[stylist] Genres I like

Wed Dec 7 18:57:44 UTC 2011

what genre is Jane Yolen?

-----Original Message----- 
From: Jacobson, Shawn D
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2011 9:43 AM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Genres I like

Bridgit

Thanks for sharing.

I also like Neil Gaimen's short work (though I bogged down on American 
Gods).  I read "M is for magic and liked a lot of the stories there.

Have you read anything by Jane Yolen; you might like her stuff.

Gene Wolfe is another writer who does SF/fantasy that I like.  I found the 
Book of the New Sun series to be quite good and his short work can be 
excellent as well.

You might find Orson Scott Card interesting as well.  As a fledgling writer, 
I appreciate that he discusses his work in his books.  He also does a lot of 
memorable disabled charactors.  Note that I mentioned his work with a 
federationist who goes to my church and he liked the work but was concerned 
about the guy's religion.  I guess he was afraid that if I read to much of 
his work I would become a Card carrying Mormon (smile).

I also enjoyed Zenna Henderson's People stories.  The magic was great, but 
the close walk with God that The People had was wonderful.  She also is wise 
to be very minimalist in her description of God; she doesn't try to bind the 
almighty in a procrustean lion suit (smile again).

I'm not much into historical fiction; I'm more into reading straight 
history.  If I've read several science fiction books in a row and am finding 
myself getting jaded, then I like to switch off onto nonfiction.

Once again, thanks for sharing.

Shawn

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 5:20 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Genres I like

First, any story, regardless of genre or plot, must be character driven.
If the characters are flat or not interesting, we have nothing
compelling. Fantasy and horror stories that are truly good contain
characters that readers can identify with. Though set in magical lands
or using the supernatural as a catalyst for the story, if the characters
resonate and can be identified with, the story is usually good.

This is why a series like Harry Potter is so beloved by all age groups.
We don't live in a magical world full of magical beings, but we all know
what it is to seek love and comfort, and to consider a group your
family, and to struggle against tough odds; this is relatable even if
portrayed in the context of fantasy.

Second, I love, love fantasy, always have. Neil Gaimon is one of my
favorite modern fantasy writers. I recently read a collection of short
stories by him titled, Fragile Things, available on BARD, and his novel,
American Gods, also on BARD, is one of the best books I've ever read.

Sherrie S. Tepper is another fantasy writer I really enjoy. She
incorporates a lot of environmental issues into her novels. She wrote,
Sleeping Beauty, a take on the fairytale that was fantastic.
Unfortunately, BARD only has one of her novels. I keep meaning to check
BookShare though.

Donna Jo Napoli also takes on fairytales and folktales. She's a young
adult writer, but she writes beautifully. She has written a novel using
the Little Mermaid story, Beauty and the Beast, Mary Magdalene, just to
name a few.

I've read one Stephen King book, The Green Mile, which was amazing, but
King is F-upped, and I just can't handle a lot of disturbing stuff. My
husband loves King and all things scary, but it depends on how
disturbing the material is for me. Books or movies, if horror, more
likely than not, I can't handle them; too much of an imagination,
giggle!

I don't mind the vampire stuff, again, depends though. I haven't not
read any of the Twilight books, though I read another Stepheni Meyer
book, The Host, which actually wasn't that bad.

Something like American Psycho I won't touch at all. Most King novels
are just too graphic or scary for me. I've read a couple of Anne Rice
books and handled them okay. When it's horror, I will make Ross
read/watch it and then tell me if I can handle it or not.

I also love historical fiction especially when it's about real people. I
can't remember the author, but I read a book not that long ago titled, I
think, Patriotic Hearts. It was about the wives of the first few
American presidents. It was really good. I will have to double check the
title, but after waiting literally years, it's finally available on
BARD.

Philippa Gregory is another historical fiction writer I enjoy. She has a
series focusing on different figures from the Tudor period as well as a
series on the different women married to English kings during the
high-medieval period and Renaissance era. She has wrote her Lacey
trilogy, but only one of the books is available on BARD. I found another
on BookShare, but not the other two, and though Audible has many of her
novels, it doesn't have any of the Lacey novels.

Morgan Llywelyn is another favorite historical fiction writer. She
combines magical realism and even fantasy with real historical figures,
but she's also writing about ancient Irish and Celtic people, so using
magical realism or fantasy fits.

Okay, I have a confession, I've gone on a recent kick with romance
novels. I know, crack your jokes... I was interested in the genre and
how it's constructed. I can't read just any old romance novel, but I
like the ones that are intentionally tongue-in-cheek, and I already made
a joke about that, chuckle! The Corinthian is a great one, one of the
Regency-era romance novels. Jane Ann Krentz, also published under Amanda
Quick, Jane Castle and Jane Tailor, as well as a few other pseudonyms,
writes romance novels I enjoy too. She has a lot that incorporate the
paranormal or psychic, but she also writes pieces without this element,
but all contain humor and are meant to be more tongue-in-cheek than
truly serious. There's also a series titled, The Traveling Matchmaker,
which are short, fun reads. Not overly erotic and very humorous,
intended to be tongue-in-cheek and point out the oddities in fashion,
behavior and ideas of the Regency era. I don't fit the profile of the
usual romance reader, but some of these novels are fun and a nice,
entertaining read where you don't have to think much.

Of course I love nonfiction. I read a lot of memoirs and personal
essay-style novels, but I also like biographies and autobiographies,
which, yes, are different than memoirs and personal essays. I will also
read history books and nonfiction books about a particular topic. A
couple of years ago, I was obsessed with the Tudor period in England. I
read a ton of books on this period and the major figures such as Henry
VIII and his wives, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, Dunn, and some others. I
did the same during my ancient Egyptian phrase, and I always, always am
searching for novels, fiction and nonfiction, about Irish people and
Ireland.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 18
Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 17:44:08 -0500
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] More on a book discussion/review
Message-ID: <1280D8AD20C745E7AF37B366C37AC532 at OwnerPC>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=response

Barbara, I won't read horror either; I prefer nonfiction; or stories
that
could be true but are not. Historic fiction, biographies, history,
classics,
and some drama is my thing

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