“The explanations a writer gives himself for having written any particular book are often not the real reasons that book has been written. Honesty is not the issue: understanding is. One does not write one novel at a time or one play at a time or even one quatrain at a time. A writer is engaged in the long process of putting his whole life on paper. He is on a journey, and he is reporting in: ‘This is where I think I am, and this is what this place looks like today.'”–Irwin Shaw, 1964
“Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn’t make you spiritual. It’s right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to ‘beef with broccoli’!”–George Carlin’s New Rules for 2008
“Change is good, you say. Language evolves, and it should be free and up to the people. All right, let’s abandon standardized spelling and punctuation because so many people don’t want to learn the rules. Should we just go with the “Descriptive” crowd and say that “baited” breath is fine, that we should accept “definAtely” as an alternative spelling for “definItely” (even though its root “definite” isn’t mangled as often), say that “just deSSerts” is just fine with us, and so on? Goodbye, clarity. Nice to have known you.”–Chantal Fox
“Even if I reveal some small truth about the human heart in my work, strictly serendipitously,strictly by chance, I really don’t know you–and that’s the way I want to keep it, because I subscribe to what H. L. Mencken said: ‘It is precisely at their worst that human beings are the most interesting.'”–Harlan Ellison, 1977
“A book is a participatory adventure.”–Harlan Ellison
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”–Groucho Marx
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Author: shalanna
Shalanna: rhymes with "Madonna" and "I wanna," and is not a soundalike with "Hosanna" or "Sha-Na-Na."
Aging hippie with long hair, husband, elderly mother, and yappy Pomeranian.
I've been writing since I could hold a crayon.
I started with fiction, which Mama said was "lying." “Don’t tell stories,” she would admonish, in Southern vernacular. “That's all in your imagination!” When grownups said this, they were not approving.
So, shamed, I stopped telling stories for a few years--rather, I stopped letting anyone read them.
I'm married to a fellow computer nerd who doesn't really like hearing about writing, but who reads sf/fantasy and understands the creative drive. I'm actually a nonconformist/hippie still wearing bluejeans and drop earrings and the Alice-in-Wonderland hair with headbands and sandals. Favorite flavor is chocolate/orange, favorite color is either Dreamsicle orange (cantaloupe) or bubble-gum pink, favorite musical is either Bye Bye Birdie, Rocky Horror, or The Producers . . . wait, I also love The Music Man. Is this getting way too specific and irrelevant yet?
Obvious why I don't sell a ton of flash fiction, isn't it?
To define oneself, I always say, it is good to make a list. How about a booklist?
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth, Cheaper by the Dozen
C.S.Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (all the Narnia books)
J.R.R.Tolkien,The Hobbit/LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy
Gail Godwin, The Odd Woman
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
J. D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye (before dismissing it, actually read it)
George Orwell, 1984
Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle
Donna Tartt, The Secret History
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
James Allen, As A Man Thinketh
Mark Winegardner, Elvis Presley Boulevard
James Thurber, My Life and Hard Times
The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
Winnie-the-Pooh/House at Pooh Corner, A. A. Milne
Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie
The KJV and NIV Bible (each translation has its glories)
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