dynastic nonsense

I swear to god, real political dynasties are so complicated & disbelief-suspending that if you wrote them people would be like OH HOW CONVENIENT. For example, I’m reading about Joanna I of Naples. Joanna’s grandfather was the 3rd son, never intended to inherit anything, except he and his next oldest and next youngest brother got sent away to be hostages and treated brutally for 7 years just before he returned his oldest brother died and his next oldest brother who had been imprisoned with him got God in a major…

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Recent Reads: Shadows

I blew through Robin McKinley‘s SHADOWS yesterday (somewhat foolishly, actually, since after already staying up too late watching a movie I noticed the book with only 4 chapters left sitting beside me and thought “well, I’ll just finish that chapter,” and everybody knows how *that* story ends). I’ll read anything McKinley writes (although it appears I’ve failed to read PEGASUS, so I need to remedy that), though I find her books to be–not exactly hit or miss. More like more like “out of the ballpark” or “perfectly readable”. Most of…

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magic & manners under the wire

I forgot to post the 12th chapter of MAGIC & MANNERS at the Patreon page on Wednesday! Or at least, I forgot on Wednesday my time, BUT IT IS STILL WEDNESDAY IN ALASKA AND HAWAII SO I HAVE MADE IT WHEW For those still considering the Patreon campaign (or, I admit, not considering it; that’s okay too), the first 6 chapters of MAGIC & MANNERS are now available to read for free! Honestly, if I had about a 3 week solid run on this book I’m pretty sure I’d just…

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Recent Reads: The Poor Relation

I accidentally blew through MC Beaton‘s entire Poor Relation series in the last two days. Three days. Since Monday, anyway. It should be no secret by now that I like Beaton (aka Marion Chesney)’s writing, but the truth is that I like her Regencies even more than her Agatha Raisin or Hamish Macbeth books (though I’ve only read one of the Hamish books, I think. I need to read more of them.). They’re just delightful stories, quick-paced, clever, funny, and with characters I care about. This particular series is about…

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whew!

Turned out the Morganville Vampires books reached the end of a story arc with book 6, so I didn’t have to read 15 books this weekend. :) Whew! Seriously, though, the books are a lot of fun, and if you haven’t read them, I feel you ought to go right ahead and get books 1-6 so you can gulp down the first story arc all at once. I’m gonna have to check with Rachel to find out where the next story arc ends or to see if I have to…

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