Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Guest Blogger Nalini Singh



Nalini Singh has traveled as far afield as the deserts of China and the temples of Japan. However, it is the journey of the imagination that fascinates her the most. Currently writing the next book in her bestselling Psy/Changeling series—about a psychic race with no emotions, and the sensual changelings who challenge their perfect Silence—she can be found via her website: www.nalinisingh.com/ or hanging out at her blog: www.nalinisingh.blogspot.com.

H
er newest release is CARESSED BY ICE, which comes out today!



Y'all give a big playground welcome to Nalini Singh!



Loving to Read

I love to read. I truly, deeply love to read. In the movie Sabrina, the heroine says that her father became a chauffeur so he’d have more time to read. That’s one of my favorite lines in the movie—because I understand that kind of love for the written word. As a child living on a tiny dot of an island in the Pacific, one of the highlights of my week was the book bus. I used to eye the adult side of that bus covetously—I really wanted to read those books with no pictures in them!

These days, I have lots and lots and lots of books. There are books on the shelves, stacked on the floor, propped on my desk, tucked in my bag...so many books everywhere. I love the feeling of just looking around, figuring out what I’m in the mood for and diving in. I always feel like a child let loose in a candy store.

My reading choices fluctuate with my mood, but this year, for the first time, I’ve started keeping a record of what I’m reading, and that’s turned into fascinating reading on its own. For example, there’s a section of the list that’s all rereads, one after the other. I went through a patch where only the tried and true worked. That pattern broke after I read a new-to-me author.

I’ve also noticed that I’m reading a whole bunch of debut authors. Some of this is because people I know have had their first books come out, but a lot of it is curiosity. As a reader, I want to try things, want to make up my own mind—especially about books that get a lot of buzz (negative or positive).

I think, as writers, reading is built into our genes. It’s the rare writer who doesn’t also read thousands of books over their lifetime. Personally, I think reading is necessary. Not just in terms of ‘work’, to keep up with what’s happening in your genre, but because it serves to pamper the creative side of the brain. Think of it as a treat for the mind.

Which recent books proved to be delicious treats for you? Are there any that you’re anticipating with bated breath? And just because I’m the curious type, how many books do you think you read over the course of a year?

Everyone who comments goes into a draw to win a signed copy of either Slave to Sensation or Visions of Heat, the first books in my Psy/Changeling series. (If you’d prefer one of my Sil Desire books, let me know.) And talking about prizes, I have this competition running on my blog where you can go into the draw to win a $50 Amazon voucher. It closes Sunday, so enter before it’s too late.


P.S. from PC: Sometime on Monday, the Writing Playground blog passed the 60k mark for blog visitors! SQUEEEE!!!

39 comments:

Playground Monitor said...

I discovered Suzanne Brockmann this year and after reading one of her SEAL books, I was among the crowd awaiting her latest, FORCE OF NATURE. Now I'm waiting for the Christmas novella she has coming out the end of October.

I keep a list of the books I've read and I average about 80 books a year. I read more books before I began writing. I'll have a spell where I read lots, then I won't read much at all. I took Labor Day weekend off to read and read a Brockmann book on Saturday and Sunday, and I began Linda Howard's latest yesterday.

And a great big welcome to Nalini! We've "known" each other online for several years and finally got to meet in person in Dallas this year.

PM

Lis said...

Viva Las Bad Boys by HelenKay Dimon's definitely been a good read lately. Also Revenge of The Homecoming Queen by Stephanie Hale (its YA) As for ones coming out, looking forward to the new Jill Shalvis, my mind's drawing a blank on the others lol

I've been keeping track a little more the last couple years of what I read and I'm averaging about 70 books/year. There's weeks where I read nothing then others where I go through 3 or 4 at a time :o)

Anonymous said...

The most delicious books for me are by Deborah Smith. I read When Venus Fell at least once a year. What I'm most looking forward to is Lisa Kleypas historical Mine till Midnight and her new contemp next year Blue Eyed Devil...I would kill for an ARC. I don't know how many books I read a year,conservatively at least 3 a month...I'm a slow reader.:-)

Stacy S said...

I just finished Riding The Storm by Sydney Croft & it was great. Better than I thought it would be. I have no ideal how many books I read a year. Atleast 100 maybe, not really sure.

Nalini Singh said...

Hey folks! Thanks for the welcomes :) I'm off to bed soon (it's the end of Tues in New Zealand), but I'll catch up with you all when I wake!

Hey PM! :)

Lis - it's funny what patterns you find, isn't it?

Carol - I'm going crazy waiting for JD Robb's next book. MUST. HAVE.

Stacy - it's quite fun keeping track. I never did before and I'm quite enjoying it.

Anonymous said...

