Thursday, January 14, 2010

A Family Affair

My family is extremely supportive of the writing thing. My mom reads everything I write. One of my aunts is one of my beta readers. Even my grandparents have been known to page through my books. And then there's my dad. He doesn't read romance generally (being more of a Robert Ludlum/Ken Follett reader) and, well, he's my dad, so I'd just as soon he not read the racy scenes I write. But he finds other ways to be wonderfully supportive.

I discuss my works in progress with my mother, describing the characters, the setting, the plotlines I'm planning in my head. But my dad's involvement comes a bit later in the process. He's an engineer and a businessman. He likes the numbers and the linear, analytical side of things. He wants to know about percentages, royalties, list prices, ratings, distribution and everything about writing that can be quantified.

My father loves lists. At any given moment on any given day, he is a dozen times more likely than I am to know what my Amazon sales ranking for each of my books is. He knows when the My Bookstore & More list refreshes each night. If I call to tell him about some list I hit, he already knows. It's pretty awesome.

So in honor of lists, I'm giving away a stack of books by some ladies who've made much more important lists than little ole me. Bestsellers UP FOR GRABS, y'all.

These books are going to one commenter (w/US mailing addy) who tells me who their favorite author is. I'm always on the lookout for new awesomeness, so recommend me someone awesome. (And absolutely no telling me it's me. There will be no sucking up, people! I wouldn't believe you anyway.)

16 comments:

KELLY FITZPATRICK said...

Will your dad adopt me?

Vivi Andrews said...

LOL. He might adopt your sales rankings when Lily in Wonderland is out on Amazon.

This morning he told me I got another reader review on Amazon for Serengeti Heat. He knew before I did and was all excited because the reviewer called me a good writer. Yep, my dad's awesome.

Maria said...

I don't have just one favorite, I have favorites for each genre and even the genre's have sub- catagories. I will say that I have all of the Laurell K. Hamilton books and all of the Lora Leigh Breed Series books and also her Elite Ops books. I will admit that I don't have all of yours but
I do like your Serengeti series and have those.

Fedora said...

A new-ish favorite is Ann Aguirre/Ava Gray. A not-so-new to me favorite is Sarah Mayberry--her writing is sooooo good. And hey, you can't say that you aren't people's favorite author! You may not believe them, but as long as they do, there it is.

Please don't enter me, but thanks for sharing with your readers! And thanks for writing!

Beth said...

I have so many that I read over and over. In sci-fi my absolute fave is Anne McCaffrey.
Otherwise, it's Shelly Laurenston, Christine Warren, Robin D. Owens, J.R. Ward, Christine Feehan, Kerrelyn Sparks, Lynsay Sands, Mary Janice Davidson and Bianca D'Arc just to name a few. Can you tell I prefer paranormal?

Jennifer Mathis said...

I have so many fav. this is hard of course my love of romance started with Johanna Lindsey so

Karin said...

My all time favorite author will always be Jane Austen. I love all of her works and have multiple copies of a few of them used for various courses I've taken.

My newest favorite author, though, is James Rollins. I've read everything he's put out under that pseudonym except for his most recent release that came out on December 29th. I plan to pick that one up with the B&N gift card I got for Christmas. And I may throw in one of the books written under one of his other pseudonyms.

Judy said...

Oh I have so many favorite authors. My favorite along time ago would have been Anne Rice, but now I would say Laurell Hamilton.
I love most all romance genre writers (just ask my pocket book) :)

Sounds like your Dad is your number one fan!!

Vivi Andrews said...

May I just say you all have excellent taste? :) You're mentioning a lot of my auto-buy authors - Laurell K. Hamilton, Lora Leigh's Breeds, Keri Arthur, Christine Warren, & Jane Austen (classic!). Anne McCaffrey was the author of the first book I ever stayed up all night reading and Johanna Lindsey was my first romance (back in the day!).

The others are officially going on The TBB List. Woohoo, new-to-me authors!

Misty Evans said...

Hi Vivi! No need to enter me in your contest, I just wanted to stop by. So cool that your family are all supportive of your writing!

Are you cleaning out your closets, giving away all your books???

BTW, besides you and Kay Chambers, one of my favorite Samhain authors is Keith Melton. :)

Hugs,
Misty
www.readmistyevans.com
www.twitter.com/readmistyevans

Anonymous said...

I am an avid reader but I never pass up a Sandra Brown. However, a couple of authors I discovered write really good books I liked were Toni McGee Causey and Penny McCall.
JOYE
JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com

Linda Henderson said...

I do have a few favorites. I always buy the new J.D.Robb/Nora Roberts books, I enjoy Susan Mallery, Carly Phillips, Cynthia Eden, and for an older favorite Victoria Holt. Her and Mary Stewart were my introductions to the suspense books.

Juniper Bell said...

Vivi, you are so lucky to have such a supportive family. My family has no idea what MBaM is, and only the vaguest clue about Amazon. But they're supportive in a distant kind of way.

My favorite authors are Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I love many other authors, but it's hard to unseat those three!

You don't have to enter me ... but please do ... no, really I shouldn't ... ;)

zina said...

Hello Vivi,
Some of my favorites are Sabina Jefferies, Karen Marie Moning, Angela Knight, Janet Chapman, Shalya Black, Lorelei James, Beth Williamson, Hannah Howell, Karen Erickson, Jess Dee, Viv Arend, oh my goodness the list keeps going like the energizer bunny
Zina

Stacey Smith said...

My Fave for Paranormal is Christine Feehan and my Fave Time travel Book Author is Lynn Kurland and My Fave Historical Author is Hannah Howell I could go on if you want.
sasluvbooks@yahoo.com

Vivi Andrews said...

Okay, this was way too much fun (for me at least). I love talking book-love all day. I have such a pretty list of authors to check out! And now...

THE WINNER IS: Linda Henderson!

Congrats! Please email me your snail mail addy at vivi@viviandrewscom. My shelves will be lighter in a couple days! :)