Last ~ Current ~ Next

Last Read
The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar #1) by Tad Williams. I'm a big fan of Tad Williams' modern fantasies, so I was excited to see that he'd written a classic gumshoe detective story with the twist of added angels. Reminiscent of his War of the Flowers, which I also found to be very good.

Current Read
I'm currently reading a few different books-
Overcoming Depression by Paul Gilbert. I'm reading this for a study into the benefits of self help books, some of seems sensible and some seems like hokum!
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Suzanna Clarke. I'm about 20% of the way through this, so far I'm  enjoying it, it's nice to reminisce about my university city.
The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M Harris. I've been dipping in and out of this one since February, the trickster really drags you along for the ride but I've not been in the mood for mischief recently.

Next Read
I can't decide between-
20 Trillion Leagues Under the Sea by Adam Roberts. I've enjoyed some of his other writing, particularly Yellow Blue Tibia, but others like New Model Army and By Light Alone have had disappointing conclusions.
BooksRapture of the Nerds by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross. This feels like the sort of book I "should" have read by now, like William Gibson's Neuromancer or Difference Engine, but I fear it'll be beyond my frail mind and disappoint me.

A to Z Book Survey

For Swap-bot, based on the survey on Perpetual Pageturner.

Author you’ve read the most books from: 

Terry Pratchett! I've read all the books in the Discworld series, including the Young Adult ones, and most of the stand alone books, though I'm still waiting for book 2 of The Long Earth series to arrive in our library.

Best Sequel Ever: 

Hannibal. I'll not spoil it for you but it has the outcome for Dr Lecter that I always wanted.

Currently Reading:

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M Harris

Drink of Choice While Reading: 

Hot chocolate with cinnamon!

E-reader or Physical Book? 

Physical book. I'm the place good books go to die, I've destroyed two copies of American Gods over the last few years via spills, tears, broken spines etc. An E-reader would be a very expensive paperweight after 5 minutes in my hands!

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School: 

Newton Pulcifer from Good Omens, I always got the losers!

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance: 

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson, it changed my philosophy on death

Hidden Gem Book:

Burton and Swinburne in the Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder. I highly recommend this to any fans of sci-fi, alternate history, historical adventure or just bat-poop crazy writing.

Important Moment in your Reading Life: 

Reading Jane Eyre in high school and realising that classics weren't all dull gossiping women

Just Finished: 

Red Shirts by John Scalzi

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read: 

Anything that's sold in the “Chick-Lit” section, I have enough trouble with real life!

Longest Book You’ve Read: 

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Major book hangover because of: 

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, it's lasted 19 years so far!

Number of Bookcases You Own: 

Eight floor-to-ceiling and two waist height.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times: 

I read Dune by Frank Herbert once a year or so

Preferred Place To Read: 

The bath! LOL

Quote that you like, from a book you’ve read:

 “Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.” - Sandman: Fables and Reflections by Neil Gaiman

Reading Regret: 

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. We were forced to read it for A-Level English Lit and frankly it was the worst book I've ever read.

Series You Started And Need To Finish(all books are out in series): 

The Sookie Stackhouse novels, I kinda lost track around book 10.

Three of your All-Time Favourite Books: 

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon
Necronomicon (the collected works of HP Lovecraft)

Unapologetic Fangirl For: 

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. Cities roaming the nuclear wastes of Europe, brilliant

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others: 

The novelisation of The Dark Crystal surprisingly. The written version of the Labyrinth was excellent and perfect bedtime reading for the baby.

Worst Bookish Habit: 

Folding pages to mark my place, my favourites scenes/quotes and then not knowing which is which and having to start over.

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book: 

Ubik by Philip K Dick

Your latest book purchase:

George RR Martin's Dance with Dragons part 1 & 2 for my husband. I won't read them.

ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late): 

Terry Pratchett's Raising Steam. I read it in one sitting.

The Lyrics of Abney Park

For more then twenty years “Captain” Robert of Abney Park has been creating a world. Each song he’s written is like a tiny window revealing a new detail or character in this lush UNIVERSE. This book is a collection of all the lyrics to all the songs that shape the World of Abney Park. It also contains hundreds of full color illustrations by -

Artists: Juan Pablo Valdecantos Anfuso
Rachel Esmeralda Schwarting
MANDEM
Delucienne Maekerr
Desiree Kern
Miles Graves
Alex Thomas
Myke Amend
Bethalynn Bajema
Phantoms Siren
Model Maker: Matthew Slater
Photographer: Jonathan Happs

Copies are available for purchase in the Abney Park Marketplace.

All Hallow's Read

All Hallow's Read by =phantoms-siren on deviantART

It's October! Time for All Hallow's Read! For more information on All Hallow's Read please go to - http://www.allhallowsread.com/

Available as a shirt without the moon text on RedBubble.

Nico Murray: Interview With The Author

Nico Murray has just published her first novel and novella, and I was lucky enough to design the cover for the latter. You can meet her at the BinarySoul chainmail booth in the Dealer Hall at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA USA over the Labor Day weekend (August 31 - September 3, 2012). In the meantime here's a short interview with details of the books.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I live in Toronto, Canada, with my husband, and my strange little dog. When I'm not crafting strange tales, I work as a goldsmith by trade, while finding many ways to indulge in vodka, coffee and cupcakes.

