What are you reading?

I recently discovered the delightful Greenwing & Dart series by Victoria Goddard. They are fantasy books set in an eighteenth-century-ish ‘alt-England’ sort of country where magic and political upheaval are at work, with an extremely likeable protagonist and a host of compelling, complex characters. There are six books in the series, with presumably more to come… the last book, Plum Duff, leaves questions (or riddles!) unresolved. The first book in the series is called Stargazy Pie. (Can you see why I picked it up?) I might hunt up a recipe for stargazy pie to share with you – I seem to remember having one somewhere! Any takers?

I also read a rather extraordinary set of historical novels by Andrew Neil Macleod, featuring Dr Johnson (of dictionary fame) and his colleague James Boswell as paranormal investigators. One of the things that make the books extraordinary are the protagonists, but it is equally rare, I think, to encounter zombies, werewolves, and selkies in a work of historical fiction! The titles are The Fall of the House of Thomas Weir and The Stone of Destiny. The books address a number of aspects of Scottish mythology that I had not encountered before (and shame on me, having Scots ancestry from my dad’s side of the family).

If you like stories about strong early-modern women, you might want to look up Elizabeth Fremantle’s new release, Disobedient, about the painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Artemesia’s experience sounds similar to Nell Nobody’s… I can’t wait to read this book!

In between discovering new titles (or new to me, at any rate!), going down research rabbit holes, and learning how to—effectively—promote my books, I’ve sent the second book in Nell’s adventure, On Wounds of Woe, off to my editor. It’s that much closer to seeing publication *little pinch between thumb and forefinger*!

What are you reading right now? Drop me an email and tell me!