Reading, 'Riting and tRavelling in Fiji. What have I been reading? Heaps of books!

When I'm not reading or writing I'm checking out the islands. Here's the singers welcoming  us to  South Sea Island

So this holiday is a bit different from my usual travels, where I spend every waking moment sightseeing. Seeing I have such a long time in Fiji, I'm able to pace myself - a day at home to read, write, blog, fb, tweet etc and the next day to hit the road, the towns or the islands.


It's been a good plan. I've had time to keep in close touch with my Writing Group which meets at the Queensland Writer's Centre in Brisbane. We're collaborating on an epic fantasy novel. At this stage we are world building, profiling our characters and plotting. All good for pantser me. 


Partly in preparation for writing my fantasy characters, I've been reading fantasy novels. Several.

Nas' daughter had a Tamora Pierce lying around - Alanna, the First Adventure. This was timely, as I imagine my female princess character sharing some traits with Alanna, a girl pretending to be a boy training as a knight. Now I'll have to look for the rest of the series.

Free ebook

I also read Nancy Williams' Magic of Windlier Wood. I've had this beautiful little fantasy short story with enchanting characters and settings on my TBR list for sometime now. Nancy, whose novel Treasures of Carmelidrium was gorgeous, certainly knows about world building, something our Writing Group has spent a long time on. 



Blogger India Drummond's Contemporary Urban Fantasy, Book 1, Blood Faerie has been languishing in my Kindle for several months. I'm finally getting to read it. I haven't finished yet. It's not the sort of fantasy our group is writing, but I'm learning a lot about India's fantasy writing and world building. The main character Eilidh is on the run from faerie land, escaping a death sentence. But she finds herself having to make some big choices when she lives amongst humans and a mutilated body is discovered. (You can download India's book now from Amazon USA andAmazon UK  

Click to buy

I also caught an interview with Linda Gillard on Talli's blog. I instantly bought her book, The Glass Guardian. It's a romantic ghost story. Very intriguing. I loved it. It has some similarities to a romantic ghost story I've been writing to submit to Entangled Publishing. Can ghosts love? Good question.


Another romantic ghost story I read was a free ebook A Romantic Ghost Story by Jason W Chan. An entertaining read about a grandmother who's dying, but has died before. Now she's going to meet her love, who many years ago, died that she might live again.

Click to buy from Amazon

Then there's Love Knows No Bounds. A great anthology of novellas from Enchanted Publishing. 
I came across this anthology when I was checking out writing opportunities at Enchanted. Love Knows No Bounds is EP's current Featured Release. This is a fabulous anthology in their Flirts Category. Strong on romance, but full of quirky intrigue. It contains 3 stories:  TWEET by Boone Brux, BITTERSWEET by Brooke Moss and REMEMBER ME by Nina Croft. 100% of profits benefits the charity Autism Speaks.


Speaking of EP did you catch the fabulous Pitch contest over at Brenda Drake's? Several EP editiors will be on board to take their pick from several Pitches.The contest closes when the magic 200 pitches is reached. Just checked - they have 191, so closing soon!


So that's my reading for the fantasy/paranormal genres. I've been reading heaps more. I'll talk about them some time soon.


Nobody asked me to read or review these books. I bought them myself and thoroughly enjoyed them all.

• What have you been reading lately?
• Have you read any of the books I've mentioned?
• Did you enter the Enchanted Publishing Pitch Contest?