Introductions - tell us a little about yourself Showing 651-700 of 3,618

[Barbm1020]

Oh boy am I way behind! Welcome all new people, nice to see more fans of Pratchett and Gaiman. I'm enjoying Jim Butcher's wizard stories. Started with Storm Front and currently I'm reading Fool Moon. He has a very male perspective, but he uses enough scene-setting, suspense and humor to keep me interested.

[Stuart]

Hi, welcome all newcomers; I was away for a week.

[Fox]

Greetings everyone!

Greetings April, Cecil, Carl, Jon, and Melissa! I hope you enjoy our group!

Please do join in our discussions :)

[Lauren]

Hello. My name is Lauren. I'm from Alabama. I am currently a college student as well as a volunteer firefighter. I am addcted to fantasy book series. My first fantasy series that I ever read was The Inheritance: Eragon, Eldest, & Brisingr by Christopher Paolini. From then on my love for fantasy grew. I joined this group to see what everyone else was reading since walking into a bookstore and trying to find something good can be quite overwhelming. So I'm pretty excited to have joined this group.

[Felina]

Hi Everybody!

I currently live in Salt Lake City, UT. I first got interested in Fantasy my freshman year of highschool when someone let me borrow Dragons of Autumn Twilight. I really enjoyed that trilogy as well as the following Twin's trilogy.

I have read the Hobbit and liked it very much. I struggled through The Lord of the Rings but I think it was probably because I was really young. I'll have to give those a second read.

I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I mean huge. Its actually creepy.

I haven't gotten much into Science Fiction except for Issac Asimov and the Foundation Series.

I really enjoy books that have good character development. If I get halfway through a book and could care less about the characters I stop. ( cough cough Twilight cough cough) :0 All of my favorite books had characters that I felt very strongly about.

I have noticed a few familiar faces in this group. I'm looking forward to meeting everybody and getting involved.

[Chris]

Welcome and hello to John, Felina, and Lauren. And anyone else I might have missed.....

awesome list you have there, John...

[John]

I've been gone for a while on vacation. First chance I've had to check in, and looks like we've had a bunch more new arrivals. Welcome to Felina, Lauren, John, and anyone else I might inadvertently have missed.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Hi Felina. I'm also a big Harry Potter geek, and am actually planning on going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for my honeymoon next year (*squee*), as well as having HP gear scattered throughout my house. It's really the only series I go full-tilt geek for - though, compared to some people, I'm actually rather tame. :>

[Carmen]

Felina wrote:

I really enjoy books that have good character development. If I get halfway through a book and could care less about the characters I stop. ( cough cough Twilight cough cough) :0 All of my favorite books had characters that I felt very strongly about.


Hi Felina,

I agree 100%

[Charles]

Dear Felina,
Take it from a 50-year fantasy reader, you have started very well, indeed. The original Dragonlance Trilogy is pretty good stuff, and many have cut their teeth on it. My first was Lord of the Rings. I URGE you, if you don't read it, see the movies. Don't deny yourself this awesome, moving story. If you REALLY like character development, I mean shocking changes, try Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow (first is Curse of the Mistwraith).

[Debbie]

Hello,

I just found GoodReads and this group last night while looking for a WordPress 'now reading' widget. I'm a web designer/developer in Colorado and a lifelong fantasy reader. Some of my recent reading:

Patrick Rothfuss (an excellent first book)
Robin Hobb
Glen Cook
Lois McMaster Bujold
Guy Gavriel Kay
Elizabeth Moon
Carol Berg

Long-time fan of Tolkien and LeGuin, too, but always looking for something new.

[Felina]

Charles wrote: "Dear Felina,
Take it from a 50-year fantasy reader, you have started very well, indeed. The original Dragonlance Trilogy is pretty good stuff, and many have cut their teeth on it. My first was Lo..."

I have read LOTR. I just didn't enjoy it at the time. I think I was too young to handle his descriptive language. I did enjoy the Hobbit though.

