Introduction and welcome thread! Showing 2,851-2,900 of 4,412

[Joshua]

Vincent wrote: "Hi! I'm Vincent. I love the video & podcast shows :)

My first novel was just published, after 19 years of work :P The story of all the agents, submissions, near-misses etc. might be more epic than..."

I hear that. When I chose the path of being a writer I hadn't thought of the hassles of finding like-minded people to represent your work. I just wanted to write but, alas, without the marketing factor, people won't read it. And no matter how valuable you think your work my be, it has no power until someone decides to open its cover.

[Vincent]

Thanks! I hope you decide to "open its covers" :)

[[deleted user]]

Hey Vincent,welcome to the S&L group.

[Vincent]

Charlton wrote: "Hey Vincent,welcome to the S&L group."

Thanks! Take a look at my post in the Author's forum & check out my book :)

[Mike]

Not an author but love Fantasy and Sci-Fi. Name's Mike. Looking forward to some great recommendations. I'll prove my worth here and now, best fantasy book I have read in years is Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. Read it a couple of months ago and it's great. He published it himself as an indie author and it was recently picked up by a major publisher for mass production. Go check it out! Thanks for having me.

[Richard]

Mike wrote: "Not an author but love Fantasy and Sci-Fi. Name's Mike. Looking forward to some great recommendations. I'll prove my worth here and now, best fantasy book I have read in years is Blood Song by Anth..."

Cool. Glad to have you on board.

[Neil]

Hi. I'm Neil Clarke, the editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, long-time SF fan, and current Hugo Award nominee (Best Editor Short Form). The majority of what I read these days is short stories.

[Alex]

Hi, I'm Alex. Introduced to S&L through G&S, kept listening on after the video show, making my way through the backlog of episodes now.
My favorite author is Neil Gaiman, I've read nearly all of his work that i can get my hands on. Thanks to the show I've started on Scalzi, who's work I'm enjoying immensely.

[John]

PropinquityPropinquity

Hi,

I'm John. I've just re-released my 1986 novel (above) via KDP, & thought I'd check out what's happening in "my" genre (which didn't really exist when I wrote my book).

Happy to chat with anyone about trends in general - what the now-grown children of my readers are reading - as this is what I'm wanting to learn.

Thanks & all the best...

[[deleted user]]

Hi Alex and John,welcome to the S&L group.

[Richard]

Neil wrote: "Hi. I'm Neil Clarke, the editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, long-time SF fan, and current Hugo Award nominee (Best Editor Short Form). The majority of what I read these days is short stories."

Congrats on all your awards. Clarksworld is pretty major. I've submitted there a few times myself, but haven't gotten accepted yet. I'll keep on trying, though. Glad to have you here.

[Abraham]

Hi Everyone, I'm Abraham. Honestly, I just love to read, but science fiction and mystery are my two favorite genres. I'm also a writer, and I self-published my second sci-fi novel in May. I'm working on a third, along with a non-fiction project with a controversial political commentator, which has been really fun.

I tend to gravitate toward independent writers, because I love the indie world that the e-pub and self-publishing revolution have created, but I still have some more traditional favorites, chief of which is probably Robert Heinlein.Zero Point

[Richard]

Abraham wrote: "Hi Everyone, I'm Abraham. Honestly, I just love to read, but science fiction and mystery are my two favorite genres. I'm also a writer, and I self-published my second sci-fi novel in May. I'm worki..."

Welcome. I'm an indie writer, too. I'll try to check out your work after I'm done with Game of Thrones. We should be book buddies. Whaddaya say? :)

[[deleted user]]

Hi Abraham,welcome to the S&L group.

[Abraham]

Richard wrote: "Abraham wrote: "Hi Everyone, I'm Abraham. Honestly, I just love to read, but science fiction and mystery are my two favorite genres. I'm also a writer, and I self-published my second sci-fi novel i..."

Sounds good to me, Richard. Give me the name(s) of your book(s) and I'll check 'em out. Thanks for the welcome!

[Abraham]

Charlton wrote: "Hi Abraham,welcome to the S&L group."

Thanks! One of my co-workers recommended it. Looking forward to finding some good reads.

[Neil]

Richard wrote: "Congrats on all your awards. Clarksworld is pretty major. I've submitted there a few times myself, but haven't gotten accepted yet. I'll keep on trying, though. Glad to have you here."

Thanks! Good luck with your writing!

