Finding New Favorites or Everybody Loves Zelazny

Well good morning (or afternoon or night), nice to see you again.

I know a lot of hardcore readers. I really do. As a matter of fact, if you ask nearly anyone I am close to about their favorite book, the answer is sure to be a broken down list of genre, sub-genre, writing era, and possibly even potential for a zombie filled re-write. The point is this: when you read a lot, you are always finding new books and authors to love, love, love.

Today, I want to talk about an amazing fantasy author that I was very late in learning about. In fact, I had never even heard his name until my girlfriend loaned me a book, just after we started dating. The book was entitled, "Jack Of Shadows" and it was written by the amazing, Roger Zelazny. From the beginning of this fairly short novel, Zelazny had me hooked. His style and pace were very unique, and you can see that Neil Gaiman was influenced by his writing. Wow, what a book!

I was hooked and had to find more. Enter: The "Amber" series.

The Amber series is a collection of ten fantasy novels with a very rich story throughout. Although I have to admit that you can tell the first and second halves of the series were written with some time in between, it was still an awesome collection. Heck, I found out a few weeks ago that the series has an entire role playing system built after it.

Obviously, I missed the bus on this one. Or, I was at least late to catch the Roger Zelazny bus, but I'm glad I finally did. I recommend that everyone find a friend with a Zelazny book (there are lots) and ask to borrow it. Unfortunately, this great American fantasy writer passed away back in 1995, so there won't be any new titles to search for, but find everything you can, and give it a shot.

I recommend starting with Jack Of Shadows, it's still my favorite Zelazny book (though I still have lots of others to get through).

I think that's all for today.
Any thoughts? Ever read Roger Zelazny?
Ok then, buh bye now

E-reader vs. Paper Books

Hey there, you look great today! Have you been working out? ;)

Well here we are again. It's Monday, and I am right back on track (even if the track is very, very late). So something that has been on my mind a lot lately, as well as a big topic around the interwebs, is the battle between real-life, paper books, and e-readers. People everywhere are sharing their opinions, letting the world know that their preferred method of receiving and reading books is the one that will last for eternity.

Why?

Why does it have to be a battle? I love books. I love the smell of new books, and the smell of old books. I love the crinkling of the paper beneath my fingers, and the way the spine of a new books cracks when you open it all the way up for the first time. Hardcover or paperback, I care not. Although the only type of book I have ever gotten a signature on was a comic book, I love the fact that you can get your favorite author's autograph right on or in your book, and save it forever.

This may make you think that I am all pro-paper books. Even though I am very pro-paper books, I am in no way anti-e-reader. I think it's brilliant, and I remember how excited I was when my friend, Lucas, showed me his first e-book (this was ten years or so ago). It was "Through The Looking Glass" and it was all there. The illustrations and page numbers, and of course, the story itself, all shrunk down and kept inside of that tiny magic box.

As I stated earlier, I love books. However, books can be unwieldy at times, and who hasn't borrowed a library book that was missing a crucial page (or even torn a page themselves)? Also, for those folks with a tight budget, (cough cough, like me) buying new books can mean digging out loose change and sighing a lot.

Of course, e-readers have their weak spots as well. Like the Wicked Witch of The West, water will take those little guys out. Although buying the books to put in your e-reader can be cheaper than paper books, most e-readers are not cheap. The initial expense may be more than most folks want to pay (especially if they don't know how much they will like it).

The point of all this rambling is to say that I am on both sides. Pack your e-reader in your carry-on luggage and choose what you want to read, when you want to read it. Grab whatever paper book you are currently reading, and hop into a nice hot bath (water is not good for paper books, but an accident doesn't mean the end). The great thing about e-information is that it doesn't take up any space. You can still fill your bookshelf with paper and cardboard, even if you have a Kindle full of Harry Potter.

Any thoughts?
I need more coffee.
Ok then, buh bye now

Wow, I'm A Slacker

Wow, it seems like yesterday that I set out to meet a blogging goal of Mon, Wed, and Fri. And yet, I haven't posted anything at all since mid-November. Hmmm, well I suppose there is some explanation necessary, though maybe not... :)

I got a new job, which has caused some of the hold up. I'm not going to go into it, but I am now writing for a living. It's a very loose translation of the dream, but it is a first step that I'm very happy with. And then, of course, we had those Holidays. Planning and family stuff, stress and finances... blah blah blah, I already said Holidays, so I'm sure you understand.

I am back now, however, ready to start right back where I left off. I haven't gotten any real work done with my writing either. It didn't really dawn on me until the other day when my amazing girlfriend looked at me curiously, and asked, "Why haven't you been writing?" It was a simple enough question, but I stammered a bit and realized that I had no real answer. I just wasn't.

Unacceptable.

It is time to get back on track. Starting Monday, I will be hopping back into a firm schedule that includes plenty of time for both work-writing, and real-writing. I am also determined to lose the Holiday weight I have gained (though it doesn't seem fair that it comes on so much faster than it goes off).

So that's it for today, I've been a slacker. Sorry if you missed me, I'll make it up to you, and to myself. :)

To NaNo, or not to NaNo...

Oh Monday, you've been gone for a week. I wish you'd stay gone.

There are people all over the interwebs right now, arguing about the usefulness (or lack thereof) in NaNoWriMo. Some people are out there saying that the entire exercise is pointless, a giant waste of time. Others argue that it is about learning and building habits that are useful to every writer...

hmmm... Let's look at something from the NaNoWriMo website, CLICK ME IF YOU WANT TO GO THERE

"Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down."

I think the bigger arguments, for and against NaNo are built around this bit of info. The NaNo naysayers argue that, "writing a lot of crap" is a giant waste of time for thousands of people. Also, the fact that NaNo is an event made entirely for people that want to write a novel seems to invalidate everything done therein.

umm, who else should "National Novel Writing Month" be geared to?

