byslantedlight: (Default)
2015-03-26 10CraneAndDayI seem to remember that it's traditional to do a Yuletide reveal post - or at least I remember lots of people doing that in previous years *g* - and a couple of people have asked about my story, so, it's this one:

One Not Far Distant Day
by Slantedlight


It's from the Charm of Magpies series of books, which I've written about before because I love them. They're Victorian paranormal m/m books, and I very much recommend them if you've not read them yet! The books actually have new covers now, because KJ Charles has self-published after the whole Samhain Publishing faff, and I think they also include the short stories/snippets that she's posted online/to Fb too, or at least some of them.

Anyway - it was my first time writing for Yuletide, and my first time writing for another fandom without even a hint of Pros in it, and my hope in doing so was that it would kick-start me into writing more, because it was just barely happening last year, and I hated that. I was quite worried about the story, mind, because it sounded right in my head, but that doesn't always translate to other people's heads, so I kept an eye on it... but it seems to have been okay! In fact, I've actually had such nice feedback about it (and even a rec on the Yuletide rec site, from someone whose fics I really enjoyed in Torchwood fandom, which was just wow *g*), given when I was still anonymous, that it's encouraging me to make just one New Year's resolution for 2020. Usually I say I'm going to be better at posting and replying and so on, and will be healthier and exercise more and all the usual stuff (and I still am), but this year I'm going to make one:
I am going to write.
Write anything. I'll get on with my own stories, especially the one that's over 50,000 words long, and with Pros, and maybe some more Charm of Magpies if I get the urge, or perhaps Astreiant or Mathey and Lynes, which I also love, but just... write again.

So - we'll see how that works out... *g*

And now I'm off to go and see somewhere different for my last day before work starts again. Not sure where yet - maybe I'll head off Stonehenge direction. Mind you, I'd better get a move on - it's not the lightest of days out here...
byslantedlight: (Magic-DeepBlueNight(OhSweetWitchery))
Well I was sort of in an office, and worked hard actually - all that thinking about Rasch graphs, and Wright Maps and... quite brain-exploding stuff it was... and now of course there's the coursework about it - eeep! We finished early though, and I didn't get a headache today, and then I ended up deciding not to trog around London when I had no particular plans and did have luggage, so I walked over the river (well, on the bridge, not actually... *g*) and caught the train and was home in time for archery, but then I was quite tired and didn't go after all. I would have had to rush, and miss dinner, and... so no.

But London was lovely and London. Here's the view out my hotel window, and a London-y contre-jour (thanks [livejournal.com profile] gvenanne!) photo...
2015-03-26 01MorningView 2015-03-26 02LondonContraJour


And then... )
byslantedlight: (BD When Love (enednoviel))
There needs to be much more of this sort of thing around - so very beautifully shot, such a very beautiful boy, and you've gotta love someone so competent and in control of his body...
...plus as someone elsewhere suggested, there's a vague flavour of Jackdaw about him... *g*
byslantedlight: (BD Blackout glee)
...because I've just discovered that not only is the third Charm of Magpies book out in paperback much sooner than I expected (it's only just been released as an e-book late last year) but the new Jackdaw, which is in the universe, and apparently features a policeman who should know better, a thief who may never learn, Victorian morals, heated encounters, and a very annoyed Stephen Day. looks like it's going to be simultaneously released in paperback. Yeay and thrice yeay! *g*

And to celebrate, here's the list of all the Magpie Universe so far, just so I have it all in one place. The shorts are free, if you want to sample her...

