Well I can’t sleep right now because I just finished The Black Act (as in, all at once, today) and my brain is all excited. But it’s time for more book questions anyhow, so let’s do this thing!

So now: 30 Days of Books, part 4.

Day 16 – Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Okay, I realize this shows what a poetic philistine I am, but I’m going with The Highwayman for sentimental family-related reasons.

Day 17 – Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Kurt Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey House. There are so many I could plug into this category as I really, really love short stories– Poe, Lovecraft, Blackwood, and that’s not even getting into the piles of beautiful modern indie stories I proudly display on my shelves. (Almost done with Dead Souls just now and man… just, wow.) But Vonnegut’s shorts are what made me give Sci-Fi–as in lit, not TV and movies–I’ve always been a huge Trek fan–a chance, and I have to thank him for that.

Day 18 – Favorite beginning scene in a book
This is ridiculous, and maybe a little NSFW, but the first scene from The Confusion–the second installment in Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle sticks in my head. It starts with Jack waking up on a beach, canons detonating around him, and then–

Lying on his back, he squinted up through the damp, sand-caked hem of a man’s garment: a loose robe of open-weave material that laved the wearer’s body in a gold glow, so that he could look directly up into the blind eye of the man’s penis–which had been curiously modified. Inevitably, he lost this particular stare-down.

It’s so weird and Stephenson that I laughed my head off.

But the first scene in Quicksilver, the first book in the series, is probably better. Enoch Root and his first glimpse of Puritan Boston–witch hanging and all.

Day 19 – Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
The Picture of Dorian Gray. Because the guy they used in this version is Franz Liszt. And frequent visitors to this blog may recall that I really, really, really like Franz Liszt. (As in, he is my boyfriend. My dead composer boyfriend. Hey, we all need one.)

Day 20 – Favorite kiss
Okay, so it’s not specifically a kiss, but in Meghan Brunner’s From the Ashes there’s this hilarious moment wherein the heroines, Ryna and Phoenix, finally get together. As in physically. And Phoe, who is completely inexperienced, sort of awkwardly tells Ryna that she looked up “stuff” they could do on the internet. I can just imagine this adorably nerdy girl googling “how to please your lesbian lover” and getting quite a shock at the kind of thing it’s likely to call up. Plus, that’s just cute.

And that’s that.

But also, a thank you to those of you who’ve shown such overwhelming support for The Red Penny Papers this week. It’s been even more fun than I expected, somehow. Y’all are awesome <3

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Now playing: Autour de Lucie – Je reviens
via FoxyTunes

Well it’s time for another–and that’s good because I’m not equipped to do anything with my brain right now. I’ve given up trying to get any closer to #10bythen, but RPP goes live tomorrow! Wee!

So here we go, more 30 Days of Books, chock full o’ nerdery:

Day 11 – A book that disappointed you
My dad and brother really liked the Runelords series by David Farland–so do I, in theory. But the writing (or perhaps I mean the editing–why the hell are fantasy novels NEVER EDITED anymore? Oh wait, because publishers are in the shit, right) is hard for me to deal with, so I can’t read more than a little bit of it at a time before I get too irritated. I know you all have trouble with this too. One of the downsides to editing a lot: it’s nigh impossible to turn off completely. I find that extra frustrating and disappointing with this series because the concept is so very, very cool.

Day 12 – A book or series of books you’ve watched more than five times
The Lord of the Rings . Have I mentioned that I have a tattoo in Quenya? (Elvish–one version of it, anyhow.) Because I do.

Weirdly enough, when people at the beach ask what it is and I tell them, they seem to think it’s really fucking cool, which boggles my mind. But I probably have Peter Jackson to thank for that.

I need more book tattoos, though. Seriously.

Day 13 – Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
I think I read Little Women about 300 times between the ages of 8 and 16. Jo March FTW.

Day 14 – Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
I have to go with Anne Shirley. I think little girls everywhere are much, much happier since LM Montgomery introduced us to her.

