Former Introduction Thread Showing 1,601-1,650 of 6,846

[Sandy]

There's just pain in life. Series ending are part of it. When I finished Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books I was grief struck.

[Neal]

Hello, friends!

I'm a genre writer - for the screens & text - and I'm still deplorably unread in the areas I most ought to be. I need a group of wise and battle-hardened readers to guide me on the path! Very excited to be part of the community of story-lovers - on Goodreads in general, and the group in particular.

My wife & I relocated to London from L.A. four years ago and - except for the vicious withdrawal that comes around San Diego Comic-Con time - have taken to it like a duck takes to water, with the water mostly coming down out of the sky in great torrents of gray rain.

Secret Confession: Dune Messiah is actually my favorite Dune book.

For facts & figures, including police record, have a look at my website bio: http://www.nealromanek.com/bio/

[Aloha]

Welcome, Neal!

[Sandy]

Hi, Neal! Welcome. Battle hardened. That's us. Though from your bio, you look to have survived a few battles yourself. Very impressive.

My family moved to SoCal 15 years ago. Part of me considered it a betrayal of my principals, as those from Northern California, and specifically from San Francisco, regard anything south of Gilroy as suspect.

I loved all the Dune books. Maybe I'll reread the series.

By way of introduction, here's the bio from my web page:
http://sandynathan.com/about-sandy-na...
Here is the longer form which has all to dirt:
http://sandynathan.com/about_pop.html

Better read it fast. We're about to redo my site into one of those modern ones that consists of a picture of me and a buy button.

Happy Sunday, all!

[Sandy]

Neal––My eyes lit up when I saw this on your bio: "a seminar called “The Self: Issues in Psychology, Parapsychology and Spirituality”"

That's where I live. Those topics were a focus for my MA in counseling. They informed my fist book, Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice All my sci-fi comes from the same font. It's a perfect combo. Most of the wild stuff in my first novel Numenon are simply write-ups of my meditation experiences. People call it sci-fi!

Sandy

[Valerie]

Hi! I'm Val. I'm twenty years old and from a small town in CT. Some of my favorite series include the Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R. Martin (which I need to re-read soon) and the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey, though I wasn't impressed by Naamah's Curse at all. I recently finished Maledicte by Lane Robins and quite liked it, and I'm pretty excited that Erikson's Gardens of the Moon is the pick for next month, since I got it a while ago but never had the chance to read it. Pleased to meet you all!

[[deleted user]]

Hiyas Neal and Valerie :)

[Krystle]

It's been so long since I've been on Goodreads, I can't remember if I posted an introduction or not.

Oh, well!

Hello, out there! My name's Krystle Jones, and like many of you, I'm an aspiring writer.

A little about me...

Originally from Tennessee, Krystle Jones is now living in Omaha, Nebraska pursuing a masters in flute performance. While an active performer, composer, and teacher, Krystle also loves to read and write, and is currently working on two novels - one, an epic two-part dark fantasy, and the other, a paranormal romance/urban fantasy trilogy - she hopes to publish someday. When she's not reading, writing, or playing the flute, Krystle can be found window shopping, sleeping, watching movies, or painting.

I joined Goodreads a few months back, but then lost touch with it for a while when school got busy (I'm in the last semester of my masters. Hallelujah!).

I'm still crazy-passionate about writing and reading, and I actually just started an interactive blog called The Word Obsession: http://thewordobsession.blogspot.com/.

I love meeting and chatting with fellow writers, so please drop me a line sometime! =)

[[deleted user]]

Hiyas Krystle.

Not a writer myself, but welcome anyway :P

[Aloha]

Welcome Krystle and Valerie!

[Bob]

I've read science fiction as long as I can remember. I've been racked in science fiction as an author, although there is some debate if my books are science fiction. My Area 51 series has sold over a million copies and gets racked there because there's a flying saucer on the cover that, of course, isn't in the book. Thank you Random House. My Atlantis series was racked mainstream and I've just it back in eBook and trade paperback. I'm loving the new opportunities for authors these days.

[Sctechsorceress]

Hello! My name is Pat, and I'm new to Goodreads. I'm sure I'm one of the geezers here. I was born in 1954. I don't remember not reading. I can't give you a list of what I read last year. One of my reasons for joining Goodreads was to give me a reason to keep track of what I read.

