Thoughts on Comfort Books

Folks, over the past several weeks, I have been struggling with a wide variety of things.

To wit…does my writing matter? Does what I’m doing as a person matter? Are my perceptions accurate, and will I be able to turn them into some decent-to-better quality writing in the not-so-distant future?

I don’t know if these questions would’ve hit me quite so profoundly without the ongoing housing crisis, mind. (That remains unresolved, by the way. I probably will be writing about that again…but not today, yes?) But they have…and in a big way.

That said, I have found a lot of comfort reading and re-reading my favorite books and authors. Some of the books I’ve read over the past couple of weeks include Katharine Eliska Kimbriel’s Night Calls series, Lois McMaster Bujold’s THE CURSE OF CHALION and PALADIN OF SOULS, Patricia C. Wrede’s CAUGHT IN CRYSTAL and Enchanted Forest chronicles…and, of course, my go-to standby, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s wonderful Liaden Universe (TM), most particularly the stories featuring Daav yos’Phelium and Aelliana Caylon.

What reading these stories tends to do for me is twofold. One, it takes me away from my immediate problems and reminds me that others, too, have faced adversity (even if fantastical and unusual — then again, I like that sort of thing, as you might’ve guessed). And two, these stories are life-affirming, they often make me laugh, and they always make me feel better after I’ve read them.

In short, these comfort books remind me of why I started writing, oh, yea many moons ago…I wanted to tell stories like that, that made people laugh, and maybe gave them an hour’s ease from life’s burdens…and if I did my job superbly well, maybe someone would find my stories life-affirming, too.

I can’t be certain I’ve done that as of yet. But I’d like to think that in the not-so-distant future, I may well yet attain just that…ah, well.

Anyway, what are your favorite comfort books, and why? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments section.

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Edited to add: Mind, there are so many great storytellers out there, and I’m only naming a fraction of the people I’ve read over the past few weeks that I’ve enjoyed…so if your name isn’t on this list (yet), please don’t despair. (No need for that.)

Friday Free-For-All (AKA News, Round-up, Etc.)

Folks, I have a bit of news for you.

First, as you know, I wrote about “the story behind A LITTLE ELFY IN BIG TROUBLE” and it was posted yesterday over at the Opinionated Man’s blog. I tried to discuss, for readers new to me, a little bit about why I do what I do — and why I’ve fought so hard to keep the Elfyverse alive.

But then, I thought a little more. And realized that readers who have been with me every step of the way deserved a better answer. So, after much struggling, here it is.

The main reason I kept trying, with the Elfyverse, was because the stories interested me. In that, I’m no different from any other writer.

But the secondary reason was because it made me laugh, even in the darkest hours…and I figured if it could make me laugh, it could make anyone laugh.

Look, folks. We all have days where we wonder why we’re still here. (I can’t be the only one who’s ever wondered this.) Work doesn’t go well, the traffic on the Interstate is bad, family members get sick, you ran out of money before you ran out of month…the list of things that go wrong is seemingly endless, and there’s almost no relief in sight.

But there are books that make you laugh, or make you think, or maybe take you out of yourself.

This, in a nutshell, is why I started writing in the first place. And it’s why I fought so hard for my Elfy duology, because I hope AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE and A LITTLE ELFY IN BIG TROUBLE might be able to do that for you — if it can’t, it’s not for lack of trying.

Anyway, I did say “round-up,” didn’t I?

Last week, I pointed out that REALMS OF DARKOVER will be out in May, and is available for pre-order. Editor Deborah J. Ross has interviewed all the writers, with Shariann Lewitt being the first up last week. But this week, it’s Rosemary Edghill’s turn…and she has some very interesting things to say about Darkover, about writing, and about why she enjoys doing both.

Do go take a look at her interview, will you? (Rosemary Edghill is a fantastic writer. You could learn a lot from her.)

Happy Friday, folks!

…and Today’s Blog Exchange Continues at Lyndi Lamont’s Site

Folks, I hope you will not mind traveling today, as I am guesting at Lyndi Lamont’s blog for today’s “blog exchange.” (Lyndi is also known as Linda McLaughlin, and by either name is an excellent writer. Her site is LindaLyndi.com, and she has all sorts of interesting articles over there. Do make a note of it.)

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the differences between writing a romance for teens — or at least stories that contain romance as an important element such as in my Elfyverse — and a more mature love. And as Lyndi and I both have stories in Exquisite Christmas, I decided to use examples drawn from the second of my stories there, “To Hunt the Hunter.”

So, you have Bruno and Sarah on the one hand. They are innocent, young, involved in their first (and only) serious romance, and are feeling their way. They don’t yet know what they want, but they do know they want something.

And then you have Marja and Tomas, the protagonists of “Marja’s Victory” and “To Hunt the Hunter” (both included in Exquisite Christmas). They are not young. Marja in particular is not beautiful and does not care to be, even though she’s a shapeshifter so she obviously could be if she wished. Tomas is a telepathic mountain Troll, so he’s used to people lying to him and values someone who’s being truthful above all others.

After I put up a couple of excerpts (you need to go to Lyndi/Linda’s blog to check them out), I said this:

First, Bruno and Sarah are obviously young. This is their first and only serious relationship, and they are both respectful of one another and innocent, to boot. (They both like to think they’re not, of course. But that comes with the territory.)

Marja and Tomas, on the other hand, are not young. They have been in a serious relationship for quite some time and work well together. But there is genuine love there, and genuine understanding, besides – note that Tomas says, “Those other fools who passed on you do not matter anymore.” No male of any species would ever say that to a woman if he didn’t truly and deeply love her. And no woman would smile just for him (as Marja does, though I ended the excerpt before she smiled for the sake of brevity) after hearing something like that unless there was genuine love on her part as well.

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy my guest blog over at Lyndi/Linda’s site. I know I enjoyed writing it — and I enjoyed having Lyndi here at the Elfyverse today as well. (I’m even hoping to coax her to come back in the New Year, so she can tell us more about what’s going on with her stories.)

Happy holidays, everyone — and do check out the Exquisite Christmas anthology as it’s a true “comfort book.”

Sinus Infection Here

Folks, right now I’m mostly down for the count. The review I’d hoped to write for Shiny Book Review didn’t get done, and all I’ve managed to do thus far is get up and have something to eat (in order to take my antibiotic, as it can irritate the stomach).

I’m also re-reading one of my favorite “comfort books,” this one being A MAN RIDES THROUGH by Stephen R. Donaldson. (Hard to believe that Donaldson had problems writing this one; he’s said in speeches — one witnessed by my niece — that he agonized over the “Mordant’s Need” duology and that it did not come easily.  Can’t tell that by the quality of the writing or plot, that’s for sure.)

Nothing else of consequence got done today, unless you count me watching the second quarter of the Big Ten Championship game (the Wisconsin Badgers won the game overall, but the second quarter, they lost — didn’t score any points at all — to their opponent, Michigan State. Good thing games are decided by the total score, not by the “quarter-by-quarter” score or the Badgers would’ve been in trouble.)

Tomorrow must be better . . . as is, right now I’m about to go and stare at the insides of my eyelids, again.