Buried in Books (and That's the Way I Like It)

I know I said I was scaling back on the writing, but clearly cutting out books is not my intention. This is my upcoming reading list. And that's not even including The Lord of the Rings that's currently sitting by my bed:

Clearly I have enough there to give you at least a book review a week for the next couple of months. Not all of them are books for review; Virals is a Kathy Reichs book that I bought when she was in Beavercreek last year for a signing, and never got around to reading. The books on the 1920s are research for novels that I most certainly am not writing at the moment (I never made any rules about outlining, did I? Or doing character studies, right?), and Pawn of Prophecy is the latest book that Missouri has foisted on me and insisted that I read.

Not shown--a book one of my cousins gave me last summer at our family reunion. I like what I've read by that author previously, but am having trouble getting into Laddie. It's on hold until I finish other things.

At the time of this writing, Missouri is borrowing Mountain Echos by C.E. Murphy; it arrived this morning and since I hijacked her new Karen Chance novel when it arrived, it only seems fair that she get first crack at one of my new books (I can hardly be blamed, really. Fury's Kiss sat unattended in the living room for three whole days and she made no move to read it. A book that good shouldn't be left to gather dust, and once again, Karen Chance did not disappoint).

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some reading to do.

A List, Some Reviews, and BOOYA!

1. I recently finished Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light by Tanya Huff. This was her second or third novel, I believe, and one of her lesser known ones. I strongly recommend that any fans of urban fantasy check it out as it is just as good as her Blood Ties books. It follows nicely in the vein of The Enchantment Emporium (or would it be leads, since it came out first?). I found it as part of a twofer, Of Darkness, Light, and Fire, which includes another of her early works. I've only just started that one but it promises to be just as good, if not better.

2. I also finished reading The Enchanted Typewriter. I am planning a more complete review for the podcast, which I hope to record tomorrow. If it doesn't happen then...well, I mentioned at the outset that the production schedule would likely be sporadic. It will probably be November before I manage to get another episode out.

3. Part of that delay is that I am moving over Halloween weekend. No idea when I will regain internet access or how long it will be down.

4. The typosphere has been abuzz with the upcoming start of NaNoWriMo. Just to set the record straight: I have no plans to participate. My only acquaintance with short deadlines is the whizzing sound they make as they zip by and they've nearly decapitated me on an occasion or two so I generally avoid them on principal. I will, however, endeavor to finish Threadbare (formerly known as Fortune's Fight) BEFORE the start of November, if my paying job doesn't suck the life out of me like so many vampires. (Really, it's like Dracula meets Clueless. Never give a vampire a credit card.) I am doing this so that I can work on my Untitled Jazzpunk Novel as soon as possible, because...

5. THE THREE MUSKETEERS IS AWESOME. Seriously. Alexandre Dumas + Orlando Bloom + Matthew Mcfadyen + steampunk = THE BEST THING EVER. EVER! Also, it was total costume p0rn and I want every single outfit and prop associated with Countess de Winter. I have a strong desire to cosplay her at the earliest opportunity.


6. While it isn't truly a costume, I did finish knitting my Quebecois pride hat this week. This has been in my queue for years (ever since I made a scarf based on the Canadian flag). This couldn't have come at a better time, since...

7. Thursday night we drove out to Beavercreek for the Kathy Reichs signing. For those of you unfamiliar, she wrote the books that the Bones TV series are based on, though other than the name and occupation of the main character they really bear no resemblance to the source material. (For those not catching the connection here, in the books Temperance divides her time between a North Carolina university, and working for the government of Quebec. In Montreal. In a building that I am enough of a fangirl to have photographed just for it's relationship to the books.) Sadly, both Mom and I forgot our cameras, so I only have one cellphone picture:


So that is my list of awesome. We'll see what next week holds.

P.S. I just went through to add links to everything in this post, and it appears Kathy's site is down due to bandwidth limits. Looks like that last signing broke teh internets.

I've taken the leap...

...and landed in the technological age. Last week I ordered a Nook, which arrived yesterday. Before you get too shocked though, I should mention that it is a Nook First Edition, which I bought used because the newer ones just didn't appeal to me.

Also, it was cheaper. And less complicated.

