As for I?
I'm a neo-regionalist, which basically sums my existence up.
Okay, here it goes. I'm 29-years old, and I like to write. In my free time I enjoy stirring up controversy at Hatrack Writer's Forum about what constitutes good literature and what constitutes popular slop. I have yet to make a convert, but I love seeing the hostilites rage.
My literary hero is John Gardner (which probably explains a lot). I'm currently reading Nancy Kress's Beggers in Spain, Winston Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples, and Aristotle's works on logic. And I'm currently working on a fantasy short story.
[This message has been edited by Balthasar (edited January 12, 2004).]
I'm twenty-five years old, and I am currently serving in the United States Navy. I've lurked around here for awhile, but only stepped forward to post more recently.
I started a novel a year ago, got sidetracked, and then met OSC at a booksigning for his new "Alvin Maker" book. I was so inspired by hearing him speak, I went back to my book, and in three months have turned 85 pages into 300 + (110,000 words). My book is nearly complete, and I owe OSC a tremendous debt of gratitude.
He told me to write everyday, and I have. Thanks to everyone on the board for making this so friendly and accepting a place to post.
(If you want to check out a sample, I have a new one in Fragments and Feedback)
Well, I'm 34, married, and lacking in anything resembling a life. I love to read all that "popular slop", and have been making some attempts at writing something that would fall in the same line.
I have started a novel. I have most of the magic system worked out, with a plot line that could result in more than one book. Of course I had to try my hand at short stories, and that is something that has helped me learn even more.
As a side note. I did finish Name of the Rose, Balthasar. It could have been cut down a bit and still been as good, but since it was translated I will have to give it some slack. Overall it was a good book.
Oh, I make my living developing software for ungrateful idiots. But it does pay well.
[This message has been edited by somnambulous (edited January 13, 2004).]
I read constantly as a child (while walking to school, while brushing my teeth, while eating meals, even while watching television!) but it only just occurred to me about 2 or 3 years ago that I love writing too.
I am currently reading 'Psychology of the Occult' by CG Jung and 'The Little Friend' by Donna Tartt.
I see no point in arguing about which type of writing is more worthy, literary or popular, because the terms are meaningless. Both terms have passing definitions based more on marketing activities and an outdated academic canon than any sort of innate value the works may have. Those are my two pence on that issue, since I never entered the fray on one of the many Stephen King threads!
Oh yeah, and I usually visit this site while at work 
anyone else?
Me--for those who are new:
Professionally:
Assistant Editor for WCP (Wild Child Publishing.com)
Genre: SciFi, Fantasy and eek according to my agent Romance (I may now stick a needle in my eye) and non-fiction
I do have an agent, but due to someone who has subbed using my agent's name and my name as a recommended by (without my recommendation)--well, you can dig to find his name, but I won't post it anymore.
I have completed 8 novels and am working on #9
Me:
I try to be nice. Note try. LOL
Married, 6 cats, 4 kids, 1 rabbit, 1 husband and one giant wolf spider who lives in the bathroom--bad luck to kill a spider.
My blog site www.xanga.com/srhowen
I think I've been around this board for 4 years now.
Oh and despite the name--last time I checked I was female.
That's it
Shawn
[This message has been edited by srhowen (edited January 13, 2004).]
I program computers and have lots of kids. I sing in a big choir and love it. My church gets a lot of my time.
I'm currently writing a story and am now wondering why I didn't outline this thing at the outset.
I need tools. Am reading a lot, this site is very nice. My fav. OSC creation is a poem he wrote many moons ago called "public father", if I recall correctly (IIRC).
HiJolly
Anyway . . . I work in the accounts payable office of a company others in our industry refer to as "The Evil Empire." I won't say who it is, but I would like to remind you that you'll find the best savings on guitars, keyboards, drums, and pro audio at the Guitar Center nearest you. Thank you.
In other news, I've been a music major, business major, computer major, english major, and have returned, like a salmon at the end of his life, to music. First class of the semester is tonight, actually. I'm hoping to grow up about the time I hit 40.
My reading habits are ridiculous and I'm sure the same is true for everyone else here.
My favorite color is green. My favorite weblog is allahpundit.com. My cat's name, if I ever drop 100 IQ points and buy one, will be "kitty."
Edmund: "I'm a jerk, and proud of it!"
Hamlet: "Why do I act like such a jerk when everyone is such a stupid jerk?"
