I'm having fun. One by one, at intervals to stretch it out, I'm reading stories in Jonathan Strahan's anthology, The Book of Dragons, illustrated by Rovina Cai. Recently, I read "Pox" by Ellen Klages, an author new to me. I loved it, and what a great pleasure to find that one of the delightful characters, Franny Travers, also appears in Klages' novella, Passing Strange.
Tor, furthermore, has reprinted (on-line for free) a story about Franny "Caligo Lane." Just as Klages must enjoy having Franny in the back of her mind, I'm happy to welcome her into my company of fictional characters who seem even more like friends than many real people I know. For that matter, I'll reread Passing Strange because (a) its structure is worth taking in more analytically and (b) it's worth spending time with the circle of six characters at its heart. And then there's that touch of magic, thanks to Franny!
One last thing: cover art matters in the novella, so here's a shout-out for Gregory Manchess, the accomplished artist who took on the task of producing Haskell's last painting. Read the novella and see what I mean.