And the award for Best Sunday Afternoon Read goes to... Green Sky and Sparks

That sound s a bit precriptive. Could be Sunday evening, or even Saturday evening if you're not a party person and cant be tempted by Ant or Dec.
I was flicking through my kindle, through a bunch of new e-books, and having a disappointing time of it (three books in a row I had not managed to get past the first couple of pages). Then it felt like I'd take a dive into a refreshing, sparkling sea off the coast of some medittereanean beach... OK, so I'm stretching the metaphor. I'm trying to say the contrast was almost shocking.
Folks who have read my reviews before will know I rarely say much about the story. I dont get the kind of reviews that precis the book for you and tell you about all the charcters. I mean, then whats the point of reading it? I'm much more about style, about the way the book is engineered. This is a gem.
You know instantly that its going to be an easy read, you may even pause for a moment to make a mug of something and grab a packet of biscuits. You know this one is going to be a long ride, probably a single sitting. Now that I think about it, I believe the last time I got 'that' feeling was when I opened up the first volume of The Belgariad, by David Eddings. It's accessible and open and could be used as the definition for 'easy read'.
That's not to say its simplistic. Characters grow quickly, and the descriptive passages are intense without being laboured. There are always one or two characters in any book that don't seem to flesh out, but given this is the first novella in a series (currently of three), I have my suspicions they may be being saved for something else.
One of the things that intregues me about the setting is
I cant decide if its an emerging technology, or a declined one. Kate Coe, like myself, seems to enjoy mashing tech and magic, and here it really works well.
Looking forward to the second volume. And the third. Find it here on Amazon

A little bit of what you fancy...

...in the sense of not a particularly focused post but, for the first time in a while, I actually have a little free time. Now that in itself is a novelty.
Also a novelty is that I haven't written a word in a whole month. Can't remember that happening for about the last six years.

I mean, I'm not a believer in the 'a writer must write something every day' diktat. If you are working with your editor(s) prepping a book, you often don't have time to write, and sometimes, you just don't have anything to say. But still, its odd.

And its not that I haven't been busy. We went to SFW7 earlier in the month, where the ever awesome Sam Stone organised some great panels and we picked up some great ideas from other traders there. I suppose most of the month has been taken up with implementing those changes (and decorating, over which we will draw a discrete veil). Our next con is EM-Con, over the Mayday bank holiday weekend, where we will be sited next to Crafty Miss Kitty (best friends and purveyors of wonderful handmade jewellery). The event promises to be spectacular, and we will again be carrying a selection of books from my new publisher, Kristell Ink

And as for writing? Good point. I really should be picking up the third Warrior Stone book, but something is stopping me. Not sure what it is yet, but 'writers block' tend to be trying to tell me something is wrong somewhere. Perhaps my muse thinks I need to change something, or even that I need to write something else first. Either way, I have faith in my muse. It will tell me what I need to do when it's ready. In the mean time, where did I put that saw? There's decorating to finish off