{Lecture on Hamlet deleted - I just can't stand the little twirp}
[This message has been edited by ccwbass (edited January 13, 2004).]
quote:
My church gets a lot of my time.
I like how this is worded. I would have put it as "my church takes a lot of my time" making it sound like they're stealing it while I'm not looking.
quote:
I'm hoping to grow up about the time I hit 40.
Ah...a man after my own heart. Thankfully (and without sounding like I'm gloating ) I'm only half way there.
Anyway, for those who are wondering, those first two initials stand for cristian victor, and, like I said, I'm 20 years old. I don't have too many favorite writers, though I'll read pretty much anything that falls into my lap. I'm particularly fond of OSC, and I used to read Stephen King (in high school, mostly) like a man possessed, before I grew out of that little dark stage of my life, and I found a writer with a brighter view. Before that, it was Christopher Pike (middle school), who was sort of like the Stephen King for the Young Adult audiences...Stephen King Lite, if you will. And before that (grade school, and occasionally, present, because you can never outgrow the classics ), it was Bruce Coville, a man as creative as the day is long. If you have the time, pick up the My Teacher series. Along with the Magic Shop Series, it's some of his best work.
I try to be inspired by all of it, but influenced by none of it, (if that makes any sense) in that I try not to sound like any other writer. I'm working on a novel-length story and have recently decided to bite the bullet and stop starting over, a habit that has kept me from the glory of finishing a novel since I was 14, and seriously started writing. So I'm just under 30,000 words into my novel, and I'm hoping to finish at least the first draft before the end of the year. It's one of my New Year's resolutions, anyway.
Uh...what else? I like to draw, I like almost all kinds of music, I'm 6' 1", with brown hair and brown eyes, and I'm currently unemployed but looking for anything that pays. I'm not in college yet, but plan to go to an art school. Anything else, I figure, would be a waste of time and money.
So...realizing this post was a little long-winded, I'm going to end it with a smile , and a "have a nice day".
CVG
quote:
My cat's name, if I ever drop 100 IQ points and buy one, will be "kitty."
Implication that people who have cats are dumb???
Shawn
Of course I'm not implying that cat-owners are stupid by definition.
[long pause]
So. How 'bout them Lakers?
[This message has been edited by ccwbass (edited January 13, 2004).]
Started coming to the message board out of sheer boredom, and realized, "Wow, there are actually interesting, even helpful, conversations here."
I'm just starting college now (it's my 2nd quarter, even though I'm 22) which means I like to be wordy and try my hardest to sound like an intellectual-type feller, which makes a forum about writing perfect for me.
I'm now in the revision process with my a novel I just wrote, which is a process that sucks a lot as far as I'm concerned. Literature (I use the term to refer to the written word in general, not "high" literature) is one of my two major passions. Music is the other one. Anybody who digs awesome things should check out my band at wordstowishes.net
quote:
I'm a neo-regionalist, which basically sums my existence up.
What exactly does the term "neo-regionalist" mean?
And Balthasar is writing speculative fiction again? Wow... Did we manage to corrupt him or something?
***
Let's see, I'm 27 and continue to try and produce fantasy, romantic, and occasionally science fiction/horror fiction that I'm proud of. It's a work in process.
[This message has been edited by GZ (edited January 13, 2004).]
27, male, British, single, I.T. consultant / software engineer by day, but by night I become a science fiction writer.
I'm currently working on a complete from-scratch rewrite of my first novel, which has metamorphosised into a trilogy during the process.
Oh, and along with my best friend we managed to persuade his girl friend to name her cat 'Predator', which I think is by far the best cat name I've ever heard (although if I ever get one myself, it would probably be Nimitz).
Frank
quote:
And Balthasar is writing speculative fiction again? Wow... Did we manage to corrupt him or something?
I'm surprised you remembered that. Perhaps I'm more of a presence here than I thought.
The simple answer to your observation is this: you must listen to your muse.
Apologies to all for my low IQ but I also have a cat who goes by the name of Wally.
[This message has been edited by Gwalchmai (edited January 14, 2004).]
I, too, am one of those ungrateful idiots who uses (tries to use) the software others slave away to create. Don't have a cat, though a cat has us this winter. And yes, we call him "Kitty."
I've been writing long enough to have known both feast and famine with it, and to beware what I wish for because I darn well might get it. Am a romance fan and proud of it, and like the mix of romance and fantasy hitting the shelves these days.
