tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post114080052885129851..comments2024-03-07T17:13:54.927-05:00Comments on A Fuse #8 Production: Podcast Edition: Review of the Day: The Best Book of 2006fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-58962320568728532022007-03-01T16:09:00.000-05:002007-03-01T16:09:00.000-05:00Aha! I get it! You're that Ramseelbird reviewer wh...Aha! I get it! You're that Ramseelbird reviewer who's all over amazon, reborn as Fuse #8! I spent all that time knocking around mommy blogs and missed the genesis. It all makes sense now.<BR/><BR/>Now, if I can just tear myself away from your archives so I can do some writing (and working!) myself, I'll be set.ElsKushnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08584616838165132885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-1141697264138080882006-03-06T21:07:00.000-05:002006-03-06T21:07:00.000-05:00Thanks for the recommendation on Leon Garfield. I...Thanks for the recommendation on Leon Garfield. I just finished <A HREF="http://mapletree7.blogspot.com/2006/03/reading-journal-entry-strange-affair.html" REL="nofollow">Adelaide Harris</A>.mapletree7https://www.blogger.com/profile/15261672903705693449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-1140882527937469022006-02-25T10:48:00.000-05:002006-02-25T10:48:00.000-05:00Foof!You leave me breathless when you do those lon...Foof!<BR/>You leave me breathless when you do those long sentences.<BR/><BR/>Of course you are correct. And the fact of the matter is that I tend to seek out those authors that I feel are smarter than myself. That's why I love people like A.S. Byatt, Philip Pullman, and now Frances Hardinge so very very much. And do not feel that it ever keeps me from writing myself. Heavens, no! But it is more than a little humbling, and that was the feeling I wanted to convey with my review. Far be it from me to say that anyone who doesn't write like Hardinge shouldn't write at all. She's just a good strong cure for a swollen head, is all. Particularly my own. But many thanks for your encouraging words. They are always a good shot in the arm when the the literary self-esteem is in the lows.fusenumber8https://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-1140813117407455012006-02-24T15:31:00.000-05:002006-02-24T15:31:00.000-05:00Whoa, the book sounds great! A grand review from ...Whoa, the book sounds great! A grand review from a reader's viewpont; from the child who lurks just beneath the skin.<BR/><BR/>You lost me at the very end, though.<BR/><BR/>"If you are a person hoping to write a children's book someday, I strongly urge you NOT to read "Fly by Night." Such passages like the one quoted above can only bring you to tears."<BR/><BR/>Hmmm. Now you're straying into a writer's point-of-view, and I'm thinking you don't quite follow the sea change that such wonderfully written prose undergoes in the mind of the average kiddie lit writer. <BR/><BR/>For us, the point is not a literary comparison between the prosedy of the praised (hey, let's toss in Kate DiCamillo into the pot as well, she's such a bitty thing) and our own humble stuff. The point is that Hardinge/DiCamillo etal told themselves, "the hell with it, I'm writing about toy rabbits and fractured realms because that's what I'm head-over-heels in love with". And so they wrote a book out of their passions and obsessions---which is the noble aim of every kiddie lit write worth talking about. <BR/><BR/>The obvious conclusion? We're allowed! To do the same thing! Even us unfamous, ordinary mig-grade writers---we're allowed to write of out of our passions and idiosyncracies! Holy smokes, what a RELIEF!<BR/><BR/><BR/>Since I'm not much interested in fractured realms, convoluted sentences, leagues of subversives, or eponymously named clents, I don't bother to spend even ten mintues lusting after the gold of Hardinge's forms. Why bother? It's a great voice, sure, and destined to be lauded to the skies, okay---but *I've* got something even better up my sleeve---my stuff! My style, my voice, my cares, my concerns which are far more interesting and way compelling than Hardinge's and DiCamillo's with a soupcon of Sachar to boot! My stuff! I'm sticking with what I love!<BR/><BR/><BR/>See what I mean? I read something great, and I'm energized by the writerly energy. I love what write's done, how she's done it. Ya-hoo! But do I feel daunted by all that? <BR/><BR/>Nope. And you shouldn't either.<BR/><BR/>ZAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com