I had the pleasure of meeting Nalini in Dallas also. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to talk, but I'm sure we'll see each other again.

I also read Force of Nature by Suzanne Brockmann and loved it (like all her books). I've also finished a couple of ARCs, Unlucky by Jana DeLeon, funny stuff and now reading Sex and the Immortal Bad Boy by Stephanie Rowe, Satan's minions that you just gotta love.

Last year I read over 300 books, but I also listen to audios. Because of the blog this year, my reading has been greatly reduced. That is wrong on so many levels.

Unknown said...

Hidden Agenda by Lora Leigh and Wild, Wicked, and Wanton by Jaci Burton. I'm looking forward to Nauti Nights by Lora Leigh. I have been keeping track this year of the books I have read. So far it is 70 books.

Problem Child said...

I never thought of keeping track of what I read...and I read pretty darn fast so who knows how many books I read in a year.

Sadly, I don't think I'll be reading much for a while (ahem, SP.)

Anonymous said...

Good morning.

If I am lucky I get to read 2 a week - sometimes more - so I would have to say 75 a year.

Am looking forward to:
Sherryl Woods Mending Fences
Janelle Dension - Born to be Wilde
Anna Jeffrey - Sweet Return
Lucy Monroe - Deal with This
Carly Phillips - Sealed with a Kiss
Just to name a few.

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

Hey, Nalini. Welcome to the Playground. It was good to finally meet you in person at Nationals this year. It always weird though to meet someone you "know" online and then see them in person. Awkward, somehow.

I can't say how many books I read in a year because it always changes. I'd squeeze in as many as I could around my honors high school classes, then my overloaded college and grad school schedules. I got to read at work when I was in college because I worked at the front desk of my dorm. Easiest $5.25 ever. :) Once I got out of school and started working full time, I started writing. If I read as much as I wanted to - maybe 50 books a year. Sadly, I've been averaging somewhere around 20 with a TBR stack three feet high. I've been smack in the middle of HP7 for weeks.

Sigh...

I read your first few desires but the paranormal line is new to me. What prompted you to start writing in such a different genre?

SP

Kati said...

Hi Nalini - I know, I know, I'm following you. ;o)

Ladies, if you're not reading Nalini's Psy/Changeling series, you definitely should! They are wonderful books!

Last book I read that I really loved? Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's this wonderful story (nonfiction) of a year of the author's life. She travels to Italy, India and Indonesia. It's so beautifully written and very self-aware.

On the romance front, I recently read Eloisa James' Desperate Duchesses. It was gorgeously written. It's kind of "romance for smart chicks" as Michelle B. says. The prose is gorgeous and the characters so finely drawn. I really enjoyed it.

I'm so glad you're here, Nalini. And, really, I'm probably going to stop following you. Probably. ;o)

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

Welcome to the playground, Nalini!

I've been on a reading binge lately. For me it's like feast or famine - if I'm writing I generally have a hard time reading especially in the line or genre I'm working on.

I've recently read Shiver and Spice by Kelley St. John, Tangled up in You by Rachel Gibson, Overexposed by Leslie Kelley and Underneath It All by Lori Borrill. All of them were fantastic!

Instigator

Angel said...

Hey, Nalini! Glad you joined us on the blog today.

I'm like Instigator. When I'm writing intensely, I don't read much. I just feel too guilty. :( I think I should be writing instead. Often during those times I'll read old favorites, like Linda Howard's Shades of Twilight.

Recently, I've snuck in a couple of romantic suspense. I especially enjoyed Deb Webb's Traceless and Gay Wilson's Suicide Club.

I'm most looking forward to Linda Howard's newest, which I plan to treat myself to next weekend.

Angel

CrystalGB said...

I thought that Elizabeth Hoyt's The Raven Prince and The Leopard Prince were great reads and J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books were fantastic. I am looking forward to your book, The Serpent Prince, Lover Unbound, and Julia London's The Dangers of Deceiving a Viscount.

Katherine Bone said...

So glad you came to play, Nalini! Your books sound awesome and I can't wait to read them. What inspired you to come up with the psy/changling idea and has anyone told you the hero on the cover of Caressed by Ice looks like Mark Walberg? :-)

I'm finishing up Unmasked by Colette Gale. Recently I've read Shiver and Spice by Kelley St. John. Most of my time is spent reading research material for historicals I'm writing. I used to read passionately, but now feel tugged between researching and writing. And if I'm not doing either one of those, guilt, my aged old friend, descends. Oddly, I just saw a report that stated 1 in 4 haven't read a single book in a given year.

That deplorable news aside, what plans do you have for projects in the future?

Kathy

Playground Monitor said...

Oh Mary Kate! I heard a blurb on the radio about Eat, Pray, Love, and there's a concept from that (or at least the radio commentator said it was from the book) that I'll be blogging on tomorrow.

