Well. Another year of obsessive reading. In fact MORE obsessive reading than the previous year. Did I say I was going to ease back? In the past year, I read 128 new novels/novellas, again mainly in the m/m romance genre. This is more than twice as many books as 2014. It was a year when … Continue reading Reading highlights from 2015
We pick things up in the middle of a very eventful night... ZILLAH [19 Feb] The warehouse is still on fire, but hopefully the rain will put it out. Regardless, there’s nothing further we can do here. Hoping no-one follows us, we return to Soma’s house — to find her dead on the floor and … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: In which we take over the Thieves Guild
ZILLAH [17 Feb] After the drama of last night, it's a relief to be back at the Temple of Emrys. My head is clear, here on the edge of the city. I can think. I pray to the god of the forests, searching for guidance, but I still can't decide what to do. I leave … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Fleet and flame
ZILLAH [14 Feb] All going well, we should arrive in Kelsen tomorrow. All going well... Gah! Who am I kidding? Nothing ever goes well for us. It's taken us a week to get this far and it's cost a lot of gold. I guess I'm lucky I'm not in this for the money, because this … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Making friends (and not friends) in Kelsen
ZILLAH I’m staring into the fire in Climber’s camp of outlaws, searching desperately for light in the depths of my shattered soul. They want me to tell the tale of our recent adventures. They want it to be full of heroic action and rousing arse-kicking. They want me to banish their despair and replace it … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Tale of the Dark Tree
ZILLAH We camp a few hours upstream from the goblin village. I have the goblin chief's dirt map memorised -- the all important directions to the troll lord we seek, and the Dark Tree as well. We will likely face at least one of them tomorrow. I try to mentally prepare myself for the task … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Triumph over the troll lord
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat leapt to the top of my to-be-read pile the instant I heard about it last weekend, because it ticks three of my current preferred boxes: It’s a secondary world fantasy, written by an Australian woman (meaning I can review it for the Australian Women Writers challenge), and it’s centred on … Continue reading Review of Captive Prince and Prince’s Gambit by C.S. Pacat
ZILLAH Trees. The stream wending silent on my left. My companions spread out in front of me, talking in low voices, stepping on twigs. This is all I see. All I hear. They are making tough going of it, but I don’t care. I don’t care that none of them are likely to see the … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: The fireball and the goblin chief
ZILLAH -- The Broken Forest I'm on watch with Squirrel in the dead of night when the tree moves. It's a massive tree in a loop of the stream. We've camped here because it seemed safer to have the water on three sides. We've been attacked so many times at night. But now it sounds … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Death of an animal companion
Earlier this year, I pledged to participate in the Australian Women Writers Challenge — essentially a commitment to read, review and generally plug published works by Australian women. It’s taken me a while to get my act together, but here — finally — is my first official review towards this challenge. I selected Dreamer’s Pool … Continue reading Review of Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier
Ellen Gregory 