Writing Update

 I'm going to keep my blog post brief this week:

1. The main writing I'm doing is working on a short story featuring Kay for the The Season Between collection. I've had to start over a couple of times, but hopefully I'll be able to complete this draft (which is currently over 4,000 words).

2. I still have to finish editing the last several chapters of Restaurants and Revenge, but hopefully I can do that by the end of August.

3. I'm participating in an author takeover in a Facebook group this Friday. This is the first time I've done something like this. I've written several questions and planned a few giveaways, but I should probably take some pictures to include.

4. My submission to the library anthology was rejected. Apparently they had over 300 submissions, so they couldn't accept them all. I'll probably hold onto it for a while to see if I want to revise it or come across another market for it.

5. I was hoping to submit a flash fiction story this month, but the markets I originally targeted aren't open at the moment. I plan to watch another market and submit there if it opens. 

Hope all is going well with you and your writing!

Mid-Month Mysteries: Erin Johnson

It seems like July just started, but we're already heading into late July. Hopefully it's not too late for a Mid-Month Mysteries feature. Today I plan to spotlight Erin Johnson, who writes several magical cozy mystery series. I first found her work through her Spells and Caramels series. (The first book is Seashells, Spells, and Caramels.) This series features a young baker, Imogen, who discovers she's a witch from a magical kingdom. She becomes a royal baker while traveling to other magical kingdoms, having adventures with her baker friends, and developing a romance with a prince. Other series from Erin include ones featuring a pet psychic, a cursed renaissance fair, and a tea room in Bath run by a vampire. I have to admit I don't like the heroine of the pet psychic series, but I enjoy Erin's other works. They're light reads featuring things I enjoy, like renaissance fairs and afternoon teas. If that's your cup of tea too, I recommend checking out her work. I've linked to Erin's Amazon page above.
 

The Library: A Fragile History

If you like books, you're probably a fan of libraries as well. When I saw The Library: A Fragile History, by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, at my local library, I immediately borrowed it. Thankfully, my library grants automatic renewals, because this book took me a few weeks to finish.

The Library: A Fragile History starts with a disturbing premise: libraries aren't fixed, unchanging temples of knowledge, but are as prone to destruction and decay as any other human endeavor. (The specific example cited in the Prologue describes the ruin of a sixteenth-century Holy Roman Emperor's library as described by the newly appointed librarian.) However, libraries have adapted and changed throughout history, and it's this process the authors trace in this book. (This book is primarily focused on Western culture, with little or no mention of any libraries or their equivalent elsewhere.) They look at some ancient libraries in the first chapter, including (but not limited to) the library of Alexandria. From there, the authors discuss the evolution of libraries, from collections of religious scrolls stored in chest for easy transport to the modern library. One of the great themes of this book is how collections shift as people's interest change. For centuries, collectors focused on religious, classical, or other scholarly texts, for personal use or at a monastery or university. Librarians and collectors might acquire works from other collectors, but what one person valued might be considered waste material by someone else. (For example, some collectors kept copies of pamphlets and had them bound.) Old books aren't always seen as valuable or kept under conditions that might preserve them. As we advance toward the modern era, fiction becomes more popular, especially as libraries become more accessible to the common person. However, collections may be censored for religious or political purposes. 

Libraries have always had to adapt to their environments. Although books compete with plenty of other distractions in the twenty-first century, they will undoubtedly continue to evolve as long as readers and collectors exist.

July IWSG: Any (Book) World That I'm Welcome To

 Here we are at the beginning of another month, so it must be time to encourage other writers with an Insecure Writer's Support Group post. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts this month are J Lenni Dorner, Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton.

We have an interesting question this month: If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose?

If I'm allowed to pick my own work, I would choose the gaslamp country of Challen. The tech level is similar to late nineteenth century England, but the Four Gods and Goddesses of Challen have gifted Their Avatars with magic to heal people, help plants and animals, and control the weather. It's a feminist society that offers niches for people who don't want to marry or have children. I came up with this world and my "Fem Four" around 1996, and I wouldn't still be writing stories in this setting if I didn't care for it.

If I were to pick another author's world, I'd probably select Becky Chamber's A Psalm for the Wild Built. You could consider it a cozy science fiction book or part of the hopepunk genre. (I haven't had a chance to read the sequel yet.) It's set on a colonized moon, and the people are accepting of each other, know how to build cozy homes, and appreciate the calming power of a cup of tea. 

I'll end this post with Steely Dan's "Any World That I'm Welcome To."

https://youtu.be/fDWV-570oXo