And I have watched the movies and own them. I usually have a marathon at least once a year. :)

[Janny]

Debbie wrote: "Hello,

I just found GoodReads and this group last night while looking for a WordPress 'now reading' widget. I'm a web designer/developer in Colorado and a lifelong fantasy reader. Some of my recen..."

Hi Debbie - wow, that is a great list! I've loved every one of those authors. Based on those, I could recommend you look at Sarah Zettel's Isavalta books, Barbara Hambly's Suncross duology or, for a more poetic mythos, Patricia McKillip's Od Magic.

[Prue]

Hi everyone. I'm a published fantasy author from as far south of the globe as you can get. I live in Tasmania, which is the only island state of Australia. I have been published in the UK and my books are available on the major online book-retailing sites globally as well as shops if you quote the ISBN. The first book was published in Dec of 2008 and the next is due to be released in three weeks. Please check www.pruebatten.com, if you would like more detail.
I love fantasy based on fairytale, folklore and legend and try to read a little but not a lot of the fantasy that is available as I am very concerned about absorbing someone-else's wonderful creations by default. I read across all genres and have a varied lifestyle and am desperate to get all the stories in my head down, if not published. One of the things I have learned in the last few years is that the story itself takes little time in the scheme of things to deal with, but the re-drafts, the edits, the re-edits and the proof-reading takes YEARS!!!!!!!
And my time is passing swiftly.
I look forward to talking with many of you through my Goodread blogs, through Q and A if ever I am invited and just through general comment and reading what you all think and feel about what you read and write.
Cheers.The Stumpwork Robe

[Brandy]

hi, my name is Brandy and i just joined Goodreads about a month ago. i live in New York and im just about to start my SR. year in high school. not many of my friends are in to fantasy, so i thought why not join a book club full of people that love fantasy books. I always wont to talk about the books iv read, but can never find some one that has read the same books as myself. I love to find new authors, some of my favorites are,
Mercedes Lackey
Larry Dixon
Ann Bishop
Robin Mckinley
Maria V. Snyder
Someday i wont to wright my own book, but for now i wont to read as many as i can so i can get a good idea of what i wont my book to be about.
so far my book collection is small but i hope to have it grow to something my mother would be proud of. ( she has a very large collection) and i also hope to find new friends that would be happy to talk fantasy with me.

[Clansman]

Greetings! I go under the name of Lochaber here, and have been a member for the better part of a year, and am just getting round to saying hello.

I live in a small town in Eastern Ontario, Canada with my young family, and I practice law.

I love epic fantasy, and big, fat, complex series. I have read Tolkien's works many times, and my favourite living authors are Janny Wurts (she has the best epic fantasy going, namely The Wars of Light and Shadow), George R.R. Martin, Guy Gavriel Kay, Carol Berg. I used to like Robert Jordan a lot more than I do now, and Raymond Feist, both for the same reasons (their earlier stuff was much better than their later stuff). Kurtz and Kerr are pretty good too.

Feilina, I second Charles' comment about Janny Wurts. Nobody is better at character development. I have read the whole 8 books (and counting, 3 more to come) of her Wars of Light and Shadow, and if you love character development, then Wurts' stuff is for you.

[Felina]

Excellent. I'll check it out.

[Fox]

Howdy, ya'll!

Good to meet so many new people. Welcome lauren! Felina, I also started out in AD&D type fantasy. Debbie, Rothfuss's first was good -- we have a thread on his first book if you want to check out the thoughts of others (and a thread on Wise Man's Fear, the next one). Brandy, welcome. You have quite a list there and several that I appreciate. Good to see more authors joining Prue! Lochaber -- always glad to see a Canadian, but I'm biased like that ;)

[Ruta]

hi, I'm completely new here.
i'm 15 and living in UK for 7 years. i was born i Lithuania (don't think anyone heard of it, went school there and started reading fantasy. came england and sometimes don't come home from the library till its closing time, then don't wake up in the morning bec i've been in another world, reading all night (my mum baned reading for a month so id learn my lesson, but i haven).
books that got my mum to ban reading:
twilight (and the ones that follow it)
harry potter (all)
the chronicles of narnia
golden compass
inkheart
ella enchanted
sabriel
howl's moving castle (finished it in school where my mum can't see)

[John]

Welcome to the group, Ruta. We'll see if we can't find more books to help you stay at the library til close :-).

