Books

25 May, 2015

Kushiel’s Dart Read-Along: Week 3

It’s week three of the KUSHIEL’S DART read-along, and this week’s read was a lot of fun: some really intense political machinations going on at this point in the story, a nice change of pace. Alcuin remains my favourite character, but societal schemer Melisande ‘s been a very interesting character to follow as well.

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Week 3: May 25, Chapters 19-26, is hosted by Lisa at OVER THE EFFING RAINBOW. You can find the read-along schedule HERE, and anyone and everyone is welcome to join in. There’s also a Goodreads group for SF/F read alongs.

**SPOILERS FOR CHAPTERS 19–26 BEYOND THIS POINT**

17 May, 2015

Kushiel’s Dart Read-Along: Week 2

It’s week two of the KUSHIEL’S DART read-along,and this was quite an… intense… section to read. It’s the most graphic and explicit the book’s been so far, but interestingly, they handled it all in a distant, clinical way. I expect this will change as the story carries on.

Poor Alcuin was the highlight of this section, stealing hearts and sympathy.

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Week 2: May 17, Chapters 1-8, is hosted by Tethyan Books. You can find the read-along schedule HERE, and anyone and everyone is welcome to join in. There’s also a Goodreads group for SF/F read alongs.

**SPOILERS FOR CHAPTERS 9–18 BEYOND THIS POINT**

12 May, 2015

Kushiel’s Dart Read Along: Week 1

It’s week one of the KUSHIEL’S DART readalong, a book I’ve been describing to friends as “GAME OF THRONES, if it was told from the point of the whores”. Which doesn’t even do this book justice. It’s pretty amazing.

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Week 1: May 10, Chapters 1-8, Hosted by DAB OF DARKNESS. You can find the read-along schedule HERE, and anyone and everyone is welcome to join in. There’s also e a Goodreads group for SF/F read alongs.

**SPOILERS FOR CHAPTERS 1–8 BEYOND THIS POINT**

29 April, 2015

Kushiel’s Dart Read Along!

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It’s Writing Wednesday! My weekly update on how things are going, if anything’s exploded, what’s on fire, where am I, who are you …AND MORE.

What I’m Reading

I finished Amanda Palmer’s THE ART OF ASKING earlier this week, and man, that’s an inspiring book for any writer who wants to think more about building a community of fans, or is interested in how crowdsourcing works successfully.

Then, a few days ago, Lisa at OVER THE EFFING RAINBOW pointed me to the Kushiel’s Dart readalong over at DAB OF DARKNESS.

I heard a lot of people raving about the Kushiel’s Legacy series when I was at Eastercon in Glasgow, and I picked it up on its current 99p Kindle sale. It’s a sprawling, romantic epic fantasy, aimed at fans of George R.R. Martin and Sylvia Day alike, which is impressive. Here’s the back cover copy:

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In a kingdom born of angels, Phedre is an anguisette, cursed or blessed to find pleasure in pain. Sold to the Court of Night Blooming Flowers, her fate as a beautiful but anonymous courtesan was sealed. Her bond was purchased by the nobleman Anafiel Delauney, who recognized the scarlet mote in Phedre’s eye as the rare mark of one touched by a powerful deity. Under Delauney’s patronage she is trained in history, politics, language, and the use of body and mind as the ultimate weapon of subterfuge in a dangerous game of courtly intrigue.

Guided into the bed chambers of Terre D’Ange’s most influential nobles, Phedre uncovers a conspiracy against the throne so vast that even her teacher cannot see the whole of it. As her nation is besieged by invading hordes from the north, the most unthinkable threat to her beloved home comes from traitors within. Betrayed and blindsided by her own longings, only Phedre and her trusted bodyguard Josselin are left to cross borders and warring armies in a race to stop the final blow from falling.

I’m really excited to be part of the read along for this! I’ve never even done a read along.