Reading all the threads here has made me think about my own writing and what I want to achieve with it. It's also proven to be a good energy source as reading about writing always makes me want to write.
(Ahem.) Hello. My real name is Rachel. I am the busy mother of an enormous amount of children, which is more than likely to grow in the future. (If you really don't want to know the reasons, don't ask! ) My husband is an internet developer, and introduced OSC into my little world after we were married. I am actually a Jane Austen fanatic, and devoured classics like they were going out of style, (tee-hee) beginning in Jr. High. I still love to read these same books over and over again, and glean more insight each time I do so-- hopefully more than I did as a fourteen-year-old!
I have never considered myself a good writer. I am an excellent talker, however, and hope that this may someday spread to the written page... I did write one thing in high school that I was very proud of, but when it was my turn to read it aloud to the class, I got a look of stunned silence... Let's just say, I was reading The Dark is Rising series at the time, and so maybe it seemed unusually spooky for my normal "perky-ness." (Is that a word? See, I told you I'm not a "real" writer!)
I was a Theatre major in college, though it would have been Music Theatre if it had been an option at the college I attended. I was intrigued with-- nay, addicted to-- fairy tales from a very early age, and became an enormous fantasy fan after reading "A Wrinkle in Time" as a child. I have also always been fascinated with mythology, legend, and history.
I am active in my church and family. I grew up in hick-ville, Idaho, I love to speak or perform in front of large crowds, and I teach my children at home. (How's THAT for disjointed?!)
I am learning much from associating with you wonderful people, and consider it a real accomplishment to actually sit down and write once in a while. I have a few stories in embryo stage at the moment, and keep working on my confidence. Luckily, I do feel I know people, and love creating my own characters.
My pet peeves are people who wear too much cologne and misspelled words...
Oh, and I also have two cats-- Mr. Darcy and Minerva. (Though I'm actually a "dog person.")
LL
I'm in planetary sciences, I write, and I'm embarassed to admit the kind of television shows my roommate talks me into watching.
quote:
My pet peeves are people who wear too much cologne and misspelled words...
I'm not a Hemingway fan, but his home in Florida has direct descendants of his cats, some of six-toe fame. Interesting note that his writing area was accessed only by a catwalk. See http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/tennisontravels/hemingway/hemingway.html
In keeping with apparent writing tradition, I have two old cats, Trouble and Mischief, and tend to be a stray cat magnet. I'm a housewife with a hospitality industry background, whose one paid published article was in a computer magazine. That's really very funny.
So, yes, people do wear misspelled words :-)
Shawn
(It's a good thing I didn't say that one of my pet peeves are grammatical errors!!!!)
[This message has been edited by Lullaby Lady (edited January 15, 2004).]
I know this thread started for newbies, but had to add those two cents. I'm on leave from teaching 8th grade am hist, at home with my toddler twins (girl and boy), taking an on-line creative writing class, and doing better with my Writer's Digest exercises than writing stories (of course, I have really cute distractions). I start with an interesting idea, but the whole development thing is an issue, like having an ending!
And for those of you who don't want to grow up until you're 40, I say: Why limit yourselves?
Lisa
You're right. I should wait until until I'm 65. Then I can claim geezer rights along with my newfound maturity.
Anyway I realised that I needed to become more disciplined in my writing habits so I came here. Only the future can decide whether this will be a good idea.
Well take care people, especially those of you with cats. You really need to take care...
I've been writing on and off (more off than on) since I was a kid (I'm 30), and I finally have time to really put my best foot forward.
My favorite writing book is John Gardner's ON BECOMMING A NOVELIST. The man doesn't hold back anything. My writing heros are GRAHAM GREENE, ORSON SCOTT CARD, and STEPHEN KING. And my favorite novel is usually the one I'm reading, which would make it GREAT EXPECTATIONS.
I've noticed a lot of talk about good fiction vs. bad fiction, literature vs. genre, and classics vs. modern work. Well, I've been highly influenced by C. S. Lewis's AN EXPERIMENT IN CRITICISM, so if that discussion ever comes up again, I'll make Mr. Lewis's presence known.
Looking forward to this forum!
[This message has been edited by Jerome Vall (edited January 28, 2004).]
I'm married (my first and best Reader) and have 3 cats and 1 ferret.
I'm an avid reader (fantasy, horror) and love listening to music when I write.