[[deleted user]]

Hey S&L,

Andy here. I'm not an author, but a big fan of sci-fi/fantasy and always looking for new book recommendations and to discuss these genres with like-minded folks. I joined this group because I noticed that a friend is a member and because I saw that an author I've been interested in reading was posting about a giveaway here. Looks like a great community, I hope to be active in the book club and other threads.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Andy,welcome to the S&L group.

[Forbes]

Hey you all-
My name's Forbes West and I am first time author- just published my first sci-fi fantasy "Nighthawks at the Mission".

Currently in a lawsuit with Ryan Gosling and the producers of "Drive" for ripping off my life story. And that author, too, what's his name. Loved Frank Herbert's Dune and the Dark Tower Series (except for the last book) and the Running Man (criminally underrated Stephen King).
Loved The Hobbit as well. Have mixed feelings on Handmaid's Tale.

Hit me up on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/forbes.west or twitter https://twitter.com/Forbes_West.

Check out my book: http://alturl.com/8hkh5

[Jordan]

Greetings! My name is Jordan. I am a lifelong fantasy (sword) reader. I'm also a writer and self publishing my first graphic novel in a few months. I recently noticed that the daily grind of adult life squeezes out a lot of life's simple pleasures . . . Like reading! I hope being involved in this book club will move great fiction off my "should've" list and plant it firmly on my to-do list.

[Richard]

Jordan wrote: "Greetings! My name is Jordan. I am a lifelong fantasy (sword) reader. I'm also a writer and self publishing my first graphic novel in a few months. I recently noticed that the daily grind of ad..."

Cool. A graphic novel? I would like to see.

[James]

Hi Everyone!

My name is James Lackie, and I'm a huge reader, particularly of books in the science fiction and fantasy genres. I'm also a self-published author (my first novel being a dark fantasy tale).

I absolutely love the Sword & Laser series, and I'm so pleased to have found this group on Goodreads. I'm really looking forward to diving into the discussions and reading new and interesting books!

Check out my Author page to learn more about me, if you're interested: http://jameswlackie.com/

Cheers,
James

[[deleted user]]

Hey Jordan and James,welcome to the S&L group.

[Hesper]

Hello! I'm a picky and eclectic reader with too few opportunities to discuss genre, hence my being here.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Hesper,welcome to the S&L group.

[Sasha]

Hi i'm David saying hello from Ireland :D

I have being a member of this group and reading along the books picks for a while now but never introduced myself. I found out about the group and podcast from the the video show on geek and sundry it got me back into reading regularly before i was going good if i have read one book a year.

What i used to do was when i started a book i tried to make myself finish it even though i might have found it incredibly boring and a drag to read, I didn't feel right quiting the book half way though If i got stuck on a book i didn't like, usually i got tried of reading books altogether and stopped for a long time. Now if i find it hard to keep interested in a book after giving it a fair try i simply move on and try another ( or in S&L, I lemmed it :p) so that was good advice and it really works. I also have read lots of book picks that i didn't think would be for me but ended up really enjoying like for example the last pick among others, not in a million years would i have picked it off the shelf to read myself but i really enjoyed it.

so Hi fellow S&L readers :D look to forward to reading lots more awesome book picks along with you :D

[David]

Hi, I'm David.
I've been listening/watching on youtube/reading since Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Cory. I just finally gotten around to joining good reads.
Trying to find more things about all things sci-fi and fantasy books. Just finished Eye of the World and liked it.
Looking forward to discovering more books.

[[deleted user]]

David wrote: "Hi i'm David saying hello from Ireland :D

I have being a member of this group and reading along the books picks for a while now but never introduced myself. I found out about the group and podcast..."

Well,hello David from Ireland,and belated welcome to the S&L group.

[[deleted user]]

David wrote: "Hi, I'm David.
I've been listening/watching on youtube/reading since Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Cory. I just finally gotten around to joining good reads.
Trying to find more things about all th..."

Hi David,welcome to the S&L group.

[Eric]

Thanks for the welcome Charlton and "Hello!" *waves*to the rest of the new folks here.

First book completed... Now to find my way over to the discussion forums to put in my 2 cents. So great to be here. *grins*

[Eric]

Hi there!

I am Eric and I discovered the Sword and Laser podcast through Tom and Veronica's appearances on TWIT a few years ago.

I have been reading Sci-fi and fantasy since I was ten when my much older brother gave me about 300 of his paperbacks. These included Burroughs, Tolkien, Howard, Heinlein, Asimov, Leiber, and many others; really a great treasure. Since that time, I have been an on again/off-again fan of sf&f.

Over the past few years while listening to S&L I have most enjoyed Neil Gaiman(esp American Gods and Ananzi Boys) and Ready Player One along with the First Law Trilogy and more recently The King Killer Chronicles. My one dissenting opinion is that I think George R. R. Martin is self-indulgent and needs a more agressive editor.

