Introduce Yourself

[Alan]

Hi, my name is Alan Spade. I'm currently reading George Martin's A Storm of Swords and De Becker's The Gift of Fear (but this one is for another group). I'm a Fantasy and SF author.

[E.W.]

Hi folks! My name is Eric Pierce. I write Fantasy and Science Fiction stories, sometimes infused with a bit of Horror.

My favorite authors are GRRM and Steven King. Joe Abercrombie is making a serious push for the 3rd spot.

I'm also a huge geek. I play video games and tabletop RPGs. I love watching movies, talking movies, and opportunistically quoting movies.

[Ken]

Hi, everyone - my name is Ken, I live in Canada and I love to read and write. I geek out on everything Star Wars, Terminator, Blade Runner, Walking Dead, and anything really to do with space and/or the end of the world. Twisted, I know.

Happy to be here - happy to meet you all. Cheers.

[Angélique (MapleBooks)]

Hi Kenneth! I live in Ontario.
If you want to read a really twisted End of The World Canadian novel, have a look at PostApoc by Liz Worth. I just finished it, it's something...

[Wayne]

Hi,I'm Wayne and new to the forum.I live in Honolulu,Hawaii but spent years in SF Bay Area. I am an ear doctor spending my spare time daydreaming, working out intricate schemes for my future novels meant to be read by the very few. I am writing a trilogy that chronicles the inflection point in history where Immortals hunt paleoeskimos for their stem cells, soul sucking sentients leech into our dimension and a intrepid Ukrainian orphan waits out the Apocalypse in the radioactive forests of Chernobyl.

My Novel:Skraeling is Part One of the trilogy


Favorite Books:
The Windup Girl
The Forever War
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

[Paula]

Hi,
I love reading and writing. I wrote a science fiction/paranormal humor trilogy, a science fiction role playing game, and I attend the interactive fiction group at the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment in the Bay Area, California.

I was also a private investigator in San Francisco, and worked for a book publisher.

Thanks for your group. It's good to meet new people here,
Paula Sunsong

[Pat]

Hello! I'm a playwright and author, and have just "discovered" the SciFi genre as a reader. Wow! Before delving into this area, I always thought of SciFi as only spaceships and robots. Not so!! I'm very excited to read as much as I can, and am looking forward to the selected books.

[Pat]

Pat wrote: "Hello! I'm a playwright and author, and have just "discovered" the SciFi genre as a reader. Wow! Before delving into this area, I always thought of SciFi as only spaceships and robots. Not so!!..."

HaHa! It actually turns out I've been reading SciFi for year now, but never placed it in that category. Go figure. I read Lucifer's Hammer years ago and loved it!

[Kia]

Hi everyone my name is Kia, I am a young author whos first Urban Fantasy/ YA book has just released called Possession Of My Soul- The Three Immortal Blades. I also live in Australia. Love animals, am vegetarian, also hobbiest photographer, painter, sketcher, anime lover and love cooking. Thanks for having me.

[Leah]

Hello, Everyone. I'm Leah - early 50's - free spirit of sorts. Love reading, writing, outdoors, my dog, and new viewpoints on life, about which to hold fascinating discussions. (I just read what I wrote and it's coming across like a singles ad! Sorry about that.) I enjoy new writers like Shauna O'Meara and Amanda Forrest, as well as the old classics of Pohl and Hubbard, and the in between's like Crichton and Niven. Please let me know of any new authors that you think I should add to my reading list. Looking forward to good discussions.

[Caleb]

I'm an indie author working primarily in the fantasy and space opera genres. I'm American but live in the Philippines with my girl and our three beautiful daughters.

I actually don't read that much, but when I do it comes in spurts. I solo-sailed from the USA to here nonstop in 2008 and during that trip I must have read forty novels, including Stephen King's Dark Tower series, as well as Lord only knows how many Warhammer 40k books and other fantasy/m. sci-fi offerings. I honestly haven't done much since then, since I generally prefer telling the stories rather than reading them.

That's probably why I was always the GM when we would roll dice...

[Stephen]

Hello sci fi people, My name is Stephen, I started reading sci fi books during my time in the royal navy 1987 - 2000, I currently live in Liverpool in the U.K. I really enjoy reading sci fi and i have recently finished my first attempt at writing a sci fi novel (INSOLITUS) I really enjoyed the whole experience and flailed my way through it sometimes feeling a bit overwhelmed but getting there in the end, I am really proud of my first effort and i am currently working on the plot line for the second book, Thanks for the welcome.

