Authors Shouldn't Read Other Authors In Their Genre

I've been very slowly getting into the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton over the last few weeks.  I came to it kicking and screaming, as I tend to resent being told what to do.  Everyone was telling me I simply must read the series, especially since I was waxing lyrical over Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series.

I've just finished reading Cerulean Sins in the Anita Blake series, and I am so hooked on Anita Blake now.  It's book 11 in the series, and there's seven to go, and...