I’m loving Spotify’s Daylight playlist. It’s doing a kick arse job of anticipating what I like to listen to, particularly in the afternoon when I write. Here’s today’s writing soundtrack, it’s a nice little taste of the current work-in-progress.
fantasy
#AmReading… Reverie
Reverie is getting pretty good. Starts out with lots of questions and then really warms up around chapter 5. I like the revelation that the main character has lost more than just short term memory.
#AmReading… A Spark of White Fire
It’s good, a space opera/fantasy mashup with gods and sentient spaceships, but… I’m conflicted. I made the mistake of reading the blurbs of the other books in the trilogy and I’m not getting happily ever after vibes, and that is not fun.
We all know how I ❤️ Happy Endings.
[D&B Vol. 1] Episode 006
Tellamoth’s face darkened. ‘That’s not my name.’ ‘Do I look like I care?’ ‘You should.’ ‘Why?’ He said nothing, but anger worked his face, pulling the dark lines of his brows together and compressing his lips. The spell holding Byrne in place cracked a little more. She sneered. ‘Demon lord got your tongue?’ He snarled, … Read more
[D&B Vol. 01] Episode 005
The demon blood had stiffened on her battle tights. It flaked away in small patches, covering the cell’s wooden bench in spots of darkness every time she shifted. Her thighs hurt from laying on the hard surface, her hips and shoulders too, all those soft points objecting to a night spent in close contact with … Read more
[D&B Vol. 1] Episode 004
‘Sword Uthor!’ She barely heard Della yelling behind her, deliberately shut her ears to the power of her friend’s voice, to the command in the name she’d left behind when she’d stuck a knife in her own heart and launched herself into new life. Not again. Not again. Not again. The chant matched the pound … Read more
[D&B Vol 01.] Episode 003
Another lifetime. Another war they couldn’t win because her sister and Empress fell for the same pretty face. Suun had kept Nova alive long enough for the paramedics to find them. The woman and her partner had both had the calm, stoic expressions of those who had seen it all, but Byrne had recognised the … Read more
Greying, pudgy & menopausal: Laura E. Goodin on Strong Female Characters
Laura E. Goodin is the author of After the Bloodwood Staff, an Australian fantasy about a quest that doesn’t go quite how it’s supposed to. BELINDA: Tell us about Sybil, one of the two main protagonists in After the Bloodwood Staff: what makes her strong? LAURA: In a way, it’s her weaknesses and pessimism that make … Read more
Brave, Vulnerable & Scared: Felicity Banks on Strong Female Characters
Felicity Banks is the author of Heart of Brass a steampunk novel about a young women with a brass heart and a family obligation that’s interupted by a criminal conviction.
BELINDA: Tell us about Emmeline, what makes her strong?
FELICITY: Emmeline has been taught that her duty is to marry well, giving her family the financial security that they need—and saving her younger siblings from poverty in the process. No-one finds it easy to think outside of the box society puts us in, but Emmeline is eventually able to find another way to fulfil her duty as well as acknowledging what she really loves. . . SCIENCE!!
Going Her Own Way: LG Surgeson on Antiheroines
LG Surgeson is the author of the fantasy adventure series The Black River Chronicles, including the short story Clara’s Buttons.
BELINDA: Tell us about Clara, what makes her an antiheroine?
LG: Clara grew up on the dirty streets of Aberddu (pronounced Aber-thee) city. She was orphaned during the Summer of Fire, and left picking over the rubble of destroyed temple. She was found by Iona Pringle, a local adventurer, who took a certain amount of pity on the young Clara. She hosed her down, fed her and handed her over to the Guild Below–an organisation famous for its skills in thievery, among other things.
The Guild took her in and trained her in some of their trade mark skills; pick-pocketing, appraising items, forgery, and general thievery. It was in the guild that she met Min, Luce & Angel the other members of her gang and between the four of them they set about making a living by mugging rich people.
Irrepressible is the best way to describe Clara, nothing keeps her down for long. She’s had knock after knock, but she always bounces back. She doesn’t take anything or anyone seriously and she’s not afraid of breaking the law. Clara is a petty criminal who will lie and cheat to keep her head above water. She is loyal to handful of people, but she would still push them out of the way to get the last crumbs in the pie-tray.