And this time from JC Hutchins!  He’s gearing up for the release of his novel Personal Effects: Dark Arts podcast prequel Sword of Blood and you can learn a bit more about it here.  Share, enjoy, have fun and please help continue the support of our podcast novelists.

I’m sure it’s going to echo around here.  Empty as it has become.  I’ve got hundreds of little half posts and I’ve just not finished them.  I think I may try little “shout outs” for lack of better terms.

Been reading.  Heavily.  Majorly.  About everything else is back burner.  All my podcasts are not safe for work and we can’t wear a headphone since we’re on headsets.  So I turn to the next best thing and those are my books.

In the last months I’ve read every Blood book Anne Bishop’s written, including her new one, The Shadow Queen.  Excellent read, was well worth the money, but I’m actually looking forward to getting away from the SaDiablo family eventually.

Ripped through the Kushiel saga; all six books that Jacqueline Carey has put out so far.  Her new one is due out this summer and I’m rather looking forward to it.  She has a mystery out too, but I haven’t been able to get my hands on it… yet.

My accomplishment though… is getting my husband reading.  He tore through every RA Salvatore book I owned, eating the words written about Drizzet like they were candy.  And pouted when he ran out of books.  We just got The Lone Drow and The Two Swords in today, which made him happy.  In the meantime he’s also read through Anne Bishop’s Sebastian and Belladonna and said she needed to lay off the Blood books and get some more from that world written.  I’ve also entangled him into the world of Harry Dresden.  Next I think we’ll tackle some Tee Morris or Mur Lafferty.

Ah yes, speaking of the podcasters….  I ordered my copy of my favorite Scott Sigler book The Rookie.  Have you?  If you haven’t, don’t make my mistake and be in such a hurry to make sure you get a copy that you forget to ask him to sign it.  I feel like crying at this point.  Hopefully he’ll be buzzing through Texas again once it’s out.

And while we’re on the subject of the podcasters, JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects – Dark Arts is coming out this summer too.  I’m in a hurry to get my hands on that one too.

Reading…  reading…  ah yes…  Twilight.  The whole fugging series and I blame two of my favorite co-workers.  I have to admit I wasn’t expecting the story to be as enjoyable and as engrossing as I found it to be.  I’ve gone through it twice now in less than thirty days.  The film wasn’t bad…  hurried…  but not bad at all.  Fantastic soundtrack.

I think I’m running out of dust now.  Think I’ll see if I can’t clear up the cobwebs and get some more posts up soon.  For now, if you’re going to waste time… waste it well.

PS Big thanks to Joe Cottonwood for the autographed copy of Clear Heart.  Have burned through it twice too.

If you’re actually on site you’re seeing a new little section on TWW in the sidebars.  A little thing called In Demand.  For the moment it has a small Wanted poster and one single vote to get General Siglerisomo in Austin on his Contagious book tour.  Yeah, the vote is mine.

Simply put I’d like to see him back in Texas, Austin by preference, but I’ll travel where I have to.  So lets get few votes going, and even if you don’t want to bring him to Austin, vote, so you too can have Scott Sigler in your face.

By now the news of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince being pushed back until next summer has been received and raged at. The rumors of Radcliffe appearing nude in Deathly Hallows have been drooled over and mocked/enjoyed (no I won’t say which side I’m on for that rumor). And the loyal Potter fans make due with what is available to feed their lusts for all things Hogwarts.

I could go on for pages about the books and films, which would likely bore you all to tears. The fact that I am a happy fan girl of the HP universe still surprises me, as I attempted to avoid the books at all cost. It took a good friend, also a kindergarten teacher to tell me about the books and open my eyes to them. I still drug my feet and didn’t really get into it until I went to see Sorcerer’s Stone after having been awake for over 24 hours. Needless to say I didn’t understand what I was seeing so it was finally time to get the books.

The phrase, “instantly addicted” comes to mind, as I devoured the first book. Since the printing of book four, (Goblet of Fire), I’ve had every subsequent HP novel in my hands on the day of release. I’ve also had them taken from me so I would sleep and was handed tissues when I was crying (Thank gods for a tolerant husband).

JK Rowling created an enduring and endearing universe when she brought Harry Potter to life. The characters, even the owl Hedwig, strike notes of familiarity with many of the readers and everyone has their favorite (McGonagall) hero and most hated villain (Umbridge). What I enjoy most about Rowling’s work is that it inspired children and adults alike to read.

