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Jan
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2002 - 08:44 am: |   |
Okay, I have actually been thinking about a YA vampire novel or some other exploration of horror myth in YA format. I read _Owl in Love_ recently, which is an exploration of the were-wolf concept -- only the protag is a were-owl. It sounds like it would be dippy but it was really good. She was such an adolescent without being "teenish." And Skellig, which is a middle grade novel, centers on a being who may be an angel or a demon but is definitely unique. I like the moody horror-ish atmosphere in both novels. They avoid ALL of the expected "traditions" of horror but still manage to keep the mood.
Now, I've always been a reader of Stephen King (when I was a teen, I actually got so startled when the bloated dead woman in The Shining grabbed the kid by the neck, that I tossed the book into the air.), Koontz (who has an unfortunate tendency to recycle plots and characters but when he is good, he is really good), and MacCammon (the idea of the Job's Mask stayed really impressed me and it was fascinating watching an author evolve and the process is so much clearer with him than with King, for example). But, although teens read King, Koontz and MacCammon -- they aren't considered YA novels and I don't really want to write outside my niche (kids).
Anyway...I am just babbling really. Like I said on the other thread, procastinating because I have a pile of books I need to finish an analysis of...*sigh*
Back to work.
Jan |
Vickie Adkins
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2002 - 07:58 am: | |
Jan,
I'm not really into vampires (sorry Mark!  ) BUT, I love anything about forensics and also archeology. Stories where you have to think about the cause of death, with subtle clues along the way are my favorites.
How 'bout everyone else? What's your favorite genre (specific)? And author?
Mine is forensic suspense mystery and probably Patricia Cornwell, although I like her first novels better that the last two.
Vickie |
Jan
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2002 - 09:52 am: | |
Vickie,
I like Patricia Cornwell, though I began to lag behind in reading them when I found I had trouble telling whether I had read the book or not from reading the book blurb -- Robin Cook is the same way for me, the blurbs sound too much alike and I end up carting home books I have already read. There are some great websites about forensics...I have one bookmarked that walks you through an autopsy. I went to a writer's conference in Georgia where one of the speakers was the guy in charge of that sort of things in Atlanta (I believe, it's been a while). Anyway, he showed some really gruesome slides while he explained the steps to processing a crime scene. It was fascinating (though it was also just before lunch...ewww).
I did a lecture on the evolution of spiritual insight using horror writers as a demonstration. By reading the body of work from Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Robert MacCammon, you can see a really interesting display of their spiritual beliefs. Anyway, it was for a college lecture I got roped into doing. I think the good vs evil nature of much of horror writing is what makes it so easy to trace something like that.
Lately, I have been reading a lot of "lady" detective novels and find I enjoy those. I tend to get obsessed with a genre for a while -- read everything in it -- then move on to something else.
Well, gotta finish revisions on some stories...I am working on one of my New Year's Resolutions: entering more writing contests. So I have to get a couple cleaned up to be sent off. The place where I teach writing likes their instructors to have a few contest wins.
Jan |
LaurieAnne Cruea
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2002 - 05:15 pm: | |
Vickie:
Forensics are awesome. I'd like to arrange with the county medical examiner to be an observer during an autopsy. And then spend a day or two or three with the state crime lab, just observing the testing of tissue samples and such. Anything to get a real good behind the scenes look.
Of course, to do anything like that, I have to use up my vacation days.....wait a minute, there's a thought. (I never did use them last year.)
Eventually, I'll work my way up to visiting a murder scene. That takes some stomach toughening, though.
For who-dun-its, I like to read Kay Hooper. Excellent, but not the ideal for Christian religious zealots. Deals with too many things that are offensive to that sect.
For serial killer writers, I like James Patterson.
For psychological mess-with-your-mind books, I like Stephen King.
For romance, I read Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz). However, she has begun to recycle her plots.
For drama/tragedy, it's Shakespeare all the way.
Tear-jerkers vary in authors. I usually get handed a book from a friend who says, "Hey, check this out. I think you'll like it."
I can go on and on about books. I have seven sitting on my desk right now that have come from different friends. Eric S. Nyland, Neil Gaiman, Leslie Glass, Kate Wilhelm, Edward Rutherfurd, Alex Kava, Sandra Brown.
If you want a real good book that is so descriptive you want to vomit, but keeps you hooked beyond belief, and deals with hostage negotiations, read Jeffrey Deaver's A MAIDENS GRAVE. This one kept me up until I finished it. (Of course, most of them do, but the one I'm reading right now is going REAL slow.)
Oh, and Vickie, my friend, Juanita, has a theory about Patricia Cornwell's last two books. She thinks there is a ghost writer. she claims that compared to the rest of the books, these latest ones have a completely different style. I don't know. I haven't made it far enough to read Cornwell yet. I keep getting further behind in everything. Gonna need a shovel soon just to find my way out of my piles.
Later,
LaurieAnne |
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