LeAnn’s Comments (group member since Apr 26, 2010)

LeAnn’s comments from the Q&A with LeAnn Neal Reilly group.

Valerie wrote: "From "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell:

"Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were."

This quote IMMEDIATELY came to..."

For a romance of its era, it was quite daring for Margaret Mitchell to admit that her heroine wasn't beautiful. I think this opening line lifts Gone With the Wind to a class of its own. I'm certain that Mitchell chose "caught" for exactly the reasons you mention. We get a feel for her personality and how we're going to respond to her right off the bat.

Shannon wrote: ""If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book."
from The Bad Begining by Lemony Snicket

Let me start with this one was much harder than ..."

Yes, I think that this is a hard challenge, but I hope no one gets too stressed from it. Pulling a beloved book or two from their shelves will hopefully give everyone something to enter.

Your first line fills me with foreboding, chills, and suspense (I haven't read Lemony Snicket), which is a powerful beginning for any book, children's or not. Nice example.

Valerie wrote: "I also didn't care for McKinley's "Sunshine." I just didn't like her vampire lore (I think Twilight ruined all others for me ;)). Sunshine's character was underdeveloped and she didn't see any re..."

I felt as though McKinley tried to make her book more literary in a way by keeping the character development under the surface. Or maybe I'm giving her more credit. I wanted to understand what exactly the relationship was between Sunshine and the vampire as well as everyone else in her life.

Valerie wrote: "My curiosity had gotten the better of me, and I just didn't want to wait for the end of the giveaways to read The Mermaid's Pendant. But now, I'll have to, or end up buying it myself. I just look..."

Perhaps you could request that a copy be purchased? My local library has a request system.

The entries for the past two giveaways have been so enjoyable and enlightening that I wish I could send everyone who participates a signed copy of The Mermaid's Pendant. While I'm unable to do that, I've decided to offer a signed bookplate at the end of the giveaway period to anyone not selected for a copy of the book.

I'll post again after the last giveaway reminding everyone to send me their address for the signed bookplate.

We've just finished discussing some of the characters who've come alive for us (and I'm sure that there are many more that we didn't remember right away). I hope we get a chance to talk about a few more because I've really enjoyed reading what has made a character live and breathe for everyone. For me, the best books really do transport me into another life, whether it's a fantasy world or one that looks very much like my own. I'm sure many of you'll agree.

I also enjoy how a story is told, that is, the actual words. Of course, everyone has their own tastes and I'm not sure how to challenge you to describe what exactly you like about an author's writing style or voice.

However, I can ask you to share your favorite first line. Some great novels have very distinctive and well-known first lines. Austen's first line for Pride and Prejudice stands among the best:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

Do you have a favorite first line that really grabbed you? How about a quiet one that didn't grab but rather intrigued? How about an awful line that didn't match the rest of the book or kept you from reading it?

This was one of my favorite writing prompts from a writing group that I was in. We used it to write our own first paragraph (which I'm not asking you to do).

Dawn wrote: "Choosing a character was an extremely difficult choice; perfect ‘challenge topic’, LeAnn! There are so many favorite stories that stay with me b/c I fell in love with the characters or I loathe the..."

Congratulations, Dawn! I've selected you for this week's giveaway of a signed copy of The Mermaid's Pendant. Please send me a message with your physical address.

Valerie wrote: "Robin McKinley did another retelling of Beauty and the Beast called "Rose Daughter." It was good, but "Beauty" is by far superior. Plus, the ending of "Rose Daughter" was kinda weird."

Oh, okay. I have heard of that title, but I'd moved on from reading McKinley and didn't feel the need to read another retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Hannah wrote: "I feel like I read a book with elements of Baba Yaga in it. I can't think of it though!! I have to do some hunting...

Maybe it was In The Forests of Serre."

That certainly sounds like Baba Yaga to me. I wish I'd discovered her sooner. I must confess to being inspired by Card's depiction of her when revising my own "witch" Ana.

Hannah wrote: "I'll second the recommendation on Wildwood Dancing and pretty much anything by Juliet Marillier. (I especially enjoyed Daughter of the Forest and [book:Son ..."

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorites, too. I've only read McKinley's Beauty. Which other title is a retelling? (I have Spindle's End, but that's a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, I think.) I read McKinley's Sunshine last year and was disappointed. It was a little too bleak and modern for my tastes, probably because it was aimed at the upper end of YA (the main character is 25 and living as adult on her own for some time).

Gaiman's Stardust really enchanted me. He's such a distinctive writer that I'd like to read him more closely and try to figure out how he casts his spells.

Ashley wrote: "I felt a real connection to Jim's character in Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad. I sympathize with his romantic notions of the world and how he reacts when those dreams are crushed by reality, when he sta..."

