And I won’t inflict this one on you, because it’s far too long.
A book review over at Writer…Interrupted prompted me to buy the book. It is a sequel, and I enjoyed the style of the original.
(And Jay was buying himself a camera, so you could call it a kickback.)
Like the review said, this author recommends reading 100 works in your genre/field (source/inspiration works are allowed to be counted) before you begin.
She acknowledges you are not likely to be able to finish all 100 before you are impelled to begin your own work, but to continue hammering away until you know your niche cold.
So I started making a list of all the books I have, and have loved, and have drawn from (my folktale collections, for example), that are related to what I’m writing (Novelized fairy/folk-tale/YA fantasy).
Then I added the books I’d read that I hadn’t liked, and new books from authors I’d read only one book from, where the additional works were of the same pocket. I am currently at 67 titles.
This is somehow a surprise to me (to come in so far under the mark).
If anyone has some suggestions to round out my list, I’m open to hearing them.
So far I have more than one work (some read, some to read) on the list from Robin McKinley, Jo Napoli, Shannon Hale, Jeri Massi, Cornelia Funke, P.B. Kerr, and Gail Levine and Patricia Wrede. I also have J.K. Rowling and Philip Pullman, but I think I added them for padding because I was trying to make count.
Pullman (I only got through the first 1 ½-2 of his Dark Materials set) was one of those on my list I don’t recomend, but was probably worth reading as a genre guide.
The first genre-specific reading I’ve started for this marathon (and I already am hooked) is The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope.
This was a natural beginning, as I’m mentioned many times before that I adore her Perilous Gard. This was the only other book she wrote, and that nearly 20-years before.
Gives me a bit of perspective, certainly.
Hi! I’m so happy my review of Chapter after Chapter inspired you to read this book. I loved it and still keep it right beside my computer to always remind me of my dream of finishing a children’s novel.
I’m also working on my Book 100 — it’s nice to have a list, isn’t it? I’m far from the mark, but at least now I’m keeping up with what I read better.
May God bless your writing!
–Heather
Sounds like a great idea! I’m not too familiar with your genre but I do have a book of African Folktales I absolutely love. If you think the cost of shipping it back is worth it, you may borrow it.
Did you count all the books in the Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit and Bridge to Teribithia?
You have a reading list? Have you ever posted it? That might be a good idea for myself. My reading tends to be all over the place.
Nicole–
I *didn’t* have the Chronicles in there, Thanks!
Hobbit and Terbinthia are both slightly off-genre, the LOTR somehow fits.
Anybody want to try and define that?
The African folktales does sound intriguing. It isn’t Why Goats Smell Bad is it? That’s the only African collection I have, but I *love* it. Well, not that particular story, but the collection as a whole.
We might do better ($-wise) to nail down the title and just get it through interlibrary loan if my local place doesn’t have it.
Chris–
I posted a list some time back with the best of intentions, but it didn’t hold. My reading seems to be rather adulterous: If you’re not with the one you love, love the one you’re with.
You’re welcome! Nope, that’s not the title. It’s at my parents house so I will have to grab it the next time I’m there. I think it’s simply “West African Folktales” or something like that. It has lots of stories about a spider and a tortoise.
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