins does this particularly well. I love to read lots of different characters’ points of view, and novels that keep moving from one dimension of the story to another, like GRR Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire series (Game of Thrones).

What keeps me reading I find impossible to put my finger upon; it just depends if it has a particular spark that appeals to me.

Books I can’t put down: Something In Disguise by Elizabeth Jane Howard — even on its umpteenth reading!  A perfect book.  Anything by John Boyne or Phillipa Gregory.  Recently, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.  I remember reading Jeffrey Archer’s A Matter of Honour in six hours all in one go, about 30 years ago, when I was meant to be going out somewhere and didn’t — many people criticize him, but that book’s plot was outstanding.

Do you consciously try to emulate these books? If so, what form does that take: plot, structure, characters, settings, author's voice or word choice?

Terry Tyler: I would never (not even subconsciously, I hope!) try to emulate someone else’s work. However, one thing I did nick from Susan Howatch was telling a story in the first person by several characters, having one pick up where the last one left off. There are five of her books that take this form — Cashelmara is my favourite. What I like about writing a novel this way is that you can show not only two (or more) sides of a story, but also the different aspects of a personality: how people see someone, and how they really are, inside. Not all my books have this structure, but in the ones that have I enjoy working out the best character to tell each part of the story.

David Vinjamuri: My Michael Herne books are partly an homage to the Matt Helm series written by Donald Hamilton from 1960 to 1993. So there’s some intentional similarity in tone and structure. One of the things I loved about the Helm series was the noir-ish realism. The Herne series is reviewed by a U.S. Army Special Warfare trainer at Fort Bragg for technical accuracy.

Do you try to avoid any of the techniques or conventions followed by your favourite writers?

David Vinjamuri: Herne is not betrayed by his love interest in each of my books as Helm tends to be in Donald Hamilton’s series.

Terry Tyler: No, I don’t think so.  Most writers I read these days don’t write in my genre — I read mostly historical fiction, or thriller-ish books with a male protagonist, or non-fiction.  One thing I do try to avoid, though, which appears in many books, is too much description.  I skip-read it, as it doesn’t make me visualise the place or the people any more than if those words weren’t there.  This is why I rarely describe rooms, for instance.  I think readers conjure up their own pictures.  

What rules of writing do you intentionally break?

David Vinjamuri: I don’t break rules, but I do always think of John Steinbeck when I write.  I ask myself whether there's a way to write something more concisely, economically, efficiently?  Though many well-regarded literary novels spend pages and pages on description, internal dialogue and characterization, I’ve never felt like I have that kind of time in the thriller genre.

Terry Tyler: I haven’t read any “how to write” books, nor indeed an article of that type for ages.  Someone told me a while back that “you can’t have a big chunk of backstory”; if that’s a rule, it’s one of which I take no notice; I write as much as is necessary.  If it seems right to start a sentence with “And” or “But,”  I do it — not too often, though.  I use metaphors and similes if they fit, and the odd cliché if it really serves a purpose, too.  I don’t think I know any of the other “rules,” but I expect I break loads of them. 

With such “how to” articles and books, I know more experienced writers can get a bit sniffy about them, but they’ve served to remind me about many bad habits it would be easy to fall back into: using too many variations on “he said,” for instance, or writing sentences like “bad habits it would be easy to fall back into”!  I don’t know the grammatical term, but I think “it” used like that is very sloppy – when the “it” refers not to an item, but something like “it was raining outside.” Can anyone tell me the name for that?  I hope I’ll always be open to advice and learning more. 

Thank you very much for appearing on my blog, David and Terry.

Terry Tyler has published six contemporary drama novels on Amazon, and a collection of short stories.  She has a writers’ blog on the UK Arts Directory, about books and self-publishing, and a personal one on which she writes about everything else.  She has just finished a longer family saga (publication date to be announced), and hopes to spend the rest of this year on its sequel, and a Christmas novella.  Terry lives in the northeast of England with her husband.

Read a review of her novel, You Wish, published on this blog in June 2012.

