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Death is having a Near-Pratchett Experience
On March 12, 2015, Terry Pratchett’s twitter account posted the following: AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER. — Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015 Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night. — Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015 http://t.co/EzEDHf5EkW — Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015 The End. — Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015 And all Terry Pratchett’s fanbase reading those posts felt various levels of this: Terry Pratchett narrating his own death is the only time Twitter has made the hairs on my arm stand on end. What a loss. — Peter Hewitt…
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6 of My Favorite Kid’s Book Author-Illustrators | Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators Week!
Happy Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators Week! This week is a great excuse to sit back and think about, or re-read, your favorite books from when you were little. If you look some up, you might be surprised (like I was) at how many were written and illustrated by the same person! There’s truly something fantastic about a well-written and illustrated kid’s book, whether textured by an author and a complimentary artist, or if both parts grew out of the same mind. I have a lot of respect for artists who dance in that middle ground, and there are so many with such rich talents! They have my undying admiration,…
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A Tolkien Christmas Eve Story
T’was the eve before Christmas, and all through the house, Both Panger and Mossling awaited a mouse A mouse they could chase and play with all day And at night they could eat in a mousie souffle. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE! Long time no see, dear readers! I’ve been busy with all the customary Christmas projects: volunteering at church, working the obscene hours of the retail machine, and getting presents together. And this little bit of Christmas cheer, dear readers, is my humble gift to you! So wrap yourself up in something cozy, perhaps grab a warm drink, and I’m going to tell you a Christmas story. For a while, I’ve been wanting to…
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13 Books that have Stayed With Me
It began with a Facebook survey that my mother-in-law tagged me in: In your status, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take more than a few minutes and do not think too hard. They do not have to be the “right” books or great works of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way. And then the clever Sarah Shotts said she wanted to re-post her own answers on her blog, and I knew I had to do the same! Favorite books are such a special part of any writer’s life (everyone’s life!), I just wanted to share my list of enduring, memorable picks…
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Interview by M.G. Boal
I’m so honored that my favorite author cousin M.G. Boal interviewed me on his blog! He asks me about my plans for this year’s NaNoWriMo, as well as my success tactics for new NaNo-ers. Here’s an excerpt: M: Welcome! As you and I know, National Novel Writing Month is coming up in 3 days. So in honor of that, I thought I’d ask if there’s anything you can tell me about your planned novel. C: Uh, well, it’s sort of a magical, steampunky story, set in Victorian London. An orphan girl named Mindie wants to work with flowers more than anything else in the world, because her family did before…
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My Writing Process (Blog Tour)
Thanks to the adorable and very talented Sarah Shotts, I’ve been tagged to participate in The Great Blog Tour, aiming to make a web of authors that stretches as wide as the internet is long! I’m so honored to be included, and I’m excited to talk about my writing process (and to show off some cool pictures I took for the question headers)! So, shall we begin? •~~~•~~~•~~~•~~~• Since late middle school/early high school, I’ve been building my own fantasy world filled with characters, which has grown and changed throughout the years, as I have. I worked on it tirelessly, until college, only pausing to focus on my studies, with just…
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VEDA 2013 – Day #18: Can You Ever Stop Being a Writer? (Podcast)
Happy Amateur Radio Day! Finally posting the first of two podcasts I recorded in 2010, which I want to put on here for posterity since the podcast seriously fell out of use.
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Margaret Mitchell House
Since I’ve moved to the delightful city of Atlanta, I’ve discovered many fun places. The city’s made of them. But the most relevant to my writing interests HAS to be the Margaret Mitchell House, which I visited in July 2011 shortly after moving in. My fiancé (now husband) had work, and I was still getting used to living in a new city, so I decided to do some sightseeing. Of course, people told me that as an author I MUST see The Margaret Mitchell House, so I punched it in my GPS. When I got there, a tour had already started, but it had only just begun so I didn’t miss much,…
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VEDA 2012 – Day 9: Mistborn 2 Reaction *SPOILERS*
My immediate reaction to the ending of Brandon Sanderson’s second book in the Mistborn trilogy: “The Well of Ascension.” And yes, I’ve noticed this is way out of order but I’m catching up!