[Paul]

Hello, my name is Paul and I am a science fiction fan.
(cue Readers Anonymous "HI PAUL!")
Yeah, I read that much.

I first started reading science fiction in the 70's (giving away age) when I read the SF book club edition of The dragonriders of Pern, still one of my favorite series of books.

I am an archaeologist (hat and everything) and an author. I got to excavate at Blackwater Draw, New Mexico this last summer, which was humbling and awesome. 13,000 year old artifacts. Sigh.

My favorite books, in no particular order and leaving many out: Breed to Come, Dragonriders of Pern, Sassanak, Armageddon Reef, Chronicles of Amber, The Reality Dysfunction, The Lensmen Novels, and many, many more.

[Paul]

Hi Joe,

I always thought that seemed like a cool job. How is it?

[Kate]

Hello,
I am a kindle reader, though real books happen sometimes, but I have little space for them. I am trying to get back in to reading fiction after a long, long break. I studied politics, economics and human rights for many years and i really want to rediscover reading for pleasure. I will try to join in on the current books as much as possible, it's a great way to motivate yourself, knowing other people are simultaneously living in the same fictional world.

[Angélique (MapleBooks)]

Welcome Kate :) Super cute dog you have there!

[Isabella]

Joe wrote: "Hi all, I'm Joe. I'm currently teaching the Common Tongue in China and writing an epic fantasy series in my spare time.

My favourite genres are fantasy, sci-fi and historical fiction, but every so..."
Hi, Joe,
You impressed me, to teach and to teach what!!?? Chinese and still have time to write. You are definetely an extraordinary person!!! Is the everyday life difficult?
Paul wrote: "Hi Joe,

I always thought that seemed like a cool job. How is it?"

[Michael]

Hi, everyone! My name is Michael Meyerhofer. I'm a semi-reluctant Iowan who has been writing fantasy and poetry long enough to feel awkward at literally thousands of social gatherings. I also have a soft spot for documentaries. In fact, the other night, I stayed up way too late learning about magicians' assistants and Central Park bird-watchers, neither of which particularly interest me. So... yeah. Happy reading/writing!

[[deleted user]]

Hellooo!
I'm Unis (that's the name I go by on the Internet), and I read Ebooks on my IPad. I wish to one day get a Kindle or a Nook...I always have Christmas! :)

[Jennifer (bunnyreads)]

Hello everyone!
My name is Jennifer. I love movies, and art. I read pretty much anything that strikes my fancy but sci-fi/fantasy is my first love. :D I live in Northern BC(where it's way too cold). You'd think with all that snow, I'd have nothing to do but read, unfortunately that's not always the case. :(
After moving, hauling around all my beloved books has started to seem a bit impractical. I'll never get rid of them all but I have definitely grown to love my ereader in the last year, like I never expected to. :D

[Angélique (MapleBooks)]

Welcome Unis, welcome Jennifer! :)

[Jennifer (bunnyreads)]

Angélique (MapleBooks) wrote: "Welcome Unis, welcome Jennifer! :)"

:D Thank you!

[Gaines]

Hi folks. Technically I've introduced myself before, but that was a couple of years ago, and life has taken me for quite a ride since then. Now I'm back, and hope to participate a bit more in conversations about awesome spec fic books & stories :-) My name is Gaines, I live in Australia, but was born and raised in Tennessee in the US. I translate from Chinese to English for a living, and in my spare time I like to read, watch movies, stare at clouds, write, and cook good food. (well, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's yuck, hehe). Nice to meet you all! :-)

Oh, and www.gainespost.com :-)

[Jennifer (bunnyreads)]

Hello Mike! Hello Gaines! Good to meet you both.
Did you do the illustrations for your book covers Mike? Those are great! The color choices and style are very attractive.

Gaines- I was reading some of your weekly stories. You have an engaging, easy to fall into the story kind of style. I'm no good at explaining, so hopefully that made sense LOL This is why I don't write I just read. Anyway, I was sad they were short. Especially Overlap.

[Angélique (MapleBooks)]

Welcome Natasha :)

[Angélique (MapleBooks)]

No problem, I definitely hear you about the cat jumping issue :)

Thank you, even though I've been in the group for a few months ;)

[Teresa]

Hi, I'm Teresa, a brand new indie author with my first ebook -- The Transition Witness -- out just a couple weeks ago. I'm also new to discussion boards, so please be patient as I learn the etiquette.

