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Ideas are simmering and the characters don’t even have names yet, but that’s okay. Let the snark simmer… because they’ll need it.

While I listen to a lot of different bands/musicians while writing, depending on my mood and what I am writing, here are five artists I love to write to, and three of my favourite songs for each.

But given the recent-ish changes in Ubuntu (which I wasn’t exactly a fan of) plus the fact that I wanted to play games properly¹ on my computer (which was why I built it so souped up in the first place!) I decided to give in and get Windows 7.

The install process went very smoothly and so far I really like what I am seeing. It’s taking a while to get used to things since I’ve never used 7 before (I went XP to several Ubuntu releases to 7) but it’s quite intuitive, for me anyway. It’s very nice to have programs back that I gave up when I stuck with Linux, although of course the trade-off is that I have lost programs that I grew to love on Linux.

But the big upside is I no longer have to whip out my netbook whenever I need to do something like download ebooks from the library or get files from the external harddrive. That got annoying real fast.

I haven’t made the decision of whether to dual-boot Ubuntu back onto Epic Comp. I’ll give Windows 7 a few more days just on its own to force me to get used to it and then decide. I’ve been iffy on Ubuntu ever since Natty/Oneiric went off in its new direction so I’m really going to give it a good hard think.

In the meantime, Windows users, would you like to educate me on some of your favourite programs/7 features and addons? It’s been a long time since I’ve looked for new Windows programs.

1. Seriously. I skipped and jumped and juddered my way through the first two acts of Dead Island via Wine and that was enough to break me

When you find yourself hanging by your ankles over a vat of acid as often as I do, the time you used to spend panicking and terrified is now just time to think. In my case, about why on earth that happens so damn often.

People think I’m just the damsel, that it is my job to be kidnapped and used as bait to start yet another epic fight between hero and villain. And while it does kind of suck to be reduced to such a role, in my opinion it’s better to let everyone think that than them really knowing the truth. The truth of who I am, what I am and what I can do.

“What’s the matter, Mary?” The voice pulls me from my thoughts.

I open my eyes and instinctively look up. The motion is small but still enough to send me swinging slightly, just like a pendulum. My shadow skims the surface of the pool of acid just a few scant inches below the tips of my long, thin, mouse-brown hair.

“Mary, Mary,” says my captor, seated in a chair safe distance from the edge of the acid-pit. One leg is crossed over the other, giving me hints of the red lines in the soles of his boots as he bounces the foot up and down impatiently. “I don’t expect you to scream any more, but it is too much to expect a little banter from you before your hero shows?”

 
Of course, the Avenue Q cast could not let that go unchallenged. And thus we have We Will Rock Q.

 
And then finally, my mother yesterday sent me this:

 
So there you have it: Muppets, Puppets and Queen. What do you think?

So I have been thinking about what I want to read over the summer/next few months/year and I have come up with something that is either going to be very fun or very… not. I have a lot of faerie books on my shelves, many of which I have yet to read – there are at least five series I can name off the top of my head¹ that I have read one or more books of but have not finished (even though, in the cases of some, I own the next book, if not the whole series).

So, since I am in the mood for lots and lots of faerie stuff, and it has been a long time since I have read books in some of these series, I have decided to make it a little project.

The project basically boils down to:

That’s right. I am going to see if I can READ ALL THE FAERIE BOOKS. ALL OF THEM.

Well, not exactly, but you get my point. Not all this reading will be in a row – I will be reading other types of fiction, of course – but I will do my best to make sure that series will be read one after the other. It will be an interesting experiment to see how it’s like to that². After I finish a series I’ll post my thoughts on it; it won’t be an official review but it will be something.

I have started to make a list of books I would like to (re)read. Most of these I already have and several I have already read, but there are also ones I will have to acquire in some way (purchase or library, basically). There will obviously be ones that I have missed, so if you have any suggestions (or want clarification on which ones have been read/I own etc.) comment away.

Into The Woods We Go…

Melissa Marr

Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity, Radiant Shadows & Darkest Mercy
Desert Tales manga: Sanctuary, Challenge, Resolve
Fairy Tales and Nightmares

Holly Black

Tithe, Valiant, Ironside
Good Neighbours: Kin, Kine, Kind

Michelle Harrison

13 Treasures, 13 Curses, 13 Secrets

Clare B. Dunkle

The Hollow Kingdom, Close Kin, In The Coils of the Snake

Diana Wynne Jones

Enchanted Glass, Fire and Hemlock³

Carrie Jones

Need, Captivate, Entice

Lesley Livingston

Wondrous Strange, Darklight, Tempestuous

Julie Kagawa

The Iron King, Winter’s Passage, The Iron Daughter, Summer’s Crossing The Iron Queen, The Iron Knight

Rachel Vincent

My Soul To Lose, My Soul To Take, My Soul To Save, My Soul To Keep, My Soul To Steal, Reaper, If I Die

Maggie Stiefvater

Lament, Ballad

Paul Crilley

The Rise of the Darklings, The Fire King

Brenna Yovanoff

The Replacement

Kiki Hamilton

The Faerie Ring

1. Wicked Lovely, Tithe, Iron Court, Soul Screamers and Wondrous Strange
2. I haven’t done that in years – mostly it’s been books one and two and then wait for the third to be released
3. Yes, Fire and Hemlock is coming back into print!

Apologies to Gemma Arterton, Ingrid Michaelson, Ed Westwick and Shunsuke Daito. Also David Bowie.

My brain: “I can see… everything!”

Then once the lions were finished I went back to sleep to be woken up by gibbons at 5.30am. Yeah.

One of the upsides to the trip though? I got to feed the giraffes. Like this:

The aim was to get her to lick your face while you did that. Sadly (???) that did not happen.

And there we go.