Fairy Tale Retellings: Five Enchanted Roses

I really like "Beauty and the Beast" and I'm always up for new versions. (The gorgeous movie version by French director Christophe Gans is available on YouTube. You should check it out here.)
This is a book that's on my TBR list. Five different retellings of the classic story.

A Book to Watch Out For: THE LOST PROPERTY OFFICE

One of the things I do for a living is work as a "reader." This is the best job ever and reading great books before they're published is one of the perks. I've just read a debut novel by James Hannibal. It's terrific. It will remind you of everything from Suzanne Collins' Gregor the Underlander to Time Bandits. The young hero has a great talent/power and his adventure is filled with twists and turns and dollops of really intriguing history and magical artifacts. The characters are nicely drawn, especially the hero's pesky little sister. The book is available for pre-order now, for publication in November. Mark your calendars and mark my words--this is a terrific book and, I suspect, the start of a terrific new series.

In honor of Oscar night: Poster reveal ONE UNDER THE SUN

I wrote a science fiction movie last summer called One Under the Sun. Directed by Vincent Tran, it stars an international, multi-cultural cast headed by actress Pooja Batra. the movie is in post-production now and being shopped around to film festivals and markets. I cannot wait to see it. And in the meantime, here's the poster.

The Most Interesting Book I'll Probably Never Be Able to Afford

I love libraries. I've had a library card since I was in first grade and I support them with my patronage and my donations. But I now live in a small town with a limited library budget, so often, I don't even bother to check if they have more obscure titles, I just go looking for them on the Internet. You can even find used books on Etsy now, which is kind of off brand, but I love Etsy almost as much as I love libraries, so I'm not going to complain.
I found this book, Designing Sacred Spaces by Sherin Wing while searching for something completely different. And I found myself fascinated by it. I am interested in architecture and in the design of sacred spaces and by the time I'd finished reading the sales copy, I was ready to hit "buy with one click." Except...the Kindle is $90 and the hard copies range from $67-$75.  I spend more than I probably should on books but even I balk at spending that kind of money. Sigh.

The book comes with a slew of glowing reviews and sounds like a provocative and thoughtful examination of architecture as an expression of culture. So it's on the pile and maybe one day I'll run across a copy while scouring a used book store. 

TBR: Jeannie Lin's classic steampunkfairy tale retelling 'The Warlord and the Nightingale"

I love fairy tales and love reading modern versions and re-imagined versions. I especially enjoy it when writers work with material that's not as well known. (I love "Beauty and the Beast" and "Cinderella," but they're not the only fairy tales out there, you know?)
Jeanie Lin writes beautifully and this lush story is set in the universe of her "Gunpowder Chronicles," steapunk tales set during the Opium Wars. It is a retelling of "The Emperor and the Nightingale," and you will enjoy it.

Learn more about Jeannie Lin here.

Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

I read Ken Liu's "Paper Menagerie" for Brian Lindemuth's "Short Story a Day" challenge a few years ago. The story made me cry. I was putting together the Nightfalls anthology at the time and I wrote to Liu and asked if he'd be interested in writing a story for it. He sent me the most gracious "no" I've ever received and I would love him for that even if I hadn't read this lovely, lovely story.

"Paper Menagerie" won pretty much every award out there and it's no wonder at all. it's readily available online, so if you haven't read it, go do so now here. And then go out and buy this collection. You owe it to yourself if you love good writing.

Parabormal Sisters Under the Skin

I'm watching Lucifer, which I'm enjoying despite the in-your-face, on-the-nose soundtrack--it's Castle with the devil!--and I can't help noticing how much series star Lauren German looks like Yancy Butler, star of another of my  guilty pleasures, Witchblade. They even have the same sexy, smoky voice.
See what I mean?

It's interesting to me that both series are based on comic books/graphic novels. Lucifer has been teasing viewers with the possibility that German's character (a cop) has some sort of super-power, but we don't yet know what it is.

I like that Lucifer is set in L.A. The  show gives it a candy-neon gloss that makes it look like a glittery wonderland at night.It looks like they also do some shooting in Vancouver, and you can always tell when they switch from L.A. to Pacific Northwest exteriors because of all the green. Witchblade was set in New York and my favorite scene in the whole show was one filmed in a snow-drifted cemetery with stone angels. I like shows that are based in real places and not in some anonymous "Metro" that's clearly Toronto (like the setting for Forever Knight.)

Anyway, I like that these two shows offered something different in paranormal.