Indie carnival Listopia demystified [what lists mean the most to you?] fri 01/06/12
Lists.
I live my life through lists.
To Do lists.
Shopping lists.
People waiting for kittens from our beautiful BSHs, lists.
And an intriguing new list which I have just been introduced to is a sort of, You Write What You Are, list. The goal of this list is to target your reading audience and so expand your market. Nick Thacker.com » How to Find the Perfect Audience for Your Book, And Sell It to Them has the full details.
But my favourite lists have to be those concerning books; lists of books I am planning to write, books I have lost myself in and books I can’t wait to read.
Like most writers I have numerous books in my head that are just waiting, some more patiently than others, for me to sit down and allow them to take form on paper. As I put the finishing touches to The Missing Link, the second book in the Dragon World series I feel the unwritten books shuffle and jostle for position inside my head like billiard-balls. I cling to the words of Jules Renard in the hope I can do them justice.
‘The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it.’ Jules Renard, 1895.
So simple, what could go wrong? Ah, dream on, Maureen!
My favourite books could be narrowed down by a few of my favourite authors.
Kim Harrison; the Rachel Morgan series.
Jonathan Stroud; The Bartimaeus Sequence.
Patricia Briggs; the Mercy Thompson books.
Kelly Armstrong; Women of the Other World.
And published on Smashwords, Dana Donovan; the Detective Marcella Mysteries.
Then there are the books I must read. Don’t misunderstand, I never read anything out of duty. If someone says, ‘Maureen, you must read this book, it is the epitome of new thinking, constructed in original prose’ or ‘mind improving’, I usually run a mile in the other direction. I have found to my cost and many a wasted hour that ‘duty’ books leave me cold, worse; semi-comatose. I only read those books that capture my imagination, inspire me and transport me to wonderful locations.
A couple of the books that promise to do just that and which I do intend to read are published on Smashwords,
Dana Donovan; Bones of a Witch.
Elizabeth Mock; Shatter, which is the first book from The Children of Man. I intend to read them all!
If you love fantasy and adventure and being transported to another world when you read then try some of the books on my favourite lists. I promise there is not one ‘Duty’ book amongst them.
