Katharine Kerr (b. 1944)
-9 High-Brow, -13 Violent, 1 Experimental and -1 Cynical!
Congratulations! You are Low-Brow, Peaceful, Experimental and Romantic! These concepts are defined below.

Katharine Kerr is a US author who is best known for her books about Deverry, the result of a thought experiment of Kerr’s: What if a tribe from the culture of Celtic Gaul had escaped the Romans and moved to another world? The answer is the culture of Deverry, a fantasy world with, among other things, functioning magic, called dweomer. What sets dweomer apart from many other kinds of magic is that it’s a system, with detailed descriptions of how different magical actions are performed by those cunning in it, often reminiscent of new age literature, but actually drawing heavily on as diverse systems of thought as buddhism, the Kabbalah and gnosticism.

Another prominent feature of Deverry is the presence of reincarnation, with parts of the plot (or plots, really) concerning the attempts of various characters to overcome their weaknesses in order not to repeat the mistake they made in previous lives’. All this allows for some rather typical fantasy romanticism, while still allowing a huge amount of plot twists and turns, sometimes making the history of Deverry complicated to the point of resembling a highly experimental suite of novels.

Kerr’s fans are often real enthusiasts and it is easy to see that those who have the brains to follow the twists and turns of Deverry history are in for a journey into great tales of tragedy and destiny.

Read more about my result or take the quiz.

Quite how my similarities to Katharine Kerr might affect my own writing, I’m not sure, since there’s no way I’m aspiring to her cleverness or skill or success. But maybe I can get some inspiration, somehow?

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.

If you speak English, you’re instructed to look left. If you speak Welsh, you’re told to look right. If you speak both, then you might end up with terminal whiplash…

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.

Guess which category I fit in to?

Either way, I’m challenging myself to write 500 words a day towards my languishing novel. I’m going to include outline work and character sketches as well as actual content – they need to be done, and it’s all going to help. I hope.

I admit though that I’d planned to start yesterday, but I spent so long faffing around trying to fix the errormy commenters and I were getting when posting anything, and then trying to find a new progress meter plugin, that I didn’t get any writing done. Today should be a lot easier though.

Wish me luck? (Again.)

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.

Anyone got any suggestions for interesting and challenging novels (recent or old) that I might enjoy (and want to review)?

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The Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten and First Among Sequels, Jasper Fforde. Own copies.
That was a bit of a Thursday Next marathon, but it’s great to do sometimes to reconnect with one of my favourite fictional characters. I can’t praise these books enough – even First Among Sequels, which I was a bit unsure about at first, is one I’ve grown into.

Ash: A Secret History, Mary Gentle. Own copy.
Can you believe I’ve read this several times without ever noticing till now that ‘A Secret History’ has the initials ASH? D’oh. I adore this book anyway, even if its book-within-a-bookness and time-twisting story can be a bit confusing. I love the characters and the humour and the utter blood-and-guts portrayal of medieval warfare.

The Gone-Away War, Nick Harkaway. Own copy.
And on with more alternative reality pseudo-science stuff. Still really liking this – read my review from June 2008!

The Dragonbone Chair and The Stone of Farewell, Tad Williams. Own copies.
Back to more old favourites, which might account for my slow reading speed this month.

Total for June 2009: 7 + 0 re-reads

Ongoing total for 2009: 100 + 2 re-reads

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.

But working on that has given me the blogging bug again, which is good for my personal blog too. Trouble is, although I really want to post here as well, I’m completely stuck for ideas. Even my stack of Quotes and Words of the Day aren’t much help – none of them are providing me with the right sort of inspiration. I haven’t even really written any poems lately that are worthy of being shared with anyone else.

Anyone got any idea they’d be prepared to share with me for something I can post about? (Help? Anyone?)

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.

But I was amused by the instructions on a packet of disposable chopsticks that I was given at a Chinese restaurant the other day, and decided that I might as well share them… From the actual nature of the spelling mistakes, I suspect that they were copied from something else by someone who didn’t know Latin characters – putting c instead of e, for example. Makes for entertaining reading though, especially when you’re waiting on your spring rolls and chicken fried rice…

Welcome to Chinese Restaurant.
Please try your Nice Chinese Food With Chopsticks the traditional and typical of Chinese glonous history and cultual.

Tuk under tnurmb and hcld firmly

Add second chcostick

Hold tirst chopstick in originai position

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.

The Ninth Circle, Alex Bell. Library book, first read.
A fantasy thriller – The Bourne Identity with angels and demons and a potential Anti-Christ. Pretty fascinating and gripping.