[Jennifer (bunnyreads)]

Hello Teresa, Natasha and Mike's cat. ;)

[[deleted user]]

Hi, everyone. I'm Maggie, and I currently divide my time between Arkansas and Texas. I'm technically a lawyer, but I'm the research-and-writing kind, not the shouting-in-a-courtroom kind. I live with my two adopted senior Great Danes, Bojangles and Marmalade. I've always been a big reader, particularly of fantasy, and I thought I'd be too stodgy for ebooks. As it turns out, I like being able to borrow a book from my library on a whim in the middle of the night, I like being able to read with one hand and eat cookies with the other, and I like falling asleep while reading without worrying about losing my place. So maybe I'm not as stodgy as I imagined.

In addition to reading and lawyering and wrangling giant dogs, I spend a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen, enjoying live music, and attempting to be outside every day all summer. Bonus points if being outside involves a body of water and several good friends.

[Angélique (MapleBooks)]

Welcome Maggie :) Definitely agree with the borrowing a book from the library on a whim in the middle of the night!

[[deleted user]]

Thanks Mike and Angelique. I actually love picking out names for pets. It's a bizarre hobby, I guess, but plenty of my friends have let me name their animals or have picked from a few that I suggested. This gift doesn't extend to naming humans, however, and my cousin unequivocally rejected my idea to name his daughter Banjo.

[Alan]

Mike wrote: "I did have two goldfish called Goldman and Sachs :) but the sabretooth is Mr Cat ;)
Im far more imaginative in my writing with such villains as Fing Tong Ming, Vermyn Stench and Tarantulus Spleen ..."

I was less imaginative. The Bernese Mountain Dog (image downpage here) only ever answered to "Monster" and the smaller dog (actually small alsatian-size, and that tells you the size of the Bernese!) was called "Small".

[Alan]

Mike wrote: "Alan, that is quite the best dog portrait I've seen :) Impossible not to smile."

Thanks. I wish we still had him. And did you notice what he was trained for?

[Rhett]

Hi there,

My name is Rhett Bruno. I mostly use my kindle to read science fiction, "The Expanse" series at the moment. I'm also a science fiction author and my debut SciFi novel was recently released.

Nice to meet you all!

[Chris]

I'm an avid Science Fiction writer from California with a massive family full of foster, adopted, and biological kids. My passion is bringing out the passion in others. We were all created, or evolved with creativity, it's in our nature. Each of is really good at one or two things, and we love to do it. Like writing. It is miserably hard at times, and getting published is even harder.

But I love Science, and Science Fiction, and tales of epic proportions. Things with destiny and eternal significance. these are the things I think about, the fate of humanity, the future of our planet. we are a star faring race, it's in our blood after all. Someday...

Chris Bieniek

Hey that's me, I'm almost famous. No seriously, I love my family and life, and all things from the future.

[Jerome]

I am a reader and reviewer of erotic F&SF - paranormals - and taboo erotica - I have regular free and 99 cent promos EVERY DAY on Amazon - pen names - jerome brooke - kitti katzz - joan barron - juliet baranne - (supportive reviews welcome) and I review books - PDFs? jeromevbrooke@yahoo.com

[Gaines]

Nice to meet you Rhett, Chris, Jerome! :-)

[Ruaridh]

Hi I'm Ruaridh. I've been a member. for a couple of months now ... just haven't got round to intros. I'm Scottish & I live in Spain (the rainy part not the hot part) and I love reading fantasy and sci fi

[E.A.]

Hi all, I'm Beth and I live in the Pacific Northwest where the rain gives me a good excuse to stay in and read! I usually read books on my Note 3 (it's almost as big as my old Nook!!) and as some of you have said, I love the ease of thinking of a book and having it at my fingertips in 3 minutes.
I love Tolkien and Martin, Dr. Who, Star Trek, Buffy, and gaming on my Xbox... all the good things in life. I've been married (now legally!) for 25 years, and our idea of a perfect date is reading on the couch.

[Greg]

Hi Beth and Ruaridh.

[Cris]

Hi all. My name is Cris Pasqueralle and I am a newly published author of fantasy fiction. My first novel, Destiny Revealed follows twins Jack and Maddie Austin as they go on a rescue mission in an unknown magical realm to save their parents from an evil wizard and discover the truth about who they are. Destiny Revealed is book one in a trilogy and is available in all Ebook formats, and will soon be an animated film. I look forward to knowing what all your tastes are in fantasy reads, currently I am reading A Storm of Swords, the third book in the Song of Fire and Ice series.