The bestselling author of the thrillers, Operator and Binder, David Vinjamuri also writes the “Brand Truth” column online for Forbes, where he covers brands, advertising and publishing. In addition to the thrillers, he is author of Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands and Understanding Self-Publishing: 2013. David has appeared on television as a brand expert on the BBC, Fox Business News, Bloomberg TV and MSNBC and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and Investor’s Business Daily. David is Adjunct Instructor of Marketing at New York University and the founder of ThirdWay Brand Trainers, a leading brand marketing training company. 

Monday blog: What do best-selling authors read?

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This week, I asked two very different writers to tell us what they look for in the books they read.

Kathleen Valentine writes a mixture of horror, humour and historical novels, novellas and stories, including The Old Mermaid’s Tale and the award-winning Depraved Heart, which could be described as paranormal romantic suspense.

Alan McDermott is the bestselling author of the Tom Gray trilogy, which has been profiled on this blog before. His writing is fast-paced, tense and explosive.

You’d expect them to have very different reactions to books, and in a sense they do — but I think that you’ll find some parallels, too.

Name three characteristics of books that you like. What makes you keep reading a book? What are some books that you weren't able to put down until you finished them?

Kathleen Valentine: The number one thing that I look for in fiction is a sympathetic character that I can care about. There seems to be a trend these days toward characters that are just awful—mean, calculating, whiny, self-absorbed. I refuse to spend time with people like that in real life so why spend time on the page with them? I want at least one character I can root for.

I'm also drawn to place. It doesn't have to be an exotic or glamorous place, just a place that I can imagine spending time in. Then, of course, comes a situation that interests me. It doesn't have to be intricately plotted but it does have to engage the characters. Writing style is also important to me. It doesn't have to be overly descriptive but I get bored with passive voice, clichéd descriptions, and repetitive word use.

Two books that I've recently read that I found hard to put down were The Orchardist and The Light Between Oceans. Both had central characters that were deeply flawed but had beautiful hearts. The settings were also mesmerizing—an orchard in a canyon and a lighthouse on an island. They were wonderful reads for me.

Alan McDermott: Easy. They must be fast-paced, full of intrigue and realistic. Like everyone else, I have my favourite authors, but I will abandon their book if I’m not being drawn in after a couple of chapters. Tom Clancy did that very well, and his books kept me mesmerised. I particularly enjoyed Rainbow Six and Red Storm Rising, books I have read more than once.

People say that a book must have a beginning, a middle and an end, but I like those which start and never let up until the last page.

Do you consciously try to emulate these books? If so, what form does that take: plot, structure, characters, settings, author's voice and word choice?

Alan McDermott: Clancy was the master at having multiple scenes going on at the same time, and he brought them together cleverly. I tried that with my first three books and was happy with the result.

Kathleen Valentine: No, not at all. I think I have a pretty distinctive voice—at least that is hat my readers tell me. I think sometimes characters in books will inspire me to want to create a character with many of the same qualities. For instance in Donna Tartt's The Secret History I was mesmerized by Henry Winter that I think parts of him have crept into a couple of my male characters.

Do you try to avoid any of the techniques or conventions followed by your favourite writers?

Kathleen Valentine: Not really. Most of my favorite writers—James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane A.S. Byatt, Isabel Allende—have very unique voices and if I tried to emulate them it would be foolish. I do aspire to write as well but that's just a dream.

Alan McDermott: Yes, I try not to go into too much detail about surroundings and what people are wearing. If the protagonist is in the jungle, let the reader know if it’s raining or not, but don’t explain how green everything is. Okay, mention the bugs and other wildlife, but not every other page. I don’t like padding out a story for the sake of hitting a word count. I’d much rather race through and finish a book in a couple of days than spend a month getting to the climax.

What rules of writing do you intentionally break?

Alan McDermott: I think I break just about every rule there is! I know that some authors study the art of writing for years and make sure they structure their books in the “conventional” way. That’s absolutely fine, and I wouldn’t knock anyone for approaching writing in that manner.

I left high school aged 16 with a C grade in English and that’s about as far as my studies went, so for me, the only rule is: entertain the reader and make them want to come back for more!

