Reading the past

Writing requires reading. Everybody in the writing business I've talked to, from Mercedes Lackey to Robert Asprin, tout this. I've always been a voracious reader, sometimes I've been known to go through 2 or 3 novels a week when I'm focused on that. As I"ve been writing more, I've also noticed that my tastes have become somewhat refined, in my own way, just like they've changed back and forth over the years.

I used to read a lot of hard military sf, things like Hammers Slammers. Before that, there were phases of humorous fantasy (Asprin comes to mind). I periodically pick up new releases by old favorites, Orson Scott Card, for example, keeps me entertained with a constantly changing battery of different styles.

What I've been writing with Imperfect Hope is somewhere from my long ago reading habits. I suppose it has an official name for the genre within the fantasy realm, but off the top of my head, I can't think of it. One of the prolific writers of my reading past (probably 20ish years ago) is Marion Zimmer Bradley, specifically her Darkover novels. I've come to realize that much of what I'm writing about in the d'oril realm is influenced by that styling.

MZB often set her novels in the harsh, cold climes of Darkover, I remember images of castles nearly swallowed up by massive drifts of snow much of the year, the residents hardened against the winter by their breeding and magical talents. D'oril is similar, the k'tath are quite inured by the cold of their homeland. I've also built a stable of potential heroic characters, and I've noticed that, Like MZB, many of them are female. I suspect many of them will show up in my stories.

I suppose it seems rather arrogant of me to compare my writing to Ms Bradleys, but in truth, I'm only making some very general comparisons, I know the reality is that I'm only just beginning, regardless of how much practice I'd had writing for the IFGS and fantasy gaming. But the realization of where some of my deep down inspirations have come from has reawakened my desire to dig out the darkover series and reread... Except I donated away most of my paperbacks about 10 years ago. Guess I'll dig up that library card and see what I can find.....

new month, new hope

Okay, so I took a month off from writing. I've let my deadline slip. Hey, I'm an amateur, what do you expect. Well, I don't feel too badly right now, for I did get some headachey stuff dealt with.

One isue that'd been hanging over my head for nearly a year now was the last bits and pieces of the stuff from my dad's apartment. It had been sitting in storage since may last year, every so often I'd fiddle about, trying to sort and organize, but I'd made very little progress. So this March, I made a big effort...

Furniture and some stereo equipment went to Jose. Old, mold filled refrigerator went to charity, it hadn't run since more than 5 years ago, anyway. Washer and Dryer ended up going to Betty and Gerardo (and when we took their old one out of their basement, we saw how truly old it was). What was left got moved to fill half of my garage while I began to dig through it.....

Lots of papers. Some mementos. A lot of really obsolete computer disks and software and documentation. (One item found referenced requiring a 16 color monitor!) Slides from decades ago. It took me two weeks, but I emptied it.

The slides I'm going to scan into digital format and make cd's for the family. The extensive jazz collection on LP's and 45's will be an ongoing project to record into digital as well. And geneology stuff I"ll look at eventually.

It was emotionally draining to go through so much stuff, even more so than when we emptied his apartment last year (by just boxing everything in sight). However, it's done, and I have gained a greater appreciation for the things in life that last. Those photo's, for example, include most of my brother, sister, and I, growing up through the late fifties and sixties.

Anyway, I feel like I dumped a 80 pound backpack this weekend, finishing that. Yes, there's more to do, but it's constructive stuff, not like going through boxes and deciding what to throw out, what to donate, what to keep.

Back to writing now. I did some fiddling about with ideas this week, no formal writing, but I'm ready. More to come.....