Sorry folks, I am wholly on one side of this argument. You'll get no unbiased blogging here, and I'm not even a participant!

NaNoWriMo is for people interested in writing. If you're not interested, you probably don't know what it is, and probably don't care. I'm ok with that, you don't need to care.

Take me for instance, I am not a chef. If there is a "National Cook Your Heart Out" week, or NaCoYoHoWe, I am not interested. Even if most of what is cooked in that month tastes like dirty pants. I don't have to taste it, or even know how cooking shoes can help to make you a better chef. I do understand, however, that if NaCoYoHoWe helps one person to become a better Chef, then it is worth it. Especially to that one person.

I have written crap. You have probably also written crap. Therefore, WE have written crap, without a reason, and possibly without any encouragement or hope of making that crap better. NaNoWriMo gives a reason, encouragement, and hope to lots and lots of people.

It also might help people to realize that they are not writers, and that's ok too. Why waste years thinking about writing a novel, if after a week, you hate pens and paper and computers and everything that has to do with writing?

NaNo can also help people to become better and more disciplined. I know that making writing a part of your daily routine can be very hard to do, and if this project helps with that, then I'm sure you'll think that it was worth it. Even if everything you write this month really is crap.

Blah... wow that was a lot of soapboxin... sorry about that.

To the NaNoers out there, good luck :)
To everyone else, good luck as well :)

Thanks for reading,
buh bye then

Works In Progress... plus coffee

It's Friday, it's Friday!!! (happy dance, trying not to spill my coffee)

So, it's friday (see above for confirmation) and that means that it is time to share about the work that has gone into the last week. It's all pretty exciting for me :)

As far as "Clockwork Charlie" is concerned, she is resting peacefully as the story forms and shifts and forms again in the ol' noggin. I have dedicated November to revisions and editing of "The City" but I'll be back to work on CC soon!

Revisions on The City: Going very well! New file created, writing commenced. I already have Chapter 5 put back together, and am also editing as I go... back and forth, in craziness, but I'm loving it. The story is coming back together, and I think the changes have already added so much.

First draft word count through Chapter 5: 36,067 words

Second draft word count through Chapter 5:(editing not finished) 35,020 words (lots of dead little darlings there)

I think that's about it as far as my WIPs are concerned, let me leave you with a little Jonathan Coulton:





Thanks for reading,
buh bye then

Ahh, so Bachman is really...

Hey there, you... wink wink

So the other day, I talked a lot about my reading experiences as a younger lad. Today I want to talk about one writer, that may have had the most impact on my reading journey, from then, til now.

I must have been around thirteen or fourteen when I read my first Stephen King novel, although it was published under the name, Richard Bachman. I loved every minute of "The Regulators" and have been hooked ever since. (Yes, I was a horror kid, even then. My dreams involving Freddy Krueger were not horror movies, but action/adventure flicks, or sometimes even more like buddy comedies)

Of course, immediately after finishing that book, I jumped into "Desperation," which was its counterpart, published under Stephen King. From then on, I was hooked.

I followed Mr. King's work from horror to fantasy and back again. Even in his world, where demon clowns or evil dogs may eat your fingers, his writing seems very honest. His characters have weaknesses and flaws that usually outweigh whatever hero-qualities they possess (just like people here in real life), and even his villains have their upside.

Mr. King is also one of my favorite short story writers. I grabbed a collection of his, titled "Everything's Eventual" from an airport kiosk when I was traveling from Spokane WA, to Reno, NV. I made it through all of those stories in one day, even though my flight was only three hours. Airport benches are not the most comfortable, but they'll do in a pinch if you need a place to sit and read.

What is the point of all this musing?
There may not be one. I love Stephen King, and if you have somehow not read any of his works, you should. (is that a point?)(Hey, I never promised these blogs would be well formatted)

Any thoughts on Mr. King?

Boys Don't Read!

Boys don't read!

That's not true, not even a little bit. I'm jumping a little late onto the bandwagon here, but I have an opinion, and a internet access. so there.

I have read a lot of blogs about the boys and their reading habits. Do they read? What do they read? Why don't they read? ...etc. To be fair, most people seem to agree with me. They know that boys do read, and some boys read a lot.

My experience as a reading boy leads me to ask, "Why is there even a question?"

When I was a young boy (elementary age) I already loved to read. So did most of my friends, who were also boys (yes, most of my friends were boys. no, I did not worry about cooties...). We read kids books; The Hardy Boys, Shel Silverstein, and anything about Batman (Comics count as reading!).

As a matter of fact, I don't remember any girls that I knew when I was that young that liked to read (though, to be fair, I didn't really pay attention).

Now, middle school was a different story. My group of friends began to change. Some of those boys that loved to read like me began to disappear, and girls became an integral part of everyday life. Sports became important to so many people, and reading seemed to fall by the wayside for a lot of others, pushed there by video games.

For the most part, though, reading was still abundant. R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps" stories were a great way to continue reading, without having to worry about books covered with pictures of kissing. (Man, there were a lot of those) My friends and I even began our journeys to Middle Earth and Narnia around this time, leaving plenty of room for Batman, of course.

It continued through high school, though the flock did thin again. R.A. Salvatore became a daily part of our conversations, along with Terry Brooks and whatever our teachers sent us home to read. (Dracula and Shakespeare were among these. Kudos to teachers willing to share their libraries!)

So when people say boys don't read, what are they talking about? I believe they mean boys don't read YA (Young Adult). And, for the most part, they're right. YA books are usually romance centered, even when funny, and often have kissy faces all over them.

Batman does not. (well, most of the time)

This may be a strange, rambling post... but there you are.
Any thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment.
thanks for reading,
buh bye then