Many of the people who have grown up with, or just enjoyed, the books have moved on to something called “Twilight” but I’m sure their memories of Hogwarts and Quidditch will remain with them always. I know that the whimsically bound books have a place honor on my shelf, and I’m ready to get my hands on the Beetle the Bard book. I hope Rowling will continue to entertain us all through the ages with these timeless books.

Please share your thoughts and opinions about Harry and his world in the comments.

For fantasy genre readers the name Marion Zimmer Bradley is usually a familiar one. It may be known among the science fiction readers due to her popular Darkover series. Marion also helped introduce new authors to the world with the Sword and Sorceress anthology.  It was a tragic loss to the world of writing when she passed on, but she left her readers with many good books and good memories.

Of all of them, however, The Firebrand is a novel that escaped notice for many. It’s a personal favorite of mine, more so than the very well known Mists of Avalon.

Firebrand tells the story of Kassandra, the prophetess who was never to believed, and her part in the Fall of Troy. All the usual suspects are involved, Paris, Helen, Achilles, Hector, and more. The story that she wove took the classic Aegean Mythos and improved upon it.

Out of all the books she wrote, and the many I read, I do think this is one of her most well written and I hope you’ll find time to enjoy it yourself.  If you have enjoyed the book, please share why or name your favorite character/scene in the comments.  I love knowing how others feel about the things I enjoy.

In the meantime, happy reading!

Ganked this off Twitter soon as I got home.  The tweets are from Emperor Hutchins in regards to Playing For Keeps by the Mighty Mur Lafferty.

I am just thrilled that Playing for Keeps did so very well and will be picking up my copies soon as the first paycheck rolls in and the bills are paid.  Seriously, Mur, you RAWK and congratulations!

Regrettably not having running water and not being in my house most of the weekend has kept me from finishing the review I promised you all about Playing For Keeps – the novel.  I’m about 2/3rds through the book and hope to have it finished tonight or tomorrow.  I promise you’ll still get the review.

For now, I want to wish Mur Lafferty the best of luck with her Amazon.com run today, and if you want to pick up your own copy of this excellent story you can do so by clicking on the Playing for Keeps banner in the side bar.  Let’s shoot Mur to the top, huh?  She definitely deserves it!

Today you’ll see Nick’s review of the original podcast and I’ll try and get the book finished and reviewed for you tomorrow.  We’ll see what’s going on with the powers that be and if there’s water and I’m not too worn from work.

Hope you all have a super day, avoid the Zupra and go enjoy Playing for Keeps.

And could someone leave a comment about how well Mur does when all is said and done?  I don’t have net access from work.

Thanks!!

Hi folks!  Just wanted to share with you the PDF of Mur Lafferty‘s Playing for Keeps (warning BIG FILE, may take some time to load).  Though if you follow just half the stuff I do you probably already have it. =D  My review will be up Monday to coincide with the BIG release of Playing for Keeps on Amazon.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 25 Release Date for Mur Lafferty’s Playing for Keeps

Swarm Press is pleased to announce the upcoming release of breakthrough podcaster and author Mur Lafferty’s newest novel of superheroic action Playing for Keeps. Originally a self-released “podiobook,” this new printed version of Lafferty’s novel is due to hit shelves on August 25, 2008.

Playing for Keeps by Mur Lafferty.

Welcome to Seventh City, the birthplace of super powers. The First Wave heroes are jerks, but they have the best gifts: flight, super strength, telepathy, genius, fire. The Third Wavers, like bar-owner Keepsie Branson and her friends, are stuck with the leftovers: the ability to instantly make someone sober, the power to smell the past, absolute control… over elevators.  They just aren’t powerful enough to make a difference… at least that’s what they’ve always been told. But when the villain Doodad slips Keepsie a mysterious metal sphere, the Third Wavers become caught in the middle of a battle between egotistical heroes and manipulative villains.

“Playing for Keeps grabbed me and kept me reading straight through when I should have been plotting a new fantasy series for Tor Books. Mur, thank you. Tor, however, does not thank you.” – David Drake, author, Hammer’s Slammers.

Mur Lafferty is an American podcaster and writer based in Durham, North Carolina. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a degree in English. Her nonfiction work has appeared at www.SuicideGirls.com, as well as in the magazines Knights of the Dinner Table, PC Gamer, Computer Games, Scrye, and SciFi Magazine. Her short fiction has appeared in Hub, Escape Pod, and Scrybe. She was, until July, 2007, the host and co-editor of Pseudopod, and is currently the host and creator of the podcasts Geek Fu Action Grip and I Should be Writing. Visit Mur online at www.murverse.com

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Media: to schedule an interview with Mur or to request a review copy of Playing for Keeps, contact publicist Matt Staggs at mattormeg@gmail.com.