way down by the sycamore tree

How's 2014 treating everyone so far? Things are okay over here. I wrapped up all of my freelance commitments so I've finally gotten back to editing. Emmelina and the Rat King first, and I'll follow that with the ghost/witch book. I feel like I'm really moving in the right direction with both of them. The climax in Emmelina needs a solid edit and cleanup, but I like where it's going. I'm still torn about what to write next, though. I've been thinking about the fey folk/secret society project for a while now, but for some reason I'm not totally convinced. Maybe that's just because I haven't properly focused on it, but maybe it's a sign that I should write something else next. Maybe my zombie novel? Something to think about. I'll keep writing short stories in the Twilight Child universe, regardless of what novel comes next. I know that eventually the Twilight Child materials will turn into something bigger, but I'm not ready for that yet. She's been in my head for so long; I really want to do her and her world justice, and I don't think I'm quite there yet.
It's been quite snowy and cold here in NYC. I know many people don't enjoy it, but I do. I'm a winter girl. Give me the cold snap, give me the air so frozen that taking a breath is like taking a drink of cold running water, give me the drifts of snow clinging to sidewalk and car and fence. It makes me feel happy, and calm, and in balance. That said, I do enjoy all four seasons. But winter is my favorite.
I've only read three books so far this year. I blame that on all the work I did in January. There's time to catch up! My goal is forty-five books again this year. And, while three doesn't sound like a brilliant start, I did reject five or six other books between these three, so I'm going through my books at a decent clip even though I'm not reading all of them!
1) Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton. I love this book. LOVE. The characters, the magic, the shifting undercurrent of tension. It was really well done. It's about magic and love and family and death and making choices. Go out and buy this one; you won't regret it! I can't wait to read more of her books!
2) Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey. This one knocked me off my feet, too, although it's extremely different than the first book I read this year. This one is gritty and snarky and dangerous and downright funny at times, and you can't help cheering for Stark as he tries to get revenge for the murder of his girlfriend.
3) The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe. This book is a really interesting take on magic, family, and war and music. Highly recommended, especially for people who like urban fantasy and folk music.
And now, I have a lot still to do today, so I'm off to do it. Happy Saturday, everyone!

another month falls away

I can't believe how quickly February has gone. It's nearly March already. Nearly birthday. Nearly spring. I always mourn the winter a little as it leaves us. I'm definitely a winter girl; not in the skiing/outdoorsy sense, but I enjoy the cold snap in the air, the clean feeling of the snow, the comfort in a cup of tea to warm up after a sojourn outside. I love the twilight colors in winter. Everything just feels more crisp, more clear, somehow. I feel more crisp, more clear. But it's all cyclical, and the winter will come back to me again. I just wait as patiently as I can through the long heat of summer.

Another book to report in on: 9) Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr. This is the third installment in the Wicked Lovely series, and I quite enjoyed it. The series as a whole has been good so far. The writing is good, the fey world is well constructed, and the characters are easy to empathize with. This one, as an Amazon review pointed out, was a little thin on plot and a little heavy on Aislinn's inner conflict. but I think that's necessary, as setup for later plot. Sometimes the emotional end of things needs time and space to be fleshed out; not everything has to be about the forward motion of the plot all the time. So this one's definitely a keeper for me, and I can't wait to read the remaining two books in the series.

A question for you, o readers: Should I say more about the books I read? Less? I wonder what the right balance is. Let me know if you'd like to see me approach my mini book reviews differently.

The Borders location at Park Ave. and 57th Street is closing, so the whole story is on sale. I used my lunch break to go peruse the store with a friend. An hour and forty minutes, I left there with three new books, two magazines, and a bag of peanut butter M&Ms. I practiced restraint! Of course, I'll probably go back in a day or two, since I ran out of time before I made it through all the sections I wanted to hit. It's early days yet in the closing sale, so you should all go take a gander, maybe buy a book or two. They've got an awful lot of inventory in there still.

Well. I meant to write more, but today totally got away from me. I'll try to get back here soon. Happy Thursday, everybody!