Hi Josh! Hi Sara!
First off, I’ve got to say I love your booklist, Josh; I have read all of them except the Stormlight Archives, which I am looking forward to reading. Lord of the Rings is definitely my favorite book, the Redwall series is extremely nostalgic for me, and the Inheritance cycle and Skyward are both great fun. I am very much excited for Murtagh, Paolini’s next book. Other than those, I like any of Agatha Christie’s books, Howl’s Moving Castle, A Wrinkle in Time (plus the two books that follow it), and Greenmantle (by John Buchan). Dickens is my go-to classic author, though I am currently working my way through Anna Karenina.
I don’t quite dare aim to write like Tolkien; if I could get even halfway there, I think I’d be happy. I do seem to have a habit of emulating his extensive casts of characters though. Characters are my favorite part of writing; I get quite attached to them. Madeleine L’Engle (author of A Wrinkle in Time) was very influential on me in her love of beauty and joy. The Inheritance cycle gave me a love of the magical and inexplicable. (I love Brandon Sanderson, but his magic system, at least in Mistborn, is explained so thoroughly that it isn’t magic, it’s science.)
As for WIPs, the top one at the moment doesn’t have a name yet. It’s a (mostly) lighthearted fantasy with a plot that is nebulous in the extreme. It centers around a boy on a quest to find the Nim, an Otherworldly Being, before it gets found by hunters.
I’ve managed to get through the first draft of a children’s story about djinn triplets and a princess that they kidnapped. It needs some pretty big edits, so I’m a little intimidated and not sure where (or how) to start.
I have plans for other books, but I’m not actively working on them yet.
I started writing when I was twelve (before that, I hated it). Sara, I definitely agree with you on the horror side of things. I don’t think I’ve ever even read horror, and I don’t really want to. I’ve dabbled in romance, but it’s never the main interest. Mostly, I do it in response to all those books where the romance consists of “he touched me and IT TINGLED“. I find that obnoxious. Also, I find this scenario annoying: Heroine knows two guys. One is nice, sweet, understanding, etc. The other has electric eyes that see through one’s soul, is dark and brooding, has a troubled past, and (oh, yes) his touch makes the heroine tingle. Guess who she falls for? NEVER EVER EVER the sweet one. It drives me nuts. Do you know how hard the brooding one would be to live with?
Anyways. Please excuse the rant.
What are y’alls WIPs about? Sara, what are some of your favorite books? Do you know of any good thrillers? I’ve not read many thrillers, but they look fun.
Hey, I’m homeschooled too! Though I’ve not graduated yet.
Is writing your career? I’ve been thinking about what I want to do after high school a lot recently, and while I’d love to be a writer some day, I’m not sure that I’ve got the maturity to write really well straight out of high school, you know? I think my ideal job would be as a librarian, or maybe as a college lit or English teacher.
Do not be anxious about tomorrow; tomorrow will be anxious about itself.
