Tommia's Tablet

This is what I sometimes hear before I click “Add to cart” on Amazon, even if I downloaded a borrowed copy from the library. But there are so many great writers with new books coming out, that Yoda goes out the window and I listen to my ‘inner-younger-Picard’ with “Now! Now, now, now…!” (If you’ve seen the ST:TNG episode, Rascals, you know the scene).

So what do I have stacked on the smaller desk (because the larger one has a ‘few’ from the library)?

• Mari Collier’s Return of the Maca
• Kevin Brennan’s Parts Unknown and
• Deborah Du Bois’ Your Time is Over

That’s this week’s/month’s splurge with the argument being “National Reader Month.”

What books are you impatiently waiting to add to your reading lists/shelves?

Dragon Uno by Tommia Wright

There were two great reads among many from yesterday’s blog binge. (One of these days I’ll manage my followings to something easier, but I digress).

S.K. Nicholls shared a great piece about the author delusion of work being free. For all the artists who work hard with their craft – be it with words, photos, songs – and put their creations out in the world through legitimate means, why do some sad souls seem to see no issue in stealing them, ‘selling them’ for free?

I searched my pen name in Google and found a few free offerings in .PDF (Interesting since it isn’t in digital form), offered on an ebay sight and a textbook site. I searched other authors and found their works in places they never provided to. Is it good, getting exposure that way? Is it bad, taking away the value and time placed into these items now turned into pirated products.

Another fun read that has me thinking a bit more about “Escorting in Twilight” (aka the Atkinson Chronicles) was Charles Yallowitz’s piece about magic items. In the worlds of Oz and Hogwarts, magic makes sense, in who can use what and how. The fact that there are divisions on ‘the rules of magic in fantasy’ is interesting, and again something I hadn’t given too much thought to explaining in Atkinson’s world.

Maybe that will be my A-to-Z challenge within a challenge on the NaNo page. Then again, I might have to ponder the current Camp NaNo as to how much is luck, how much is coincidence, and is there a bit of magic?

What are your thoughts on pirating thieves and magic items?

Sure there are husband and wife writing teams who master in mystery, relish romance and take on thrillers.

But what if you are looking for something that mixes myth and steampunk?

Try Clockwork Wings: The Chronicles of Icarus by Stacy and Jenn Buck. This is the same duo behind the Squanto Undead series.

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Agatha Hattie by J. Fedyk

Don’t want steampunk, but need something fun to share at bedtime? Try Agatha Hattie, Queen of the Night, written by Jacquelyn Fedyk and illustrated by Leslie Nan Moon. There’s a chance to meet the authors at the Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle at the end of this month.