I just found out we lost a master yesterday. Reading Ray Bradbury was my introduction to dark fantasy and science fiction. I still hold images in my head from stories I read decades ago. He will be missed.
Filed under Authors, Events, Ray Bradbury, Thoughts
We lost one of our best “children’s” author/illustrators today. He brought wildness and reality to all of us with his words and pictures. He will be greatly missed. Thanks, Maurice.
Filed under Authors, Childrens, DarkFantasy, Maurice Sendak, Special
Jackie at Literary Escapism offers this wonderful challenge. It runs from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010. There are several interesting new to me challenges out there but I am going to go with this one. My decision rests on the facts that it doesn’t start until the new year and that I can cross link books to two others challenges I know I will be participating in.
The idea behind this is to find new authors that you’ve never tried before. They can be in your genre of choice or be brave and try something new. You never know what you’re going to like until you try it. If you’re looking for some suggestions, you can check out the Author page here at Literary Escapism or the 2009 Challenge page. With over 1000 reviews posted, I’m sure there will be something there for everyone.
I am very intrigued by the Women Unbound challenge but I don’t feel I can do both so I am going to make every effort to have my new authors be women writers and to include some nonfiction in my reading! There are different levels for the New Authors Challenge, 15, 25 or 50 new authors. I’m going to sign on for 25. Why don’t you join me?
Filed under Authors, Challenges, New Authors 2010
A brilliant meme from Vasilly who got it from So Many Books. Name 25 writers who have influenced you. 
These are not necessarily your favorite writers or those you most admire, but writers who have influenced you. Then you tag can tag 25 people with the meme. I am not going to tag people but would love to see your list if you are so inclined.
This was extremely difficult for me. I had to cull the poets and the nature writers and the essayists and still had to set a limit of those authors born before the middle of the twentieth century. There are many that I had to cull from this list! I surprised myself. I guess I never realized much I’ve taken in over my life time. Or maybe I’m just easily influenced!
Author born in:
1564 William Shakespeare
1797 Mary Shelly
1809 Edgar Allen Poe
1812 Charles Dickens
1828 Leo Tolstoy
1832 Lewis Carroll
1838 Mark Twain
1847 Bram Stoker
1849 Sarah Orne Jewett
1873 Willa Cather
1882 Virginia Woolf
1901 Jorge Luis Borges
1901 Zora Neale Huston
1901 Katherine Mansfield
1901 JRR Tolkien
1909 Eudora Welty
1920 Ray Bradbury
1925 Flannery O’Conner
1926 Harper Lee
1927 Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1929 Ursula Le Guin
1930 Chinua Achebe
1938 Raymond Carver
1939 Margaret Atwood
1947 Salman Rushdie
Oh, gosh, I forgot Orwell and Steinbeck. Can I cheat a little? Did I mention science fiction? Mysteries?
