March Reading List & the End Approaches

I'm super excited about March, and not just because of all the exciting new book releases. The end of the month is my deadline to finish the first draft of my urban fantasy novel, and I'm (mostly) on track. Yes, the crazy whim of a story I started during NaNoWriMo is racing toward the finish line, and completing it on time will be my obsession for the month. However, I will be making time for some reading, and I wanted to share the titles I'm especially looking forward to.

As sad as I am to see the series end, I'm still pretty psyched about the final Alexia Tarabotti novel, Timeless by Gail Carriger (March 2nd).

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle.

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

Wicked As They Come by Delilah S. Dawson (March 27th) combines two of my favorite things: steampunk and paranormal.

When Tish Everett forces open the ruby locket she finds at an estate sale, she has no idea that a deliciously rakish Bludman has cast a spell just for her. She wakes up in a surreal world, where Criminy Stain, the dashing proprietor of a magical traveling circus, curiously awaits. At Criminy’s electric touch, Tish glimpses a tantalizing future, but she also foresees her ultimate doom. Before she can decide whether to risk her fate with the charming daredevil, the locket disappears, and with it, her only chance to return home. Tish and Criminy battle roaring sea monsters and thundering bludmares, vengeful ghosts and crooked Coppers in a treacherous race to recover the necklace from the evil Blud-hating Magistrate. But if they succeed, will Tish forsake her fanged suitor and return to her normal life, or will she take a chance on an unpredictable but dangerous destiny with the Bludman she’s coming to love? 

It looks like we have a fun first installment of a new series with Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire (March 6th).

Ghoulies. Ghosties. Long-legged beasties. Things that go bump in the night... The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity-and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right? It would be, if it weren't for the talking mice, the telepathic mathematicians, the asbestos supermodels, and the trained monster-hunter sent by the Price family's old enemies, the Covenant of St. George. When a Price girl meets a Covenant boy, high stakes, high heels, and a lot of collateral damage are almost guaranteed. To complicate matters further, local cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone's spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping underneath the city...

What are you all reading in March? Anyone finishing (or starting) a project this month you'd like to tell us about?

Cheers!

Ella

Visual Aids, Steampunk Round-up, and Nerdscapes

I'm a visual kind of person. It's probably why I love comics and graphic novels so much. I've been known to doodle and collage as part of my story/worldbuilding process. The combination of storytelling and artwork is so appealing to people of all ages and it is unfortunately still one of the most under-rated forms of literary and artistic expression around. So it pleases me to no end when popular novels get the illustrated treatment and further blur the lines between words and images.

Laurell K. Hamilton, Diana Gabaldon, Stephen King and Richelle Mead among others have dipped into the comic medium. Kim Harrison's all new Hollows story Blood Work is scheduled to release in July. But I'm really excited about the manga adaptation of Gail Carriger's Alexia Tarabotti novels by Yen Press, and I keep thinking about how amazing it would be for any author to be able to actually see a visual representation of their fictional world. Not just a single image, as on a book cover, but an entire story with characters and locations and action. It would be brilliant. The insert is the Japanese cover of the first book in the series, Soulless, but a few sketches from the graphic novel have been revealed on Miss Carriger's blog.

Which brings me to my very first Steampunk Round-up, in which I talk about the things I'm swooning over in the tea room. Carriger announced the development of a new YA project called The Finishing School Series on her site about a month ago. The tentative title of the first installment is Etiquette & Espionage and it takes place in the same wonderfully fun world as the Parasol Protectorate books. With the forth Alexia novel releasing in July and the manga series coming out around the same time, Carriger is on a roll and I'm looking forward to a parasol-filled summer.

Other steampunk titles I'm all about that are new or releasing soon:

Phoenix Rising by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris (who will be visiting the Salon next month)
The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
The Steampunk Bible by Jeff Vandermeer and S.J. Chambers
Corsets & Clockwork by Trisha Telep and Contributors - and the title does make me smile for all of you who remember the short-lived Clockwork Corsets (there's an ebook with practically the exact name as well)

And to leave the Round-up on a very happy note:

It's totally awesome and can be purchased here.

Finally, I'm sure you're all wondering what a nerdscape is and how you can make one yourself. Well, it's a new artform that incorporates toys, books, and snack food - three of my favorite things. I learned the secret art of creating nerdscapes from author Kevin Hearne whose spanking new UF book, Hounded, releases on May 3rd. Kevin is giving away copies of his book, the first in a series about a modern day super-druid, to a few lucky winners with the talent to pull off one of these masterpieces. Here's my entry: 

Go to Kevin's website to enter the contest. All who do and leave me a post here with the link will get a leg up in next month's Hounded giveaway (details will be revealed in next week's post).

I'm not an artist, I just play one online. I've come up with the short list for who I'd want to pencil the graphic novel of my story world and have narrowed it down to David Mack, Chynna Clugston, or Paul Pope - yes, they're all very different from each other, but I could make it work with any of them if my completely wishful fantasies ever came true.

Who would you choose to illustrate your world? Have any drawings you'd like to share of your characters or realms?