Hello everyone! I’m Thomas Winship, author of Vaempires: Revolution and Vaempires: White Christmas. Both books are part of a new ongoing vampire series that explores the question: what if vampires evolved?
As you might expect, I’m a voracious
reader. In fact, the only thing I dislike about writing is that it cuts into my
reading time. The numbers speak for themselves: in 2007 and 2008, while
writing my first (unpublished) novel, I read 83 and 138 books, respectively. In
2009 and 2010, when I did very little writing, the numbers were 240 and 318. In
2011, while writing both vaempires books, I read 85 books; the majority of
which were read in the first part of the year before I began writing in
earnest.
So, what do I read? Fiction, fiction,
and more fiction (fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and mysteries, mostly). I read for
pleasure, pure and simple, and fiction provides that. I’m a bit obsessive. My
library is four thousand books strong and continues to grow. There are
currently eighty authors of whom I buy and read everything they publish (alas,
none of them has read one of my books). I have spreadsheets that help me manage
it all.
And lists. I love lists. If you checked
out my blog during the end-of-year holidays, you saw lists and lists. One list
I didn’t share, however, was my list of favorite novels… so I’d like to share
that list—along with some related thoughts—with you:
#1. Stephen King – It. If you’ve never read it, you should.
Immediately. Don’t let the size scare you. If you were unfortunate enough to
see the movie, wipe it from your memory. The book is simply amazing. I’m still
waiting for a sequel, so if any of you know Mr. King…
I’ll offer #’s 2-10 in alphabetical
order by author:
·
Jack
Ketchum – The Girl Next Door. The most
disturbing, heart-breaking book I ever read. Not for the feint of heart.
·
Stephen
King – Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass. Poor
Roland. Poor Susan. I wish King had written the rest of the series from this
point forward. The comics are doing it now, but it’s not the same.
·
Stephen
King – The Stand. It could happen.
·
Stephen
King – The Talisman. More magical and
innocent than the sequel, yet still dripping with malice and danger. Will we
ever see a third book?
·
Phillip
Margolin – Heartstone. The twists at the end are masterful and unexpected.
·
Robert
McCammon – Swan Song. Post-apocalyptic
perfection.
·
Peter
Straub – Koko. Ghost Story gets all the acclaim,
but Koko is better.
·
JRR
Tolkien – The Lord of the Rings. Do I need to
say anything? Well, I do have one comment: the fact that Legolas, Gimli, and
Aragorn are not present when Frodo departs for the Undying Lands irks me as
much as Chewbacca not receiving a medal after the Battle of Yavin.
·
Timothy
Zahn – Heir To the Empire. Timothy Zahn saved
the Star Wars franchise. Mara Jade is the best Expanded Universe character ever
(and a top SW character, period). Whoever made the decision to kill her (and
whoever approved it) should be jettisoned out of the nearest airlock.
So, there you have it. My all-time
faves. I’d love to hear what yours are. Comment here, stop by my website, or
drop an email. I’d also love to hear from you if you check out Vaempires: Revolution. Below are some
links where you can find me:
As a final note: I’d like to thank all
of you for stopping in and offer a special thank you to Sandra for allowing me
to be a guest blogger.
Thanks again, Sandra. I'll stop in throughout the day to respond to any comments.
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