Month: March 2016

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Bookstores in Indianapolis

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I tried a new bookstore the other day. It was delicious.

Porter Books and Bread is located on the grounds of the old Fort Harrison and features fresh-baked, homemade breads and desserts. Sandwiches are named for literary figures. I had a Dumas, if I recall correctly. (Which wasn’t a Monte Cristo, curiously.) I took home a gothic tale which I haven’t started yet.

That puts me at three of the five on this Best Bookshops of Indianapolis list. It begs the question: What makes it a “best” bookshop? Selection? Service? Side quests, like tasty sandwiches? Tell me your favorite book haunts and why. (Can be shops, libraries, readers’ groups, whatever!)

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#WIPjoy Day 14: Cliffhanger

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Share a cliffhanger? I’ll keep this short, in the spirit of #WIPjoy, but here’s Euthalia’s first day in the Norse village, beating out communication with the very few words she knows with a kind older woman.

It was fresher than the boat’s provisions, at least, as they had saved the spices and treats to bring back to the village. And Euthalia, no longer surrounded by dozens of strange male warriors, found herself relaxing enough to feel real hunger. She devoured the bread.

“Good, good,” praised Birna. She nodded. “Eat. Tomorrow, slagtoffer.”

Euthalia did not know the word. “Slag — what?”

Birna smiled, a little tightly, and drew her hand across her throat.

Well, then.

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Loki Laufeyson, a Piece of Work (in Progress)

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This entry is part 8 of 9 in the series The Songweaver's Vow: Easter Eggs & Background

The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today’s #WIPjoy, Day 9, is a fun one: “Share a line that shows off your antagonist.”

In the spirit of sharing, I’m going to give you not a line, but a whole paragraph.

Here’s the thing: any time you find yourself in Norse mythology, even if you’re just visiting, you’re going to have Loki as an antagonist. That’s the nature of Loki. Even if he’s not the primary antagonist, he’s going to be an antagonist, because Loki.  In modern interpretations Loki is often something of an anti-hero, but that’s not consistent with the source material, in which Loki is pretty much just a turd to everyone. (A useful turd, sometimes, but still a turd. And if he does get threatened or beaten fairly often, well, he usually had it coming.) Continue reading

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C is for Chimera Early Reviews & Pre-Orders

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Greek-style chimera art on vase with superimposed C and authors' names
C is for Chimera

So the early reviews are coming in for C is for Chimera, and guess what was in the very first one?

On the more fantastical side of things, “N is for New Beginnings” by Laura VanArendonk Baugh and “I is for Ignite” by Sara Cleto were my favorites of the anthology, blending fairy tale and myth with characters who want to step outside the bounds their worlds have set for them.

Boom. I love days like this.

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WIP updates!

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So first off, let me apologize for the state of the site over the last week and a half. We got hacked, and everything went merrily into a handbasket. Things should be all fine and safe again. I’ll catch up with the writing in Ireland posts and things shortly, I hope.

On a brighter note, I’m playing along this month with the ‪#‎WIPjoy ‬collective sharing project, authors sharing about their work in progress. I’m trying to post most days about some part of one work in progress — in particular, The Lamp and the Lie. (That’s a working title, very subject to change — as it’s already the second working title….)

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