Latest books/stories I've finished reading in the past couple weeks:Bone Crossed (fourth book in Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series)Cry Wolf (first book in Briggs' Alpha & Omega series)The Dresden Files short story 'It's My Birthday Too' by Jim Butcher, published in Many Bloody ReturnsThe short story 'The Star of David' in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe by Briggs (set in the Mercy/A&O universe)The Last Wish (shouldn't need to tell anyone here what that book is
)Re-read sections of FUBAR: Soldier Slang of World War IIVarious chapters of legal textbooks for school (post-degree paralegal certificate program)Sections of Writer's Market's Guide to Literary Agents (see section below quotes in this post)Story segments/short stories by folks in my weekly writing group (one of whom I've been pestering that they should try getting published with their fantasy story)Yes, I'm a very fast reader.
Currently reading:Alpha and Omega by Briggs in On the Prowl (a friend pointed out to me that the reason the start of Cry Wolf felt like I was walking into a story in progress was because the story actually began in a short story in this multi-author compilation)Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (latest book in Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series)The short story 'Il Est Ne' in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe by Vaughn (set in the Kitty universe, prior to book 3)As to the short story compilations listed above: Many Bloody Returns is vampire stories with a Valentine's Day setting by various authors. Wolfsbane and Mistletoe is werewolf stories by various authors with a Christmas setting. ...I picked up both pretty much for the Dresden, Mercy-universe, and Kitty stories listed above.
CessPitts said:
'Monstrous Regiment' by Terry Pratchett
Pratchett's great. Though I think some of his others have been better than that one, personally. For example, I found Vimes' little beserk incident in Thud! quite amusing.
(not a spoiler: Berserkers do not usually chant things like that....
)
CessPitts said:
Just finished reading Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King. Can't believe there actually was an older book by King I hadn't read.
My uncle's a King fan, I never really got into his books myself, though. Course I tend to stick more towards fantasy/sci-fi/urban fantasy/military sci-fi in my fictional reading preferences.
CessPitts said:
By the way, anyone of you ever written a book? Anyone interesting in writing fantasy or horror stuff? I'm writing my first novella/short story in horror genre... just to amuse myself.
Ayup. Currently starting to look for an agent to try marketing my stories (read as: Working my way through a list trying to figure out who I should try sending to, and trying to work up the courage to do so). I've got the final draft of one urban fantasy book done (a little over 100,000 words), along with the first drafts of two sequels (currently around 90-93,000 words each) and started on a third (actually, I know roughly what's going on up through the end of what would be book 7 in the series).Also have a semi-final draft of another book done in a related series (same universe, different location and characters, tho. Approx. 100k words again) and half a sequel written in first-draft (and ideas for several others). Have a steampunk-fantasy one about 1/2-2/3 done that I need to get back to work on at some point and occasionally play around with post-apocalypse settings, though not recently. ...oh and completed the NaNoWriMo challenge this year, with a first draft story at around 53,000 words after starting 4-5 days late....yes, I write nearly as quickly as I read (a 90wpm typing speed helps)