Great. Reads.

I took the last couple of weeks to write about new releases I think my readers would like, but I thought I'd take today to share with you my greatest literary loves. It inspired me just to write the post, these men and women are so good, and I hope it'll inspire you to share the writers and books you've loved over the years with me. Here they are in no particular order, the men and women who've influenced me more than any other authors, dead or living.

Diana Gabaldon – The OUTLANDER series.

It's the 20th anniversary of the first book in this sprawling historical saga, and I envy you if you've not read it yet. I saw that it's being sold for as low as $8.99 and I couldn't believe it. A book you'll remember forever for less than coffee and a snack? Seriously?

This author taught me more about writing than anyone, and was a source of encouragement to me before I was published. She, too, is amazingly generous, impossibly skillful, and Many Other Superlatives. Read her. Weep.

Dennis Lehane – author of so many things I love that I can't keep count. I started out with his Kenzie/Gennaro P.I. series, with A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR and went on to read all his single titles (MYSTIC RIVER anyone?) and finally his epic historical A GIVEN DAY, which shows this writer can do anything. The man is word-drunk. He loves the craft and language and it shows on every page. His short stories are perfection, and short stories are hard. I reread all of his books too – it helps remind me why I write.

Janet Fitch. This woman is so word precise that it can take her half a decade to write a novel. WHITE OLEANDER was her breakout novel but I have a great love for PAINT IT BLACK, and whenever I'm struggling with wooden prose and feel it needs to be elevated, I pull out one of her books, open it to anywhere, and the world is suddenly righted.

Of course, then I'm presented with the task of having to pull myself out of her world, but that's my struggle, not hers. She is perfection.

Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb. Man, if you don't know about this woman's blatent storytelling skills and passion and drive, you are missing out. I tend to like my heroines and worlds a bit dark (No kidding, right?) so I have a raging love affair with her Robb/In Death series (and Roarke, OMG, can you say Roarke?!) starting with NAKED IN DEATH. Yet it was her Roberts trilogies that made me want to write a series – I loved following the interconnected characters. Additionally, her yearly standalones are as high concept, fast-paced and satisfying as anything I've ever read. I admire Roberts as a person/woman/writer, but I love her books. I think you will too.

Laura Lippman writes with such heart that I think if I knew her in real life I would follow her everywhere. And though she writes about dark and disturbing subjects in her stand-alone suspenses, she does it with such grace and connection. I write for that connection, too – author to reader and back again (it's not at all one way, you know) – so I respond to other authors who do the same. Her Tess Monaghan P.I. series starts with BALTIMORE BLUES (She's very much a Baltimore writer in the same sense that Lehane is a Boston writer. Their cities are characters in their books, and their passion for those cities is evident.) but I adore sinking into her stand-alones. I'D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE may be my favorite. Again, she has such tremendous heart.

I'm working my way through Megan Abbott's works, but her voice sinks into my head and grows claws. It's dark and gritty and won't let go. I can recommend QUEENPIN without qualification, it's just dense with sensory stimulation and invisible craftsmanship. I saw it because I was looking, and damn. She's good.

Finally, a writer many don't know about, which is shameful because her first novel was an Edgar award winner: OFFICER DOWN. Theresa Schwegel writes police procedurals with dark, flawed and fierce female protagonists (sound familiar?) this, too, is a writer who gets it. She crafts books that stay with you, and if you read one, you'll read them all. She's outstanding.

There are so many more, but these are the writers who inspire me to write and dream and grow and be – because, ultimately, all good writing is about connection. We're all in this together, whether we live in Sandman Slim's apocalyptic LA, Schwegel's gritty Chicago, or with Gabaldon's 18th century Highlanders.

Let me know how you like any of these authors if you try them (and I do hope you do – I love to share my great loves) and let me know what authors speak passionately to you as well. I'm always looking for a new, glorious connection.

P.S. If anyone is reading this post, or previous ones, on Goodreads, please forgive my lack of reply. I've set up the account, but haven't figured out how to use it yet. But I'll get to it asap – I appreciate you reading!