Steering into the Skid, aka Reader's Block

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There's another snowstorm threatening the northeast, which means an amount of snow such as above will be dumped upon me. Which is good, because I love snow, but the downside of that is...I'm not reading anything. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Goose eggs. New books? Meh. Old books? Meh. Favorite books? Not now, kthanx. Closest I can come is the Somerset Studio family of magazines, which while they do contain information and inspiration for art, are mostly really pretty pictures.

Normally, I will stomp around in a circle and grouse when these reading blocks hit, but this time, I'm trying something different. I'm steering into the skid, as it were. I'm not reading? Okay, fine. I'm not reading. I'm not going to try to read. I am not going to spend fruitless evenings pawing through my TBR shelves or keeper crates, only to come up with a heartfelt "meh." I am not going to wander unfamiliar sections of the bookstore, plucking random volumes from the shelves and putting them back, only to return to my beloved romance section and hoping in vain there has been a total turnover of stock in the five minutes I have been away.

I love historical romance and that's my home and I'm not leaving. I've tried other genres and they don't give me the same return. If I could grab the gritty feel from the covers of urban fantasy books and smush that into a historical romance book's content, I would be happy as a pig in slop.

Right now, I'm tired of series, and they seem to be everywhere. I want to read one book. One book. One hero, one heroine, one HEA. No spinoffs, no sequels. On to something new. Regency is fine when it's one choice among many, but too many too close and for me, they start to blur. In which case, taking a break is a good thing.

I have other stuff to do. Writing, of course, and I have art, and Sims and I've been watching more TV lately. Bones and How I Met Your Mother are doing more for my romance fix than some books these days, so I'm indulging in many reruns.

The reading urge will return at some point but I'm not going to force or rush it. It will come as it will come. My books will be waiting.

On My TBR shortlist and a question

It's no secret that my TBR pile has long since passed "pile" and is now "cases."

Fighting for top spot at the moment are:
The Surrender of a Lady by Tiffany Clare

-I've been slavering over this one since I first read a blog by the author discussing the premise. Heroine sold into a harem to cover her late husband's debts and having the experience make her stronger? :makes grabby hands:

Scoundrel by Zoe Archer

This is the second installment in her Blades of the Rose quartet, preceded by Warrior. While I am not normally interested in paranormal romances, these read more like adventures than paranormals, strictly, and the promise of an Indiana Jones style read and exotic settings caught my interest. Also will have to hunt down her entry in the anthology Half Past Dead.

A Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore

- I am a sucker for a Christmas set story where emotions run high. Since the prior two books in this expanded Regency era world had lots of angst and tangley hearts, I'm betting this will as well. Is early October too soon for a Christmas book, though?

Of course, any of these can get tossed by the wayside to wait their turn as soon as I get my mitts on The Border Vixen by Bertrice Small. Since my birthday is in October and there's always a new Small historical in October, that's my traditional gift to me (though if family members want to beat me to it, by all means, do. )

Since one of the exercises I have in my From Fanfiction to Fantastic Fiction class involves spotting common threads, the first thing that came to mind with the above is that all are linked to other books. Even the debut title. I've had several reader friends ask me if I know of any currently published historical romances that are not in series, and that's making me go "hmm."

So far, I have four titles in electronic release and none of them are linked in any way. All are in different times and locations. That reflects my reading preferences as well. If a book is all on its own, no spinoffs, sequels, prequels, companions, etc, that will catch my attention faster than a book that's linked to something else. This sort does seem to be in short supply these days, but with time crunchy for a lot of us, and the economy as it is, with book costs more than they used to be, there is also an appeal in being able to pick up a book and knowing one doesn't need a scorecard, family tree or a hunting expedition to pick up X, Y and Z' s "own book."

While much has been written on the appeal of connected books - being able to revisit what's already familiar is a biggie- I'm interested to see what readers like about trying something new. What makes a successful standalone to you?