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Garrison Keillor
It’s about time I started expanding my Book Byte entries to talking about writers and storytellers who spin tales in mediums other than just the printed word. Garrison Keillor Although Mr. Keillor has written some printed books, I think he’s best known for his radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” on PBS Radio. His tales of awkward, dysfunctional, humorous, and down-to-earth life in the made-up Midwestern town of Lake Wobegon have captured the hearts of anyone who has heard his show. The movie “A Prairie Home Companion” (the last movie in the illustrious career of Robert Altman, one of my favorite directors) really captures the feel of Keillor’s stories, his…
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VEDA – Day 24: Recommendations
Werv gives some sci-fi authors and series recommendations. Lois McMaster Bujold’s site : www.dendarii.com —- download the entire Vorkosigan (Miles) saga for FREE! Really, it’s totally legal and Bujold-endorsed! baencd.thefifthimperium.com Orson Scott Card’s site : www.hatrack.com Neal Stephenson’s site : www.nealstephenson.com
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The Late November Author Birthday Cavalcade!!!
SIX! Yes, there are 6 authors with birthdays on the 29th and 30th of November! So what am I waiting for??? C.S. Lewis November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963 Most Famous Work: The Chronicles of Narnia series Fun Facts (thanks, Wikipedia): He was born in Belfast, Ireland His full name is Clive Staples Lewis, but his friends and family called him Jack. Why Jack, you ask? “At the age of four, shortly after his dog Jacksie was killed by a car, Lewis announced that his name was now Jacksie. At first he would answer to no other name, but later accepted Jack, the name by which he was known to…
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Bram Stoker
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRAM STOKER! Most Famous Work: Dracula November 8, 1847 – April 20, 1912 Fun Facts about Bram Stoker & Dracula: He was friends with Oscar Wilde in school, and married a girl who Oscar had once been interested in! He’s distantly related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes He was manager of the Lyceum Theatre, and joined his boss and famous actor Henry Irving in traveling the world, including the United States, where he met presidents McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt On his travels, he also met one of his literary heroes, Walt Witman Dracula‘s original title was “The Un-Dead” “Stoker had a strong interest in…
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Halloweek 2010: 6 Classic Spooky Stories
This is the promised blog post! Wooo! In six days it shall be Halloween! Other than Christmas, Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, because of the costumes and the candy, but also because there’s so much to DO and have fun with! I love a good story, and Halloween is FULL of them! Just look at the old ghost stories and creepy tales you find tacked on houses or buildings in old historic towns: they all talk about people who used to be alive, and there’s something dramatic about the idea of spirits hanging on. How many stories have focused on ghosts over the years? But I digress. As you know,…
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The Spectacular J.R.R. Tolkien & C.S. Lewis
“Tollers, there is too little of what we really like in stories. I am afraid we shall have to try and write some ourselves.” – Lewis to Tolkien If you asked me to name the two authors whose written works made the biggest impact on my younger years, they would be John Ronald Reuel and Clive Staples, better known as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis grabbed my attention as a kid with the Chronicles of Narnia, and Tolkien was there for me in middle and high school with The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, which is my favorite book and film series of all time. I’ve been…
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Internet Picture Serials
The internet has really given people a new lease on their creative life. They can create blogs, make their own videos, podcasts, Twitter characters and stories (EDITED years later: not to mention trans-media storytelling), anything, really! Storytelling has really evolved, and people have been taking advantage of it! For those of you who love blogging, I’m sure some of you like me have dreamed about creating a made-up story in installments on a blog. It’s like a serial story in a magazine without the subscription fee ^_^ Many people have gone out and done just that, and it makes it even more fun when they include pictures. As they say,…
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The Origins of Automata and the Uncanny in “Edison’s Eve”
All moveables of wonder, from all parts,/Are here–Albinos, painted Indians, Dwarfs,/The Horse of Knowledge, and the learned Pig,/The Stone-eater, the man that swallows fire,/Giants, Ventriloquists, the Invisible Girl,/The Bust that speaks and moves it goggling eyes,/The Wax-work, Clock-work, and all the marvelous craft/Of modern Merlins, Wild Beasts, Puppet-shows,/All out-o’-the-way, far-fetched, perverted things,/All freaks of nature, all Promethean thoughts/Of man, his dullness, madness, and their feats/All jumbled up together, to compose/A Parliament of Monsters. – William Wordsworth, The Prelude While doing some research for my webcomic a few months ago, I read a remarkable book called “Edison’s Eve” by Gaby Wood. It discusses the historical significance of automata from their initial…
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NEWSFLASH!
EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS! I got a real job! One with a regular paycheck and benefits! So my search for more money has finally come to an end! That can only mean more writing time when I’m not working, which can only be a good thing! I’m making plans for a little poetry/short story book that I will also illustrate. I was thinking of self-publishing, but I wish the self-publish stigma wasn’t so intense. I’ll figure it out, but the novel comes first right now anyway. Editing progress is going slower than I would like with all the jet-lag recovery and job hooplah, but I am still trying to get it sent to…
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Hey, Oscar Wilde! It’s Clobberin’ Time!
Interesting title. Thank you. I cannot take credit for it. Not quite a writing charity or an author dinner raising money for illiteracy, but it’s so noteworthy and creative and…well, authory, that I knew I had to write a little bit about it’s existance. “Hey, Oscar Wilde! It’s Clobberin’ Time” is a website where, as they say themselves (capslock and all): NOW IN ITS TENTH INCARNATION SINCE BEING LAUNCHED IN 06.1998, IS AN EXTENSION OF A PERSONAL ART COLLECTION OF VARIOUS ARTISTS INTERPRETING THEIR FAVOURITE LITERARY FIGURE/AUTHOR/CHARACTER THAT HAS BEEN ACCUMULATED SINCE 03.1998. Basically, it’s a website where illustrators and artists do up pieces involving their favorite books or authors…
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The Bird and the Baby: A Recollection
Once upon a time in the summer of 2006…We were given a weekend off from our month-long program in London, so our house of American university students scattered to different corners of Europe. Most went in groups to other countries, but I stayed in Mother England with my feet firmly planted. In the early afternoon, after mostly everyone had departed, with a messenger bag packed for a day trip, I set off alone. I rode the tube to Paddington Station, ate some Yo Sushi, and boarded a train bound for Oxford. The Eagle and Child Pub has been a thing of myth for me ever since middle school, when one…
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"I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by."
