About Me

Welcome to The Theory of Lieto Fine. My name is Petra Grayson. I post book reviews, recipes, and the occasional topic of interest to me. I almost always have a book in my hand, unless I'm too busy on Twitter. Most of the time, I'm reading a romance novel. Sometimes I get bored and spice it up with some sci-fi, theology, memoirs, or self-help books. I also read to (and with) my early elementary age boys.

I am most intrigued by the interactions and growth of the heroine in romance novels. I love books with a strong female lead character and lots of rich emotional development. I read mostly for escape, so I try to avoid books that are too sad or depressing. And I have a sensitive constitution that doesn't like sadism. I don't usually notice much about how characters look as long as they're genuinely attracted to each other. It draws me in so much more to have well formed emotions and sexual tension. I love being able to feel what the characters are feeling and see the story through their eyes. My favorite books are imaginative and touching, with a happy ending. Some of my favorites have a little bit of magic or out-of-this-world flavor.

I come from a fundamentalist Christian, homeschooling background, but currently lean towards post-emergent/agnostic ideas. Most of the memoirs and theology books I read contain people wrestling with the cognitive dissonance of their changing beliefs. Becoming more true to themselves without completely losing their faith.

I make a lot of quick, one dish recipes; leaning slightly towards Paleo or gluten-free/vegetarian. I try to stay away from processed food and sugar, but some of my recipes are completely comfort food. I have a Vita-Mix that is a part of many of my recipes, for its speed and ease of use. It's also perfect for getting more hidden veggies into recipes without my kids balking at funky textures.

I graduated as an Engineer, but stopped working in the field when my kids were born. In real life, I play the piano, work out, run, and volunteer at my kids' schools. Which means I'm insanely busy. I get a couple hours a week devoted to writing stories and reviews at the moment, but I have dreams of more than that one day. My best time for writing is after everyone is asleep, but I try to balance that with my need to sleep so I'm not cranky to my family the next day.

I'm a goal-oriented planner who loves to be creative and silly. I work out to keep my depression at bay and try to keep some physical goals in mind to stay motivated. There's nothing like running to clear my head but it can be really hard to inspire myself to get out there and do it.

Check out my tumblr page at: http://theoryoflietofine.tumblr.com