The first thing I did was a search for "typewriter" in the ebook library, and came across a book called The Enchanted Typewriter by John Kendrick Bangs. There are several versions of it available, but I picked the free one because I'm cheap like that. So far it isn't bad, but the formatting is horrible. It was very obviously scanned directly into whatever program they use to create their ebooks, using something that translated the images into text because there are a lot of spelling and punctuation problems (things like "tell" turning into "teU", apostrophe's turning into asterisks, stuff like that). Maybe these have been edited out in the paid versions, but I don't know.

I will say that if you haven't read this book, you might want to give it a quick read. It's about 75 pages, according to the Nook, and is pretty amusing. The basic premise is that the main character, a man who is generally content to enjoy his own pleasures (usually late dinners and lots of wine at his local gentleman's club) comes home one night to discover a ghost sitting at the typewriter in his upstairs room. They proceed to have a conversation (the ghost typing out his answers), and eventually strike an agreement that the ghost can use the typewriter to work on the gazette he publishes for the ghosts in Hades, while the owner of the typewriter can use the printed off pages for his own purposes. Other ghosts show up as well, including a very odd, very independently minded woman who takes over for him while he is being punished for claiming to be (in various incarnations) Adam, Noah, Jonah, and William Shakespeare. Much of the dialogue strikes me as Victorian locker-room talk (such as a conversation they have involving the merits of King Henry VIII), but it's amusing nonetheless and good for a chuckle.

In other book related news, my mom and I along with a family friend will be going to see Kathy Reichs at her book signing over in Beavercreek. For those who don't know, Ms. Reichs is the author and creator of the book series behind the Bones television series. If you want to join us, the signing is at 7 pm at Books&Co on the Green on Thursday. I'll be the one wearing a hat that looks like the Quebec flag.

Currently Reading: The Fire's Stone
Currently Watching: Practical Magic

Masters of their Craft

Currently Reading: Death's Mistress
In the DVD Player: Star Trek TOS Season 2

I did have pictures to share today, such as of the Jim Butcher book signing I went to on Friday and the aforementioned gifts from Alice, however my camera cord has apparently changed residences and did not leave a forwarding address, so until I discover which of the many desk drawers it got stuck in, text shall have to do.

The signing was great fun, even though I'm five books behind in the Dresden Files; a more detailed account can be found on Missouri's blog. Mr. Butcher was just as funny in person as he is in print; he reminded me a great deal of Robert Downy Jr. in the first Iron Man movie.

Also this weekend, my Master Knitting Course Level 1 kit arrived in the mail. I spent last night swatching and trying to figure out how to compensate for the tension issues that show up in my knitting. I'm hoping to get started on the actual swatches this morning, maybe get one done before work if at all possible. Or at least another practice swatch. Speaking of which, work time is creeping up on me faster than I'd like and I've still got other things to get done this morning. So the blogging will have to end....here.

Around the Interwebs

I follow a lot of blogs. At least half of them belong to writers in form form or another. Some are hobbyists, some mostly just enjoy the act of using vintage technology to express contemporary ideas. Some are aspiring authors, or have been published through small press. Some are award winners and New York Times Bestsellers, and some are industry professionals.

If you've been following the CFM at all, then by now you know what huge fans of Gail Carriger Alice and I am. I recently subscribed to her agent's blog, which is highly informative for anyone with any aspirations of professional authordom. A couple of days ago, she posted something about the Japanese translator and cover artist, and how they were effected by the quake/tsunami. In true Japanese style, they emailed her, apologizing for being out of the office for so long.

Can you imagine if that editor were in, say, New York? The email probably would have been much different. Throughout the news reports of this disaster, I continue to be impressed by the Japanese sense of community. Despite shortages of food, water, medicine, shelter--pretty much everything--they remain steadfast and patient. They take the British "Keep calm and carry on" to a whole new level.

Won't you help out?

P.S. If you are a knitter and want to help out, I just found a link to this site, where someone is collecting socks the quake victims.

Just for Fun

I write like
Bram Stoker

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

So I found the link to the above site on Tanya Huff's blog, and had to check it out. I pasted in pages from the two pieces I'm actively working on right now. It made me giggle. I hope it's true.

Buh.

Yeah, that's kind of how I'm feeling right now, as I sit in the school library intent on working and not really accomplishing much except checking my email and Facebook seventy billion times for no reason and looking up sock patterns in my Ravelry queue.