Day 15 – Your “comfort” book
Maybe Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Can never read it too many times, and always makes me happy.

So I think something light and ridiculous is called for. Seeing as my “somewhat obsolete intellectual equipment”* is taxed to the limit between a certain bet (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE), organizing my Philadelphia research, the upcoming release of The Red Penny Papers, and soon, preparations for Context 23, well, I think a meme is called for, more specifically.

Amanda Pillar has been doing this awesome 30 Days of Books one, and I’ve been sort of messing with it for a while now. So let’s pretend I started it on the 15th or so, and am now going to do it five days at a time. I spam enough as it is. Here’s the deal, for anyone else who wants to have a bash:

30 Days of Books
Day 01 – A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!)
Day 02 – A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about
Day 03 – The best book you’ve read in the last 12 months
Day 04 – Your favorite book or series ever
Day 05 – A book or series you hate
Day 06 – Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time
Day 07 – Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Day 08 – A book everyone should read at least once
Day 09 – Best scene ever
Day 10 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 – A book that disappointed you
Day 12 – A book or series of books you’ve watched more than five times
Day 13 – Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 – Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
Day 15 – Your “comfort” book
Day 16 – Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 – Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 – Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 – Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 – Favorite kiss
Day 21 – Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 – Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 – Most annoying character ever
Day 24 – Best quote from a novel
Day 25 – Any five books from your “to be read” stack
Day 26 – OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 – If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 – First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 – Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 – What book are you reading right now?

So here goes!

Day 01 – A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!)
Call me super predictable, but I’m ready for about 7 more Harry Potter books. I know, I know, best to leave the party while you’re having fun, but I miss them something fierce. JK Rowling is a great writer, a brilliant worldbuilder, and so good with character. (Except when it comes to Draco Malfoy, who as it turned out was just a foil for Harry all along after all. *sadface*)

Day 02 – A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about
Vanity Fair. I don’t get why Thackeray isn’t more popular nowadays. When I’m reading him, I think I like him better than Dickens. (Then I stop and think, no, that’s not possible. Then I read more Thackeray and realize that yes, it is.) It’s got to be the birth of the modern novel as we know it. After all, it’s called: “Vanity Fair: A Novel Without A Hero”.

Day 03 – The best book you’ve read in the last 12 months
Drood by Dan Simmons. Speaking of Dickens and Thackeray, who are both characters therein, though the former far, far more than the latter for obvious reasons. In truth, I think it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.

This is also an example of exactly the sort of book I want to write when I grow up. I don’t honestly believe myself capable in my heart of hearts, but the mere fact of its existence makes me want to work–hm, I already want to work my ass off for it. Well it makes the desire that much more intense, let’s say.

Day 04 – Your favorite book or series ever
My favorite story ever is the one related by Sir Thomas Malory in Le Morte D’Arthur. It’s this incredibly deft amalgam of scattered and varied French, German, English, Irish, and of course Welsh mythologies into a single beautiful whole. Perfect, no, of course not–but as near as an Arthurian Legend can come, to my eyes.

Day 05 – A book or series you hate
I really dislike Tom Clancy. That Jack Ryan stuff bores me to tears. Can I get a character, please?

*Quoting one of my favorite characters from television, Yes, Prime Minister’s Sir Humphrey Appleby. I love him because he embodies yet another excellent quote, this time from Ben Franklin in HBO’s John Adams: “The English love a good insult, Mr. Adams. It’s their only measure of a man’s sincerity.”

How’s that for a convoluted attribution?

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Now playing: The Charlatans – Feeling Holy
via FoxyTunes

“Like a fox drunk on honey” is one of my favorite Tamil expressions. My husband says it about Lucy the Mutant Cat when she starts doing that thing where she’s running around like a jackass chasing ghosts. Anyone who’s ever been in close proximity to a cat for more than 24 hours will know what I mean.

