Last year on my Goodreads account, I completed a reading challenge.
On a recent post, I shared my yearly #Fridayreads Challenge. I accepted and nominated eight books. I thought, if I at least set an achievable goal, it will motivate me to read more, however the eight books I chose were at least 700 pages long. In between the series I read short stories, poems and alot of articles on the craft of writing but I didn’t add those to my Goodreads challenge as they are alot shorter in length.
It has taken me awhile to complete the Memory, Thorn and Sorrow series by Tad Williams, but I did it. I highly recommend it for everybody who loves epic fantasy to read Tad Williams books.
An amazing selection of Science Fiction stories from Australia in the 70’s. Each story displays the level of writing in a confined space.
‘All My Yesterdays’ by Damien Broderick is my favorite. It shows Broderick’s witty satire on the four themes of humanity, immortality, religion and psychiatry. Only 6 pages long but each sentence is shaped perfectly. Followed closely was ‘Final Flower’ by Stephen Cook. It focuses on a bizarre ‘trap flower’ which becomes a gateway into all his memories. The imagery in this short story is incredible. Each description paints a 3D image and pain for the character.
“Jenny had let him touch her lips and then had gone away forever. The more dirty soil he piled around her memory, the more it grew. Like a flower in a bog, it rose higher.”
John Baxter carefully selected each short story. He could have not chose a better compilation, each story is filled with character development, world building and a twisted plot lines.
‘The Burimen Brothers’ is an on-going Fantasy story that I will be writing on my blog. It was going to be my first novel but I thought I would express it to my followers.
I hope you enjoy the first installment and follow the journey I will take you on. Each week I will release a segment. Enjoy!
I stood on the edge of the fiery lake. My village burned in the reflection, and underneath the dawn light. People screamed in agony and animals fled for higher ground. Mother urged me to leave before the chaos begun, she said the Wndith were after me.
Ashes drifted high above the fiery lake, smoke rose with it and I watched the villagers burn. On the opposite side of the lake, the morning dew moistened the short grass. It was a brisk morning but the villagers would disagree; they were underneath burning logs.
‘Hunter!’ a man yelled out, running towards me from the eastern side of the lake. I was ready to pounce. As he got closer I recognized him. It was the village Butcher, Clyd.
‘Leave now!’ He continued, ‘Go to Edenra over the mountains and find a young lady, Deanna.’
Before I had the chance to ask a question, an arrow flung through his neck. His body collapsed to the ground. I scanned the trees to find the bowman. I couldn’t see them and I didn’t want to hang around.
I fled for the cradling mountains. The mountain ridge kept our village secret for many years, hid me from the outside world but that time was up. I had been found.
My brother asked me, “what do I want to accomplish with writing?” The first thing that popped into my head was to leave a footprint. Not an environmental footprint but one I can call my own, show my own individuality and show my passion.
I learned from University, to create your literary footprint you must read a
diverse range of books to find your own voice. So I did. I read: teeth-clenching mysteries, predictable thrillers, philosophical fiction, dystopian science-fiction and heptalogy fantasy series (I had to google that, it’s a 7-book series); after all the page-flicking, I have found a voice I am comfortable to call my own.
I still read a wide range now. I found my genre I want to write in and now I read a diverse range of Fantasy writers.
My blog will also contain book reviews of all the books I have read, reading or hoping to read. To showcase, that I might have a bit more of an idea with writing than people tend to think.
For now I’ll let you ponder, as a writer or reader, on what kind of voice
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