WWW Wednesday 09-25-2013

WWW Wednesday. This meme is from shouldbereading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?

Right now, reading Matchbox Girls by Chrysoula Tzavelas. Freaky little girls (but totally adorable) and dogs, oh how I love dogs. This is an urban fantasy that rocks. I’m really enjoying it. Oh, the fantasy part? Demons, angels, complex world-building in a very real contemporary LA setting. If that sounds like your thing, go for it.

I’m also listening to Prince of Midnight, by Laura Kinsale, who has brought out all her backlist on audio recently and I am melting into them, one after the other.

• What did you recently finish reading?

I revisited a classic from Laura Kinsale, Flowers from the Storm, and for the occasion, I’m sharing its original cover. Laura fought for her vision–and her idea that romance readers didn’t want a gorgeous woman on the cover. They just wanted the guy. And boy, did they want the guy. This book had the first hero-only image, and came with lifesize images of Fabio holding out his hand to the reader.

But that’s not what made this book classic. It’s classic because of the depth of characterization, the unusual characters, the passion and the angst, and still remains on the top-five list of many readers and reviewers.

He’s a duke. He’s a mathematical genius. He can’t talk and he’s locked in a lunatic asylum. Only a modest Quaker girl can reach him, but when she helps him to escape, she’s swept into his glittering aristocratic world, her life torn apart by his desperate attempt to save himself.

But this time, instead of a reread, I listened to the new audiobook. Laura brought the same passion and insights to the project when she produced her own audiobooks and auditioned readers until she found the Perfect Voice. Again, she followed her instincts that a male reader was needed, and again, she was absolutely spot on. Nicholas Boulton does a remarkable job on all the voices, and brings the emotions to the story that made it so special to begin with. I can’t recommend either highly enough if you love historical romance.

• What do you think you’ll read next?

All this swashbuckling has gotten me in the mood to buckle my own swash so I’m doing research.

I’ve been waiting for this book, Writing Fight Scenes, ever since Marie Brennan announced its upcoming publication, and it’s available now!

In this guide, fantasy novelist Marie Brennan will show you how. Drawing on her experience with fencing, stage combat choreography, Okinawan martial arts, and above all writing, she lays out the components that turn the strikes into a compelling story.

Not the real cover, just a placeholder until the real one is created, and omg I can’t wait.

If you’re a writer, you may want this one, too.

And don’t forget to sign up for my new fantasy series updates. Won’t spam you, promise! But there will be free stuff there available nowhere else. Just sayin’.

What about you? What have you been reading lately? Put the link to your WWW Wednesday entry in comments, or just tell me!