Barb Caffrey's Blog

This post is an important thing to remember as we all continue to get through the dog days of summer into fall. (I do wonder why they call it “dog days,” but that’s neither here nor there. As I love dogs, they can call every day a dog day as far as I’m concerned.)

That’s why I chose to reblog it, in the hopes that more people who maybe didn’t read it the first time will read it now.

There’s a lot of stuff going on in this world that is incredibly frustrating. Maybe that has always been true, but because we didn’t have 24/7 news coverage, much less the internet, we didn’t get inundated with all of the various information out there — some good, some bad, some neutral, and a whole lot of it completely incomprehensible. (Though the cute cat and dog pics can stay. Just saying.)

As far as a quick personal update here, regarding stories and such…my three novels are still in a holding pattern, but I grow closer to getting them back out there, either by self-publishing or through a new small press taking a flyer on me. In addition, the book I wrote in Chris Nuttall’s Schooled in Magic universe, with his permission of course, will hopefully be out in the next month to month and a half. (A cover reveal will be forthcoming soon, too.)

For those wondering about my living situation…it’s the same.

As I said in my last update, I’m doing the best I can. Some days are better than others. Some aren’t. I will be happier, though, once I get past September 21, as that will be the 24th sad anniversary of my late husband Michael’s death.

Books I can recommend: As well as anything by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, anything by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel, anything by my friend the late Rosemary Edghill, and whatever genre you feel like reading, as Chris Nuttall probably has it and you will almost certainly enjoy it, I can recommend two new-to-me writers, those being Skyler Ramirez and Linzi Day. Ramirez writes mostly space opera, while Day writes mostly fantasy. Both tell excellent stories that I have enjoyed immensely. I’m also big on Carla Kelly’s Regency romances, as she mostly dwells on people other romances have forgotten about, like Naval personnel, middle-class and lower-middle-class women (usually finding a way to pair off with Naval personnel), medical doctors…her novels are a breath of fresh air, and I always enjoy reading them.

Those are just a few of the wide-ranging and genre-hopping books I read on a regular basis.

Oh, yes…and Kayelle Allen has a great new book out called WATCH YOUR SIX. It’s SFnal, dealing with humans, Ultras (genetically made humans that live far longer than regular humans), and “Ghosts,” who have been given Ultra blood and were able to survive otherwise mortal wounds in the same body. Six is the best friend of Pietas, the Ultra leader…and their friendship makes me laugh, sometimes cry, and overall is so much fun to read that I had to tell you all about it.

So, what are you reading? What’s going on that you’d like to talk about? Tell me in the comments!