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Jun. 23rd, 2009 09:40 pmGood news for Masques writers: the Canberra Times has reviewed the book. Bad news: they reviewed it yesterday, the review isn't online (though others are, so it may be forthcoming) and I didn't get the Canberra Times yesterday (in fact, I had a less-than-well day, as I did today, so I didn't even think about it). If I find out more, I'll let you know.
What I did with my down-time was create a little library to work my way through. If I'm due for a difficult six months, then I make preparations. I've already borrowed a bunch of DVDs, and I have paper books, but I was missing something. The other night a group of writers talked about how important David Eddings was for them and how he led them into fantasy realms. He didn't do that for me. My immediate excuse was because I'm older, because, as I said at that time, I read writers like Morris and Dunsany and Mirrlees. Someone suggested that it was because I was Jewish. I can't see the link she was making and so the comment sticks in my head, perplexing me.
I now think it's simply that I read so very avidly. No single author (not Lord Dunsany, not James Branch Cabell, not MZB, not CS Lewis, not Sylvia Townsend Warner) created my preferences for writing and reading.
Anyhow, the upshot of all this is that I plan to spend part of my less-than-wonderful days over the next little while revisiting a few of the writers who I loved when I was young. I can revisit old friends and also read books I had intended to read back then, but never quite managed. It's not everything. Just a sample. And it's not instead of my other reading - it's to combat the emotional troughs I face in still not being well.
I spent this evening (instead of working) putting together an electronic library that can travel with me or go to bed with me. Instant improved quality of life.
My temporary elibrary can't be everything. It's what was online and easy to access in a short period of time. It does include some lovely writers and some fun writers and the occasional silly writer.
So what authors did I grab whose books were were readily accessible for free online tonight? I'm so glad you asked that question. Lewis Carroll, several Oz books, Doc Smith, Edith Nesbit, Sax Rohmer, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, James Branch Cabell, Wilkie Collins, Lytton Bulwer, Marie Corelli, Rafael Sabatini, ER Eddison, Edward Dyson, that bloke Dunsany, H Beam Piper, H Rider Haggard, a couple of brothers called Grimm, Andrew Lang, Robert E Howard, Laurence Housman, Jean Ingelow, some guy called Lovecraft, lots and lots of George Macdonald, much Morris and that should see me through any dark patches.
This isn't really a list of great influences on my writing self. I'd have to think about that some more. All I know was that when I encountered Eddings, I found him fun to read, but nothing new. I still put this down to my age and the fact that I read seriously, from the moment I got my first library card.
PS There a competition on my other blog. The prize is cheese.
What I did with my down-time was create a little library to work my way through. If I'm due for a difficult six months, then I make preparations. I've already borrowed a bunch of DVDs, and I have paper books, but I was missing something. The other night a group of writers talked about how important David Eddings was for them and how he led them into fantasy realms. He didn't do that for me. My immediate excuse was because I'm older, because, as I said at that time, I read writers like Morris and Dunsany and Mirrlees. Someone suggested that it was because I was Jewish. I can't see the link she was making and so the comment sticks in my head, perplexing me.
I now think it's simply that I read so very avidly. No single author (not Lord Dunsany, not James Branch Cabell, not MZB, not CS Lewis, not Sylvia Townsend Warner) created my preferences for writing and reading.
Anyhow, the upshot of all this is that I plan to spend part of my less-than-wonderful days over the next little while revisiting a few of the writers who I loved when I was young. I can revisit old friends and also read books I had intended to read back then, but never quite managed. It's not everything. Just a sample. And it's not instead of my other reading - it's to combat the emotional troughs I face in still not being well.
I spent this evening (instead of working) putting together an electronic library that can travel with me or go to bed with me. Instant improved quality of life.
My temporary elibrary can't be everything. It's what was online and easy to access in a short period of time. It does include some lovely writers and some fun writers and the occasional silly writer.
So what authors did I grab whose books were were readily accessible for free online tonight? I'm so glad you asked that question. Lewis Carroll, several Oz books, Doc Smith, Edith Nesbit, Sax Rohmer, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, James Branch Cabell, Wilkie Collins, Lytton Bulwer, Marie Corelli, Rafael Sabatini, ER Eddison, Edward Dyson, that bloke Dunsany, H Beam Piper, H Rider Haggard, a couple of brothers called Grimm, Andrew Lang, Robert E Howard, Laurence Housman, Jean Ingelow, some guy called Lovecraft, lots and lots of George Macdonald, much Morris and that should see me through any dark patches.
This isn't really a list of great influences on my writing self. I'd have to think about that some more. All I know was that when I encountered Eddings, I found him fun to read, but nothing new. I still put this down to my age and the fact that I read seriously, from the moment I got my first library card.
PS There a competition on my other blog. The prize is cheese.