A Light Through the Darkness

I just finished Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal and wow. I wish I could write like this.

I got this book yesterday. Yeah. Yesterday. I just finished it.

It's that damn good.

If you like Regencies, if you like magic, if you like damn good books, I highly recommend it.

I will be buying this book. I borrowed it from the library, and I will be buying it. And reading it again.

It's that damn good.

So, in a day or so (once I finish Death's Deceit, which is tonight), I start working seriously on Last Rites. That rough draft will be done by the time NaNo starts, so I really, really want to do NaNo this year. Below is the list of possibilities, so I can start making some decisions.

- The Night of Morning
Day Spirits vs. Night Spirits, as magical families vye for control over magical nodes. Urban Fantasy. This one has an event timeline already.

- The Pirate Crown
A young woman dies on Earth and wakes up the captain of a pirate ship that sails the Cosmic Web. Her goal? Find the missing prince and save her new home from intergalatic war. Sci Fantasy (or such lightweight SciFi that I couldn't even claim it)

- Blips
A vampire, a werewolf and a Blip (a nonmagical person) are kidnapped from their world and brought to Earth, where the Blip discovers she's more than anyone thought. Urban Fantasy.

- Raindrops
An Elemental Mage and her twin sister escape an attempted coup by jumping into a raindrop. Now, they have to find the deposed King, defeat the junta and save the world. First, they have to escape the raindrop. High Fantasy.

- Unholy
In a post-End Times Earth, a paladin and her demon lover fight to restore order in a world of magic gone mad. Urban Fantasy, sort of.

- Blood Kisses
A demon sorceress, trapped in a mortal body, helps a cop solve a series of disturbing murders. The only catch? She's half-convinced she's the murderer. Fantasy Mystery

- On the Side of Angels
Half demon, half angel - and caught in the middle as the End Times begin. Urban Fantasy.

- Treaty of Betrayal
Elves vs. goblins vs. humans vs. elves. Titania's been kidnapped, and Oberon is convinced the humans are to blame, since the treaty with the Bright Court is up. In retaliation, he kidnaps his granddaughter Rhiannon and her human lover back to the Court and forces her to find her grandmother, or Gabriel will die. Urban Fantasy.

- Phases of the Moon
The Moon is gone, dead - or is she? Four young girls find celestial magic in their souls and race to defeat the Sun Demons before their world falls into light forever. High Fantasy.

I have more, somewhere, but these are the only ones I can think of right now. I will write them all. At some point. I just don't know when.

I just finished Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive by Joni B. Cole.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND. As I was reading it, I kept nodding and saying to my cubemate (who is writing her first book), "Oh my god, you need to read this when I'm done! Trust me!"

Honestly, every writer should read it. It's GOOD. It's honest. And damn, it lit a fire underneath me.

I really did! I packed up 3 boxes of books in the bedroom, wrote 2.5 pages on Broken Wings before sending it to my artists to see if that is the format they want, and entered 1 box of books into Shelfari and into my Excel spreadsheet. Now, at 10 pm, I'm about to start writing in Dreams.

Very productive!