11 October 07 | tags: blogs, internet, writers |
Robin McKinley & Author Blogs
I recently finished re-reading Sunshine by one of my favorite authors, Robin McKinley. She's one of those authors that, happily, has stayed a favorite author as I grew out of adolescence and into adulthood. Since I hadn't read any of her books in a while, I decided to do some Googling to see if I had missed any McKinley-related breaking news. Lo and behold, here she is blogging.
I really love to read my favorite authors blogging. Sometimes, I even love to read blogs by authors I'm not crazy about. Because they're still writers, and their blogs generally have an extra something special other professionals-turned-bloggers don't. Neil Gaiman's journal was one of the very first blogs I kept up with regularly. Sometimes, author blogs proved unique opportunities for me to see currents events as filtered through a talented voice, as was Poppy Z. Brite's journal during Katrina.
I think I'll now have to search out all of the other author blogs I'm missing in a new mass RSS-feed adding. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments.
Back to McKinley, though - I recommend picking up one of her books if you haven't already and have any leanings towards fantasy material. Her books are consistently notable for strong, intelligent, complex heroines, and a beautiful, rich vocabulary and tone. Highlights:
- Beauty - A lovely retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I have large portions of this book completely committed to memory.
- The Blue Sword - A classic girl-hero fantasy story. There's an extensive preview of this at Google Books.
- Deerskin - A little intense, since it retells an old fairy tale that involves incest and rape. But it's very well retold.
Comment
Angie | 14 November, 06:53 PM | #
I, too, was delighted to discover Robin McKinley’s blog and I visit Neil Gaiman’s site daily. I also love Ellen Emerson White’s site. Her new book Long May She Reign is superb.
Jen | 15 November, 05:21 AM | #
I haven’t read White before, I’ll check her work out. Sounds like I can trust your taste :)