I went to bed last night with that conversation rolling around in my head; I woke up to discover that Abyss and Apex has decided to buy the most ridiculously-titled short story I have ever written, “Letter Found in a Chest Belonging to the Marquis de Montseraille Following the Death of That Worthy Individual.”

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So, you all know I like doing recommendations for good books I’ve read lately. Unfortunately, I don’t have as much time to read as I would like, which means that the recommendations lag way behind all the cool stuff I see coming out. To that end, I’m going to start putting up the occasional plug for books I think look cool and am putting on my own TBR list.

First up is Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars. It’s a steampunky cyberpunky post-Ragnarok Norse fantasy-type-thing, and the sample had my Norse-geeky self squirming in glee. It just came out this week, I believe, and while I don’t have my copy yet, that’s more attributable to the fact that I haven’t left the house than anything else.

The other pre-rec for now is Diana Pharaoh Francis’s The Black Ship, second (but mostly stand-alone) installment in her Crosspointe series. I confess to a bit of jealousy here; the setting resembles the Changing Sea, home to a sailing-fantasy novel I want to write someday. But jealousy also translates to interest, so here’s a brief interview with Diana:

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