New Twitter Feed

As a writer, how much do you read? I read A LOT. There is a basket of books by my bed, a pile of books by my computer, and invariably a bag of library books hanging from the knob of the kitchen door. Then there are lists...books people have told me about, books I've heard about here and there, new books by authors who are old favorites. Shouldn't I be spending more time writing and less time reading? Hmmm. Writing is usually my end of the day relaxer. The luxury I allow myself before I go to sleep. Although last night I was up until 1:30 am because I just had to finish a book! Occassionally one of my teenagers (on summer vacation and blessed with part-time jobs that don't start until 3 pm) will appear at my bedroom door in the wee hours and stare at me hunched over the latest book, "Shouldn't you be asleep? Don't you have work in the morning?"

Yes, I have work in the morning...but I'm also working right now, at 1:30 am, pillows propped behind my head and a glass of lemonade in my hand (or hot chocolate--depending on the season). Reading other's words has taught me what I'm passionate about and what I can't picture myself writing. I'm passionate about books that delve the relationships women have with each other. I could see myself spending months (years?) writing a novel about women. On the other hand, I couldn't see myself writing a fantasy novel where I had to create an entire culture. The responsibility for an entire world overwhelms me. I've tired of books that start with the story's end and are all one big flashback. I love books that tie chapters together with something similiar: a piece of poetry, a letter, a recipe. I see what works and what doesn't work in dialogue by reading other's books. I revel in the books where you can recognize who is speaking simply by their words and am frustrated by books where you have to carefully keep track of the dialogue tags...Martha said, Georgine said, Angleline said...if you want to have any hopes of knowing who said what. In short I am learning with each book I read because I read like a writer. What can I learn from this writer?

Whether you read like a writer or just like to read you won't want to miss the new writers launching at WOW Blog Tours in the upcoming months! And as a complement to our WOW Blog Tours we're starting something new, a Twitter feed dedicated just to WOW Blog Tours. We'd love you to follow us @WOWBlogTour. We'll be keeping you updated daily about where our WOW authors are, giving you info about contests and special events, running month-long Tweet tours, even starting a Twitter book club. In the past all this info could be found at the @womenonwriting feed but now we'll be transferring all the WOW Blog Tour info to the new feed while @womenonwriting remains dedicated to The Muffin, the WOW Classroom and other great info for writers. Keep following @womenonwriting and add @WOWBlogTour so you can enjoy all the fun!