Speculative Chic

Kindle Roulette

~ Casey ~ 5 Comments

On March 2nd, having just finished the second InCryptid novel, Midnight Blue Light Special by Seanan McGuire, I decided to play a game. I have so many Kindle books. So many, indeed, that Mr. Price accidentally nicknamed my Kindle “Thousands of Books” — he came into the living room a few years ago, looking very disgruntled. He didn’t mind, he said, that I bought so very many books. He just wished that I would take better care of them. When I inquired as to what he meant by that statement, he replied that I had left thousands of books just laying on our bed. Then I got his meaning and had to smile.

Cut because I care. Read on if you want to learn about Kindle Roulette (and you do). Continue reading →

Riverdale Reactions: Chapter 14, “A Kiss Before Dying”

~ Casey ~ Leave a comment

Hi kids!

So, a week or two ago, I wrote an extremely nerdy piece arguing that Riverdale’s first season was, beneath the soap opera drama, a proper Gothic horror. You can read it here, if you are so inclined. There was a LOT more that I didn’t get a chance to write about. I’d really love to pick it all apart even further, but this is not the time.

No, this is the time to celebrate the show’s return. I shall be making a valiant attempt to post my thoughts on this season’s episodes each week, because I love this show beyond all reason. These posts aren’t meant to be proper reviews or recaps, just my own opinions.

Today, we focus on Chapter 14, “A Kiss Before Dying.” There WILL be spoilers, so if you don’t want things ruined for you, turn back now. If you haven’t had a chance to watch, head on over to the CW’s website or check out their app to get caught up before Chapter 15 airs tonight.

Continue reading →

I Write For An Awesome Fanzine

~ Casey ~ Leave a comment

…And you should follow it. Here’s some of what we were up to last week:

Every Monday is a new post of our Favorite Things .  We take turns sharing what we are in love with from the previous month.  The downside?  My to-read/watch list has grown.  I didn’t need that.

On Tuesday morning, I was on deck with my review of the gorgeous Winter Tide.  Long story short, this is a beautiful book, and I enjoyed every word of it.

Our second post on Tuesday was an especially fabulous one.  Fellow contributor Stephanie M. Wytovich won the Stoker Award for her poetry collection, Brothel.  Congratulations, Stephanie!!

Wednesday kicked off with a discussion of Nebula nominated film, Kubo and the Two Strings, courtesy of Lane Robbins.  What did she think?  Clicky the link and find out.

We closed out Wednesday with Merrin’s review of Runtime, another Nebula nominee. (Why yes, we are reviewing as many of the Nebula nominees as possible.)

On Thursday, Nicole Taft took us on another visit behind the scenes at your favorite bookstore with her ongoing Welcome to the Bookstore series.  This installment discussed the latter stage of a book’s lifecycle within the retail world: the part where some of them have to be returned.

Later that same day, J.L. Gribble shared her thoughts The Circle. (She also beautifully curates that column each week, no matter how many of us caught whatever the newest thing was.)

And on Friday, our resident Life Coach, Sherry Peters, offered some of her signature wise advice.  Sherry is a Certified Life Coach, loves you, and wants you to be happy.  Write to her at coachsherry@sherrypeters.com for all of your writing woes.

This AND MORE can be yours for the low price of free.  I am honored to work with such brilliant individuals and am humbled by their creativity and intelligence.  Check us out at speculativechic.com – new content every weekday.

Dispatch From the Price Palace

~ Casey ~ Leave a comment

Well then!  It’s been far too long since I checked in, and for that I apologize.  Funny thing about crazy weather: it leads to crazy illnesses.  I have dodged the flu bullet so far (thanks flu shot!), but the pressure changes and unreliable temperature patterns have led to multiple headache days for yours truly.  I’ve also been working my tail feathers off at the Day Job.  The flu is practically an epidemic in my home state.  Schools are closing, people are boldly venturing out in masks, and my pharmacy has been ultra busy.  The latter is compounded by a coworker being out sick for the last week.

Plus, Mr. Price is getting ready to leave on an adventure of epic proportions (more on that another time), so we’ve been doing a lot of preparations for that trip.  This has included descending into a nigh doomsday prepper level of food preservation.  I have learned a great deal.  For example, a huge can of green beans dries down to just enough to fit in a sandwich sized Ziploc bag.  Also, there is definitely a difference between generic and name brand canned corn.  I’m surprised.

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I’m still well within my goal of one book per week in 2017.  Some recent picks included Genevieve Cogman’s The Invisible Library and two novellas: Passing Strange  by Ellen Klages and Final Girls by Mira Grant.  The latter of these was obtained via Humble Bundle’s newest Fantastic Fiction bundle.  It’s a fantastic deal and you should pick it up if you get a chance.  It’s more than worth it.  (PS: Look for reviews of the two novellas by yours truly on Speculative Chic sometime in March!)

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As for The Invisible Library, I tore through it madly.  It was supposed to be a placeholder until my copy of S. Jae-Jones’ Wintersong arrived.  I expected to like it, but I didn’t expect to get a stay-up-too-late, read-obsessively sort of story.  It was amazing.  I immediately ordered the next two books in the series: The Masked City and The Burning Page.  I did start reading Wintersong when it arrived, and I’m enjoying it, but the back of my brain is simply itching to get back to Cogman’s series.  I’ll probably review Wintersong here, though, so keep an eye on this spot.

(You should keep an eye on this spot anyway, I’m awesome.  Ha ha.)