Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

One of my current resolves is to put more reading time into my life.  To that end, I've been immersed in Blake Charlton's new book, Spellbound.  It's the sequel to Spellwright, a volume I greatly enjoyed.  No spoilers here, but I'll add that to be dyslexic in a world where wizards must literally spell their spells can make for very interesting times . . .   For those of you who live near me, Blake will be reading at University Book Store in Seattle tomorrow ( Sept. 21) at 7 PM.  Definitely a 'don't miss' evening.

My other reading pleasures tonight were a couple of entries from  the September 2011 Asimov's  Science Fiction. Both stories featured youthful protagonists (as the cliche goes!) but they could not be more different from one another.  "Grandma Said" by R. Neube is about a young man who volunteers to work for the Plague Center, battling outbreaks of an indigenous disease in a colony on a terraformed planet.  "Stalker" by Robert Reed (an author who with alarming regularity writes absolutely wonderful short stories) is about a very different sort of teen and the 'unbounded, bodiless personality designed to hover close to that one significant soul.'   And if that significant soul is the worst possible sort of young man that one can imagine, and your duty is to be devoted to him . . . Where does that leave an AI? 

I recommend both stories!

And in my own backyard, I have some cover art news that I'm not quite ready to share yet, but it definitely makes me grin!

And this last week I've signed contracts with Heyne for mass market German editions of Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven.  From earlier in the month, Luitingh will be bringing out a Dutch edition of The Inheritance.  And Pygmalion will be publishing a French edition of City of Dragons.  All of which makes me very happy.  I've been invited to Elf Fantasy Fair in the Netherlands for April of 2012 and I'm desperately trying to fit that in to my writing schedule.  It has absolutely everything that I love in a fantasy gathering, and the castle setting is the finishing touch.  I'm so hoping that I can make this come together!

But to make that happen, I need less time on the Internet and more time putting words on the virtual page!

Best wishes to all!

Robin