December Reading Blitz

With NaNo over and my brain fried from the even busier than the usual work rush before Christmas, I've decided to get some reading done. I need a little escape from reality.

Unfortunately, I stumbled upon some book crack while sifting through book donations and totally checked out of the real world for a little while. You have to appreciate a writer who can torture her men so well. I really enjoy the fact that there is an overarching plotline that pulls all the books together rather than just featuring romance stories from a shared world. Here's what I read in seven days:
Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

And then I came up for some air and got some work, holiday shopping and decorating done and remembered to get some full nights of sleep.

My daughter handed me a YA book from her school bookclub that she really liked. I have to say that it's interesting fiction set in the 1860s based on some actual caged graves that the author ran across. The story kept me turning the pages at a rapid pace.
The Caged Graves by Dianne K Salerni

My Mother-in-Law passed The Town That Forgot How To Breathe by Kenneth J. Harvey to me. She said it was "very weird". I have to second this statement. It is has a very Lovecraftian feel. While the first third moved rather slowly as we are introduced to all the pov characters, it gets rolling in the middle and entered the can't-put-it-down stage in the last third. Set in Canada, we get to visit a small town afflicted with a mysterious illness and some of the characters have really trippy scenes which described vivid detail. Of all the horrific images that are so graphically described (drowned bodies, decaying bodies, living dead bodies, psychotic wishes to murder people in great detail), I admit, the one that really grossed me out, was of a little girl picking her nose. Just euw.

To Be Published: Taking a Breather

It happens that this one weekend I hadn't been stalking my inbox and that's when an acceptance arrives. Maybe this means I should take a break from stalking more often. Easier said that done.

Taking A Breather will be published in an upcoming issue of STUPEFYING STORIES. While I like all of my stories, this one was a favorite so I'm so happy it found a home.

And now it's back to cleaning up the house after a weekend of purging a kid's messy room and putting up the Christmas tree. At least I'll be smiling while cleaning.