Sharp Words

Yes, this is a meme on HelloQuizzy.com (not one of the most distinguished quiz sites out there, but then again, not one of the worst). But it interested me, and my result is one of my favourite fantasy authors…

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?

• Leave a comment... (3)

Oops, there’s been yet another error in translating Welsh, as detailed in this report on the BBC website.

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…

• Leave a comment... Comments Off

Inkygirl is running a couple of challenges – 1000 words a day, or 500 words a day for those of us who aren’t quite as confident/determined/motivated.

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.)

• Leave a comment... (3)

I’ve had a fairly boring reading month – didn’t read anything that was new to me, nor did I read very much at all. I was definitely staying in my comfort zone.

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

——-

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: 101 + 2 re-reads

• Leave a comment... (2)