Branching out

I recently won a copy of The Demon In Me by Michelle Rowen from a contest on Margaret Fisk’s blog, and let me tell you, I’m very glad that I did. Normally, I don’t read paranormal novels, nor books that are classified as actually being romances, though I do tend to favour fantasies that have romantic relationships. Similar, but not the same thing.

Yet, The Demon In Me is classified as a paranormal romance, and while reading it, I realized the truth of something I had heard other writers mention. I really need to branch out in my reading and check out a lot of different genres. Who knows what I might end up learning, or what other amazing books I might find.

Mind you, I haven’t gleaned all that much insight from the book yet, I was mostly just reading it before bed for entertainment this time through, but that doesn’t mean that on a second reading I won’t pick up a few things. In fact, I KNOW that I will, because I remember having at least a couple ‘huh, that’s interesting’ moments while reading. Unfortunately, I can’t for the life of me remember what made me think that now.

The book definitely deserves a second reading, even if it wasn’t for the fact that I need to go back and figure out what those ‘huh’ moments were. Let’s put it this way: instead of finishing up packing and moving stuff last Wednesday morning (we only had our old apartment until Thursday), I spent three hours reading to finish the novel.

This is just one early example. What other out of genre or unusual places have you found that helps your writing? Or, for those who are non-writers, what book have you read outside of your normal realm that has really impressed you?