So, what's the deal with this series?

That's a tricky question. I love vampires, and it's an idea that percolated in my head for a long time.

What I wanted, and found wanting in the great heap of vampires in media was a character who was relatively angst free, and perhaps average, not powerful, rich, or angry. Someone who was going to live life on his own terms. Or his unlife, as it might be. I also wanted vampires who accepted blood drinking, and that the mortals in their life were not just food, but a connection to their own humanity. The Council that Sascha answers to is largely hands off save for big matters.

The series will go from Sascha getting his freedom, but getting saddled with a huge responsibility, but also his own research lab, to have a chance to make things right for the people who need it, while protecting his own people and dealing with the risks of modern society when it comes in the front door.I have vague ideas for books beyond 2, and largely it tends to depend on what unfolds in book 2. Turning Night revealed twists to me that I could not have ever planned. Trying to avoid being spoilery here!

Is the novella Bound Lilies different to the main novel Turning Night?
The novellas are planned as a sort of side-story to the novels, a chance to get behind the scenes, or behind closed doors, or into secondary characters stories where they might not fill a novel entirely. The first novella was created out of a bit of joking between Asher and James, and suddenly I felt I was watching these two getting up to a bit of fun. I liked the play between them, and what was a one off short story just rolled out into this interesting little tale.

The novella also presents a kink/bdsm relationship in a different light. I'm not fond of the standard "Dominant Man/Naive Girl" thing, I wanted characters who knew what they were getting into, and delving into what I think is the pull of kink to some degree, the psychological stuff, catharsis, confronting one's boundaries, but done in a respectful, balanced and equitable way between the dominant and submissive. I mean, you can't have one without the other.

I have some ideas for novella 2, but it likely won't be quite so...graphic. I have no shame writing sex scenes, I think the aversion to that, but a general acceptance of all manner of full on violence seems odd to me. I also presented most of the immortals as somewhat fluid in sexual orientation, the joke being "you're warm, you're squishy, you're consenting? good enough." I sort of pictured that after 200 years you'd be pretty much down with whatever happened to stumble in to your arms.

So that's where its at.

Where can we buy the books?

Paper books at Createspace -
Bound Lilies ($10)
Turning Night ($15)

Paper books at Amazon -
Bound Lilies ($10)
Turning Night ($15)

One of the differences between Createspace (an Amazon company) and Amazon is that shipping from Createspace is not a very friendly option for those overseas. The localized Amazon flavour is likely your best bet if you’re quoted high prices for delivery.

eBook exclusively at Amazon’s Kindle shop
Bound Lilies ($3.99)
Turning Night ($5.99)

Where else can we find you online?

I have a tumblr where I post my own pics I take for novel ideas, and random flotsam and jetsam related to the writing at nicovamp.tumblr.com (occasionally NSFW) and my author page at nicomurray.ca.

You can also find the artists who created the Turning Night artwork here- MANDEM Mythpunk Art Noir.

Wordless Reading Wednesday

Books by =phantoms-siren on deviantART

Zombies, Run! Playlists!

I'm a huge fan of Zombies, Run! (see fanart here for proof). It's life changing. I'd never willingly run any where without a reason before I got this game. Ok, so I still don't run a great deal even now, I'm usually at a fast walk, but I am getting better and faster.

Due to chronic pain exercise is not fun for me. Will never been fun for me. It hurts. It will always hurt. This game is great for distracting from the pain, but when it comes to the music I have a dilemma. I have a very strong sense memory when it comes to music, so if I listen to songs I love when exercising I can't listen to them at other times because my brain makes me feel pain. An example would be when I broke my ankle at a Gary Numan show so now I can't listen to his 'Jagged' album any more.

So I ended up putting together these two playlists of stuff I like but don't listen to any more. I swear my musical tastes aren't really stalled in 2005!!

Rock Mix

• Links 2 3 4 - Rammstein


• Don't Stop Me Now - Queen


• Welcome To The Jungle - Guns N Roses


• Dragula - Rob Zombie


• Du Hast - Rammstein


• Edgecrusher - Fear Factory


• Scum Of The Earth - Rob Zombie


• Bodies - Drowning Pool


• Disposable Teens - Marilyn Manson


• Firesoilslave - Nerve Harvest


• Living Dead Girl - Rob Zombie


• Dr Who On Holiday - Dean Grey


• Down With The Sickness - Disturbed


• Meet The Creeper - Rob Zombie


• Rock is Dead - Marilyn Manson


• Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen - Rammstein


• No Time To Cry - Cradle of Filth

Goth EBM Mix

• Dead Enough For Life? - Icon Of Coil


• Weisses Fleisch - Rammstein


• Until The End Of The World - Apoptygma Berzerk


• Hemoglobin - Beborn Beton


• Tier - Rammstein


• Call The Ships To Port - Covenant


• Floorkiller - Icon Of Coil


• Derezzed - Daft Punk


• Engel - Rammstein


• Everything is Poison - Ego Likeness


• They're Coming To Take Me Away - Neuroticfish


• Shelter - Icon of Coil


• Feuer Frei! - Rammstein


• Dead Stars - Covenant


• Love Never Dies (Part 1) - Apoptygma Berzerk


• You Just Died - Icon Of Coil


• One World One Sky - Covenant


• Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics