This is why I write

I finished reading The Land of Painted Caves and I can't remember having such an emotional, visceral reaction to the events in a book in many years. These are characters whom I have been friends with since I was thirteen (I can't think of any better way to describe Ayla and Jondalar - they are old friends) and about two thirds of the way through this last book I felt as though I had been punched in the gut.

This is why I am a writer. I want to be the one to cause someone to gasp aloud when they reach a plot twist. I want someone to feel an emotional impact so deep and gut-wrenching it gives them a tummyache. (Okay, maybe not that, but I've certainly felt queasy all evening now.)

I will be sad to see Jondalar and Ayla go, but their adventure has concluded after thirty four years, and I'm glad they got the send-off they deserved.

Friends with books out!

I realized this morning that not one, but two of my dear friends have books out and for sale! These are the friends I made before I started writing. It's rare to know one published author just from your circle of acquaintances, but I know two.

First off, Rachel's The Spirit Thief is out and available for purchase at your local bookstore. I snagged my copy directly off the B&N shelf (and then politely informed the folks up at the front counter that she was a local author and deserved a big display up near the front.)

But wait, Crystal Watanabe's Yum Yum Bento Box has been out for quite some time! She writes the blog Adventures in Bento Making. Crystal and I met through the video game FFXI, where she is known as Pikko (and more recently, Bentotto.)

Hopefully, one of these days I can add my own book to that list, and my circle of non-writing friends will have three published authors.

That humbling feeling of losing a bet

Long long ago, during one of the many frantic and fun parties hosted at our old house M.I., my friend Rachel Aaron and I made a bet.

We were both pretty toasted so I'm not sure she even remembers, but it was an agreement of two English majors graduating in the class of '02 to see who would get published first.

We both got distracted by real life - we both got sucked into MMORPGs, we both got married, and she started a family (in my case I have no excuses, just a cat.) It's been almost 8 years since that party back in Maison Ikkoku.

Well, as of September 28th, Rachel will have officially won the bet.

http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Thief-Legend-Eli-Monpress/dp/0316069051

Her first book, The Spirit Thief, will be available for sale. I've got the first chapter that my friend Laura picked up at Dragon*Con for me, and I can't wait to read the whole thing.

Congrats Rachel! And now... Um. What exactly do I owe you again?

What I read, Part 1

I was a bookworm growing up. There was no more favorite place for me than curled up on a beanbag chair in the library, or sneakily reading with a flashlight in my bedroom late at night.

I've gotten pickier over the years - when I was a teenager I'd read anything that had a science fiction or fantasy tag on it - but I still voraciously consume books, either ones I buy myself or ones I borrow off friends (who buy different authors from me.)

My best friend, having moved back in with us for her senior year in vet school, brought along three fresh book cases. I discovered a handful of my books on there, which I have taken back, but a treasure trove of books from authors I hadn't heard of as well.

I used to have a set book budget of $50 every month. When I quit my job, my book budget went away (this is why you do not quit your day job!) but I'll still pinch and scrounge and save up for books from the following authors:

• Terry Pratchett
• Teresa Medeiros
• Mary Balogh

I'm never disappointed with anything they write, so it's a good investment for me. And I can reread and reread and reread and still enjoy it.

I still try to make a little time to read books on a daily basis, although I make sure to space it out from my writing to avoid losing my own voice by trying to imitate the author of whatever it was I just read.

So today's read, borrowed from my best friend's bookshelf, is Lynn Kirkland's Dreams of Stardust.

I read other things besides books. I follow a ton of blogs, read webcomics, and read and post frantically on several forums. But those are topics for another day.