What I like about You....Karen Marie Moning

It’s been a little while since writing. I’ve had to concentrate on my day job as a university lecturer as the dawn of fall settled quickly on us. Lectures and syllabi took over where my reading for pleasure left off. I also have to concentrate on my doctoral dissertation. It’s time consuming, but ever fascinating. I’m completely engaged when I read academic work, so it’s hard to find time to have that kind of focus. It’s what I love about reading though. It’s trained me to be a better reader. A better everything. Then again, reading novels also trained me to be a better researcher. Ask any dedicated fan to any major writer. More likely than not (from those I’ve met), the readers will know more about the details of a book than the writer will remember! Other authors have confirmed this to be true.


When we’re mindful or 100% engrossed in what we’re doing, we do all of it better. When we’re motivated by curiosity, we’re driven to move forward or pulled toward the unknown (depending on how you look at the world). Reading can do that too. One of my favorite authors is the focal point of today’s blog. Not just a book. All her books. They are written with such intensity that it’s clear to the reader that with every story, every character, Karen Marie Moning is mindful of what she’s writing when she’s writing it. I’ve read every book she’s written. http://www.karenmoning.com/

I’m about to reread them ‘cause at the end of the month, I’m heading to a fan based weekend long conference dedicated to her latest series, the Fever Series. The fifth and final book is going to be released in January. With the excited anticipation of that glorious release, I can only think of one thing. The cat in my case was definitely killed (in a good way) by curiosity. Karen’s Fae series takes the reader on a young yet complicated adventure through a paranormal world of creatures so creative and so vividly real, that I actually wonder if I go to Dublin, will I run into one.

To me, the mark of a good book is engaging the reader. The mark of a great book is to create a time and space the reader doesn’t want to leave. The mark of an excellent book is one where the characters and places described haunt the reader long after the last page is turned. That’s the Fever series for me. Now, maybe I’m haunted by these romantic, exciting, sometimes terrifying and ever so sensual story lines because I love the adventures within. Maybe I’m more into the stories because the author and her amazing webmaster Leiha Mann have created a real world sisterhood for the readers of these books. Maybe my interest in Karen Moning books lies in the truth that I wouldn’t mind being any of the women in those books. Mostly, my love of all Karen Moning books is very simple. The woman can write and write well.

As grownups, we sometimes forget to play. Playfulness, creativity, curiosity, wonder and joy are benchmarks of a genuinely happy person. A happy person is a well rounded person. A well rounded person is a more productive, grounded person. In order to stay grounded and successful, we have to leave the ground running and head back to playfulness. Moning allows grown up’s to play in her world.

She delivers a book that quickly pulls the readers in, keeps them on the edge of wanting what’s next and holds fast to your imagination until the very last word. Then, she teases the reader to want more by producing a thought provoking sub-character that always ends up with their own book somewhere down the line. I am a dedicated and loyal maniac (her fans are Moning maniacs). I’ve even thought of getting the Barrons tattoo to show my devotion, but that could be tricky as I have an aversion to the whole tattoo issue.

I love when a new Moning book comes out. I love being part of a fan base where the women (and some men) are equally kind, gracious, dedicated and fun. It’s a magical world built by an extremely perfect blend of everything we love about reading. The emotions run deep. The quest runs true. The knowledge that no matter where we are in the world, we can connect to other human beings through these books brings the essential basic and primal need to a happy conclusion.

People need people. Karen Moning creates a place for those needs to be met. I could write a whole research paper on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the works of Karen Moning, but for now, I’ll just be totally happy to be a fan, a reader, and sooner than not, a Fevercon maniac. As a typically cynical person who wants proof of life in anything, I have to say, it’s refreshing to be able to let my guard down, relax, have some fun, don’t question and just play for a while. I hope you can find a book, or series of books that does that for you. I have a couple of other authors who succeed in this too. I’ll share them later on. But, for now, it’s truly uplifting to have a passion where you don’t care who knows it, you have fun engaging in it, and you have a bond with others who have that same passion as you.

I’m not usually impressed when I meet famous people. I’ve met so many of them. They’re just people. But, I’ll be excited to finally meet both Karen, the creator and Leiha, her master of mystical ceremonies. So, Shadowfever, I patiently wait for you're arrival....but I'm totally pumped to put all else aside in order to read the 700+ juicy page turning pages! Then, I will be sad when it's over.

Karen Moning....you are what Good Juju Romance is all about!