This month focuses on Darren Shan’s Cirque du Freak.

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?…

Michael Moorcock (b. 1939)

19 High-Brow, 21 Violent, -17 Experimental and 21 Cynical!

Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy

Absolute freedom is absolute responsibility. The writer’s job, as I see it, is to tell the truth.

Artists are people who are not at all interested in the facts – only in the truth. You get the facts from the outside. The truth you get from inside.

If you want to strike out in any new direction – you go alone. With a machete in your hand and the fear of God in your heart.

When the genuine myth rises into consciousness, that is always its message. You must change your life.

Fantasy is the natural, the appropriate language for the recounting of the spiritual journey and the struggle of good and evil in the soul.

It is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope.

There are, however, two instances in which I do not quite understand Le Guin’s stance. Why is poetry held separate from fiction in these situations? Maybe someone out there can offer insight:

The lovable rogue, the romantic criminal, the revolutionary Satan are essentially literary creations, not met with in daily life. They are embodiments of desire, types of the soul; thus their vitality is immense and lasting; but they are better suited to poetry and drama than to the novel (141).

Always the book one imagines and the book one writes are different things. The one exists objectively, a scribbled manuscript or so many thousand printed copies. The other exists subjectively. It is the other’s first cause and final cause. Toward it the written book, during its writing, continually strives, like the image in a mirror approaching the person moving toward it. But they do not merge. Only in poetry, which breaks all barriers, do the two ever meet, each becoming the other (140).

Infineon

“Four wide! Four wide!” My dad kept hollering, in awe of the aggression we witnessed the entire evening at Mansfield Motorsports Park on Saturday. The Lincoln Truck race winner was Dave Jackson, and the Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA 200 winner was 18 year old Parker Kligerman, who graduated from high school the night before. Also competing that evening was 75 year old James Harvey Hilton, who started his career as crew chief to Rex White back in ‘62. The only downside to the show was the continuous movement of attendees who weren’t watching the race, but moving around to socialize and buy vats of hot dogs. Seriously, how many nasty racetrack hot dogs can one man eat? The guy two rows behind us came back from the stand holding three at a time, and made at least five visits. The drunk a row down and in front of us insisted on walking up to the fence and waving his arms around at nothing; this was particularly annoying because my dad and I were trying to take pictures. My dad mumbled something at another man as he walked in front of my dad, who was clearly holding a camera in front of him and attempting to shoot, and when my dad returned to his seat he made a confession. “I used the ‘f’ word.” I shook my head in disbelief. I have never heard my dad use that word; he doesn’t believe in swearing in front of women or children. I know my brother has heard him, but me, that’s a different story. “You didn’t!” I replied, shocked. He smiled back at me. “I called him an effing moron.” See? He still didn’t say it in front of me, but to admit that he had, and even to say ‘effing,’ was huge. I felt like a grown up for a moment there.

Before the race, Richmond’s sister Sandy spoke over the phone to thank fans and the racing series for honoring her brother, who won the Daytona ARCA 200 back in 1981, followed by 13 NASCAR races. He was also the 1980 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, finishing ninth in the race. A versatile and talented driver, Richmond was lost to racing and the world in 1989. Twenty years later, it was high time to honor this driver, both as a racing phenom and as a man, and only appropriate to do so close to his hometown of Ashland, Ohio.

More racing/car pics here.

Kazan, who died in 2003, lives on in his creations, those explorations of humanity and relationships that are not without flaw, and not wholly accepted by viewers and critics.  His decisions, when great, are perfection; however, in A Face in the Crowd, I wonder what happened. Andy Griffith is hideous, and while I know - from this book - that the character is meant to be a caricature - and I do not like caricatures, in film, fiction, or otherwise - I find it too far over the top to be more than ridiculous. Matthau and Neal are quite amazing, and Lee Remick is appallingly beautiful. The end is not what it was meant to be, again, as I find in the book, and I think it would have been better with the original scripted ending. Of course, I am not a director, and certainly not the great Kazan - and I say that without sarcasm - so who am I to say?

I think most authors who blog now live in fear of saying they like their new book cover, only to find it picked up on The Rap Sheet as a copycat cover.

I just saw my new cover yesterday for the first time, and I like the look, but I’m curious to know what everyone else thinks…

Besides my interest in the books themselves, I’m excited by the potential this may have for bringing more readers to the field, especially younger readers. Most big bookstores I’ve been to have the Science Fiction/Fantasy section next to the manga. When school isn’t in session, the manga section is usually quite busy, in large part with kids at or within a few years of the age I was at when I became a serious SF reader. Japanese science fiction marketed by a manga company has all sorts of potential for creating long-term fans.

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

I’ll Pass for Your Comrade tells the true stories of several female soldiers who were either devoted wives and girlfriends or committed patriots to the cause of their side of the fight. Women in combat are one thing, but women used to giant hoop skirts and some sense of privacy in the midst of the ferocity of this vicious war are quite another. It is really beyond my imagination how these women - and girls - managed on a day to day basis without the niceties we take for granted. Now, it’s true that the men were in the worst of conditions as well, but in a world where women were coddled and petted, it is astonishing that so many of them affected disguise to offer themselves for their cause.

Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker is a very close and emotional look at Mary Todd Lincoln and her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley, who survived enslavement to become a successful businesswoman. Keckley was a proud and talented woman who believed in herself, her abilities, and her worth as a human being, in spite of the jealous and hateful opinions of others. Mrs. Lincoln’s emotional instability is so evident in her dependence on Keckley, as well as her mood swings, which Keckley takes in stride, and ultimately, in her need for Keckley above all others when the president is murdered. 

Neither of these books should be limited to the young adult audience; anyone looking for an enjoyable way to learn about the Civil War, as well as human relationships in difficult times, could do no better than to read them.