As for keeping a list of what I read... PC doesn't keep a list of what she's read? Color me stunned!

I started my list back in 2001 when I discovered romance and began devouring books. It is a simple Word table with the title and author, the month/year I read it, what kind of book is is (category, single title, non-fic, etc) and the month/date of publication.

PM

Anonymous said...

Hi Barbara - how lovely to "see" you again. :)

Amy S - I love Lora Leigh's Breed series, just love them.

SP - why less reading? Curious minds want to know...

Pat L - do you read whole books at once or are you a nibbler? I used to read in chunks but now I nibble so I can read more.

Hi SP :) I've always had an interest in paranormal stuff. I've written previous single title manuscripts, so the interest was always there. Just took a while to coalesce into what became Slave to Sensation.

Thanks Instigator!

MaryKate - I'm so glad you're here! :)

Angel, I'm the same - I tend to focus on writing, then have a reading break when the draft is done or the edits are completed etc.

Crystalg - that's a great list you've got. I hope you enjoy my book!

Hi Kathy - yep, lots of folks. He does look a bit like him doesn't he? The Psy/Changeling idea just came to me - I sat down and I could see these two characters and wham, I was away.

For the future, I've got this series, and another that'll debut in 2009.

Anonymous said...

Oops, that first SP should actually have been PC - I'm confuzzled. Must go find some caffeine!

Kati said...

Marilyn - It's an extraordinary book. Seriously amazing. It completely effected the way I think about faith. In a good way.

She's a terrific writer.

So, Nalini, wanna give us a tease about Clay's book? Hmmmmm????

Anonymous said...

Oh I love Clay's book, just love it. Let's just say that Tally's got his number ;)

Cathy M said...

I am looking forward to the new Joey Hill this month and Shelley Laaurenston, Mane Event. One of my favorite August reads was Edge of Midnight by Shannan McKenna and Riding the Storm by Sydney Croft. I probably read about 15 books a month including ebook format, so about 180 books a year!!! Wow, that sounds really high.

Kati said...

Nalini - I love how taciturn Clay is. I'm assuming Tally will be taking care of that issue!

I'm looking forward to seeing Clay get his butt kicked by a girl! LOL!

Eva said...

I've just read The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt and I'm looking forward to the new Julie Garwood Shadow Music. I probably read well over 100 books a year!

Ashley said...

I actually keep track of things like this. Last year I read somewhere around 200 books. This year I have been more busy so so far I'm at around 100.

Good books I've read lately were The Irish Devil by Diane Whiteside, yummy. My Immortal by Erin McCarthy. I really enjoyed that one, it was a great change to the paranormal genre.

I'm looking forward to so many books I couldn't begin to name them all.

tetewa said...

I discovered Colleen Gleason's The Gardella Vampire Chronicles (Love this series so far and I'm waiting for the next release) I also read Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day. (Posideon warriors series) I have an ARC of Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson that I will be starting soon. As you can see I'm a reader of many different genres and read probably over a 100 books a year. I love to discover new authors and series.

Anonymous said...

Cathy, I have Joey Hill's Vampire Queen's Servant and it looks really good.

MaryKate - oh yeah, Tally's more than ready to tangle with this leopard.

Eva - I want to make it to a 100! And I'm really looking forward to the new historical Julie Garwood is writing. I love her historicals.

Ashley, wow 200?! That's so awesome.

Tetewa, that CL Wilson book looks really tempting. I'm waiting until both books are out since I believe they're a continous series?

Cherie J said...

I just recently read Unbound by Lori Devoti and Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day and they were both very good. I read about two books a week so I would have to say I read over 100 a year. I used to read more before the kiddies came along. Nalini, my sister leant me a copy of Slave to Sensation and I loved it so much that I had to get a copy of Visions of Heat aand that was awesome as well. I am hoping to get a copy of Caressed by Ice this weekend if the kids cooperate and allow me time to get to go to the bookstore. The baby is teething so I will have to see.

Amanda Ashby said...

BK - before kids - I used to read about 2-3 books a week but these days it's gone down to about 1 every 2-3 weeks if I'm lucky. Right now I'm reading Emily Gee's The Thief with No Shadow which I'm loving because I'm a huge fan of romance and fantasy and this one has both!!!! My favorite new reads of the last couple of years have been, Julie Kenner, Michelle Rowen and of course Nalini Singh!!!!

Jenny Schwartzberg said...

I tend to read 5 or more books a week and often much more so I may read 200-300 books a year. A lot of rereads, especially of Nalini's Psy/Changeling books. I got my hands on an ARC of CL Wilson's Lord of the Fading Lands and I say to all of you, go buy it when it appears on the stands. WONDERFUL! I read lots of romances, science fiction, fantasies, mysteries, children's books and history of children's literature.

