Lot o' reading:

On top of a set of book deadlines for my editors that ran from the start of the year until the end of Feb (or so I thought until they rolled into the first two weeks of March...) I've been reading furiously for the awards season coming up. As a SFWA member, I'm nominating and voting for the Nebulas, plus the Locus awards and maybe some others if it looks like I might be able to attend WorldCon or World Fantasy, or other events later this year.

Oh, and in an unrelated but pleasant surprise -- I was accepted for a San Diego Comic Con pro badge! Now to see if I might be able to swing that dream con after I attended a local con in Feb (only away for one night and three days) and came home to my husband and a dog so sick from no one-knows-what that he ended up in hospital for two days. My sweet boy is better now, but funds for attending other cons and motivation to leave my two furkids again are at an all-time low.

Anyway...

Nomination lists are just starting to emerge, but here's a small sampling of some of the things I've enjoyed:

​Honeyeater by Kathleen Jennings​

I've loved other works by her, including the gorgeous Flyaway. Honeyeater is a dark and haunting horror story layered in rich and lyrical prose that some will love but it won't be for everyone. The mystery unfolds slowly, but once the elements are all in place, it flows with a tale as dark and twisty as the town's fickle creek, coming together well at the end. The best measuring stick I can think of is that if you've read and enjoyed everything by Jeff VanderMeer, then this book is probably for you.

​The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones​

I've read a number of the author's books, starting with Growing Up Dead in Texas (great book! but not SFF) and later cementing him as an author to read with The Only Good Indians. Some of his stuff leans too hard into slasher horror for me, but the dark, psychological stuff combined with his writing talent keeps me hooked on the new stuff. I'm partway through this book now, and despite being pretty burned out on vampires, I'm enjoying the read. (He teaches English at my university alma mater, and I never read a book of his without wishing I could go back and take a class from him!)

​Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou​

Okay, I read this one last year and I've written before about my friend, Natalia Theodoridou, and this debut novel examining toxic masculinity through the tale of Bluebeard. I expect it to make it onto many shortlists!

In MG, I enjoyed Into the Wild Magic by Michelle Knudsen

In novellas, be sure to check out the scifi story Descent by Wole Talabi. You can find it at the Clarkesworld Magazine link in print or audio.

And if you enjoy related work, Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling by Henry Lien is a wonderful look into Eastern story structure.

When the Winds Sing Audiobook Release!🥳

I gushed last time about being a dedicated audiobook reader. Well, my second Perilous Gods* book released in audio on March 3rd and I've now listened to Jonathan Todd Ross and his fabulous job reading When the Winds Sing (just as he did marvelous work on While the Gods Sleep!) -- except this time he had to tackle Russian phrases and accents. If you love audiobooks like I do, plus dark fantasy steeped in mythology and folklore, please give this a listen!

*The Perilous Gods books can be read in any order, but if I were to choose a book as a starting point, I might lean toward this one. It's the novel that sold the set to my editor and is the most grounded of the three with a setting in present-day Northern California. It also made the SFWA Recommended Reading list!

When the Winds Sing is available in ebook, paperback, and across multiple audiobook outlets including Audible (direct or through Amazon) Libro, and Chirpbooks (seriously, check out Chirpbooks -- no membership needed and lots of deals!), and through library audiobook providers like Hoopla and Libby/OverDrive. (If your library doesn't carry The Perilous Gods set in paperback, ebook, and audio, PLEASE, PLEASE REQUEST THEM...)

***Zero AI -- from plotting to writing to cover art to audiobook narration ***

Want some goodies for free?

Check out the link below for more than 80 authors with free books, stories, and sample chapters to share with you:

And speaking of free -- congratulations to Mia and Lalita for winning an ebook copy of Where the Shadows Dwell in last month's drawing!

For the cute animal video this time, how about some not so cute pelicans:

I can't find the video I was looking for -- the one that ends with a pelican in the back seat of a police car following typical pelican shenanigans of trying to eat anything and everything, but this one will give you the gist. Besides, it has a better soundtrack...

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Until next time, happy reading!

L. D. Colter has farmed with draft horses and worked as a paramedic, Outward Bound instructor, athletic trainer, roller-skating waitress, and concrete dispatcher, among other curious choices. She’s an author of contemporary, epic, and dark fantasy novels, a WSFA Small Press Award finalist, and a two-time winner of the Colorado Book Award for science fiction and fantasy. Her website can be found at ldcolter.com​

Other links: https://linktr.ee/L.D.Colter​

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