What I Am Reading

I’m currently reading Infamous by Suzanne Brockmann which reminds me once again why my husband is willing to read romance novels by her. Brockmann is extremely talented and has established herself well enough to get away with the first person POV of a dead man in a romance novel. I can’t wait to get to the end, and I’m dreading it being over.

Fair Ladies by Theodora Goss (on Apex Magazine) is a melancholy, compelling story about young men and changing times. Very powerful.
http://apexbookcompany.com/apex-online/2010/08/short-story-fair-ladies-by-theodora-goss/ (more…)

This week vanished too quickly, and I’ve had little time for research or reading on line. What this means is that the links are incredibly spare, but that also gives you the opportunity to read all of them rather than having to choose based on your own limited time .

What I Am Reading

I have finished Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars, and not surprisingly, I’m happy to discover there’s more in the series. That’s not to say she didn’t manage to pull this one off, because she absolutely did, but there’s more to be told in this world, and this place and time. I find it amazing to end the book with the feeling of more to come when it starts at the end of the world. Her talents as a storyteller continue to delight me.
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Welcome to Friday the 13th. Hope you’re all having a magical, rather than mundane, day.

What I Am Reading

Nearing the end of Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars, and so far it’s holding up well. I’m interested in seeing how she’s going to pull this all together in the end.

Just finished Public Affair, Secretly Expecting by Heidi Rice (part of a Harlequin reader reaction program I’m in). This one is from one of their “hotter” lines, which clearly plays a big part in the story, but at the same time, there’s a surprising complexity in the history of both main characters, affecting how Juno and Mac interact, and driving their interpretation of circumstances. I enjoyed this story a lot.

Life

Not sure where to place this one, but I wanted to share. It has suggestions for writing, for project management, and for a focus on success. Well worth the time to read this analysis of Pixar’s process:
http://www.copyblogger.com/pixar/
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What I Am Reading

Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars is proving to be a complex and rather fascinating read.

A Stroke of Dumb Luck By Shiloh Walker, on Tor.com, is a fun urban fantasy story that does an excellent job of establishing the world all the while maintaining tension:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/07/a-stroke-of-dumb-luck.
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What I Am Reading

I finished Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy this week. It was everything I’ve come to expect of her writing and more. I’ll try to get my comments up next week.

I also finished the Irlen book. A lot to think about, but nothing that changed my mind about going forward with the lenses. If just having my monitor tinged green has helped my focus and online reading, how much more will having that ability all the time?

This has not been a heavy reading period for me because I’m writing a complex computer program that tends to grab what concentration I have, but I don’t last long without reading something .

Publishing

Tips on how to study the market for a manuscript:
http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/main/2010/07/how-to-study-the-market.html
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Not as many links as I’d hoped to offer, but once again, I’m on the road (and this time not fast enough to post ahead of time. Still, there should be something of interest for pretty much everyone in the mix I’ve included. Enjoy.

What I Am Reading

While I’m still reading the Irlen book, I’ve also started Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy. Not surprisingly, I’m enjoying this continuation of the Walker Papers, but what she’s done with this one is fascinating, because it offers old readers something new while grounding new readers in the world.

I also just finished listening to Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan, which I started listening to in Audio Book for all the way back in December of 2009. I don’t have much opportunity to listen to longer works because when I’m on a long drive, it is generally with someone else in the car who wouldn’t appreciate coming in on the middle of the book. On the other hand, it says a lot about the book that I was able to pick up right where I’d stopped with no loss of place or story.
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What I’m Reading

I am still reading a non-fiction book called Reading by the Colors by Helen Irlen (ISBN: 0-399-53156-4), but I haven’t had much reading time, in part because of the focus I’ve achieved with my first steps in Irlen Syndrome correction. I’ll soon be jumping back on the reading bandwagon.

And I forgot to mention I read Winters Passage by Julie Kagawa as well, a novella set in between two of her YA books I haven’t read. It was interesting the hints at the greater picture and what has happened along with the troubles still to come. I’m not planning to pick up her full-length books at this point because I’m not really the target audience, but if these characters continue to linger in my back brain, I may change that plan.

Publishing

A look at the various avenues open to selling short fiction:
http://kristadball.com/blog/?p=125
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My mind is still over in Canada, and I haven’t gotten back into the swing of things, so the pickings are a bit sparse. That said, here’s some solid links for you, plus some compelling reading choices to try.

What I’m Reading:

An aftermath of my wonderful trip to Canada has been that I’m walking in the mornings again. However, unlike there, I lack a furry companion to keep me interested. I had put a number of audio short stories on my phone for a road trip where I wasn’t driving, but I didn’t have time to listen to most of them. Finally, I had the equivalent of a commute, and a short story is the perfect length. I’ve been enjoying a run of stories from Beneath Ceaseless Skies, though I’ve noticed other ezines are starting to offer audio versions as well.

The Manufactory by Dru Pagliassotti is one I didn’t expect to find in this magazine, and yet the feel of it denies its modern/futuristic elements. This is not a comfort story. It explores the choices that status brings and takes away in a creepy and powerful tale:
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/story.php?s=64
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Note: Sorry for the slim pickings this week. I’m heading off to Canada and so am scheduling this post. Between last minute work on my goals and packing, I didn’t have much time to read blogs and articles.

What I’m Reading:

I forgot to mention that I finished Dreamveil: A Novel of the Kyndred by Lynn Viehl last week. I haven’t had time to write up my comments, and I didn’t want you to think I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. This one takes the series one notch higher, and besides, it involves one of my favorite characters from the first novel.
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What I’m Reading

I managed to take in a bit of short fiction while waiting for my son to finish the book he’d borrowed, Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews (which I now have). There are a bunch of good reads out there for the enjoying.

The Dead Man’s Child by Jay Lake on Cosmos Online offers a lyrical narrative that builds on itself to resolution in the manner of the old teaching tales. It’s not rushed or focused on action or gore, and is compelling for that very fact. What did you think of it?
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/fiction/online/885/the-dead-mans-child?page=0%2C0

I listened to Father’s Kill by Christopher Green on Beneath Ceaseless Skies in audio form. I rarely have time for audio, so it’s not my favorite method of “reading,” but the BCS reader is quite good. I found the tale evocative and primarily mood focused. It does have a twist at the end that I didn’t anticipate, but is both well seeded and surprising too so nicely done.
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/story.php?s=48
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