After my mother finished reading Heidi to me, I wanted her to start all over again. When she said no, I picked the book up and taught myself to read.
I was four.
In the beginning there was the family treasure that my great uncle had given my mother when she was a little girl herself and she then gave to me, ‘Through Desert and Jungle’, by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
I went on to the flawed adventures that were Karl May’s wild-west-that-never-was, my family’s sets of collected works of Pearl Buck and Howard Spring, and the children’s sets of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” books. I then went on to illustrated tomes of the myths and legends of the world, to large glorious collections of the ORIGINAL fairy tales by the Grimms and Hans Christian Andersen, on to Wonderland, and Narnia, and Middle Earth, and Asimov and Zelazny and Frank Herbert and Ursula le Guin….
I began by falling in love with the wind whispering in the trees beyond the windows of the cottage that housed Heidi’s mountain dreams, and ended up by listening to the songs of the stars themselves. And Words were the vessel that took me there. Every time. All the way.
All this comes to mind because of an article in The Guardian headlined:
“‘Get your head out of that book!’ – the children’s stories that inspired writers
In my case, it was Heidi. In the case of other authors – Margaret Atwood, JG Ballard, Germaine Greer, Judith Kerr, Doris Lessing — it was everything from sinister water-babies to Chinese warlords, Norse gods to star‑crossed lovers.’
Read the whole story HERE
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A Ted talk by Laura McClure offers us books for today’s teens
A science fiction and fantasy reading list for teen creativity
Creative writing is part of being a kid. Writing and reading goofy stories of lost kingdoms and Mars colonies helps the imagination grow strong. But a recent study uncovers an interesting, perhaps even dismaying trend: this generation of kids seems to prefer narrative realism when they write.
One example she offers is
Blue Remembered Earth, by Alastair Reynolds: Why you’d want to give this to a teen: In this futurist game of Diplomacy, Africa wins. A (mostly utopian) vision of Earth in the future.
See all her selections HERE
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Another book for today’s teens – and adults
WOLF, Book 2 of The Were Chronicles, is on the way.
You can pre-order it at Amazon HERE
Buy Random, Book 1 of The Were Chronicles, HERE
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All right. I’m a sucker. All of my cats have been rescues. I feel for every one of these poor tiny wounded souls. I hope there is an angel watching out for all of them.
20 Touching Before-And-After Photos Of Rescued Cats
Cats are mischievous creatures full of cuddles and purrs, an article at earth porm says, adopting one is a win-win, good for you and good for the cat. Here are before and after photos of rescued cats that show just how much a little love and care can change a cat forever.
See all the cats HERE
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Speaking of cats…
19 Cats Who Are Having A Life Crisis Because You Won’t Let Them Inside
Your safety might be at risk if you don’t hurry up and let the cat in immediately, Matt Buco writes at Distractify.
“Seriously it’s getting a bit cold out here.”
Life crisis cats HERE
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THIS ‘n THAT
For those of you who support worthwhile endeavors – here’s one. As a writer, and a scientist, and a huge Octavia Butler fan, this one hits all MY buttons…
“We use sci-fi to encourage Brooklyn girls to dream big”
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The Daily Word Counts of 39 Famous Authors:
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Quote of the Day
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Alma Alexander My books Email me
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