Monday, March 1, 2010

Inspiring Reads

STICKY NOTE: Winner of drawing for a copy of Can't Stand the Heat is Armenia! Please email me at Wynter Daniels @ gmail.com (no spaces)

I was cleaning out my exploding book collection the other day when I came across some favorites. Books I’d never dream of parting with, books that (probably subconsciously) inspired me to write erotic romance. I never realized before that I’ve been reading erotic books long before I ever considered writing anything. So, for your hot reading pleasure, I thought it would be nice to share these before-their-time hot reads.

The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon. Wow – this was the very first book I read with a sex scene in it and it blew me away. Well, me and the other five girls in my bunk at summer camp. We read it by flashlight amid giggles and swoons. And in truth, we just hopped from one sex scene to the next because that was all we wanted to know about. I read the book in its entirety a few years later and it hooked me on Sidney Sheldon for many years to come.

The Happy Hooker by Xaviera Hollander. I have no idea how I got my hands on this one because I remember reading it when I was barely in high school. In fact, it’s been so long since I read it, I think I will re-read it very soon;-) From what I remember, it is supposed to be an autobiographical account of Ms. Hollander's experiences as a high class call girl.

The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice (writing as A. N. Roquelaure). If you’ve never read these extremely explicit books chock full of S&M, you’re in for a completely different twist on the fairy tale of the same name. The series follows Beauty from awakening kiss (which turns out to be way more than a kiss) through her journey as a sex slave.

The memory of all these steamy reads waited patiently in the back of my mind, biding their time until I became an erotic romance author.

Do you have any books that inspired your reading or writing passions?

BTW - The cover above is my first one from Ellora's Cave. I really like it!

To celebrate the release of Can’t Stand the Heat today and Playing with Barbie next week, I will give away a copy of Can’t Stand the Heat to one commenter! Good luck.

12 comments:

Savannah Stuart said...

Pretty much all of Linda Howard's books inspired me as a reader. I'd grown up reading romance but when I discovered her, I realized there was a such thing as 'romantic suspense'. Then I was hooked on the genre :) Love the new cover!

Wynter said...

Thanks, Savannah. I love that cover too. Linda Howard is great! Another inspiration.

Cara McKenna said...

My favorite writer of all time is George Orwell—if you haven't read Down and Out in Paris and London or Clergyman's Daughter, you are deprived. Not romance, that's for sure, but his books make me long to be 1/1,000th as good as he was. Ditto Naguib Mahfouz.

Alexander McCall Smith inspires me again and again with his lovably flawed characters and ability to suck you into the charming, epic drama he infuses the tiniest everyday vignettes with, especially in the Scotland Street stories.

Stephanie Adkins said...

Nan Ryan has inspired me for years. I think I own every one of her books. LOL Congrats on the release, Wynter! I wish you a ton of sales! *Hugs*

Wynter said...

Thanks for all the recommended reads! I can't wait to dig in;-)

Armenia said...

Thanks for the recommendations. I came across Ann Rice's Sleeping Beauty and didn't even explore it.

My first exposure was Rosemary Roger's Sweet Savage Love while I was still in high school. LOL, I remember some pretty steamy parts!!

Wynter said...

Thanks for stopping by, Armenia. Funny how those hot novels we read in high school stay with us!

Jina Bacarr said...

I'm also a Sidney Sheldon fan, Wynter.

Re: inspiration: Time and Again by Jack Finney--a first person time travel back to 1882 New York. It's a love story as well as a fine piece of historical fiction.

Wynter said...

I haven't heard of that one, Jina - thanks. Another book to read. I can feel the pile growing!

Michelle Polaris said...

I think my last blog recalled some very hot series from my younger years by Sharon Green. Even then I liked my sexy reading to be fantastical. But I remember returning again and again in middle school to passages of Valley of the Horses by Jane Auel because they were very sexually explicit. That was the sequel to Clan of the Cave Bear. These authors are not my writing inspiration per se, outside of examples of complex world-building, but they definitely inspired interest in other sexy material.

Sherry said...

When I was in school one of my friends loaned me her copy of the Happy Hooker I think that I was to way to young to be reading it then. To of my favorite authors that I love are Jayne Ann Krentz and Linda Howard when I read their books I fell like I'm in the books.

sstrode@scrtc.com

Dalton Diaz said...

I admit that I own the Sleeping Beauty series. Oh yeah!

I have hundreds and hundreds of books on my keeper shelves. Every single book ever written by some authors, and singles from others.

If I had to pick one, tho, it would be Suzanne Brockmann. Not only for her writing skill, but for her dedication to helping authors (& people in general!).