Here’s everyone taking part on this wild adventure:

Week 1: May 10, Chapters 1-8, Hosted by DAB OF DARKNESS.
Week 2: May 17, Chapters 9-18, Hosted by Allie at Tethyan Books
Week 3: May 24, Chapters 19-26, Hosted by Lisa at OVER THE EFFING RAINBOW
Week 4: May 31, Chapters 27-36, Hosted by Caroline at Beauty Is a Sleeping Cat
Week 5: June 7, Chapters 37-45, Hosted by Igret at Igret’s Corner
Week 6: June 14, Chapters 46-54, Hosted by Grace at Books Without Any Pictures
Week 7: June 21, Chapters 55-63, Hosted by Dolce Bellezza at Dolce Bellezza
Week 8: June 28, Chapters 64-73, Hosted by Lynn at Lynn’s Book Blog
Week 9: July 5, Chapters 74-83, Hosted by ME! HELLO IT’S LOVELY TO MEET YOU~
Week 10: July 12, Chapter 84-END, Hosted by Lisa at OVER THE EFFING RAINBOW

What I’m Writing

Editing is going swimmingly this week! It’s good times, my friends. Just got to keep up the momentum.

What Works For Me

Barrelling through the bits I’m stuck on instead of spending days trying to figure out the perfect way to rewrite them. A dash of inspiring non-fiction helps too. (*waves ‘THE ART OF ASKING’ again*)

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Drinking a ton of tea. I got some glorious birthday cake rooibos from Bluebird Tea Co, and it’s basically my life right now.

CDsbTfDWEAAdKf5 (1) Also, I’ve been reading a ton of comics and need to give a special shout out to MS MARVEL VOLUME 2. Not only does it continue to be an amazing comic about a Muslim-American super heroine, but the latest volume had some really fantastic points about the way we treat modern-day teenagers as if they’re an inconvenience.

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…These words were spoken by a villainous cockatoo, because, of course.

Right, I’m off to get back to work and back to drinking tea. See you next Wednesday, lovelies.

23 June, 2014

Ancient Celtic History Babbling

Sorry the blog’s been quiet of late — I’m just back from a holiday to Stornoway and the real world’s been kicking my butt, but I’m getting back into the swings of things now.

This post WAS meant to autopost while I was away, but clever pre-holiday Emma got the month wrong….

Here’s a few bits of research gathered while reading The Celts: A Very Short Introduction by Barry Cunliffe. You can find more ramblings over at my Twitter page.

2 April, 2014

What’s Up Wednesday: April 2nd Edition!

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What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. It was created by created by Jaime and Erin. Want to join the party? Go right ahead, and remember to leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

What I’m Reading

March was a very, very busy reading month. Mostly just comics, but one or two books as well, and some beta reading.

I’ve been having regular “tea and comics” evenings and weekends to catch up on my comic to-be-read pile. It’s a lot of fun!

No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, Vol. 2

Thor: God of Thunder, Vol. 1: The God Butcher

The Monster at the End of this Book (Sesame Street)

Young Avengers, Vol. 2: Alternative Culture

Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: In Pursuit of Flight

What I’m Writing
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Ladies! Dudes! And other awesome people! I had a story accepted into an anthology with a bunch of awesome writers. This is super exciting. :D

Aside from that, CampNaNo is now in session (my profile!) so I’m buckling down to hit my wordcount for that.

The goal was 20k but Kate’s been spurring me on to try and hit 35k! Eeep!

What Inspires Me

I’m listening to Welcome to Night Vale, my favorite surreal horror podcast, again. It’s good to be back! I can’t wait to catch up with it all.

If you’ve never listened to Night Vale, Episode 1 is here. It’s not jump-out-of-your-seats horror, it’s a quieter, smart and blackly humored story.

I’ve just finished re-listening to Episode 20, “Poetry Week”, and it’s a lot of fun. Audio is here, and a transcript is here (but Night Vale loses a lot of atmosphere when written down).

What Else I’ve Been Up To

I’m on Week 6 of my 8 week running training, but I’ve had to pause things for a bit to recovery from some stubborn muscle aches. I’m looking forward to getting back on track soon.

Driving lessons are progressing steadily as well, and I’m now tackling things like main roads, high speeds, roundabouts and traffic lights. It’s fun! And sometimes a little scary too, but that’s just the learning curve.

I hope your week has been going well and continues going awesomely. I’m looking forward to hopping around everyone’s blogs today!