[John]

Welcome to the group, Jennifer. I hope we can find more authors to add to your list.

[Chris]

Welcome, Ruta and Jennifer.....

[Chris]

Jennifer, I'll go ahead and answer that for Lochaber...

The Curse of the Mistwraith is the first book in that series...It was featured in this group a couple of months ago:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show_b...

[Cinda]

Ruta wrote: "hi, I'm completely new here.
i'm 15 and living in UK for 7 years. i was born i Lithuania (don't think anyone heard of it, went school there and started reading fantasy. came england and sometimes d..."

Welcome, Ruta. Seems like half the parents are trying to get their kids to read, the other half are trying to get them to stop! :)

[Dai]

Hi,

I will be reading from the new John Twelve Hawks Novel, The Golden City tomorrow at 7:00pm at a Martial Arts Do Jang in Coral Springs, Florida. 8210 Wiles Road, Coral Springs at 7:00pm. Everyone is invited. A signed, stamped copy of TGC will be given to one person who attends.

[Dai]

By the way, there will be a dynamic bo staff fighting demo during the reading. Dai Katana

[Hillary]

Oi! I suppose I should introduce myself as I'm another of Jeanne's recruits who has been lurking in this club for awhile (and have been on Goodreads for at least a year)!

I'm Hillary, living in Japan although originally from the Southeastern part of the United States. I've been reading fantasy ever since my oldest brother (10 years older than I) handed me The Complete Book of Swords when I was in elementary school--hooked from then on! After that, I polished off Dragonlance and The Chronicles of Narnia and have since expanded into so many other directions in my fantasy tastes.

Currently, I'm on a YA kick and have polished off the House of Night series and am starting Vampire Academy. Overall, my favorite fantasy series fall with Harry Potter and with Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. I know, I know--totally different ends of the spectrum!

[Christian]

Hello everyone I just joined the group and I'm very excited to get started with this and get some good books recs! Just going to tell you all a bit about my literary tastes now :p

My favorite book is actually Eragon!! I love that series even if tons of people tend to bash it. I read the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. It was fantastic at times and boring at other! But all around a great read. I've read the first 5 books of the Wheel of Time series. And I do not recommend this series for anyone unless you like tiresome details about clothes and room decorations! It was unbearably boring at time and I had to force myself to read it through to the end. I'm currently reading Pawn of Prophecy and it is good so far. Very short and simple, but its exactly what im looking for after the trauma of Wheel of Time.

Anyways, look forward to reading and discussing some great fantasy books you all of you!

Chris

[Chris]

Welcome to the group, Christian. It's always good to see new Terry Goodkind fans joining, as that certainly energizes the discussions...

And welcome to you as well, Hillary....GRRM rules! Heh..

[Rose]

Hi, I'm Rose. From England, but with a leaning towards American authors. I started with The Lord of the Rings, closely followed by everything David Eddings ever wrote, and then onto ...everything. I love Anne McCaffrey, Tad Williams, Robert Jordan, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Oh, and Robin Hobb - for anyone who loves animals, her books are a must.

However, my all time favourite is between Stephan King's Dark Tower series and Stephan Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I'm dark. Oh well.

I spend far too much time writing fantasy to be able to function int he real world, and my first published novel debuts in 5 weeks. Unsuprisingly, there are dragons.

Also guilty of playing Warhammer - the 1960's pen and paper version.
Looking forwrd to getting to-read recommendations, as my book group all moved away. :-(

[Cody]

Hello Rose.. Welcome to Goodreads! This is cool to have someone from England!