J. D. Salinger, author of “Catcher in the Rye” died yesterday (Jan. 27th) of natural causes, at the ripe ol’ age of 91. {read the article} The funny thing is that I thought he died long ago. That’s how reclusive he’s been. His only published novel is “Catcher in the Rye,” and a few short stories, including “Franny and Zooey.” I first read “Catcher in the Rye” in high school, with our grade divided into different period English classes, and in my small group I was surprisingly one of the few who expressed enjoyment reading it. I never fancied myself having teenage angst at the time, though looking back, I…
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The Fantastic Tom Siddel (Gunnerkrigg Court)
Webcomics count as books! Oh, do they ever! That is, if they’re good and seem more like a mini series than a bunch of random strips. One of my favorites is a gem of visual storytelling in both art and writing: the incredible tale of Gunnerkrigg Court but Tom Siddel. Within the first week of my attendance [at Gunnerkrigg Court], I began noticing a number of strange occurrences. The most prevalent of these oddities being the fact that I seemed to have obtained a second shadow… It tells the story of Antimony Carver, and her journey to discover the mysteries of her sprawling, industrial school–Gunnerkrigg Court–which is so much more…
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The Delightful Maud Hart Lovelace
Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! I have a special Book Byte for you. On this wonderful night, my heart is warmed by thoughts of Christmases during my childhood, and all the happy memories I have of days gone by. So, I felt it only fitting to talk about one of my favorite heartwarming book series. I’m only sad that it took me so long to finally hear about it, but I’m so happy that I can read it as an adult. It’s even more of a pleasure. Maud Hart Lovelace is not an author many recognize by name, but those who do, it’s safe to say they are fierce fans of…
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In the Realms of the Unreal
Sometimes, authors and artists fantasize about being hermits. It’s a romantic notion: cast off worldly things like cell phones, the internet, acquaintances and jobs, and run away where there is no one to bother you, and you’re blessedly detached from the looming, ugly world that threatens to come between you and your creativity. I still get nostalgic for that strange place of creative bliss that I’ve only found a few times in my own mind, yet, I’d never really thought about the flipside of this coin until I heard the unusual story of Henry Darger. I’ve just finished watching “The Realms of the Unreal” documentary about the life of Henry…
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The Illustrious Terry Pratchett
This is the first Book Byte-featured author so far that is already published, and has considerable notoriety and very devoted fans. I started reading Terry Pratchett (or I should probably say Sir Terry Pratchett!) in high school, and I’ve been on a quest to read all of his Discworld series since! (Quite an endeavor, as there are over 20 books and he keeps adding more.) With an infectious, comical writing style that reads like a witty, British comedy, Pratchett creates a fantastic, magical world that is alive and thriving (if not a bit grubby and smelly at times, but it does its best ^_^), and engages the reader so much…
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Lisa Patton
Lisa Patton and I met by random chance at a car repair shop as I was leaving and she was entering. After a mere minute-long conversation, we found out we were both authors, and we’ve been friends ever since! FIRST LINES: “Memphis is my home. It always will be no matter where I live. In the South we have a tendency to be possessive of our hometowns.” It’s about a Southern belle and her tales of moving up to Vermont and running an inn with her family. Lisa has also been an innkeeper in Vermont, so I think it’s safe to say that this book has a lot of truth…
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Jeanette Bennett (and Wendell Howe)
Jeanette Bennett received a new lease on life when she took a pause from a “real” job and began pursuing her passion as a writer. She’s been gaining notoriety on the web for less than a year now, which is a testament to her popular writing experiment! She’s been seeing how well she can write a story on twitter though the eyes of one of her characters, and it’s safe to say that she’s been wildly successful! A bit befuddled? Well, if you’ve never heard of Dr. Wendell Howe, the time traveler from the 27th century, then I pity your loss. But weep no more! It just so happens that…
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Chris Carlton Brown
I’m going to start a new little series here on me blog: the Book Byte, where I briefly showcase writers or books I really like. I’ll cover my favorite mainstream ones, but especially ones published by personal author friends, because I believe we writer types should help each other out! So, in the words of Strong Bad: “Let’s take a look. A book-look.” Chris Carlton Brown is a dear friend of my family. “Hoppergrass” is his debut book, and I was lucky enough to read it earlier this year. FIRST LINE: “It’s always a clean, white car—this time a Ford.” It’s a story about a teen juvie and his stint…
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I love to blog, and honestly, watching “Julie and Julia” yesterday just fueled the fire. It was about good food, book publishing AND blogging, among other things! Needless to say, I love it when favorite things come together. ^_^ On that note, I just wanted to share a few blog entries I ran across recently. Of course, I’m always on the lookout for seasoned writers on the web; people who have been around the block a few times and know the world and know the life, and this is a great opportunity to introduce one of the ones I follow: Cures for Writer’s Block & some Preventatives. ~ I first…
Artist, Author, Geek
