Still on a Reading kick…

I think research is a writer’s best procrastination tool.
At least I can’t think of anything more fun than curling up with some of my new favorite authors.

I will, however, have to expand my mythological/paranormal research beyond the realm of the internet since I just saw one of my “borrowed” characters – a demon named Raum – in someone else’s book.

Sigh, it is such a small wiki-world.

Research is a girl’s best friend, right after her vibrator, and her imagination.

I’ve been reading and reading, and I’m fascinated by the growing trend of Urban Fantasy books that are tied to a specific geography. Storm Born and Thorn Queen take place in Arizona, The Graywalker Series by Kat Richardson and the  Succubus Blues series by Richelle Mead take place in Seattle, Vicki Pettersson’s Sign of the Zodiac are in the city of sin Las Vegas and Devon Monk’s Allie Beckstrom stories take place in another version of my home town… Portland, Oregon.

I’ve started all the series but I haven’t caught up with all of them yet – and some are much better structured than the others (Mead’s Storm Born/Thorn Queen and Richardson’s Poltergeist are among the best plotted that I’ve read so far). What I love about them all is their use of place and the richness of their descriptions.

Oh, and the fact that there isn’t a whiny woman among them. Damaged yes, but survivors.

You gotta love that!

I should probably get back to the actual writing part of the program today. It is so tempting to curl up with the cat and a book…

Oh, and Erastes has inspired me to get my library on Goodreads… so you can find my bookshelves there but it is a work in progress.

And, since we are catching up, Ravenous Romance is back on line, however I don’t appear to exist yet but I’m hoping they will have the website back to 100% soon.

If you didn’t hear… they were maliciously hacked over the weekend. Haven’t yet heard why they were targeted but the attack was bad enough to take them down for three days. So, good thoughts out to all of them… and what I wouldn’t give for a little magic to punish the perpetrators… or maybe a nice kick though a doorway into to Hell.

Licks!