1) The Smuggler and the Warlord (set before all other stories, but read those first so it makes sense) (free online very short)
2) The Magpie Lord - e-book and paperback
3) Interlude with Tattoos (free online very short)
4) A Case of Possession - e-book and paperback
5) A Case of Spirits (free online and included in ACoP paperback)
6) Flight of Magpies (e-book and I've just found out it's out now in paperback - whooohooo! *runs to Wordery*)
7) The Feast of Stephen (free online short)
8) Jackdaw (not Lucien/Stephen, but they apparently appear - same universe, character from Flight of Magpies. And I've just found out it's going to be released as a paperback at the same time - whoooohooooooo! (Even though I've already pre-ordered the e-book... *g*)


(Also yeay, because my lj fixed itself overnight, and my flist is no longer scrolling horizontally! Well, not until someone posted an absolutely huge image outside a cut... I wish lj would go back to defaulting images to smaller sizes instead of the original, cos they end up enormous if they're big to start with and people don't remember to change them manually...))

Right - I built a bed over the weekend, now I'm off to build just one more bookcase... *g*

54p!

Tuesday, 10 February 2015 08:27 pm
byslantedlight: (Bookshelf colour (grey853).)
I might have mentioned liking this once or twice - if anyone's interested, the eBook version is currently 54p (at Amazon)! Or 99c, apparently, if you're in the US... Oh - or $1.27 if you're in Aus!.

Did I mention I adore this book? *g*
byslantedlight: (Bookshelf colour (grey853).)
CharmOfMagpies-3books(KJCharles)
I know, you only saw this picture a couple of days ago, but I did read these books again and they are all about the darker side of real-magic Victorian London, and so I think they do actually count for the R.I.P challenge - though one of them is a short story, so I will bundle it up with one of the other two, to be fair! You know what I don't like about e-books, though? No blurb for me to read, and pages to flick through to remind me of the good bits... On the other hand, I can (mostly!) just cut and paste a blurb from t'interweb, so...

A Case of Possession: ... As he investigates a plague of giant rats sweeping London, his sudden increase in power, boosted by his blood-and-sex bond with Crane, is rousing suspicion that he’s turned warlock. With all eyes watching him, the threat of exposure grows. Stephen could lose his friends, his job and his liberty over his relationship with Crane. He’s not sure if he can take that risk much longer. And Crane isn’t sure if he can ask him to.

A Case of Spirits: There is rain in London, and Vaundrey wishes he was in Shanghai, except that Stephen wouldn't be there. Of course he has a minor case of the occult to sort out - again...

Flight of Magpies: With the justiciary understaffed, a series of horrifying occult murders to be investigated, and a young student who is flying—literally—off the rails, magical law enforcer Stephen Day is under increasing stress. And his relationship with his aristocratic lover, Lord Crane, is beginning to feel the strain. Crane chafes at the restrictions of England’s laws, and there’s a worrying development in the blood-and-sex bond he shares with Stephen. A development that makes a sensible man question if they should be together at all. When a thief strikes at the heart of Crane’s home, a devastating loss brings his closest relationships into bitter conflict—especially his relationship with Stephen. And as old enemies, new enemies, and unexpected enemies paint the lovers into a corner, the pressure threatens to tear them apart.

Although these are also m/m romances, there's something rather dark about them - the Judas jack of The Magpie Lord, the giant rats of A Case of Possession, and then...well, it's not just Victorian London with magic, it's Victorian London with a kind of dark magic, the oily actual kind that you can feel between your fingers and it comes with all the unpleasantness that humanity is capable of - luckily tempered and dealt with by a good dose of Lucien/Stephen, and all the other interesting characters in this world. Readable and hot and I would like more of these books and stories now please!

All of which brief reviewing means that at 23.34pm on the 31st October 2014 I think I can safely say that I've Imbibed my last Peril for my first R.I.P. challenge, and although I enjoyed it I wasn't quite as much in the spirit (ha!) of it as I'd planned to be. Next year I shall try not to move house (twice) at the same time! But I do rather hope that I can give it another go - when Halloween rolls around again...

