Okay, that's a long title. But I couldn't come up with anything pithy. As I type this, explosions shaking my house. Not because I'm in some kind of danger or because something bad has happened, but because I live in a tourist town. Here in the States, it's our national holiday, the Fourth of July, which Americans have celebrated with fireworks since our founding. I used to think that the fireworks tradition started in the 19th century, and then I found out that, no, our Founders decided that they'd bequeath us with explosions every Fourth because, apparently, revolutions don't end. Or some such nonsense. The new cats are getting acquainted with their new home, which includes an exploding July (just wait until the official fireworks at 10 p.m., kitties!) and more traffic than our roads can handle.
And then, of course, there are the people who like to start early. Exploding things early and often, and ignoring danger signs like the gale-force winds we've had all day. Such an adventure, living here.
What I want to do is crawl into my comfy chair and read about murder and mayhem, since the tourists are providing the soundtrack for it. Fortunately for me, I'm part of the Dark Crimes Storybundle. I have my bundle downloaded, fortunately, because the bundle disappears in two days or so. If you want excellent novels by Melissa Yi, Rebecca Cantrell, Dean Wesley Smith, O'Neal De Noux, J.F. Penn, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Annie Reed, and me, or two excellent short story collections (including the Year's Best Mystery & Crime), head over to Storybundle right now, and get yours. You can get five books for five dollars, or spend fifteen and get everything–which should take care of your July reading, if not all of your beach reading. While you're there, throw in a few dollars for our charity, AbleGamers. Make someone else's summer while getting reading for yours.
While you're thinking of anthologies, you should pick up two that have come out of WMG's Fiction River imprint. The latest Fiction River, Editor's Choice is a tour de force of editing by Mark Leslie, working with a disparate variety of stories. You'll see if you read the introduction. Also, if you're a Kris Nelscott fan, and want to meet one of the central characters for my upcoming novel, A Gym of Her Own, pick up Fiction River Presents: Readers Choice. That volume has some amazing stories and is another editing tour de force. The Fiction River readers voted for their favorite stories, and since Fiction River doesn't separate stories by genre, editor Allyson Longueira had to figure out how to put together an anthology that runs the genre gamut from historical romance to thriller with everything in between. I just read the volume and think it's quite amazing. The readers made excellent selections, and Allyson found a way to make the volume flow.
So there you go: Lots of reading to get you through the explosions. Oh! Wait! I'm the one who has to survive the barrage. Where did I put my noise-canceling headphones? I think I better head off to find them. I'll leave you with a cat picture, from calmer times earlier in the summer.