Girl in a Blue Dress, Gaynor Arnold. Library book, first read.
A fictionalised account of Charles Dicken’s marriage from his widow’s point of view; long-listed for the Booker last year. Intriguing, and almost made me wish I’d read more Dickens in order to be able to recognise references to his books.

The Last Oracle, James Rollins. Library book, first read.
And another fantasy thriller, by one of the authors I make a point of reading. I’m not sure I like the way his style’s shifting towards Dan-Brown-esque abruptness, but at least in this novel he didn’t once mention the hero’s Welsh cheekbones (which normally get mentioned quite a few times, to my amusement).

In the Court of the Crimson Kings, S M Stirling. Own copy, first read.
And another of the authors I make a point of reading, although this novel’s been sat on the shelves for a while. Although it’s influenced by the alternate history he generally writes, it’s really an update of the pulp fiction of the 20s and 30s, being about contact with homo sapiens martiensis (that’s Martians to us, but human ones).

Beg for Mercy, Toni Andrews. Borrowed copy, first read.
Urban fantasy, but not the usual supernatural being or witch/shaman type. Some bits were rather formulaic and some of the characterisation was sloppy, but it was a fun, quick, satisfying read.

Wildwood Dancing, Juliet Marillier. Library book, first read.
I read the sequel to this first a couple of months back (Cybele’s Secret) and was delighted to find this one in the library too. It’s a sweet, pretty fantasy with engaging characters and an interesting plot.

An Accidental Vampire, Lynsay Sands. Library book, first read.
Supernatural romance rather than urban fantasy, even if the dividing line is generally pretty fine. This book’s firmly on the side of blood-sucking Mills & Boons though; it’s utter fluff and I won’t be bothering to read any others in the series.

Succubus Blues, Richelle Mead. Own copy.
And back to some decent urban fantasy. I really need to get my hands on the next in this series.

The Magicians of Caprona, Diana Wynne Jones. Library book, first read.
One of the Chrestomanci series which I hadn’t read. I spotted the plot twists a long way off, but then it is a kid’s book. (No less enjoyable though.)

All the Worldwracked Stars, Elizabeth Bear. Library book, first read.
Some decent SF at last – heavy with the Norse mythology;  intriguing and sad. I really like Elizabeth Bear’s characters.

A Year in the Province, Christopher Marsh. Library book, first read.
I’d wanted to read this since meeting the author during NaNoWriMo last year. It’s the whimsical and somewhat satirical tale of a Spaniard who spends a year in Northern Ireland, and it pokes fun at NI customs and behaviour in a rather delightful way. It tries a bit too hard sometimes, but on the whole is a very good read for NI immigrants like me.

Shaman’s Crossing, Forest Mage and Renegade’s Magic, Robin Hobb. Own copies.
This was only my second reading of all three books, and they form a most excellent whole.

Last Light of the Sun, Guy Gavriel Kay. BookMooched copy, first read.
I’ve been waiting a long time to read this, but I was rather disappointed in the small-scale scope of the story – most unlike Kay’s usual work, even if I did enjoy it.

Claudius the God, Robert Graves. BookMooched copy, first read.
It was fantastic to read this while in Rome and able to wander around the Forum and the Palatine hill where so much of it is set. And I managed to read it a lot more quickly than I, Claudius!

End of the World Blues, Jon Courtenay Grimwood. BookMooched copy.
Both times I’ve read this, I’ve been on holiday. The two threads of story can be a bit confusing, but the characters are great.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë. Own copy.
An old favourite that I haven’t read for years – I think I prefer Anne to Charlotte and Emily, shocking as that might be.

Grunts, Mary Gentle. Own copy.
This just isn’t up to the standard of her other novels, in my opinion, although it’s clever and witty in places with its fantasy role-reversal comedy plot.

The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book, Jasper Fforde. Own copies.
It’s great to relax with this series, especially in the sunshine in my back garden…

Total for May 2009: 20 + 0 re-reads

Ongoing total for 2009: 93 + 2 re-reads

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.

I just want to toss this one out to Ken, Susan and Hope, whose true stories (well, in Ken’s case, true-ish) make me laugh and cry. I am still reading blogs, even if I’m not posting much myself at the moment!

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.

At least Morrisons are withdrawing all the blocks now (after some pushing) and offering refunds. I wonder if I can get someone to buy that cushion for me, and then take it back with a complaint about the error?

(Hey, I wonder if I can get the price of dishes in restaurants refunded by complaining about the typos on their menus? My latest favourites being pavalova and banoffe.)

© 2009 by Sharp Words; all rights reserved.