Recommendations

Occasionally I make a visit to one of the local bookstores with the intent of actually buying something (not as frequent as I would like, but hopefully this year changes that :) ). My habit is head for the Tolkien books first, see if anything is avaliable aside from the books I already have. So far I've got three full collections of the trilogy, two of which are boxed sets and one comes with a companion book. The third set are single books are are so worn from repeated readings. I also have a single volume of the trilogy which I refuse to even crack open since it's a 50th edition and I don't want to ruin its beauty. Along with those I have The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Children of Hurin and The Lost Road and Other Writings. I don't often see anything other than the trilogy, The Hobbit and the Silmarillion but you never really can tell. After that I scour through the rest of the Fantasy section to see if there's anything of interest, and if I find nothing there a quick browse through the store. It stops if I find a book or two I like.

About a year ago I was going through the store, found nothing and so was on my way out when I stopped by one of the sales tables. It was mostly hardcovers, all sorts of genres but what caught my eye was a book titled Sebastian by Anne Bishop. It was a name I've never heard of before, but the reviews touted her as new talent so I just put it to that. Wasn't a purchase I regretted at all, so if you see this book in your book store or decide to do some shopping on Amazon and love fantasy, pick up this book. Sebastian is wonderfully fresh and imaginative, a very unique world. And Bishop's writing style is beautifully descriptive without being overbearing. It's very easy to get absorbed into and connect to the characters. By the end I couldn't wait for the release of the next book, though I don't know why I didn't think of searching her out to see when that was - especially considering the techie that I am. Well it's out now, and as soon as I'm able I plan to grab it - the title is Belladonna, for anyone who's curious. Aside from Sebastian, Belladonna was my favourite character so I'm really stoked that the sequel focuses more on her. If anyone's already read it, tell me what you thought!

Nemesis Now

All my life I've always had a habit of collecting things. Not always a good habit, especially when you're a kid coming home with pockets full of rocks or leaves or something, hehe. I used to drive my mom nuts with the stuff I used to collect, so it's been a struggle for as long as I can remember to not hold on to junky stuff or crap I really have no use for. Still a bit of a struggle, but I'm far better than I used to be. 90% of the stuff I'm hanging on to is really just a matter of I haven't taken the time to actually go through it, and figure out what to do with it. Hoping to curb that too. Well now I finally have an outlet for it:

Nemesis Now faeries! This collection is absolutely amazing. I love the wings especially, and you can see how some parts have a leafy shape to them which I've not seen elsewhere. Gives them a unique look. They also glow in the dark, believe it or not! The edges of their wings are painted with a clear glow-in-the-dark paint, and some of the finer details on them are painted also. They actually look pretty cool - I wish I could photograph them.

This was one of the first ones I got, Virgo being the second. Not only do the edges of her wings glow, but also that large star she's sleeping on and all the little ones too. I adore her hair. I'd love to go that long again, but the problem is that I wouldn't be able to find someone to colour it :) I'm back in my redhead stage, and I give thick hair a new meaning.

Virgo, one of the Zodiac faeries from the 2008 collection. My astrology sign is actually Cancer, but Rhonda didn't have Cancer in at the time. Virgo's rather lovely though, and I plan on collecting the whole lot anyway :) Along with her wings the flowers in her hair and at her feet all glow, and some of the edges of her dress glow as well.

My latest addition! This one is called "To Catch A Falling Star" and I just fell in love with the forest green. I'm not sure what aside from her wings glow just yet, but I'll wager it's likely all the stars.

New Year, New Beginnings

New year should be a start of new beginnings, both personal and otherwise. For me it's finally getting myself in gear with a lot of things. I have a beta reader for Redemption, which will help me finish that story because I know she'll hound me if I don't :) In the meantime the job hunt is on, and I have a hopefully promising prospect on the horizon. So yay for that! I'm also combing the Bewares & Background Check forum over at AbsoluteWrite and putting all of that info into an excel spreadsheet. Every agent, agency, publisher, vanity and scammer listed. Even the ones that don't handle my chosen genre (fantasy). I figured it would be helpful since I can easily sort by a number of things like service (publisher, agency, agent), whether they're legit, things like that. And it saves me the trouble of trying to remember if someone reps/publishes fantasy or not, since I'll have it marked down. If anyone would like a copy once I really get it underway (or now) just let me know. It's really easy to enter the info and I'm always happy to share resources :) So far I'm up to 8 possible contacts.

Also with the new year things with my local NaNo group are going to pick up again. We're thinking of doing our own version of the Night of Writing Dangerously to help support our own local chapter as well as HQ. It's ambitious I'll admit, but I think it'll be a lot of fun. The original plan was for February, but I think we'll be moving it because that doesn't look like it's going to be enough time to plan. I'd rather us take the time to plan this right, than rush it and possibly ruin it. It should be loads of fun though! Maybe we'll wait for the good weather and have it outside, haha