During school, I hated having my teachers tell me what I had to read. I chose instead to either not read the book and flub my way past the assignment or read it begrudgingly. After high school, I discovered how wonderful reading for pleasure was and got into so many different genres.

In the beginning, I loved horror. Stephen King and Dean Koontz were two of my favorites. I remember reading Salem's Lot and nearly coming out of my skin when the phone rang during one particularly scary part.

Then I got into romance. A friend gave me some Julie Garwood books. I remember loving her heroines for being quirky and different, but still managing to be swept off their feet. After reading Voyager, by Diana Gabaldon, I was entranced. Her heroine going back in time was one of the influences for my own series.

Of course, serial killer, thriller books were always a favorite. Ever since I read Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, I couldn't get enough of their main character Aloysius Pendergast. Now, there was a book I couldn't put down.

Nowadays, I read lots of different types of books: James Rollins and his Sigma Force novels, Dan Brown, Elizabeth Hoyt and her wonderful fairy tale books. I recently finished the whole series of Anita Blake novels by Laurell K Hamilton. Sometimes I just go to the library and pick up whatever cover interests me.

Needless to say, I am trying to encourage my children's love of reading too. No, they won't get to read any of my books for a long, long time (if ever), but we do collect some wonderful children's books that we read every night before bed. My son is already published in a book through his first grade class. What parent doesn't love the idea of their children following in their footsteps.