Hi, I'm Caro. I'm trying to get back into writing after a long hiatus. Fantasy is usually my favorite thing to read or write, and I'm currently picking at three different projects, all of which are supposed to be novel-length (eventually). I haven't been very successful with writing long things, but it's always my intention. My favorite thing to do is world-building, and I'm currently trying to start a novel that will take place in the fantasy setting I've been working on for about a decade. I figure it's past time to actually write something about it!

As a reader, some of my favorite fantasy authors are Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, George RR Martin, Megan Whalen Turner, and China Miéville. I'm actually trying to start reading a lot more these days, so I'm very open to any recommendations.

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Reading is very helpful in learning more writing tricks, imo.

Have you read one of Christopher Barzak's books? I read The Love We Share Without Knowing recently; it's a series of connected stories of locals and expats in Japan whose lives intersect with each other and, occasionally, with fantasy-tinged events. I love Barzak's writing style. It's simple but beautiful.

If you like China Miéville's work, you may enjoy KJ Bishop's The Etched City. Surreal happenings in a tropical city.

You might like Holly Phillip's The Engine's Child: it's a bit of a slow story, imperfect, but it's quite interesting.

Ekaterina Sedia's The Secret History of Moscow is about three people travelling through the mythical undercity of Moscow: similar in some ways to Gaiman's Neverwhere, but definitely its own book.

As I usually do, I'll pimp Catherynne M Valente. You could start with her recent novel Palimpsest, about a sexually transmitted city that transforms -- in beautiful and terrible ways -- the people who discover it.

Good luck with your writing projects!

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Thanks for the recs! I am adding all of these to my Bookmooch wishlist, but I think I'll actually go out and buy The Etched City and Palimpsest. Those sound really interesting.

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I hope you enjoy them!

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