I suppose I should keep a list of what I read. I'm doing that for history of children's literature with notes about the individual books but could extend that to everything else...

I have books piled everywhere so Nalini's comment struck a bell with me. Also, Nalini, what island on the Pacific did you live on as a child? I'm curious!

Jenny

Carol M said...

I love the In Death series by J.D. Robb and I read a lot of Nora's other books. I like Deborah Smith's books, too! Shirley Tallman's series is very good. I probabably read 50 to 60 books a year.

Problem Child said...

Less reading in the near future because Smarty Pants and I are having a little writing challenge. If I wanna win, I gotta write!

Anonymous said...

Cherie J - pass on my thanks to your sis for introducing you to my world :) Hope you can find CBI this weekend!

Amanda, you're a sweetheart. And Emily's book is awesome. So dark and twisted...and she looks so innocent. Hmmm....

Jenny, wow, that's a lot of books! As for me, I was born on Fiji. :)

Carol - yay, another JD Robb fan. Have you caught up with the series? I've read everything so now I wait with baited breath for each new installment.

PC - ah, I see. Should I tell SP you're playing on the blog> ;)

catslady said...

Congratulations Playground on 60K visitors!

I recently found Jodi Picoult and have read 6 or 7 of her books this year. I also look forward to anything by Julie Garwood. I really can't put a number on how many books - statistics can be funny. If I'm reading 100-200 page books it can be quite a few. But if I'm reading 800 page books that are more involved, it doesn't sound like much. I can say thugh that I read every day :)

Anonymous said...

I could never keep up to the ones who read 100-200/year. My goodness. I am reading Denise Patrick's Adopting Alyssa and Barbara Samuel's No Place Like Home; love these books.

robynl

ShellBell said...

Hi Nalini ... I've read 115 books so far this year - sounds impressive, but some of them have just been re-reads and some have been short stories.

I've probably bought the most books this year than any other simply because I now buy a lot of ebooks. Since buying my Palm, I have bought books from at least 20 authors that were new to me - including Lisa Kleypas, Cherry Adair, Jacquelyn Frank, Gena Showalter, Eve Vaughn, F.E. Heaton, Gaelen Foley, Lee Child and Shelly Laurenston. If it wasn't for my Palm, I simply wouldn't have bought some of those authors as I just don't have the bookcase space anymore. I find it easier to justify buying books now that I have my Palm, and I certainly can't complain about carrying around 250+ books on one little device!

Treats for me this year have been Elizabeth Vaughan (Chronicles of the Warlands trilogy), Christine Feehan (Dark Possession) Lisa Kleypas (Wallflower series) and most definitely Visions of Heat and Caressed By Ice (the Psy-Changling series just keeps getting better and better!)

Anonymous said...

Catslady, I think reading every day is a really good habit. I just have trouble putting the book down once I'm into it...but I'm trying!

Robynl - I don't think I'd catch up to these speedsters either.

Shell - thanks! And you have a list of great books there. Makes me want to buy even more. *grin*

Amy C said...

Hi Nalini!
Unfortunately, I started late enjoying the thrill a book gives me! I read here and there. Maybe 2 books a year. It wasn't until my son started kindergarten 3 years ago that I started reading everyday! Now I cannot imagine not having a book in hand!

I started keeping track of the books I have read in July. I was curious about how many books I year I do read. It'll be between 120 and 150 books per year!

That was a great blog Nalini! I enjoyed reading it.

Have a great day!
Amy

Shari C said...

I love to read and have the pleasure of reading 100+ books a year, mostly new stories, but also reread many favorites. My TBR stack seems to grow each month as I add to it, but I don't mind as they will all be read as time allows. This morning I was at my neighborhood bookstore and purchased Caressed by Ice (as I thoroughly enjoyed Slave to Sensation and Visions of Heat)and Wicked Magic by Cheyenne McCray. I also enjoy Lori Foster, Kim Harrison, Michele Hauf, MaryJanice Davidson, JR Ward and Debra Webb to name just a few. I love to discover new authors thru bookstore searches, the internet or word of mouth. Reading makes me happy and lets my imagination open to so many possibilities.

Anonymous said...

HI everyone :)

It's my first time here! I love books. My local radio station is currently holding a contest in which you have to offer one piece of advice that makes your day better...easy: reading! I've never worked out exactly how many books I read in a year...I'll have to start counting :)

I'm hanging out for Caressed by Ice (obviously :) - fingers crossed it arrives in NZ soon Nalini! I'm also looking forward to Lover Unbound (JR Ward) and the new Katie MacAlister book...plus I've finally discovered JD Robb - I only have 17 books to go :)

Have a lovely day everyone!

orannia