I write my books the way I like to read them, and that means keeping the action going, and introducing new twists whenever I can. A lot of authors may criticise my books for not following all the rules, but we are living in the Internet era, where attention spans are dropping with every passing day. Folks are used to reading an article on the Internet and then moving on to the next one. If we keep producing books that don’t first grab the reader and then keep a strangle hold on them, we risk losing the next generation of readers. I’m confident that my books will stand that test of time. I’ll never win a literary award, but hopefully I’ll continue to make a living, and that’s what matters to me. Thirty thousand people have read my third book, which suggests my style of writing has already built a following.

Kathleen Valentine: I don't think I do but that's because I don't pay attention to rules in the first place. I pay attention to grammar and punctuation, etc. but writing rules? I don't think I even know of any.

Thank you for these insights, Alan and Kathleen.

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Kathleen Valentine is the author of three novels: The Old Mermaid's Tale, Each Angel Burns and Depraved Heart and numerous short stories and novellas. Her Beacon Hill Chronicles, including The Crazy Old Lady in the Attic, The Crazy Old Lady's Revenge and The Crazy Old Lady Unleashed, are Amazon Top Sellers. Her blog, KathleenValentineBlog.com, has been read by thousands of readers since its beginning in July 2005.

Her most recent work includes The Whiskey Bottle in the Wall: Secrets of Marienstadt and The Monday Night Needlework and Murder Guild. She has been listed as an Amazon Top 100 Author in Horror. She is a member of BestSelling Reads. Kathleen lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, America's oldest seaport, and is writing every day. Her website is KathleenValentine.com

Alan McDermott is a husband, father to beautiful twin girls and a software developer from the south of England. Since 2005, he has been working as a software developer and currently creates clinical applications for the National Health Service. Alan’s writing career began in 2011 with the action thriller GrayJustice, and his subsequent Tom Gray trilogy has been picked up by Amazon division Thomas and Mercer. Alan is a fellow founding member of Independent Authors International.

What do bestselling writers like to read?

Writers are inspired and informed by authors they’ve read. I asked some best-selling authors what they like to read most. This week, I’ve asked two very different authors for their opinions.

Best-selling Toby Neal is author of the Lei Crime series, set in her home state of Hawai’i; Russell Blake writes thrillers from his home in Mexico.

Name three characteristics of books that you like. What makes you keep reading a book? What are some books that you weren't able to put down until you finished them?

Toby Neal: 

I love a book with vivid characters in interesting situations most of all. I'm a voracious reader and read a variety of genres: mystery/suspense, romance, literary, memoir, sci-fi...First and foremost, the characters have to be three-dimensional and capture my interest. I also like original imagery and word choice "shaking his hand felt like grabbing a gel-filled surgical glove" is an image I remember from a new book I'm blurbing for mystery writer Thomas Matthews. Original! Memorable!  I like writing that feels confident, fresh, fast moving with a deeper message behind the outward action — and I write the kinds of books I enjoy reading.

Things I hate: 

•     clichés
•     formulaic plots
•     overdescription and qualifiers: "she gasped, wailed, screeched"
•     wandering narrative — I want to be anchored in each scene with sensory cues. New writers often launch into long dialogues that then float, unanchored, and we lose the setting 
•     self-conscious wannabe sophistication, like no punctuation (literary can be very annoying to me).

In short, if a book has dynamic characters and solid writing, I'll read it and probably review it too!

Russell Blake: 

In fiction, I'd have to say that I look for different things depending upon my mood. When I'm in the mood for a mystery/thriller, I look for a combination of pace, plot and prose. If the pace is fast and the plot engaging I'm hooked, but if the prose does more than simply move me along, I'll be recommending the book to my friends.

I think the last book I couldn't put down was one of James Lee Burke’s — Last Car to Elysian Fields, I believe. Before that, Lawrence Block’s The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons. Although these are very different styles, I found them both fully engaging and finished them within a few days.

When I'm in the mood for literary fiction, it's all about the prose. A great example of what I'm into would be Ben Fountain’s Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk — quirky, unusual, but brilliant prose. Frankly, I have so little time to read these days, with my publishing schedule, I'm unlikely to have enough time to read an entire book without putting it down. But those were books I put everything aside to finish.

Do you consciously try to emulate these books? If so, what form does that take: plot, structure, characters, settings, author's voice and word choice?

