Thanks to Neil Gaiman - see April 13 entry - for linking on his blog (and bringing to everyone's attention in North America who read his blog!) to this post overseas for a Vote for Your Favourite SF and Fantasy authors of all time, here , you can click and go vote for your favourite too. I'm having problems choosing my favourite five, because I always look at as not just my favourite authors, but ones I feel have contributed to their respective fields in some way. So far I have Tolkien, Frank Herbert, and Ursula K LeGuin (who has done more to make SF/fantasy respectable reading than almost anyone, single-handedly). After that, I am stuck, I have 8 - no, more! - authors to choose from! See if you have any better luck than I do at narrowing it down.
Andi at Andilit has an interesting post from last Wednesday. I've linked you to it. She asks (she got it from Nathalie Goldberg, a writer whom i have almost everything she has done): what don't you remember? Write for 10 minutes about what you don't remember. It's a writing prompt for writers, but I think it's interesting for all of us. Please go to her site and leave your comments there, because she came up with the idea! and I left my answers there too :-) She also has an interesting one for today : Living Responsibly and asks what we are passionate about.
What else? Well, some of you got through my long meme yesterday, I didn't know it would turn out so long!!! thank you for getting through it! I did have fun with it!
And.....the sun is shining, and we reached 12c and almost all the snow is gone!!!! The ice is still on the river and the water is high - streets in small towns along the Ottawa River have flooded, but here in Ottawa so far, only one street has been flooded and the water is receding. Where I live in the west end, we are still waiting for the water to finish rising - we're not in danger, but houses a few blocks away could be if the water rises from melting snow up north. Mostly, though, the sun is shining, daffodils and crocuses are emerging (not in bloom yet), and buds are at last forming on trees and bushes. I'm so happy!!! Spring is coming!! I can start planning what plants to buy for the garden! It does look like I have to cut my rose bush right down to the crown, but it looks like the main part survived the snow. My daughter was saying yesterday she hoped the roses would be red again this year! It's so wonderful to go outside without a hat and gloves, with just a vest and sweater on!!! though, the air still doesn't smell yet....the geese are flying north too, always a good sign that warm temperatures are coming to stay.
Carl has the most beautiful picture of two fairies on his site today. Go see it. Plus assorted other fabulous artists are promoted, some of the artwork is gorgeous. I'll have to start downloading some of the Tor covers. And now I have another new book to get (you have to go to Carl's site and see if you can guess which one it is! amazing cover!!!).....I'm so glad I joined the book blogging world. Some of my cravings for fantasy and horror and book-talking and meeting great, really fun people are getting met! You all deserve congratulations for blogging, because it is work even if terribly fun and addictive. I don't feel so alone in my passion for books, now!
I meant to review Robin Hobb, but I will save that for tomorrow and do a proper post for it. "Shaman's Crossing" deserves it!!
Happy reading, everyone!
7 comments:
Thanks for the notes about my blogs, and for your list of what you forgot.
And your passionate response to the idea of living responsibly is just what I'd hoped for. Thanks.
andi - you're welcome! I had fun! You're right on your blog when you say that as a writer and a teacher you have a responsibility to be a witness to the things around you. I think we all do. And as writers, we have to find a way to document it.
So glad that Spring is arriving over there finally! We have Spring galore down here. I have a Wisteria plant that's in full bloom and it's just gorgeous. Glad to hear that you won't be flooding either, though it's sad to hear that some may :(
I wish I could say that Frank Herbert did it for me, but I tried Dune once and I just couldn't stand it :/ I've been nearly crucified for saying that, but I couldn't get into it for the life of me which is really odd for me...I tend to like just about anything I read. Maybe it was just bad timing. I really need to read more LeGuin...I've only read 2 books of hers and after the last I'm ready to explore more of her work. I've always loved Tolkien since first discovering the Hobbit. He'd be on my list along Orson Scott Card and Neil Gaiman and then I don't even know who my other 2 would be. Maybe Peter Beagle and someone else...
Chris: I always forget about Peter Beagle, I don't know why! and I haven't read much LeGuin, I was thinking of the Wizard of Earthsea Trilogy, which when it came out was almost required reading in fantasy world. Somehow I missed it, so now i have to go back and read it. but it changed fantasy reading, and was for children as well as adults, and helped popularize it. I like your list. I have to reread Card, I started the Alvin series when it first came out and really liked it, but he took a long long break from it, and I haven't got back to it yet. Soon...someday....on my TBR pile when I buy them! even on paper this pile of books is teetering!!
I love the sound of your wisteria plant, up here they flower in June. I plan on getting one for my garden soon. Yours sounds lovely! (wistfully said). Do you have any Magnolia trees there? That's another smell I love, and the flowers are lovely, and one day I hope to be brave enough to try to grow one!
Magnolia is actually the state tree of Louisiana so we have TONS of them! They're everywhere you look. Beautiful trees. We used to have one in our front yard...but it died :(
You should definitely go back to Card's Alvin Maker series. It's one of my favorite fantasy series. He's published 6 books in the series now and a few short stories. There's only one book left in the series and he's currently writing it, so you won't have to wait long, though it seems excrutiating to me :p If you like sci-fi I HIGHLY recommend his Homecoming series...it's one of my favorites.
Go back and check the blog where you posted "What I don't remember". I added a comment after yours and it will be interesting to see if you remember some of things I don't.
I'm not feeling good today; remember that gut problem I have where if I ingest sugar for more than 2 days in a row my burp smells like rotten eggs or vomit? Well son thinks I'd passed some rotten gas and you should have seen his face when I shamefully replied that I hadn't tooted, just burped. But now it's blowing out both ends...*sigh*...
I know, it has nothing to do with your post or books, but I am just heading off to bed with a Reader's Digest magazine. Short and sweet stories in case I have to run to the bathroom again; does that count? :)
lady p: I remember everything you posted about! I'll have to call you and talk about it. When you're feeling better :-) I was surprised that you don't remember much of all that, since I do, but I was a year older....
Chris: Is Ender's Game part of the HOmecoming series? I read it - when I read the Alvin series in the beginning, and I loved Ender's Game, read the second one and it wasn't quite the same though equally good. Is there a third one now? I think people have been blogging about it. I will go back and read Ender's Game again, probably next year, since everyone writing about it has made me want to read it again!
And no, I didn't know the magnolia was Louisiana's tree. What a lovely symbol to have!
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