Bards and Sages reviews Redemption Lost, plus random updates.

Well, I just checked the site, and Issue #2 of Bards and Sages Quarterly has a review of Redemption Lost, the concluding novel of the Campaign trilogy. It’s a really good review, and I hope you will head over to the Bard and Sages site to pick up an issue.

The e-editions are just 3.99, and print copies are available for $9.99. I picked up an e-edition, and I’m very pleased by the praise Julie Dawson had to offer. I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the first bad review to come out on one of my stories. But like the guy who jumped off the Empire State building said at the 17th floor, “So far, so good.” ^_^

In other news, I completed the rough draft of another novella for the web site, Zombie Punter. All of the chapters in this story are short and fast, so count on the updates to come out faster. With two stories in the queue for the site, I’m feeling more confident about having content  for another month or so. And since I had nothing else to write or edit, I took the day off to read.

I like to multitask, so I read the rest of issue #1 of Morpheus Tales, (Mostly good, only one story irked me.) half of the premier stories in The New Bedlam Project, (Stories ranged from great to merely good, but no clunkers yet. Yay!) two chapters of Jeremy C. Shipp’s Vacation, (Fascinating, but a bit preachy.) and four chapters of Ray Garton’s Sex and Violence in Hollywood. (Interesting, but I’m ready to kill the main character for being impossibly naive.)

I’ve had the two books open for a while, but this is because once my muse gets a hold of me, I lose focus on other peoples’ stories. I like giving other writers my undivided attention, so while the muse is actively plotting, I have to put down other books and stories. Since I’m done with all of my writing projects and my edits for now, I’m trying to catch up and finish the books I have open before the muse gets another bright idea.

Actually, I’m hoping she won’t for a week or so, to give me time to read what I’ve got and still have time to read John Lindqvist’s Let the Right One In. That’s sitting on my desk, begging me to pick it up, and I have to keep telling it, “No, I have to finish the other stuff I started first.” Yes, I talk to inanimate objects. I talk to my cats, and even to my body parts, when the mood strikes me. (“Oh tummy, stop hurting, please?”)

Oh, and speaking of vampires, I’m still struggling to make it through Charlaine Harris’ Dead Until Dark. Somebody who’s read more from this series, help me out with a spoiler? Is Sookie adopted?

Because if she’s not, I’d sure like to know how someone with two human parents can be a non-human. This is something that bugged me when Bill is licking blood off of Sookie, and he says she isn’t human. Sookie spends WAY too much time talking about how normal her family is, but if her whole family is human, then her being a non-human isn’t possible. No, look, I get that it’s dark  fantasy, but there’s a thing called genetics. You might have heard of it? Thing is, I don’t think it’s been taken into account in this story. Unless Sookie’s adopted, and doesn’t know it…but stop and think about Sookie being adopted…and not knowing it. No matter which way you go, this is a plot hole big enough to fly a 747 through.

I’m probably nitpicking too much, but as of chapter 3, my general impression is “meh.” There’s really no sense of urgency to the story, and I don’t care about the characters. If something doesn’t happen by the next chapter, I’m giving up.

And the sun is rising, so I think it’s time to creep to the couch again.

Later…