Russell Blake: 

Good lord, no. There's no way I could come close to James Lee Burke’s word choice or author voice, although I aspire to at least get in the same ballpark. I'd say that I tend to ignore other authors once I sit down to write — I try to learn while I'm reading, and then forget the specifics, allowing their prose to color my perception without creating something I follow.

I don't like to deconstruct when I'm reading, and the only way I could see myself emulating with any accuracy would be if I read, deconstructed, and then deliberately set out to use what I'd analyzed, which would take all the joy out of writing for me.

Toby Neal: 

I've written ten books and a memoir. Seven of them are published with great reviews. I don't need to emulate anyone anymore, but when I started out in crime mystery/police procedural, I was emulating my "idols" Michael Connelly and Lisa Gardner and tried to "show not tell" virtually everything. My first book, Blood Orchids, is much choppier and more gritty in writing style than later works, where I found my "comfort zone" of a more descriptive style and less bad language and gritty violence. I prefer a more PG-13 level of violence, and my readers like that, too. I've also developed a series that's unique in the police procedural genre, which features a protagonist who starts out very damaged from child sexual abuse, gradually improves and recovers over the course of six books, and grows through a subplot love story that readers are crazy about!

Most of my early author idols’ protagonists remain fairly static, and that’s come to bore me as a reader. I eventually abandoned Stephanie Plum and Sue Grafton because the main character never changed. That frustrated me — perhaps because of my background as a mental health therapist, I want my characters to learn and grow over the course of the book(s). I hear repeatedly from readers that get hooked on my books that they like that, too.

Do you try to avoid any of the techniques or conventions followed by your favourite writers?

Toby Neal: 

I try to avoid being clichéd and formulaic (see above annoyance list) and if my favourite writers devolve into that zone, than yes, I not only stop letting them influence me, I stop reading them. For instance, I’m not reading Patricia Cornwell anymore because I feel like she’s obsessed with detail and her books have slowed down too much for me. I can take a class in forensics if that’s what I want, rather than reading that for pleasure!

I've become much more confident in my own voice and vision, and while I read a lot (as I said above) I try to expand my own repertoire by reading all kinds of things, including nonfiction that can inform my plots. One new "indie" mystery writer I really respect is Gae Lynn Woods. I wait for her books, and they inevitably are more gruesome and twisty than mine, with Texas local color — and I love the nested mysteries and distinctive characters she does. I also really respect Gillian Flynn for her truly original plots — but I hate her characters! All of them! And yet, they’re so bizarre and captivating I can’t stop reading. Now that’s a good book, that keeps you reading even when you want to stop.

Russell Blake: 

Every author I really like tends to have something intriguing in their use of language, but I don't think they follow specific conventions. None I'm able to deduce, at any rate. The hallmark of an effective author is the ability to mind-meld with the reader and transport them along, to put them in the same place as the characters, make them hear, see, smell, touch the world you've created. So beyond trying to do so, I can't say as I consciously avoid or advocate any one thing beyond clear communication while creating beautiful sentences.

What rules of writing do you intentionally break? 

Toby Neal: 

Point of view is my favourite area to surprise and bend the rules on readers.

I try to push out with new combinations of POV in every book. Lei Crime #6, Shattered Palms, coming out in March, is the first book I've written with only one, third-person POV.

My most innovative featured an investigator in third-person past tense, and a bad guy POV in first-person present tense. It made for a sometimes jarring reading experience, and I wanted readers to be uncomfortable — I was writing about sex trafficking and sadism, without a lot of gruesomeness. I wanted the reader to be in the head of a sociopath and see their way of seeing the world. It was challenging, but I think I pulled it off in Black Jasmine.

Russell Blake: 

Well, I don't believe that there are many actual rules, more like author preferences that have been laid out as rules by the dogmatic. In that regard, I don't much care about the proscription against adverbs in dialogue tags, nor am I afraid to open with the weather, nor do I particularly fear overwriting. So I guess you could say that while I know all the rules, I break or abide by them as the story mandates rather than out of some slavish devotion.

Thank you, Toby and Russell!