I also really enjoy many YA novels - especially Charlie Higson's The Enemy, The Dead, and The Fear.

Although this is my first post, I have been lurking the forum for maybe 18 months.

I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia with my family and two cats: Paranoid and the Trusting Idiot (ok - actually Pico and Loki).

[[deleted user]]

Hi Eric,welcome to the S&L group.

[David]

Hi I'm David from Austin, TX. I don't normally read a lot of contemporary science fiction and fantasy so maybe this group will be a good jumping off point for me. (So many classics to muddle through).

I've watched the video podcast a couple times and also enjoyed the Twit shows and Tekzilla :)

[Bruce]

I live in the Kansas City area, where I am a computer programmer at a public library. I'm married with one child and am in the process of adopting two more.

My favorite authors are Isaac Asimov and Orson Scott Card. I'm looking forward to joining in the discussions.

[Sasha]

David wrote: "Hi I'm David from Austin, TX. I don't normally read a lot of contemporary science fiction and fantasy so maybe this group will be a good jumping off point for me. (So many classics to muddle throug..."

Hey welcome to the group. what's with all the Davids joinng the group recently lol

[[deleted user]]

Hey David and Bruce,welcome to the S&L group.

[Al]

Hi I'm Al aka Ultraman1973. My favorites...I don't have a fave scifi/fant author but I like star trek, star wars, time travel and multidimensional stuff and dystopian/post apocalyptic stories.

I like Amy Tan. -_-

[Baelor]

I am Baelor. I am a recent college graduate and studied Classics (Latin/Greek), but have also always enjoyed Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I would love some new recommendations, so please add me as a friend on GR!

It is hard to nail down favorite books or authors, but to name two franchises that I have read recently, I have enjoyed very much the Hyperion Cantos (esp. books 1 and 2)and ASoIaF (although I read the first three way back before they were cool).

I also enjoy Greek tragedy, philosophy and logic, and mythology (especially Greek). My favorite contemporary book along those lines is Zachary Mason's Lost Books of the Odyssey. It was life-altering.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Al,welcome to the S&L group.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Baelor,welcome to the S&L group.
I find mythology to be a great interest.

[Vaughn]

Hello everyone! I'm looking for a buddy to get back into reading scifi again. Primarily Star Trek (starting with the A Time series). I've not started any yet. I'm also interested in other reads as well. Just let me know.

[Vaughn]

P. S. I read a lot of PNR/UF as well, and trying to do some action thriller like Patterson and Rollins.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Vaughn,welcome to the S&L group.

[Tiffany]

Hello! Finally coming out of my lurker mode and introducing myself, I'm Tiffany. I'm a college student with one year to go on her bachelors and hopefully soon author as soon as I finish the stupid draft. Reading wise I tend to be more on the fantasy side of things than sci-fi but I'm slowly working on getting my feet wet there more. As far as favorite author's go its too hard for me to narrow down just one so in no particular order here's a few: Brandon Sanderson, Anne Bishop (though she might be more Vaginal Fantasy than straight fantasy), Patrick Rothfuss and many others.

[Vaughn]

Tiffany wrote: "Hello! Finally coming out of my lurker mode and introducing myself, I'm Tiffany. I'm a college student with one year to go on her bachelors and hopefully soon author as soon as I finish the stupi..."

Hi Tiffany! If you want to buddy up on some fantasy or explore some sci fi, let me know.

[[deleted user]]

Hello Tiffany,welcome to the S&L group.

[J.]

Hi, I am J. Edward Vance. I’m just barely surviving my kids’ summer holidays and taking what time I can for reading and writing. I enjoy most anything, but am definitely partial to fantasy, urban fantasy, suspense… that sort of thing. I don’t think I can nail down my favourite authors, as one book of theirs might win me over, but the rest don’t.
As it is, I love weeding out the elements of each book I read that help make the story work (be it a good or bad story overall) and see if I can implement something similar into my tales. And conversely, I try to decide where things maybe go wrong with someone’s spiel and do my best to avoid the same mistakes.
I hope to take part in the discussions!

[[deleted user]]

Hi J.,welcome to the S&L group.

[Christopher]

Hello, My name is Christopher. I am a long time S&L fan (both the show and the genres). I started out reading Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit. I lean more toward Fantasy than Science Fiction, but I appreciate both Genres.

My favorite authors include but are not limited to: J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson), and Stephen King (Dark Tower, The Shining). I am open to friend requests, and friendly discussion.

-Thank you-