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What a great picture!

I can't imagine speaking before a crowd without that adreneline surge beforehand. Something to dream of, I guess...although I bet having a partner does help. Something to think about--never talk alone!

i loved hearing about this- wish i could've been there!

You guys look great! :)

You are now officially linked at readergirlz!

http://readergirlz.com/


http://readergirlz.com/links.html

It's a pleasure to be in this marketing group with you guys!

Waves back to Kristin.
:)

Great interview, Kristin. I'm definitely going to SCBWI next time.

And I agree about the joys of togetherness--I wouldn't have had the courage to start a blog or even think about promoting my book if it weren't for 2k8.

Hi Karen,

I think it is intrigue, curiosity, complexity of a plot or character. Is it twisted, detailed, elaborate or on the other hand does it speak to our emotional sides? Few men read an emotional book but if the writer is clever she/he wraps intrigue with an emotional side to appeal to both male & female--not always easy to do. If I had to pick one word to sum it up--it has to have intrigue for me to spend hours reading or writing it!
KDKimble

For me, if something sounds interesting either by the description (blurb) or someone having recommended the book. But then again, I've been fooled many a time by sounding interesting blurbs (a recent book I choose to review for a website sounded very interesting, but as I started reading the story, I realized by about page 5 or 10 maybe that this story was boring, was something I knew nothing about and the book is actually part of a series and I didn't know the characters because they had all be introduced in previuos stories and thereby I haven't a clue what is going on with them - I hate when that happens - that a story in a series picks up where the last one left off and you can't read it through without knowing the previous stories)

Piquing my interest is the best way to describe it.

I only read things like the labels and stuff out of boredom - lol - only kidding - because I know someone who is like that - reads everything she puts her hands on - regardless of what it is.

Glad to see you back to posting, Karen. Have missed you a bit (yeah, I know I've been the redheaded pesty stepchild at times - lol - but I'm trying to do better - lol). Am glad you are back though - E :)

Because my reading time is severely limited by work, family life and writing, I've become super-selective about what I read in my so-called spare time.

1. I will read authors I've read and liked before.
That's the single most important criterion. Repeat custom, you might call it.

2. I will read in the genres I enjoy: mystery, women's, modern lit, intelligent chick lit, history(although I write SF, you won't catch me reading it).

3. I will read books that mention issues or time periods I find interesting.

4. I will rely on friends' opinions and reviews.

5. Sometimes I'll come across an interesting book during an interview with an author or while reading a magazine.

6. dearreader.com sends me the first few pages of a book every week - I often go ahead and read the whole.

7. I try to read what my book club tells me to read, though I feel no guilt abandoning the choice for the month if it doesn't engage me (be it after the first sentence or halfway through the book).

I draft a post to my own blog about this very subject only moments ago.

I buy books as a brief escape from the real world, a peak into the human mind and to learn. Books that do all of this, such as Deborah Challinor's novels, are what makes a hit to me. It's what I try put into my own writing too.

Personally, when I have a chance to read for pleasure, I read what grabd my interest.

But even still, if the story line is good and the plot gripping, but the author's writing style clashes with me, I'll put it down. For me, it has to be all there.

Interest gets me to open the book, well written keeps me there, and a unique voice that wraps it all into one makes me tell others.