[Chris]

Welcome to the group, Rose...

[Rasmus]

Hi everybody

I just recently discovered goodreads. What a wonderful site!

I'm Rasmus Rubæk. I hail from Copenhagen, Denmark.
I've been reading fantasy as long as I can remember, probably starting with Lewis' Narnia books.

I still love the Narnia stories, even if I find them poorly written theese days. Tolkien's books also have a huge place in my heart and I try to read Lord of the Rings once every couple of years (so many books, so little time).

My favourite active authors would be George RR Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, Bernard Cornwell and recently discovered Joe Abercrombie.
I find it quite hard to navigate in this jungle of newer fantasy (sooo much utter utter crap) and I hope this site and the people here will be a great help.

I'm also a huge music fan and thus, a lot of my money is spent on vinyl records containing everything from Billie Holiday, Nick Cave and the bad seeds, Reverend Horton Heat and The Doors to extreme artist such as Morbid Angel, Grave, My Dying Bride, Exodus and Bloodbath

[Cody]

wow.. welcome to the goodreads, my friend :)

we are forward to see ya around..

[Heather]

I'm Heather. I come from Virginia originally but more recently I've migrated to Maine. I'm currently a very amatuer writer but working on fixing that part. I love David Eddings, PC Hodgell, Terry Pratchett and more recently, James Clemens.

[Chris]

Welcome to the group, Rasmus and Heather...

[Barbm1020]

Rasmus, nice to have you here. I must admit I also find the Narnia books overrated, although my kids loved them. The author is highly revered in England but he seems stuffy now. I have many old vinyl records but want to sell them as I need to clean up my clutter! Looking forward to the next Terry Pratchett book. Do you like him?

[Gabriel]

My name is Gabriel Madison. I went to a local college in my home town of Albany Ga., where I took a theater class. We had to re-write a classic and make it modern. I did Othello. Everyone in the class loved it. Then, the day I will never forget, we had to direct a scene without dialogue to music. Once I finished, the entire class sat there in silence. I sat there in complete terror. I thought I had messed up so bad the class was fighting back boos or laughter or something else not good! All of sudden, everyone turned around to me and said ‘wow’. Even the professor was blown away by what I created. I’ve never felt anything like that in my life, and I knew I wanted to feel that forever.

I left home and went to an Art School in Atlanta. By my last year, everyone at the school, and all the professors and even the Den considered me the best student there. One of my professors pulled me off to the side, and told me whatever ‘IT’ is, I have an abundance of it. When I graduated I thought I would write a great novel that everyone would love, get a book deal, and start my life as a professional writer.

The real world had other ideas for me. I got rejection letter after rejection letter. I wrote more than one book, and each book got even more rejections. I finally got a real job, but had to leave it after a year to take care of my mother. I moved in with my brother also, but after my mother got even sicker I had to move back home with my mother and my grandmother. So there I sat, the guy with IT, sleeping on his grandmother’s couch unemployed and getting rejection letters.

It got to a point that I started doubting myself. I had one of those days, where I went for a walk thinking what in the hell am I going to do. I couldn’t see myself working a 9 to 5, and I was tired of writing. Actually, I couldn’t write anymore. I used to sit in front of my computer and effortlessly flow from one medium to another. I’d write a little on an Urban fantasy novel, then jump into a YA novel, then dive into a screenplay, knock out a few poems, and just before going to sleep, write a few scenes in my TV pilot. All of that went away.

I couldn’t write for a long time. My mom got better, but I drifted deeper into depression. All I’ve wanted to do was create stories. All I’d heard my entire life was how talented I am. And yet there I was on my grandmother’s couch.

I spent a few years trying to figure out what was I going to do with my life. And then I fell back in love with the first true passion of my life... vampires. I read Touch the Dark by Karen Chance and the spark was re-ignited. I needed to tell a story. I needed to write. So, I sat in front of my computer for the first time in years, with Untitled Word Document staring back at me, and began to type.

