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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