megwrites: Reading girl by Renoir.  (Default)
megwrites ([personal profile] megwrites) wrote2006-03-04 07:12 pm

(no subject)

- Went to the Jax Book Fair today. And for that I give myself a nice excuse for missing a lot of writing that I had planned to do today. Also, I think it's important that even if I'm writing as fast and as hard as I can right now (to the point where I'm in a shut down mode of "work, school, write, minimal human contact, lj, sleep" instead of doing the other things I do) to keep reading, and to indulge in the society of my fellow writers.

- And by society, I mean reading their works. Frankly, I've found that a lot of my most favoritest authors are actually curmudgeon-y people. Orson Scott Card, was once the apple of my literary eye. Then I started reading his "Uncle Orson Reviews Everything" column and his "World Watch" column. Took the shine *right* off of Ender's Game. But I'll always hold Ender's Game dear. It *was* an important book.

- Anyway, so I'm reading and buying books and taking a novel breather for an afternoon and evening because frankly, from the experience of writing two others (which no, will NEVER see daylight. They're sealed away in a lead lined vault that I dumped into the bottom of the St. John's River) that one of the things that can help more than outlining or forcing yourself to sit down and grind out pages is to take a moment and fill the tank up.

- I don't mean "filling the tank" to say, oh, I'm reading more books so I can have new shiny ideas to copy. I mean, all books come with an unique blend of creative energies. With stories and interesting viewpoints and emotions and things to see. And seeing something new might just help you tap into a vein of your own.



John Irving - A Prayer for Owen Meany

Robert B. Parker - Stone Cold

Robert B. Parker - Bad Business

Yann Martel - Life of Pi

Shakespeare - Julius Caesar

The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon

Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julian May, Andre Norton - Black Trillium*

Anne McCaffrey - Damia's Children*

Anne McCaffrey - Get Off the Unicorn*

Nancy Holder and Jeff Mariotte - Endangered Species (Angel: The Series novel)*

Sharan Newman - Guinevere*

Sharan Newman - The Chessboard Queen*

Mary Renault - The King Must Die

Frank Herbert - Eye

* - SF/F books.

There were surprisingly few really GOOD or rare SF/F books left. I think the very savvy SF/F fans got there on Friday (*cough cough [livejournal.com profile] affinity8 cough cough*) and took them before I could. But I did find a lot of "comfort reads".

I've read "Black Trillium", "Damia's Children", and "Get off the Unicorn" before. And it seemed worth it to me (at two bucks a book) to buy them. Especially since they were all books which I dearly loved and inspired me to want to write.

The two Sharan Newman books are short little things with big print and easy reading if the first page is a judge. Airplane reading.

Mary Renault was pure classicist love.

Frank Herbert was a case of a) he's a famous author and b) the cover art and art within are spectacular. I bought it for the pictures, and I'll stay for the stories. It cost me a dollar. Well worth it.

I was like all squees when I found the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon.

I'd rec all these books, so I think everyone on my f-list should go out and get themselves a piece of this action.



- Also? I'm nearly to 80k. Novel iz skeery big. *hides from novel*.

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