I personally like to play a sorcerer if I am going to play an arcane caster. The runestaffs from MIC are great for a sorc. Burn up a slot to cast a spell from the staff. The orb spells from the spell compendium are great. Touch attack, no save, no SR. Halfling is my favorite race to use for a sorcerer because I like to throw a lot of ranged touch spells.At some point you might want to consider taking energy substitution to give you a little more versatility. Spell penetration and greater spell penetration are good feat choices especially if you are going to go to higher levels with this character.
I have also had a lot of fun with a wizard who mainly used reserve feats. I had Acidic Splatter, Fiery Burst, Storm Bolt, Clap of Thunder, and Winter's Blast. From 9th level on I used heighten spell on Energy Spheres because it can be cast as any of the requirements for those reserve spells, so I just heightened it to the highest level I could so I could use any of them at will. The great thing about the reserve feats is that they are supernatural abilities so no SR. Most of my other spells were utility.
I have also had a lot of fun with a wizard who mainly used reserve feats. I had Acidic Splatter, Fiery Burst, Storm Bolt, Clap of Thunder, and Winter's Blast. From 9th level on I used heighten spell on Energy Spheres because it can be cast as any of the requirements for those reserve spells, so I just heightened it to the highest level I could so I could use any of them at will. The great thing about the reserve feats is that they are supernatural abilities so no SR. Most of my other spells were utility.