My take on mysteries

Okay lately if you have been following my book reviews over on booklikes you can see that I have been reading a lot of mysteries. I like the ones that have a touch of fun in them. Be it a witch using her wonky magic to figure out who committed the crime, or a talented older gentleman with a twitchy mustache and a cat with 60 whiskers or a young woman who runs a vintage clothing store. All of these tales have a bit of fun and a lot of mystery.

I have heard a number of people who seem to have trouble with this. Like that a lighter mystery should not be written, that they should all be dark procedural type stories. Well I disagree of course. I totally enjoy reading things that are just off the beaten path, so to speak. In a world that is rather dark lately i is nice ot be able to read something a wee bit lighter.

If you are wondering what I am talking about well go over to my book review blog

http://sutekowriter.booklikes.com/

I have reviewed both new and old books, traditionally published and indie, paperback/hardcover and ebooks. It is a bit of a cross section of what I read obviously. We, as readers, need to try to read lots of different types of books and in today's world we have so many choices. Don't decide something isn't worth reading just because it is not in your favorite genres or is not trad or indie. You need to keep an open mind.

I don't have a short story review for you this week so I will do a few pics. With all the trouble lately with people posting images I think maybe I should stick to posting images of my own

Okay these are oldies for me. I drew them a long time ago and they are characters from my stories...mostly...that blonde one I am not sure who she is yet. Next week I will probably just toss up a few images of critters, who knows right?

And just for a bit of fun how about a nice drabble to end this blog?

Giving a lift to a friend.

I gave a lift to my slow friend yet all he did was tell me to slow down. He needed to be at the altar by the time the sun was lowering to the ground, but still he thought I was moving too fast. Really? Me, going too fast? A tortoise I am and proud of it. Just because he is a snail doesn’t mean he can tell me I am going too fast. I mean come on! His brother raced past us just this morning. I told him that I would get him there on time, and I will. 

(Yeah I know it isn't mine but it is funny!)

More pretty images to make your day

It might be cold enough that I am wearing hand warmers, three pairs of socks and three sweaters (thanks so much roommate for leaving your window open when it is freezing outside) but there is nothing as nice as looking at lovely images and sharing them with you!

Art worth looking at

Yup more fun art. I don't have a short story review for you this time but i do have more art after all.

Gotta love fantasy images right? Each week I will do more of them

A Different Drabble for St Patrick's Day

Thought I would write something quick for the day...here you go!

Wear Your Green

Come sit with me, my friend. The grass is still hidden by white, but listen to closely and you will hear a pipe on the wind. Spring is nearly here and the small folk are getting ready. Put on your green and look for them. If you are lucky you just might see a leprechaun, but don’t try and trick them. Those legendary pots of gold are not for you and you will just make them angry. Instead offer them a drink, a bit to eat and listen to their tales of days gone by. Just don’t mention Saint Patrick!

A review and art, what else?

Today I thought I would comment on a short story from Bitten by Cupid. This anthology only had three tales in it but they were good ones.

The story I am reviewing from this collection is Vampire Valentine by Lynsay Sands. Another story in her Argeneau stories. In this one we meet Mirabeau and Tiny. Mirabeau is a female hunter who lost her family at the tender of of 17 and Tiny is a human who works for the family. Together they are in charge of taking Stephanie to safety. This story is almost up her usual well written tales. As always she gives us rich characters with back stories that make you want lots more. In fact that problem is is that she did not quite finish the story. Two or three more pages would have made this novella go from great to amazing. It is obvious to me that Ms Sands is not quite used to writing in the shorter form. As a writer of short stories I can understand how hard it is to work in that form. She is a really great author and I plan on reading as many of those books as I can.

Now how about some lovely fantasy art from the past?

Another blast from the past or art that I think is amazing

This week I don't have a review for you. I have been busy doing so much else that I just didn't remember I needed to do one. So instead I thought  I would put up a bunch of lovely images that are hiding inside of my hard drive. The past forty years have given us some amazing book covers and just plain art.

These pieces are some of the most interesting I have. I have them listed as Bell but if you look on the images you will see Valient at the bottom corner and Julie. I believe the artist is Julie Bell, who was married to one of my all time favorites, Boris Valejo. These are almost photo realistic pieces of art. You can almost hear the movement of these people and creatures.

A short story review and of course art again

Well this week I decided I needed to review one of the tales from the anthology, The Solaris book of New Fantasy. Now just so you know I did review the whole book over on Booklikes and this is not one of my favorite anthologies because it tries to be something it is not. But having said that there was one tale that touched my heart and made it worth the money I had paid for the book.

That tale is The Song Her Heart Sang by Steven Savile. This tale is a type of love story written in fantasy. As someone who has done a few fantasy romances in the past year, I have come to really understand how hard it is to mix the two genres. .

This tale has a man who goes to a lost city to find something to help his love see for the first time. His travails are what you would expect of a man who is not an adventurer heading into danger but his motivation is what makes this tale both heartwarming and strong. Of all the tales in this book, this one is the best.

Now for some pretty pictures right?

This week I didn't go for a specific artist because I just wanted something pretty and of course faeries, dragons and unicorns are some of the prettiest things I have.