[David]

Hi everyone, my name's David and I write science fiction with a bit of a mystery kick (you could say.) Glad to be here, and looking forward to joining the book club!

[Greg]

Hi David and Cris. George R.R. Martin has a new book out...well, people that helped him write it do.

The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones

[Andrew]

Hello!

I'm Drew and I am from Indianapolis, Indiana, however I am currently spending all of my time cooped up in a trailer in southern Oklahoma. I just graduate with a degree in Geology and am putting it to good use in the oil fields.

Because I work alone I have nobody to keep me from reading my kindle whenever I want, which has in turn become my best friend out here... I am a geek at heart and love anything to do with science, space or the outdoors. However, I have only just this past year been turned onto Sci-Fi and boy am I hooked! It opened up a whole new world! No. It opened up a whole new Universe!

Aside from reading, I spend a lot of my time outside beneath the stars. Because I work the night shift I am able to get away with a little bit of amateur astronomy on the job. I have also been researching photography and will probably be pulling the trigger on a new dslr pretty soon. It has been something I have wanted to dabble in for a few years now, and because my girlfriend and I are planning a Europe trip for next summer I figure the timing is right.

I do not currently have any substantial reading goals but I do like the idea of reading all of next year's Hugo nominees! That sounds like a fun challenge with the satisfaction of knowing you had a hand in choosing the Hugo. Regardless I have a lot of catching up to do with this genre!

Happy Reading everyone!

[Dennis]

Hi everyone,

I’m Dennis and I’m from Wellington, New Zealand. It’s late spring here and wind has just finished blowing the last of the cherry blossoms from the trees in my yard. I’m really looking forward to some summer sunshine, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be reading. I’ve got a great spot under a shady sun umbrella on my deck that’s just perfect for reading with a cool drink to hand!

I like science and anything to do with space, especially rockets, so you can probably guess that science fiction is my genre of choice. Left alone with a good book it’s not likely to last more than a day or two, so I ration myself otherwise nothing else would ever get done..

When I’m not reading I’m working at my job in IT, working on renovating my house or maybe doing some yoga. I signed up for Goodreads a few months ago but promptly got distracted by various things that have nothing to do with reading. I’m looking forward to spending more time on the site – any tips on where to go on Goodreads and what to do will be well received, as I don’t really know what I’m doing here yet!

[Ken]

Hi, I'm Ken and I'm a... Kindle Fire man. Not a fireman, you understand?

I'm more fantasy than sci-fi now, but I've read my fair share of Asimov, Bradbury, Herbert and the like. At the moment, my favourite author is Terry Pratchett.

I'm hoping to meet a few new friends in this group and have a bit of craic (yes, you guessed, I'm from Ireland).

Ken.

[J.]

Hi. I am J. Rutger Madison. I'm a writer and software developer in Jackson, Mississippi. I read mostly fantasy, sci fi, and classic lit. My favorite writers are John Steinbeck and George R.R. Martin.

I write fantasy and occasionally blog about current events.

[Greg]

Hello J., Ken, Dennis, and Drew!

[Jake]

Hello everyone,

My name is Jake Adler. I've been a fan of fantasy books in particular since the moment that I could read. I also enjoy drawing and have often created a number of bizarre looking chimera-type creatures over the years, which is always good fun. Just this year, I finished my fantasy trilogy which is doing rather well, but I won't mention it as I just wanted to come on here to introduce myself. My favorite creature of all time is the Dragon, but a close second is a Griffin, because perhaps of it's chimera-like qualities! I find that it is important to have a story that has some degree of humor inside it, whether it is someone who suffers from wind or says inappropriate things at surprising moments. It's a nice way of lightening a mood as all stories have dark moments within them. On a personal level, I am a die-hard lover of animals and so, no matter whether an animal, lets say a horse is even mentioned inside a story, it never gets hurt. However, I can quite happily slaughter the entire human race lol or anything else, and enjoy reading and writing about good battle scenes with lots of blood in them. Go figure, we all have our little quirks! Looking forward to learning more about what others are reading and enjoying!

[Alan]

Jake wrote: "Hello everyone, My name is Jake Adler..."

Hi Jake
Checked your website and first book on Amazon. Looks promising . . . but my TBR list is getting ridiculous. I promise to get round to it eventually.

Happy dungeoning (I wish I still had time, but those days are gone - and No Way am I parting with all that dosh for an X-box!)