middles are evil, hooray for books
Jul. 27th, 2009 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aamcnamaraToday I fiddled with the beginning of my novel for about fifteen minutes and it was a glorious time. Then the scenes I needed to fix were fixed, and I closed the file sadly.
The novel is now going out, tentatively, to a few people to read. I will need more readers later, when my intent is less "tell me it's okay!" or "tell me what it's like!" and more "tell me what is wrong".
On a happy note, a few first scenes worked their way out of my head yesterday. Doubtless they will all need editing, but for now I am happy they are here. Next task: middles. (I don't like writing middles.)
I have also compiled a beginning list of Books Which I Plan To Bring To College. It has thirteen books on it.
I will start by noting that all of these books are awesome. If they were not awesome, they would not be on my list. This is an attempt to figure out why these particular awesome books have made it onto my list. There are doubtless other reasons which I can't figure out myself.
Dust, Elizabeth Bear
Comfort reading, of a sort. Also, Journeys. And the virtue of familiarity, since my copy is read and re-read and has a forest of post-it notes and scribblings in the margins from when I wrote half a 4,000 word essay on it.
War for the Oaks, Emma Bull
Twin Cities. All right, I'd probably love it just as much if it were set anywhere else. (Well, maybe a little less.) Good urban fantasy, the kind where the city is like a character too.
Tam Lin, Pamela Dean
Oh look, college. It probably bears noting that I would take this book many places with me, even if I were not in fact going to college. I like the easy intellectualism and fun. Also, fencing. And Minnesota, if not Twin Cities.
The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley
Also Journeys. And one of the beginnings that's stuck in my head for good, I think.
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin
Again, Journeys! I'm sensing a theme here. There is an image in here that, like the beginning of The Blue Sword, is stuck in my head forever. People usually do not think of Le Guin for beautiful and heartbreaking imagery, I don't think, but there's a passage in this book that does that for me.
The Privilege of the Sword, Ellen Kushner
Journeys, okay, okay. Plus gender-bending! And swords! Also, friends whose correspondence depends on their having read the same book.
Year of the Griffin, Diana Wynne Jones
This is... college too. Again, I swear this book would be on a list of books I'd take almost anywhere. It was the first DWJ book I read, as far as I can remember, and as such it has a special place in my heart.
Firebirds, Sharyn November (ed.)
Pretty stories? I have particular reasons for several different stories in here. Also, for some reason I liked this original Firebirds anthology more than either of the two others.
Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson
I read Ibbotson's children's fantasy novels as a kid--The Secret of Platform 13, Island of the Aunts, Which Witch?. I remember a few memorable details from them, and remember that they were entertaining, fun, and cute. Journey to the River Sea stuck in my head, though it isn't fantasy at all, except in the escapist-story way. Okay, Journeys again; so sue me.
Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link
I think that I like almost every story in this book. My favorite, though, is probably "Magic for Beginners". On my facebook profile, my list of 'favorite TV shows' is two long: Shadow Unit and The Library. If The Library were a real TV show, I would definitely be writing fanfic. (Also, as the long-time or astute reader of my LJ will note, I dressed up as Fox, a character from The Library, last Halloween.)
The Essential Bordertown, Terri Windling and Delia Sherman (eds.)
There are many cool and awesome stories in this anthology. "Changeling" by Elisabeth Kushner, however, has a special place in my heart. It was one of the--okay, say it, the first time I'd seen gay girls in a fantasy story. So yes, it changed my life. It said, This is okay and This is how other people feel too. I rarely ventured out of SFF books and sections then, and certainly never would've thought to go looking for books about lesbians. When I asked for a Bordertown anthology for my birthday that year (having read Finder and Elsewhere and Nevernever), I had no idea what I was getting into.
A College of Magics and A Scholar of Magics, Caroline Stevermer
More college! Also, literary references and madrigal-singing. Swords, to a certain extent. Witty dialogue. Topiary. Excellence.
The novel is now going out, tentatively, to a few people to read. I will need more readers later, when my intent is less "tell me it's okay!" or "tell me what it's like!" and more "tell me what is wrong".
On a happy note, a few first scenes worked their way out of my head yesterday. Doubtless they will all need editing, but for now I am happy they are here. Next task: middles. (I don't like writing middles.)
I have also compiled a beginning list of Books Which I Plan To Bring To College. It has thirteen books on it.
I will start by noting that all of these books are awesome. If they were not awesome, they would not be on my list. This is an attempt to figure out why these particular awesome books have made it onto my list. There are doubtless other reasons which I can't figure out myself.
Dust, Elizabeth Bear
Comfort reading, of a sort. Also, Journeys. And the virtue of familiarity, since my copy is read and re-read and has a forest of post-it notes and scribblings in the margins from when I wrote half a 4,000 word essay on it.
War for the Oaks, Emma Bull
Twin Cities. All right, I'd probably love it just as much if it were set anywhere else. (Well, maybe a little less.) Good urban fantasy, the kind where the city is like a character too.
Tam Lin, Pamela Dean
Oh look, college. It probably bears noting that I would take this book many places with me, even if I were not in fact going to college. I like the easy intellectualism and fun. Also, fencing. And Minnesota, if not Twin Cities.
The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley
Also Journeys. And one of the beginnings that's stuck in my head for good, I think.
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin
Again, Journeys! I'm sensing a theme here. There is an image in here that, like the beginning of The Blue Sword, is stuck in my head forever. People usually do not think of Le Guin for beautiful and heartbreaking imagery, I don't think, but there's a passage in this book that does that for me.
The Privilege of the Sword, Ellen Kushner
Journeys, okay, okay. Plus gender-bending! And swords! Also, friends whose correspondence depends on their having read the same book.
Year of the Griffin, Diana Wynne Jones
This is... college too. Again, I swear this book would be on a list of books I'd take almost anywhere. It was the first DWJ book I read, as far as I can remember, and as such it has a special place in my heart.
Firebirds, Sharyn November (ed.)
Pretty stories? I have particular reasons for several different stories in here. Also, for some reason I liked this original Firebirds anthology more than either of the two others.
Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson
I read Ibbotson's children's fantasy novels as a kid--The Secret of Platform 13, Island of the Aunts, Which Witch?. I remember a few memorable details from them, and remember that they were entertaining, fun, and cute. Journey to the River Sea stuck in my head, though it isn't fantasy at all, except in the escapist-story way. Okay, Journeys again; so sue me.
Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link
I think that I like almost every story in this book. My favorite, though, is probably "Magic for Beginners". On my facebook profile, my list of 'favorite TV shows' is two long: Shadow Unit and The Library. If The Library were a real TV show, I would definitely be writing fanfic. (Also, as the long-time or astute reader of my LJ will note, I dressed up as Fox, a character from The Library, last Halloween.)
The Essential Bordertown, Terri Windling and Delia Sherman (eds.)
There are many cool and awesome stories in this anthology. "Changeling" by Elisabeth Kushner, however, has a special place in my heart. It was one of the--okay, say it, the first time I'd seen gay girls in a fantasy story. So yes, it changed my life. It said, This is okay and This is how other people feel too. I rarely ventured out of SFF books and sections then, and certainly never would've thought to go looking for books about lesbians. When I asked for a Bordertown anthology for my birthday that year (having read Finder and Elsewhere and Nevernever), I had no idea what I was getting into.
A College of Magics and A Scholar of Magics, Caroline Stevermer
More college! Also, literary references and madrigal-singing. Swords, to a certain extent. Witty dialogue. Topiary. Excellence.
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Date: 2009-07-29 02:58 am (UTC)*crosses fingers for you*