2014RIP-PerilTheFirstBanner
(Four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature.)
Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon
The Bones of Avalon by Phil Rickman
The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles
The Heresy of Doctor Dee by Phil Rickman
Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll
The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
A Case of Possession and A Case of Spirits by KJ Charles
Flight of Magpies by KJ Charles

Eleven Halloween reads - not bad for a first, distracted attempt though! I'm also halfway through another book that I'd bought for its potential ghosts, but I keep being distracted from that too...
byslantedlight: (BD Asleep (adapted from orig icon by Sun)
...and not as warm as it has been, though not cold either (unless you're sitting at a desk all day desperately trying to meet your deadline cos you were skiving in the sunshine the day before... *headdesk*)

Anyway, it looked rather like this...
2014-10-29 01DampDay 2014-10-29 02DampDayStill
That's yesterday's laundry still not quite dry because the air got so damp and stayed that way! Ack! I keep wondering if it's just cold, but I think there's a touch of damp in there still... and it was warm enough yesterday that there's been no evening heating again - rats!

Oh, but a happy thing -
CharmOfMagpies-4books(KJCharles)
- A Flight of Magpies is finally out (though only in e-reader - it's one of the few that I'll buy to read now and buy the paperback when it eventually comes out... And since I'm reading The Haunting of Hill House right now, and I am not going to read that in bed at night, I reckon I might just start my Vaundrey/Day book... *g* Although the sad thing is that I've seen it described as a trilogy, and the last book in the trilogy, as in there aren't going to be any more - waaah! (I know, there are four covers there, the third one was for a mini-novelette bonus free extra that the author very kindly wrote... *g*)

And A Death in the Dionysus Club is hopefully winging it's way this way as I type, too - but a real proper paper book... Yeay!

Now, if I'd just gotten on with planning for NaNoWriMo, cos it's the one thing I haven't done after buying those books yesterday, and... and... I think I need a plan or it might all fall apart after all! Eeep! Last writing group in Bath tomorrow morning too (and then home for the day's work) - but more about that then, of course... And I have lj comments to catch up with too - I will, I will get there...

Soooo sleepy now - bed beckons. Can I be bothered going down to fill my hot water bottle, even? I'm not sure I can, you know... zzzzzz
byslantedlight: (Slanted autumnleaves (justlook3))
Little Tree is just getting gaudier overnight - or perhaps it was just against the grey skies today!
2014-08-25 01autumnytree
I quite enjoyed the rain today, relentless grey as it was - there's something to be said for being inside all comfy whilst it's raining out there. Of course I'll think differently if it carries on when I need to be moving house in it (which it's supposed to...) But for now - cosy. *g*

Also - more wonderful news from the world of books, and perhaps even better for being unexpected.
The Magpie Lord is out in paperback - yeay!

Today has been work-work, avoid-work, sort-a-single-file-of-papers, work... Five more sleeps to go!
byslantedlight: (Bookshelf colour (grey853).)
CharmOfMagpies01MagpieLord(KJCharles) CharmOfMagpies2-CaseOfPossession(KJCharles)
Oh, what to say about books that you fall in love with, just after you've read them... everything and yet nothing, because you're still in that half-stunned world that is somewhere else, half-stepped between there and here...

First of all, thanks to [livejournal.com profile] moth2fic for reccing these stories. You caught me just at the right time - when I wanted more Astreiant, more Matthey and Lynes, more stories that are about the characters in the stories than about how clever an author is, and that's just what K.J. Charles gives us. Eminently readable, I love the world she's building, and it all comes together with Lucien Vaundry (Lord Crane) and Stephen Day perfectly. Bonus that the author comes across as smart and decent in her blog, and my only (though rather serious) complaint is that the books aren't available in print. This means that I can't pick them up and flick through them, and re-read my favourite bits at will, and gaze adoringly at the covers, and hug them to myself in joy and glee, because you can't do any of those things with an e-reader!

There are two books so far in the series... )

Hold Your Breath, Sunshine


A ship is safe in the harbour - but that's not what ships are for.

~o~

I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night. (Sarah Williams)

~o~

Could've.
Should've.
Would've.
Didn't. Didn't. Didn't.

~o~

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