Why Western Romances?

How did I end up writing western romances? A lot of it has to do with my mom's addiction to the small screen westerns. I grew up watching The Virginian, High Chaparral, Lancer, Wagon Train, Guns of Will Sonnett (how many remember that one?), etc. I read all the Roy Rogers books in our small town library. Later on, I read Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, the Stagecoach Series, etc. Then I moved on to Dorothy Garlock, Janet Dailey, Joanna Lindsey, Maggie Osborne, and all those western romance writers who have since ridden into the sunset. I always wanted to write and with my love of the western, it just had to be. What I am Reading Now... However, one of the side effects of writing western romance is that I can't read them while I'm working on one of my own. Instead, I now read more mystery and fantasy, which kind of follows my TV viewing pattern, too, since I'm a "Stargate SG1" fan, as well as an avid viewer of many of the crime dramas, like "CSI", "Numbers", and "Bones." I've recently read "Warsworn", a fantasy romance by Elizabeth Vaughan, which was preceded by her wonderful "Warprize." Prior to that, I read David B. Coe's "Winds of the Forelands" fantasy series and I'm anxiously awaiting the fifth book. Waiting in the wings is another fantasy series from Robin Hobb, who writes wonderfully wounded, tragic heroes. Also on my TBR pile is Michael Koryta's mystery "Tonight I said Goodbye". The adage "so many books, so little time" is so true. :::sigh::: [note: beta blogger is being goofy if you have issues posting use the option 'other' and type in your name... if you use anon, make sure you type your name in the post]