Today has been slow going. I spent a large amount of time ‘visiting’ my mother-in-law. She works for Bookbyte, a company that rents and sells textbooks. Her boss fills his office with ‘junk’ books. Books that people throw in when they ship books to them, books that the company can do nothing with. His office is shelf upon shelf, and large stack on the floor. And he sells them. $1.00 a piece, and the company matches each dollar and donates to a local food bank.
So, I took two five dollar bills and four quarters with me. Cash is preferred, and I knew I’d need the limit. This is what I walked away with:
Now, Trevor and I have an agreement. If I want to bring more books into the house, I have to make room for them. So, I’ve had a large stack of books waiting to go to Book Bin, the local indie book store, for a while now. But, I’ve been filling in those gaps slowly but surely. Now I have 11 books to find space for. I realize now that I need another bookshelf.
Anyway, I took the stack to Book Bin, but they only took a few, which I expected. The trade credit I received for them found itself paying for two more books, which I had no business buying. One was the first book of the ‘Change Series’ by S.M. Stirling, titled ‘Dies the Fire’. It’s a post-apocalyptic series that’s set in the Pacific Northwest. For $4.10 I had to buy it.The other book is ‘Kingdom Beyond the Waves’ by Stephen Hunt. I’ve never heard of him, but he writes books with Steampunk elements, and I’m excited to read it. But, I took something else away from my my trip to the bookstore.
I looked for Steampunk books specifically, since both novels I’ve written so far have been in that genre. I like the look and feel of Steampunk books. They all have awesome covers that are kind of gritty, but whimsical too. They tend to have great titles, like ‘Cold Copper’ and ‘The Rise of the Iron Moon’. And they seem to linger in trade paperback, as opposed to mass paperback.
But, I had a hard time finding books like mine. A lot of the Steampunk out there is considered ‘Alternate History’, meaning that the book includes real places, and even real events, but from fictional characters’ points of view and with the addition of Steampunk or magic.
Or, in the case of the ‘Age of Steam’ series, which looked so promising, it has too many genres thrown in. I like the occasional vampire story, but personally, I’ve always hated Werewolves. But, the ‘Age of Steam’ features a rugged Bounty Hunter main character who is, not only a Steampunk badass, but a sufferer of Lycanthropy.
Why? Wasn’t the magic system and the world building cool enough?
And so I searched, and searched. But, I found very little that actually piqued my interest. Until I found Stephen Hunt’s work. I hope it’s good.
Anyway, that’s been my day so far. Trevor’s working a different shift, so he won’t be off work until 8pm, so I’ve got plenty of time to get work done. The plan then…
Today I want to start chapter 7 of ‘Cards’, and hopefully edit chapter 2 of ‘Vessels’. I’m not feeling one project over the other just yet, and I can tell I need to eat something or nothing will get done. Also, I have no real goals for completion today. No pressure. I just want to work.
The sun is out, and it’s supposed to hit 70 degrees today. I’m prepared in jean shorts and a tank top lies in wait under my blue San Diego sweatshirt.
Anyway, time to order a sandwich and get some work done!
Any books you guys recommend? Share with us in the comments!
BZ
To Write These Words Down... 