My Books-to-be-Read just keeps on growing. I'm enjoying James Owens' book Here There Be Dragons, but I keep running across more books I'd love to read. And I get even more excited about a book when I know it's gonna be good.

Which is why I'm excited to see that fellow North Carolina writer James Maxey's new book Dragonforge releases today.

I got to read and comment on some early chapters of this book back when I was able to go to a local writers' group set up by James, and it's great stuff. You won't find a cliched character in his books, even though he's dealing with material (dragons, swords, and sorcery) that can often be cardboard-like. The pacing is also amazing, as is his setting (I don't want to give too much away by saying too much).

To top it off, James has gotten some great covers for his books so far -- this is the 2nd book in a trilogy. This book's cover carries on the them from his first book, Bitterwood. Check 'em, out:

 

Also, I recently came across a really good blog that I'm not sure people are aware of, and I think they should be. It's called Enter the Octopus, and it's written by Matt Staggs. He does a great link round-up every day or so, mostly of interest to people who like to read and write, but I think anyone would find 3 or 4 cool links even if you weren't a spec-fic fan like me.

He also writes great reviews and, since he also does PR, he has a great perspective on ways to promote your fiction and yourself, if that's important to you. See his entry "Telling your story before someone else does" from the 24th for a great example of his writing skills.

Now that I've shared all this great reading material, go read! You can thank me later...