IWSG: Reading and Writing Genres

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The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer's Support Group day. Members post on our blogs, discussing our doubts and fears, struggles and triumphs. We visit each other and offer a word of encouragement for those who are struggling, or cheer for those with a success to celebrate. 

Today's the day--Let's rock the neurotic writing world!

The awesome co-hosts for the March 3 posting of the IWSG are Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen Jacqui Murray, Chemist Ken, Victoria Marie Lees, Natalie Aguirre, and JQ Rose!

Each month we have an optional question to start the discussion. The March 3 question is: Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) you create stories for? What motivates your reading choice(s)?


Before I get on with answering the question, time to report on progress!
 
Thanks to support from my friends, I expect to finish edits on Death By Donut this week and send the MS to my proof-readers. I'm a little stressed about hitting my deadlines, and I know I've gotten into some bad timing for my release. I won't be able to do all the advance work I should, because I'll be on a raft on the Colorado River (or coming/going from Flagstaff) from late March to late April. Since I'd hoped to have this book out before Xmas, and then in January, or certainly by this month, I'm feeling the pressure not to put it off again. I scheduled the release for about two days after I get home. Now I'm wondering if I should put it off until May. I'm not good at doing what I should before a release, but this might be extreme. Thoughts?
 
Meanwhile, as soon as I get the novel out the door, I hope to get atop my fourth collection of short stories, finish the edits, and create a cover so I can send Clues, Cops, and Corpses out into the world. So I have a lot on my plate for the next month, and I've reduced my writing time to try to help save the world. In other words, I'm volunteering about 3 half-days a week at the local vaccine clinic! It's good for me in many ways, but does make it harder to work on the novel and still go for two-hour hikes and bike rides most days. Maybe it makes it less necessary to work out that much, too.
 
With all this on top of everything else in my life, I have to admit that for now I'm pretty much sticking with re-reads (comfort food), supplemented by a few new audiobooks, mostly non-fiction. Thinking more historically, my reading has long skewed heavily toward cozy mysteries and children's books, which are most of what I've written. Science fiction is creeping back in, and I really enjoy natural history as well. So I do read more widely than I write, though my flash fiction has wandered through most of the genres.
 
How about you? What are you reading?

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