Toby Neal grew up on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. After a few stretches of “exile” to pursue education, she has made the islands her home for the last fifteen years. Toby is a mental health therapist, a career that has informed the depth and complexity of the characters in her books. Outside of work and writing, Toby volunteers and enjoys life in Hawaii through outdoor activities, including beach walking, body boarding, scuba diving, photography and hiking.

Visit her website, follow her on Twitter @tobywneal, or visit her Facebook page, LeiCrimeSeries.

 A Wall Street Journal and The Times (UK) featured author, Russell Blake is the bestselling author of twenty-five books, including the thriller novels Fatal Exchange, The Geronimo Breach, The Voynich Cypher,  Zero Sum, Silver Justice, King of Swords, Upon A Pale Horse, the Assassin series, the Delphi Chronicle trilogy, the JET series, and his latest BLACK series.

Non-fiction includes the international bestseller An Angel With Fur (animal biography) and How To Sell A Gazillion eBooks In No Time (even if drunk, high or incarcerated), a parody of all things writing-related.

Blake lives in Mexico and enjoys his dogs, fishing, boating, tequila and writing, while battling world domination by clowns.

Visit his blog, RussellBlake.com where he publishes his periodic thoughts, such as they are. Follow him on twitter @BlakeBooks.

Good reading: Two best-selling authors tell what they like to read

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What makes a book a good read? Three more independent authors give me their perspective: 

Mohana Rajakumar is author of So You Want to Sell a Million Copies?, Love Comes Later and a number of other books. Her latest is An Unlikely Goddess.

Jesi Lea Ryan is author of Arcadia’s Gift, Arcadia’s Curse and Four Thousand Miles.

Name three characteristics of books that you like. What makes you keep reading a book? 

Mohanda Rajakumar: I love the characters or at least want to know what happens next. Books where the writer takes me into a world totally other than my own and I learn something new. And I talk to other people about what's happening in the world of the story — it's that compelling.

Jesi Lea Ryan: I like books with unique characters who don't irritate the crap out of me.

Plot is important, but it is becoming emotionally invested in the characters

that keep me interested. Richelle Mead's books (yes, all of them) are my

best example of this. Her books are action packed and filled with intrigue

and adventure, but she has such an amazing way of tying me in emotionally

that I feel like I am in the book. It's amazing! 

I also like books that run at a faster pace. I don't like a lot of pointless

musing. I'm a firm believer in what doesn't add to your story should be cut.

I can give you about fifty bad examples of this, but where I find it most is

in erotica. Good erotica uses sex scenes to further the character or plot.

Bad erotica has little plot or character and things it can survive on

gratuitous sex. It's annoying. 

What are some books that you weren't able to put down until you finished them? 

Mohana Rajakumar

Mohana Rajakumar: Gone Girl, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, and The Night Circus.

Jesi Lea Ryan: Stacia Kane's Downside series have really unique characters, beautifully flawed.

  

What makes you keep reading a book? 

Mohana Rajakumar: To see what happens next and how we get where we are going.

Do you consciously try to emulate these books? 

Mohana Rajakumar: I do try to take readers into worlds they don't know because that's what drew me into reading as a child. And into writing as an adult. There were so many things to think about, I wanted to get out and share them with others. In terms of keeping the reading guessing, suspense I struggle with as a writer but character development I have much more confidence in my ability to deliver. 

Jesi Lea Ryan: I don't consciously emulate other books, but I'm sure they influence me to some extent. I read over 250 novels a year, and I don't have a stellar

memory.  I can't quote even from my favorite books. Part of this is because

I rarely read the same book more than once. I can tell you that I

consciously try not to write the things that irritate me. For example, I

detest indecisive heroines. And god, there is so much of that in YA and NA

romance.  Makes me want to hurl books across the room.  Indecisiveness does

not create plot tension, it creates reader tension, and that's not a good

thing!  So I don't drag things out too much in my books.  If the heroine

needs to make a decision, she's generally quick to act on it. 

What do great writers like to read?

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What makes a good read? Is it characterization, plot, style? A unique idea, or the rules of your favourite genre?

