How Many Books Can You Read at the Same Time?

Okay, so after I finished writing the first draft of the next book in my Animal Guild Series (Seven Secrets), I had a pile of books waiting for me to read.

Now that I was back in reading mode, I started the first one, a mystery set in Venice. But it was too cynical and depressing, so I started the next book in the pile, a mystery set in Glasgow. But this one was too gritty with its liberal use of the f-bomb (I think I counted four or five just on one page), so I started the next book, also a mystery (gee, do you think I read too many mysteries?), this one set in Thailand. But I couldn’t get my head into the plot  . . .

I realized that since I had just written a young-adult fantasy adventure with a somewhat zany, magical plot, I just couldn’t switch to more “adult” serious murder mysteries. Now normally I enjoy murder mysteries since I consider them “light” reading—you read them, and a day later you’ve forgotten who killed who but you enjoyed the characters and the action and, of course, the mystery. To me, these books are light reading because they aren’t fantasies; there is no alternate world with magical rules and oddly named creatures that you have to memorize and for which you need to suspend your disbelief. Fantasies often require large investments of time and brain power immersion to really understand the plots and characters.

I figured I wouldn’t be able to dive into a fantasy after just writing one, but heh, maybe I was wrong—so I started another book: the next Discworld novel (I’m reading them in order), and I found myself back in delightful, clever, imaginative Terry Pratchett’s fantasy world. I was finally happy.

Naturally I couldn’t just stop reading all the other books I’d started since they are all actually very good books, so I have read a little of each at a time, and have finished all but Pratchett’s novel (I like to savor Discworld adventures). So that’s my record: four books at the same time. How about you?

But wait! During all this, I was proof-reading the paperback version of Monsters in the Territory, Book 2 in The Animal Guild Series, which is now available through Amazon’s CreateSpace POD—so I guess that means five books for me! Beat that if you can (and check out Monsters here). Whew. I have another seven or eight books lined up for reading after I finish Making Money, but I think I’ll just tackle one at a time . . . Keep reading (but how many?) . . . :-)

 

Newest Animal Guild Book is Out(casts)

Okay, in keeping with item number 2 in my "mundane, logistical, writing-related resolutions for 2015," so it begins:

Outcasts, The Animal Guild Series Book Five, is now available as an ebook on Amazon, so check it out!

Since you are (presumably) readers of The Animal Guild Series—The Animal Guild, Monsters in the Territory, The Marrhob War and The Nhorn—are you ready for the next adventure of Corto and Renard? I hope so, because it's a doozy, and some very interesting new characters will be introduced. I think you might like them...

Teaser

(Warning: Spoiler Alert if you have not read the first four books in the series)

Two outcasts. One is despised and abused because of the past, the other is rejected as a mutant freak. One is a wolf, the daughter of the deposed tyrant of the Kaffracuss Kingdom, and the other is Bhorg’s heir. Both have been cast out by their people as pariahs, but when the disappearance of Valon leads Corto and Renard into the midst of a bloody war, only the outcasts can save them—if they care.

The summer after the Nhorn War ends, Bhorg’s heir, the future Rhob, is born. But the shocking, unexpected nature of the offspring, coupled with the sudden news that Valon has vanished near the kingdom of the Kaffracans, lead Corto and Renard into the hostile world of the wolf guild and a bloody war that makes the Nhorn War seem like a mere kids’ scrum. Victory seems hopeless without the help of both Bhorg’s heir and the wolf tyrant’s daughter—but can the two exiles find the courage to risk their own lives for the sake of the others? Will they help Corto and Renard? Will they save their kingdoms? Or will they lose everything? Find out in this fifth book of The Animal Guild Series. 

Outcasts is currently available only at Amazon, but the distribution will include Smashwords, Apple, B&N, Kobo and elsewhere in the future.

As always, thanks so much for your support and encouragement. And oh yeah, keep writing and reading.