But for the moment, I’m the fox. So much is going on, and I loooooove it.

Yeah, the extra “o”s were necessary. Absolutely.

1. Vampire Awareness Month is, sadly, over. Mark Deniz posted a really wonderful recap of the posts and events, plus his own excellent mini-reviews of the films, and a great article about Dracula and the Liminal Zone to cap it off. And then came the announcements…

2. Which involved the lovely Beyond Fiction. This is all reviews and interviews, all the time, with a strong focus on the “stars of speculative fiction” series. I’ve somehow scored a spot as a reviewer there, so– yay!

But wait, there’s more. What with the somewhat unexpected success of VAM, the brains behind the scene have decided it’s time for Ghost Appreciation Month. Or, I should say, that October should be time for Ghost Appreciation Month. It’s going to be huge, and hosted over at the Beyond Fiction site, so check it out. (And never fear, I have no ghost characters with which to torment you this time around.)

3. Oh my gosh, how beautiful is Cate’s Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits? (Hey nice segue, right? She was just featured over at BF’s Stars of Speculative Fiction yesterday with a cracking interview.)

She’s running a fabulous contest, and I was given the Strange Person award by the marvelously strange Michael Stone! And so, since I really want to win the amazing prizes, I’m now going to present the award to seven strange folk myself:

N.K. Kingston
Corinne Duyvis
Meghan Brunner
Amanda Pillar
Mercedes Yardley
Danielle Ferries
Mary Rajotte

Hm, that’s the Strange Women in Pinstripe Suits award, apparently. Well, there are a lot of those around, and it’s best not to argue with them, I think.

I’d encourage you to enter too, but the thing is that I want to win. Ah well, I encourage you anyhow. See, I can be unselfish!

And as for me, I’m heading to Philadelphia tomorrow morning to do some primary source type research for The Resurrectionists. Yes, that early 19th c America meets Frankenstein meets ill-fated romance novel from last year is coming back to life now that I have enough perspective. But before the edit can begin, I’m going to be digging through Philadelphia journals, letters, and– of all awesome things– lecture notes from UPENN’s medical college in 1826 until Friday evening. Welcome to my summer vacation of incomparable coolness.

Also, The Red Penny Papers goes live and opens for submissions in mere weeks. More on that soon, but things are looking great from where I stand.

So, yes. Fox drunk on honey. This is the life.

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Now playing: The Clash – Death or Glory
via FoxyTunes

Hi there!

Well, after a fabulous bit of actual socializing– in person!– and a break from all things internet-ish, I feel prepared to jump back in and catch up. Hell, maybe I’ll even get some work done. Gotta have those breaks every now and then, don’t we?

It’s good timing, though. My pal Mina Kelly– who may be familiar to some of you as N.K. Kingston– has just had her first book from Loose Id released: Tease. If you like romance/erotica (this one happens to be m/m, but she can do it all) with a modern fantasy twist, it doesn’t get better than this. Seriously. Check it out.

And in other things I’m trying to sell, vampires!

Ah, I heard that groan. But don’t worry, it’s almost over. I decided to talk about the Vampire Awareness Month movies from the point of view of two vampire characters because, well, I promise it’s more interesting than me saying the same crap every human always says about them, but with a thumbs up or thumbs down thrown in.

However, when I saw the list of movies last month, and Mark Deniz was asking for blog entries, I couldn’t resist. There are times when I think 30 Days of Night might be my favorite vampire movie, but I’m always sure it’s the scariest. I went to the theater to see it because it looked crazy cool, and it turned out to be. And then I bought the graphic novel. Ahh, yeah.

So to tempt you to click through to my newly-posted 30 Days of Night review (includes both movie and book comparison!) over at the VAM blog, let me tempt you with this, my favorite panel from the comic. It should give you some indication of the kind of vampires we’re dealing with, here.

Irresistible, no?

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Now playing: Nine Inch Nails – God Given
via FoxyTunes