When I finished, I had a manuscript called Fallen Rose. I sent out queries, and got more rejections. Then one day I went over to my cousin’s house, and he introduced me to a TV show called Carnivàle. I went home, and Fallen Rose changed from being about vampires, to beings I came up with during the car ride home. Fallen Rose... became Three Seeds. And I guess the rest I shall see.

By the way, anyone that hasn't read a Karen Chance book, you should really check her out. Midnight Daughter is slowly climbing up my list of favorite Urban Fantasy ever books.

[Chris]

Interesting story, Gabriel. Thanks for sharing that, and welcome to the group

[Kyle]

The name is Kyle. Been reading just about anything I can get my hands on since I was 4 including an old set of encyclopedias my family kept from 1978. Been in love with fantasy books ever since I read the hobbit for the first time when I was 8. For about the last year I’ve been trying to write my own fantasy series but every time I try to outline the first book I end up rewriting the whole thing or adding another book to the series and having to outline that. Just found the site not to long ago and am amazed by how many books I’ve added to my read list. I had no idea I could read that many books until I had to start listing them.

:P

[John]

Welcome to the group Gabriel, Kyle, and everyone else I may have missed. Sorry for the long absence, been busy finishing with final edit. FINALLY DONE.

[Chris]

John wrote: "Welcome to the group Gabriel, Kyle, and everyone else I may have missed. Sorry for the long absence, been busy finishing with final edit. FINALLY DONE."

Does that mean we get a book soon?

[John]

Chris wrote: "John wrote: "Welcome to the group Gabriel, Kyle, and everyone else I may have missed. Sorry for the long absence, been busy finishing with final edit. FINALLY DONE."

Does that mean we get a book s..."

Early February is the target release date. It's out of my hands now, mate :-).

[Abramelin]

Greetings I'm Elanor/Vanessa. I teach composition and write (some). I'm on long island, ny.

[Chris]

Welcome, Elanor and Kyle.....

John - I'll be watching for it...

[[deleted user]]

Greetings Elanor/Vanessa from a fellow teacher and writer from Long Island.

[Marc]

Maurice wrote: "Greetings Elanor/Vanessa from a fellow teacher and writer from Long Island. "

Hi to Maurice and Vanessa from another author on LI. If any of you are on the east end I'll be selling books at the Wildwood Park Fall Festival today, in Wading River.

[Janny]

Gabriel wrote: "My name is Gabriel Madison. I went to a local college in my home town of Albany Ga., where I took a theater class. We had to re-write a classic and make it modern. I did Othello. Everyone in the cl..."

Gabriel, do not give up!
The self-abandonment of caving in to others' opinions is the worst sort of death for an artform.

Two short things: your acclaim came in schools/academic settings....know in depth what you are writing. If it is literary/academic fiction, pursue that. If it is drama/script work, hone those skills and pursue that. If it is fiction writing, that is not the same thing as academic/literary - you may have to adjust your style. This book could help, in that case:

Techniques of the Selling Writer - there is no other quite like it.

You have to value what you do above and beyond every single rejection - they are part and parcel of the writer's journey. Don't fall to despair. One moment of success can change everything.

Welcome here - the group is very friendly - and welcome, also to the others who've posted, too.

[Brenda]

Gabriel, have you looked into self publishing? I have found out that even though a publisher agrees to publish a book, it still comes down to you doing all the marketing once it is printed.

In the end, you pay them for the cost of prining the books and part of your royalties. If you self publish, you only pay for printing the books and you keep all the profits.

[Libby]

John wrote: "Chris wrote: "John wrote: "Welcome to the group Gabriel, Kyle, and everyone else I may have missed. Sorry for the long absence, been busy finishing with final edit. FINALLY DONE."

Does that mean..."

Glad to hear the next book is off to print! Looking forward to it!