Myth, the Universe, and Everything

I keep a release list on Google docs of all the upcoming books that I want to purchase. Sometimes, "upcoming" turns into "missed that pub date last month," sadly. I also keep an excel spreadsheet of all the books I've been reading (which I started because the Glamazombies, Mark Henry's mailing list community, put up spreadsheets for everyone to track their reading on the 50 Book Challenge during the first six months of the year; most of us had hit 50 by the time we quit tracking). It helps when I have to come up with a book to nominate for an award or recommend to a friend.

While I manage to be behind on other things over the past few weeks, I've been keeping up with reading. Sometimes sitting on the couch with a book seems like the only thing I can manage to accomplish. (Well, that, or watch The Guild, Felicia Day's web show that I've finally gotten around to watching; I'm somewhere in season 2.) So, two lists: first, a short recap of some of the books I've read in the last few weeks, and second, a list of the books I just bought today.

• Dead Girl Walking and Dead Girl Dancing by Linda Joy Singleton. This is a great YA series about soul swapping, starring likable narrator Amber who just happens into other people's bodies. While she does get sage wisdom from her grandmother, a kind of celestial bureaucrat, she also has to face off against Dark Lifers who want to drain her soul.
  
• The Mermaid's Madness by Jim Hines. Second in the Princess series, the novel features our trio of heroines facing off against another princess -- the little mermaid. In order to save Queen Bea, the three princesses have to confront the mermaid and convince her to release Bea's soul -- or take it from her. The book is just as much fun as the first volume, and some of the story lines that started in book one are gaining new developments.
  
• On the Edge by Ilona Andrews. Ilona and Gordon are doing it again -- raising the bar on what I expect in their genre. On the Edge is closer to paranormal romance than the Kate Daniels series, but like the Kate novels, there's a lot of great world building and mythology-mixing going on here. Also: it's smexy.
  
• Soulless by Gail Carriger. This definitely lived up to my expectations -- except perhaps that there weren't quite enough dirigibles. (The sequel promises more!) There was actually quite a bit more romance than I'd anticipated, as well, but I think Carriger mixed all her subgenres (and there are several) successfully. Definitely fun.
  

As for today, I brought home:

• My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
  
• Demon Inside by Stacia Kane
  
• Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead
  
• Unbound (anthology, including Jeaniene Frost and Melissa Marr)
  
• Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
  

In the mail, two preorders also arrived:

• Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
  
• Heat Wave by Richard Castle
  

Which means, with the exception of a few anthologies, the most recent Succubus book by Richelle Mead (which came out back in June!) and Rampant by Diana Peterfreund (which wasn't on the shelf today), I'm nearly caught up with everything that's come out that I had on the list. There are, of course, others I'd like to own... and my TBR pile is still stacked ridiculously high... and I have review titles that are still not reviewed... but these are really small obstacles to overcome!

And now the entry you've all been waiting for! Gail Carriger (gailcarriger), whose blog I've recommended here and whose Soulless has been getting great reviews all over the web. Yesterday was the official release, and thus the official beginning of the Parasol Protectorate -- empowering those with no souls by showing that they're immune to the forces of the supernatural. Or, at least, that's the case for heroine Alexia Tarabotti.

Without further ado: Gail Carriger on the illogic of history.

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Explaining History Backwards
Gail Carriger

I'm an archaeologist and I'm constantly distressed by history. This is, as you may well imagine, professionally terribly embarrassing, but the logic of history all-too-often defeats me. (Of course, this is because history isn't logical.) One has only to look at the British Empire. I mean really, how did they manage it – one tiny island taking over the world (as Eddie Izzard has it) through the cunning use of flags?

My initial theory was that the British were on the hunt for better cuisine and simply occupied other countries as an afterthought. This is rather close to my theory on the Vikings. Why all that raping, pillaging, and slicing people open from the back to eat out their hearts? Clearly, the Vikings were suffering from a bad case of nose envy. Ever visited a Scandinavian country? Big tall strapping blonds - teeny-tiny noses. There they were and they just got jealous. "Look at all those other European countries, Urk! Better weather AND better noses. Get 'em!" Plus all they had to drink was mead, a terribly girly drink for big strapping blonds with horned helmets. "Better weather, better noses, AND ale!"

The thing is, as I poodle about through my daily job I constantly encounter some new form of oddball historical behavior. Recently I visited Machu Picchu, an enormous ritual center perching atop a mountain no sane person would ever want to climb. I'm holding forth that it's a Peruvian attempt to compensate for certain deficiencies in the stature arena. And before you slag me off for bias, many of my closest friends are short. And I keep threatening to take them to Peru to go shopping.

Now, back to England. It seems to me that another perfectly valid explanation for the success of the British Empire is that Queen Victoria had vampires (with all their years of knowledge) helping her strategize, and werewolves fighting in her armies, while the other European countries didn't. At which point it became patently obvious that any such entirely absurd idea would have to become a book. After all, I couldn't very well write about the Viking nose issue, now could I?

I've been thinking a bit about confidence lately, and how often it surprises me when people whose skills, particularly in writing, I admire admit when they don't have it. I read a lot of blogs where people who I know are amazingly skilled (and are often successful) reveal how nervous they are about the reception their work will receive, and I think, "How in the world are you nervous? You're awesome!"

But I suspect we all go through those bouts of confidence, or lack thereof, in different places and times. I rethink conversations where I feel I've misstepped to the point of beating them to death. I'm rarely nervous about submitting my writing places -- but I'm always nervous the moment before I know they're going to be shown to the public. Sometimes I appreciate those releases that I almost miss, because I don't have any time to agonize. My piece is already out there, and it's too late to worry it now!

I very much admire my family who are performers, because there's no distance from the audience reaction. They're either with you, grooving on your tunes and crying with your tears, or they're not feeling it, and you're on stage alone (metaphorically). I don't mind introducing myself to people at conventions or even singing and dancing to sell books (been there, done that), but those are just marketing -- for my passion, I'll hide behind my paper and ink, thank you very much!

What about you, bloggers? When do the nerves hit you?

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I'm entering yet another context by using my blog. This one is for Cindy Pon's new book, Silver Phoenix, which looks amazing and has been rec'ed on several blogs I read. Here's the cover:



and book trailer:


How amazing does that look? It feels like the book I really wanted the wuxia novel Sword by Da Chen to be. (I loved the story behind Sword, but wished Da Chen had told it in the voice he used for the memoir introduction to the novel.)

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Last, via gailcarriger, I would want an iPhone if it looked like this:

created by steamfashion.

If you're not reading Gail's blog and you're interested in steampunk (or just Victorian fun), I highly recommend stopping by and checking her out. She's got a lot of fun stuff going on over there.