I can't comment directly on Lord Jim because I haven't read it, but from your description, it sounds like many people could relate to him. Adventure novels of all types are certainly popular because they give us the chance to be heroes, so I don't think that you're alone in your romanticism (I'll leave off fatal because it doesn't sound as hopeful as I'm sure you are).

LeAnn wrote: "Hannah wrote: "I think the problem was that I was trying to think of fictional characters... and I forget to think of Lou as fictional!"

Exactly the point! Characters who seem like real people are a key ingredient, I think, in a great story. Good stories can have good characters, but great stories need real people.

I haven't read Ender's Game although I think that I should. My husband read it to my kids a few years back and I kept hearing bits of it. I trust his judgment about books so I was glad to read a couple of Orson Scott Card's books. His Enchantment is based on a Russian fairy tale. I recommend it.

Shannon wrote: "LeAnn wrote: "Shannon wrote: "LeAnn wrote: "Shannon wrote: "Stacy wrote: "Shannon wrote: "Well the charachter I think about the most is Ranger form the Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. It's..."

Ah. Your description engaged my sympathy for Ranger. Someone sexy who falls for an ordinary girl because he sees something in her, something that he doesn't think he's good enough for. And protective. I'm definitely one of those women who like protective men -- although not too protective. I like women who are able to take care of themselves when necessary. (And one reason I found Bella a challenge in the first three Twilight books. I wanted her to stick up for herself more.)

Shannon wrote: "LeAnn wrote: "Shannon wrote: "Stacy wrote: "Shannon wrote: "Well the charachter I think about the most is Ranger form the Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. It's not very deep but I'm in love..."

I'm in favor of a man of few words. ;-)

But I'm even more in favor of a man who is there when he's needed without having to be told.

In what way is Ranger unstable? Unsuitable?

Shannon wrote: "Stacy wrote: "Shannon wrote: "Well the charachter I think about the most is Ranger form the Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. It's not very deep but I'm in love with him. Well if you can be ..."

I haven't read any Janet Evanovich. Shannon and Stacy, can you tell me more about Ranger and what you like about him? Is he heroic? Sexy? Have a smart-aleck sense of humor or a gently teasing one? I'm curious now about a character that women fall so much in love with that they fear being disappointed with the actor who plays him.

Hannah wrote: "LeAnn, this was a great -- and very challenging -- question! It took me a while to think of a character who, as you said it, really came alive for me. I could easily rattle off several favorite c..."

Hannah, I appreciate that it might take a while to identify the right character. Outside of the characters from my own novel who became like family to me, I'm not sure I can immediately think of someone. I'd have to do some research on my bookshelves, both literal and virtual.

I looked at the GR page for The Speed of Dark. It sounds like the kind of story that really benefits from the possibility and exploration that science fiction allows. It's been a while since I read much SF, but I remember thinking that the characters in SF took a backseat a lot of times to the futuristic techology and plot. Have you read Old Man's War? The main character, John, carried the story for me.

I love to listen to audiobooks. I think that we really use a different part of our brains when we listen rather than read text on a page (at least I do). I find stories told by good narrators come alive in a way that they don't when I read to myself. Not necessarily a better way, just different.

Dawn wrote: "Then again, resonance with a character is all subjective depending on personal experiences and where you are in your life at the moment."

So true. I find myself able to relate across a much broader spectrum of people in books as well as real life as I get older. That's why I think returning to some books and writers is a good idea. I told some teens a few days ago to give Shakespeare another chance in a few decades. Outside of wrestling with his Renaissance vernacular and his unfamiliar vocabulary, understanding him well really requires a bit of life seasoning. It's easier to understand Othello's irrational jealousy if you relate to his view of finding love at last in his middle age and when he's rather battle scarred.

Dawn wrote: "Choosing a character was an extremely difficult choice; perfect ‘challenge topic’, LeAnn! There are so many favorite stories that stay with me b/c I fell in love with the characters or I loathe the..."

Dawn, I haven't read Prep, but Lee sounds like a tough character to get right. Books are perfect for exploring the inner life of a character. I wish I'd been able to read about Lee when I was a teen, but I wonder if I would have seen any of myself in her?

Steve wrote: "For me, the characters in a novel that generally come alive and become real to me are the ones that I can really relate to and/or the ones that cause me to contemplate and question my own personal ..."

Steve, that's an interesting and insightful view about relating to characters, that is, the idea that they cause you to think about your own morality. My own favorite books are entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time. Discomfort while reading is a good way to wrestle with issues before wrestling directly with them.

Have any of you ever read any books by Charles de Lint? He doesn't write fairy tales, but his fantasy titles aren't the typical sword and sorcery tales. Or has anyone read any of Neil Gaiman's adult novels (as opposed to his children's or YA books)? Again, he's shelved with fantasy, but he doesn't really fit there.