I’ve asked some of the best independent authors I know what they like to read — what makes a good read for them. Today, here are the first three to answer: 

• RS Guthrie, author of the Bobby Mac paranormal-thriller series and the James Pruett mystery series
• Karen Wodke, author of James Willlis Makes a Million and half of the Wodke Hawkinson writing duo, authors of Betrayed, Zeke, Sue, Tangerine and other books
• Scott Morgan, author of Stories My Evil Twin Made Up, Character Development from the Inside Out, and How to Be a Whiny Beeyotch: 71 Writing Excuses Meet the Back of My Hand

Name three characteristics of books that you like. What makes you keep reading a book? 

RS Guthrie: I personally love great, literary writing and deep characters. Of course, like everyone, my initial buy many times depends on the cover, or especially the first part of chapter one sampling. I usually know by one to three paragraphs in whether I will like the book. Actually, that's a pretty good indicator of the books I won't like. You can never know for sure about liking/loving a book until it ends; sometimes writers give up two-thirds of the way through and that's a HUGE disappointment you can't see coming.

Rob Guthrie

Karen Wodke: Three characteristics of books I like: 

• being drawn into the story right from the start

• when a story is handled in a unique way or deals with unusual material

• when a book is so well-written, it takes me away.

Scott Morgan: Good books need a strong storyteller's voice; to be true  to its internal universe; and to take chances. I don't want to read the same thing someone else wrote, I want to read a new idea, new way of seeing, new world.

What are some books that you weren't able to put down until you finished them? 

RS Guthrie: The last book I read I could not put down was Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn. I can never put any of his books down. Gun, With Occasional Music rocked my world! Dissident Gardens is just out and I have not read it yet.

Karen Wodke: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn; The Mothers by Vardis Fisher (about the doomed Donner party crossing); Evening News by Marly Swick; The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien; Life-Size by Jenefer Schute.

What other books have these characteristics?

RS Guthrie: Anything by James lee Burke. In fact, he's the master of melding both elements (literary style with great characters). All of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series (21 books). Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, If I Die In A Combat Zone, and Going After Cacciato.

Karen Wodke: The books I mentioned are very different in style from each other. What they have in common is a compelling story. It would be impossible to list all the other books that share this characteristic. I like Dean Koontz, JA Konrath, earlier Stephen King, earlier James Patterson, Wally Lamb, Robert Heinlein, and a number of indie authors. The books I most enjoy reading share the following characteristics: interesting plot, descriptions that are appropriate to the story, a unique style of writing, and a steady pace.

Scott Morgan: All good books have these characteristics (a strong storyteller's voice; true  to its internal universe; and to take chances). Best examples for me are (fiction) Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg and (nonfiction) The Trouble with Tom by Paul Collins.

Scott Morgan

Do you consciously try to emulate these books? 

RS Guthrie: When I first read James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series, I knew I had found my voice. Until then I kept flip-flopping between a more literary style versus deep, engaging characters and a lot of great dialogue (something you don't find in "literary" books). Burke showed me that the two can not only coexist but enhance each other and make for a compelling read. Primarily that affects my characters, dialogue, and definitely word choice. You need to be sparsely descriptive. Yes, describe the surrounding stage so the reader can smell it, see it, feel it, but don't take thirteen pages to do so. And dialogue, for me, is key. Good, engaging dialogue is the best way I know to show your character rather than tell him/her to the reader.

Karen Wodke: I don’t think I consciously try to emulate any other book. That said, a good book inspires me to work on improving particular elements in my own writing. For instance, reading Gillian Flynn has made me want to come up with

Karen Wodke

better similes and metaphors; she’s brilliant at both. She also has a very distinctive voice. A skill I admire in Stephen King is the ease with which he tells a story. Opening one of his books is like settling into a favorite chair. I admire the way Koontz pulls a reader in from the first page. And some thriller authors write such clean, tight plots; I can’t help but be impressed. There are important things to be learned from any well-written book.

You know what they say: easy reading is damn hard writing.

Scott Morgan: I try to emulate the writers more so than the books. writers like Brian Hodge always come up with incredible ways to tell stories that are not limited to single books. If I'm borrowing from books, it's usually inn how the writer constructs his/her universe with as little detail as possible. Great writers can put you in their heads but let you keep your own eyes.