By Dana R. Lynn @DanaRLynn

I once thought that as my children grew older, some of the business of my life would settle down and I would be able to spend more time reading. Don’t get me wrong, I still read as my children grew up. But the ability to sit for long periods of time and lose myself in a novel was few and far between. I can remember sneaking in a paragraph here and there between chores or while I waited for spaghetti to boil. It seemed to take forever to finish a book. That’s when I really appreciated category romance with it’s shorter word count and novellas.

Now that my youngest is a freshman in college and my husband and I are learning about life as empty nesters, I have to laugh at my naivete. We are busier now than ever! When the children were young, I was a stay at home mom, a time I treasured. I went back to work as an educational interpreter when my youngest started school. Then, six years ago, I returned to the field of teaching. Between my job and my husband’s, we have a lot on our plates.

Then there is my writing career. Some days, it seemed all I read were my own words. Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense were my go to books. I loved, and still do, the emotional stories and the clean content. Plus, the suspense books are so full of intense action, which I really enjoy.

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Recently, I added a new layer to my reading life when I discovered the joy of audiobooks. I had never considered them before. I have always been one who enjoys holding either a print book or a device while I read. It had been part of the experience. But in the past few years, I have discovered the pleasure of listening to a well-crafted story properly narrated while I drive to work, run errands or putter around the house.

Some of the recent books I’ve completed are Cold Dark Night by Lisa Phillips and Denise Hunters’ Bluebell Innseries. Both authors are on my auto-buy list. A couple of weeks ago, I downloaded Eragon by Christopher Paolini. I’d read the entire Inheritance Saga years ago. Listening to it was a different experience, but I wasn’t disappointed. One cool feature of audiobooks is that I can speed them up or slow them down. In fact, the hardest part of listening to audiobooks is when I reach my destination and must turn off the car!

Currently, I am reading The Metropolitan Affair by Jocelyn Green. I am actually switching back and forth between the audiobook and the print version. That way I can enjoy it in print, and not have to stop reading when it’s time to leave the house or move on to different activities. I love dual time stories. This one, with its wealth of Egyptian history, is fascinating.

The introduction of audiobooks into my library has enriched my reading experience. Depending on my mood and how much time I have, I can select print, digital or audio titles. Which means I am never lacking a new story to lose myself in.

Dana Dana R. Lynn is a USA Today bestselling author who believes in the power of God to touch people through stories. She met her husband at a wedding and married him nineteen months later. Today, they live in rural Pennsylvania with their three teenaged children and enough pets to open a petting zoo. She is a teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing by day and writes stories of romance and danger at night. Dana is an avid reader, loves cats and thinks chocolate should be a food group. Dana is a Selah Award winner, a Holt Medallion Finalist, and a New England Reader’s Choice Award winner. She is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. She enjoys engaging with readers and can be found on social media or contacted via her website.R. Lynn is a USA Today bestselling author who believes in the power of God to touch people through stories. She met her husband at a wedding and married him nineteen months later. Today, they live in rural Pennsylvania with their three teenaged children and enough pets to open a petting zoo. She is a teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing by day and writes stories of romance and danger at night. Dana is an avid reader, loves cats and thinks chocolate should be a food group. Dana is a Selah Award winner, a Holt Medallion Finalist, and a New England Reader’s Choice Award winner. She is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. She enjoys engaging with readers and can be found on social media or contacted via her website.