i used to sail the deep and tranquil sea

Gosh, it's been a month again. Sorry about that. I've been busy, but work is finally starting to become more manageable, so that's good. The flip side of that is that I've taken on a bunch of freelancing again, so my evenings are more full than they were. The writing has taken a bit of a backseat, although I did recently pound through a project that will get its own post sometime soon.
Today, I want to talk about two books I read, and then two writers who I admire.
15) An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire. I love this series, the October Daye series. Love love love. Toby is an empathetic character. I love how the fey and the human worlds interact. The writing is great. And this one in particular was terrifying and beautiful and overwhelming all at once. Blind Michael, the bad guy, really creeped me out, and I am constantly in awe of how far and how hard Toby pushes herself to take care of those she loves. I need the rest of the series ASAP so I can find out what happens.
16) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Yes, it came out a week ago. Yes, I've already read it. And loved it. Deliciously creepy, this one, with many, many brilliant moments in it. I won't say anything at all about characters or plot, in case any of you darling people reading this haven't gotten your paws on it yet. I adore this book, like all of Neil's work, but I don't think it'll be my favorite. For as much as I loved it, I don't think I was in the right place for it. Which is a failing not of the book, but of mine.
And the authors: First up is Erin Morgenstern. I have rambled before about how great she is, and I really think that she is one of the best new authors I've read in the last several years. Her debut novel, The Night Circus, blew me away. I enjoy her blog on a regular basis. Last week I watched her interview Neil Gaiman at Symphony Space and she was charming and engaging. (And has great taste in boots!) Please, everyone, if you haven't done so yet, please pick up her novel. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Second up is Kat Howard, who hasn't even had a novel published yet. Five years ago she attended Clarion, a writing workshop. Since then she has sold several short stories, some of which she has links to on her blog, and I believe she has a novel under contract. I love finding authors this early. I love watching them grow. I love their excitement as their career takes off. It's so uplifting and heartening, and I love reading about Kat's journey in particular (she blogs here) because she's so honest and upfront about things.
I would love, in my heart of hearts, to take both of these women out for tea sometime and just ask them questions about their writing habits, about what books they love and why, about how they grew into the writers they are today. And maybe (fingers crossed!) someday, I too will be a writer new on the scene, so vibrantly excited about things and alive, just as they are now.

more, more, more

That's the way life feels right now. There's just more, more, more of everything than I'd like there to be. I really just want to hide at home and at coffee shops fro a few days and zing through editing my novel. Oh, well.
Anyway. Lots to cover, not a lot of time.
On Sunday October 3rd I did in fact go to see Neil Gaiman in conversation with Dana Goodyear. He was brilliant, all humble and droll and creative, in a lovely British accent. He spoke about how some of his books originated, and some of what he saw when road-tripping around America to research American Gods, and writing a Doctor Who episode, and screened his eight-and-a-half-minute silent film for the audience, which has never been seen in America (outside a few illegal posts on Youtube, that is). I felt absolutely inspired by the end of it, both to seriously get down to business with my writing and to go on a road trip!
Two days later I went to a New York Review of Science Fiction reading to see Catherynne Valente and Seanan Mcguire. This was also amazing. Cat and Seanan felt like two sides of a coin, to me, two opposite approaches to life that somehow mesh and meld into a beautiful camaraderie between them. They're both good readers, with good sense of humor, and I really need to read more of their books.
This last weekend, October 9 and 10, I went to New York Comic Con. NYCC is surreal and overwhelming and just loads of fun. Two whole days of comic books and video games and too many Poison Ivys and lots of storm troopers and books and steampunk jewelry and inside jokes and costumes. Pretty great. I bought some comics, got some free comics, and bought some art, but mostly I spent my money on perfume. That's right. Perfume. Because, for the first time ever, I was at an event that Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab was also at. I was in heaven! I've adored their perfume for a while now, but it's so hit-or-miss to order from the website based on description. Here, I could smell anything I wanted to! I overloaded. I sniffed perfume for a good hour. It was fabulous. If you're curious, I bought Door for me, and Sunbird for my sister. And got loads of free samples for spending my hard-earned pennies on their wares. Seriously, I think that made my month!
Nearly time to head home, so I'd best get to the books . . .
53) Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente. Beautiful, lush, imaginative. Her writing just blows me away. I wish I could be half the writer she is. I need the rest of her novels. All of you, if you have ANY appreciation at all for a good fantasy novel, run to the nearest bookstore and pick this up. It's brilliant. Great characters, intricate world-building, and the language is some of the most interesting I've seen for some time.
54) Duff by Kody Keplinger. I'll be honest: I didn't have high expectations for this book. Young debut author, high-school material. It's not my usual thing, really. Which is why I was pleasantly surprised to find myself voraciously sucking this one down. It's a lot of fun! The characters are believable. The author, young though she may be, has a good sense of who she's writing about and who she's writing for. If you like YA stuff, this is definitely recommended.
55) The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Having not read any of his books for adults (I know, I know!) I didn't have an opinion at all going into Zafon's first YA book. I enjoyed this. Good structure, good characters, good level of creepiness. I would recommend it to YA readers. But for me, I don't think it's a keeper. Mostly because I don't think I'll reread it. But it's a fun read!
And with that, it's time for my weekend to officially begin. Happy autumn, everybody!