Long Week

I'm not feeling myself today; waking with a bit of scratch in the throat and snot-packed head. I do so love the onset of the ick. I think I might curl up and finish reading the anthology I started some time ago. I hope to get some writing done, but the Ick and writing don't mix all that well...

Today's SciFiChat on Twitter was about the best of the decade in Fantasy.

I hammered my opinion into the heads of those listening. Namely: Peter V Brett's Demon Cycle, which started with the novel The Warded Man, is the bee's knees, and my pick for the best fantasy of the last decade.

Now, many might have a strong argument for George RR Martin's series, but Game of Thrones came out in 1999, so there...

I also plugged the shit out of Myke Cole, Sam Sykes, and Tim Akers, all of whom I have met and found cool cats Cole's books are not on the market yet, but Tim and Sam both have books available: Tim's most recent offering is Horns of Ruin and Sam's is Tome of the Undergates .

I didn't get to participate in Litchat as much as I might have liked, as work intruded. It was about a book, Writers Behaving Badly, which sounded quite interesting. Alas, so little time, so many books.


Last night, while corresponding with my agent, he spurred an idea in my head. I think it has legs. We shall see... First, however, to finish Bridge of The Broken and keep our fingers crossed about The Last Captain.

Jealousy is a Dark God

I met Peter V Brett at World Fantasy after I was privileged to attend his and Mark Van Name's panel about violence in fantasy. I say Mark and his panel because they were the two panelists whose contributions I took the most value from.

I later cornered Peter (AKA Peat) and spoke with him for a few hours over drinks: A very good time that I both learned a lot from and enjoyed quite a bit. During this time I also met Myke, Alessa, and Rob, the latter two having blogs you can check out along the side here---------------------------------------------------------------------->

All this to say: like many of the folks I met at the convention, I hadn't read his work, but determined that it would be my next purchase. The book, The Warded Man remained unpurchased until I had completed my sergeant's oral.

I picked up the book Monday. I finally had time and opportunity to read it today.

I had thought to pick it up and read for an hour, then get to writing. BIG MISTAKE! HUGE! Holy shit! I've read 287 pages thus far, and I haven't written a thing all day.

When I read something, I often say to myself, "Shit! I could write this."

Sometimes I even say, in the long, drawn out southern style of my maternal forebears, "SHIiiiiT! I could write better than this."

Not once has that occurred to me while reading The Warded Man.

It is original stuff. He's written a gritty fantasy world that is one thing many fantasy worlds are not: believable. The characters have deep-seated, emotional reasons for doing the things they do. Even when it is the thing you would rather they didn't do, you still understand why they are doing it.

Peter writes with a smooth surety that makes me want to bang my head against the keyboard, cry, and drink a couple of my agent's bottles of Scotch to drown my sorrows.

I might get over it.

Until the next installment of his work.

Fucker.

Jealousy is a Dark God.