Dublin was fantastic and relaxing. Can I go back now? *wimper*

I have one month to complete my thesis, and a week and a half to put together a twenty minute presentation on a chemistry subject. I'm just not feeling terribly motivated, and every time I look at the mountain of work I have to to I just kind of cry a little inside and go hide under the covers.

I've been wanting to do knitting, but my wrist has been bothering me for about two weeks. In my infinite wisdom, I have decided that obviously, it is not the fact that I'm knitting that's the problem, but the fact that my project has been misbehaving (because of course a hat that I've torn out six times and went from an elaborate cable pattern into a plain on stockinette one would obviously be the cause of the pain in my arm, and not all the repetition of typing, knitting, and also playing way too many games of solitaire both online and on my ipod).

Anyway, while I was in Dublin, I picked up a skein of sock yarn, because I've been wanting to knit socks and I've been having trouble fining good yarn for it here--just can't find any thin enough. I'm convinced that all of the knitters here must order the bulk of their yarn online, which I can't do thanks to my wool allergy. I have to touch it first. The yarn is a bamboo blend, very soft, and in shades of pink and white. Not my normal color pallet, but it was the only ball I could find that was the right weight, the right fiber content, and the right price. So I'm debating between Mary's Garden, Cut and Paste, and Snakes on a Sock (those are all Ravelry pages, by the way, so if you're not a member you probably won't be able to view them). My bandwidth is so low though, that it's coming down to whatever has the least complicated looking chart (looks like L&V is the winner), but I've only got one 100g ball so I'm hesitant to do anything from the top down. I'm also really wishing I had a good set of loooong circs so I could at least attempt to do two at a time and thus avoid the ripping that running out of yarn would entail.

I've finished two books in the last couple of weeks, both by Mercedes Lacky--The Lark and the Wren, and The Robin and Kestral. I'm starting the third book in the trilogy tonight.

Speaking of books, I would like to say yet another thank you to C.E. Murphy, who took time out of her busy schedule to meet with Alice and I at Chapters on Friday. We had a lovely time, and she signed my copy of Urban Shaman and Heart of Stone (I still don't think Alice has forgiven me for beating her to that copy. Ha. My revenge, since she failed to point out Bill Nighy to me when we were in London).

I'm working on a file for our experiences on the haunted tours we took in London. I'll post a summary here as soon as it's done, but it might take a while, what with the thesis and the presentation and all.

This weekend I'm going up to Aviano to meet a guy that I met online. If you don't hear from my by Monday, then he's an ax murderer and the American Consulate should be alerted to begin looking for my body. (Joking. Don't call them please. But I also promise I'll post something early next week to let you all know I'm still alive. No promises on the exact time because I need to not be rambling on my blog but instead doing research for my freaking thesis which needs to written, like, NOW).

I think that's the bulk of what I had to talk about. I'm fried, but I have to go jump out of the pan and into the fire now.

Rambling Rovers

Following our normal travel pattern, we went out this morning to explore, then came back to the hotel to chill for a bit before heading back to town with a more definitive goal. We took the 16a from the hotel to downtown, picked up a 5 day bus pass (20 euro for unlimited bus rides? Heck yeah!). Our first stop was Chapters bookstore on Parnell street. I was shocked because even at 11 am very little was open. I picked up Urban Shaman, which was signed by the author, a new Torchwood novel, and a couple of moleskins so I could take notes on addresses and directions without carrying the big heavy notebook I'd brought. I also stopped at a Boots to pick up toiletries, since I have terrible luck finding things that I'm not allergic to in Italy. At least here, I can read the ingredients and find things that I would normally use at home. Boring, but it made me extremely happy.

Have I mentioned how many bookstores there are in Dublin? We passed at least seven just today, and are forcibly limiting ourselves to entering only one a day. Otherwise, we might not have money for things like food once we get back to Florence.

I picked up a few other little things too: a present for my mom, a bracelet, some Cadbury eggs (they take their creme eggs very seriously here!) and a wallet because the one I had, the big one, is just not so good for vacation.

back at the hotel, we chilled out for a bit, looked up movie times. I caught up on my blogs. Left a comment on C.E. Murphy's blog about buying the book and being in Dublin. Took a tap to try to quell a headache. And when I woke up--a email was in my inbox. From C.E. Murphy. At some point on Friday, we're going to meet and she's going to put a dedication into the book to go with the signature.

