Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

…is that I enjoy reading romances and other genre fiction in both first and third person points of view. I like being in the main character’s head in some books while in other books seeing things from both the hero and heroine’s perspective is interesting. For a background on different points of view in writing here’s a link to a POV article. As I’ve mentioned, I enjoy reading books written in first person so today I have a list for you.

Thirteen First Person Reads or Series I Enjoy

1. Kristan Higgins (contemporary)

2. Stephanie Plum series – Janet Evanocvich (contemporary mystery)

3. Lisa Kleypas – contemporary Texas series. (contemporary)

4. Kate Daniels series – Ilona Andrews (urban fantasy)

5. Mercy Thompson series Patricia Briggs (urban fantasy)

6. Josh Lanyon – (m/m)

7. Hard Fall James Buchanan (m/m)

8. Alien Huntress series – Gena Showalter (paranormal)

9. Lori Armstrong – Julie Collins series (mystery)

10. Keri Arthur Riley Jensen (urban fantasy)

11. Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding

12. Something series – Jacqueline Meadows

13. And finally, I’ve written several books in first person: Wanderlust (romantic suspense), The Shadow (contemporary mystery) and Stray Cat Strut (paranormal m/m)

Do you prefer first person or third person fiction best and why? Do you have any favorites to add to my list?

When I first started writing, I learned there were specific rules to follow. This puzzled me because I couldn’t find a definitive list of these rules anywhere, yet fellow writers and contest judges were quick to fill me in.

No Rock Stars: I learned this one after I’d completed a story called Follow That Dream. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t have a rock star hero. No sports settings. Hmm, I had one of those, too. Evidently there are several occupations on the no-no list. Politicians and artists, please step this way.

The hero and heroine should meet in the first few pages. This one made a little more sense if the book was a short story or category romance, because we want the hero and heroine center stage. But what about a 100,000 word novel? Surely it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t meet straight away?
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