I'm still in shock, even now, hours later, after going to a movie (Leap Year, at the Savoy Cinema, which is officially the most awesome theater I've ever been in).

I'm going to go curl up with a book and eat a Cadbury egg, and hope the dream isn't gone when I wake up.

Take Off

I forgot to mention the other day that we tried that Chinese place, Peking Restaurant. The day I wrote the entry, they were actually closed. We think they close at 5pm, if not earlier, which is strange. So I walked all the way down to another take away place for some food that was kind of...Meh. It wasn't terrible, like the last place I got Chinese from in Italy, but I probably won't go there again unless I'm desperate. They also didn't have a very big selection of food.

Peking, however, is fantastic, especially their steamed dumplings, OH MY GOD. They were amazing. And it's a good sign when you see a Japanese tour group leaving as you're walking in, and hear them saying things like "That was really good." It's a mandatory stop for almost all of the Asian tour groups that visit Florence.

Alice and I leave tonight for London. I've got a list of things to do as long as my arm, but if I can wrangle some help it shouldn't be a problem. I've marked down museums that I want to see, a possible university to visit, and a new age shop. The only other thing I need is an electronics store, so that I can buy a fairly cheap digital recorder for ghost hunting, since I didn't bring mine and the mic I ordered for my ipod hasn't come in yet. Very frustrating. I'll be sure to post case files here once we get back.

If you like paranormal fiction, you might want to check out Bitten By Books' Best Author of 2009 Contest, which is in the final stage of voting right now. Personally, I'm rooting for Tanya Huff, so go on over and give your favorite author some support.

Sucked In

There are two things that most people who know me in person probably realize right off the bat. One, I'm an internet addict. I check my email at least five times a day, and spend hours reading blogs and trolling ravelry.

Nothing breaks that habit faster than not having internet access.

Okay, yeah, we have it at school, but that doesn't do me much good on rainy days, when I don't want to take my laptop with me, or when it's after 9 pm, or a weekend, when the school is closed, or when I'm just so darn sick of being in the classroom that I can't stand being in the school one second longer. In those cases, I'll pull up my email on my ipod as I'm walking out the door and call it done.

Second, I'm not a joiner. I didn't start reading Harry Potter until the third book was already in paperback, and when something becomes incredibly popular (like Abercrombi and Fitch, when I was in high school, or Myspace, or even Facebook) I will avoid it as long as possible. I don't want to be a sheep, and I really dislike people who act like sheep. I'm not going to wear certain clothes or listen to certain music or read certain books just because everyone else does (and honestly, the clothes are usually over priced and poor quality, the music sucks, and the author often can't tell the difference between compelling dialog and inane chatter).

It seems, however, that the masses may have gotten one thing right, at least:

Charlaine Harris.

The show seemed marginally interesting, but it couldn't hold my attention. I find that there's something fundamentally wrong with a blond Anna Paquin affecting a southern accent. The only character I really liked at all was Lafayette, and he wasn't enough of a pull to keep me watching.

The books, on the other hand, have pulled me in and kept me there. Alice started buying them from the used anglo book store here in Florence, and has been letting me read them. I've read the first five books in the past week or so, and I don't normally read very quickly. I've been eating these up like I haven't devoured books since high school, with the exception of C.E. Murphy (remind me that I need to wax poetic about her at some point. She's absolutely phenomenal).

And for anyone who's wondering, at this point (having just finished Dead as a Doornail) I would say that I am firmly planted on the side of Team Sam, though I really, really like Eric when he had amnesia (for the record, do NOT get me started on those other vampire novels. You know the ones. Just don't go there. Ever). Oh, and I don't care much for Bill. He kind of makes me want to hurt him.

So far my only real complaint about the series is that it can be a little heavy on the sex scenes, but I was kind of expecting that considering the reputation Sookie and Bill have garnered both on and off screen (also, I really hate the name Sookie, or at least the spelling Ms. Harris chose. But that's just me and I'm dealing with it). Still, the mysteries are compelling, and all of her characters are well developed with some kind of back story. They really come off the page, and Bon Temps feels like a place that you could look up on a map and drive down to on a holiday.

So, if you have any interest in vampire fiction, even if you didn't care for/haven't seen the television series, put down that trash I know you were thinking of reading, and go get Dead Until Dark instead. You'll be glad you did.