How did I get started reading SF? Blame it all on the NYC public library. I was working my way through the fiction section in the children's library at my local branch, when I encountered Isaac Asimov's David Starr series. I was hooked!

I read real books, and e-books on my Nook, or my phone, or on my PC.

[[deleted user]]

Welcome Bob and Pat :)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome from here also...and Pat, born in '52. We are not geezers...maybe a little geezerish...but definitely not geezers. :) I got started with Tom Swift.

[Johnny]

Hello, I'm {Jersey] Johnny Flora. You know where I live by now. I am a Jersey Shore musician and songwriter, you can listen to my original music for free on Reverbnation while your reading. My first fiction novel is "The Spell of Zalanon" which is about an ancient Egyptian spell that transforms every household cat into a full sized crazed predator bent on culling the over indulgent herds of humanity. My second entitled "Wake Co." will be published and released soon. I am new to the site and have been enjoying all the diversity of opinion and the numerous quotes that are available for all to enjoy. It is a privilege to be a member and I will direct as many of my colleagues to this community as often as I can.....Ciao JJF

[Aloha]

Welcome Bob, Pat and Johnny!

[Johnny]

I'm currently reading "20 Master Plots, and how to build them." by Ronald B.Tobias, also feverishly putting the final touches on my next novel "Wake Co." This phenomenal tool for the author in all of us possesses a wealth of information on plot development. R.B.T.'s bible on the history of plots in literature will go into my author's toolbox next to all my favorite snap-on tools.........[Jersey] Johnny Flora

[Karen]

I hope I didn't already post my introduction -- if I did, chalk it off to middle age, and please excuse....

I'm Karen Wyle, in south central Indiana, and new to Goodreads. I've been reading science fiction for more than 40 years, and am now revising my first sci fi novel (working title: Twin-Bred). I've read some fantasy, including Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series and Pullman's wonderful Dark Materials trilogy. My favorite type of science fiction (also the type I'm now writing) is sociological, although I also enjoy stories that play around with time travel. The day I met my husband, we spent 2 hours talking mostly about Robert Heinlein. :-)

[[deleted user]]

Welcome, Karen :)

What's your novel about?

[Karen]

Ala wrote: "Welcome, Karen :)

What's your novel about?"

Thanks for asking! I guess the best way to answer is to quote from my pitch:

Interspecies diplomacy begins in the womb.

Humans have lived on the Tofa’s planet for 70 years, but they still don’t understand the Tofa. They don’t know whether the Tofa understand humans. But they fear for the future. The next infuriating, inexplicable incident may be the one that explodes into war.

Scientist Mara Cadell has a radical proposal: host mothers would carry fraternal twins, one human and one Tofa. Perhaps such twins could provide a breakthrough in interspecies understanding. Mara has a special interest in twins: her own fraternal twin, Levi, died in utero. Mara also has a secret: she has kept Levi alive in her mind as companion and collaborator, cherishing his irreverence, cynicism, and political acumen.

The Tofa agree to cooperate with the project. No one is sure whether they understand its purpose. But the Tofa have their own agenda. And then there is the human faction that sees the project as a means to a very different end.

As the youngsters grow, they are full of surprises. One of these presents Mara with both a crisis and an opportunity: the Tofa twins can perceive and even channel Levi’s presence. Meanwhile, the time approaches for the Twin-Bred to fulfill their destiny.

The Twin-Bred were born to bring peace to their two peoples. But has their unique upbringing left them too different, too alien, to achieve this goal? And is it what the human and Tofa communities really want?

[[deleted user]]

So her brother's soul/consciousness is part of her? Or some form of split personality?

Either way, sounds interesting.

[Karen]

You could call it a very persistent and intense form of imaginary friend -- possibly based on what the brother's personality would have been, as sensed in utero.

[Eric]

Hello! I'm not exactly new to the group, but have finally a moment to catch up and introduce myself. I'm an aspiring author - studied creative writing for my undergrad and am just about finished with an MFA in same. Lately I've been reading Seam Williams and Glen Cook. I'm a huge Zelazny and Herbert fan. I admit I read a lot of pulp/genre sci-fi and zombie stuff too. I'm up for talking books, talking writing, talking sci-fi, fantasy, screenwriting, and of it. Thanks!

[Aloha]

Welcome, Karen and Eric!

[Adam]

Hi everyone, I just joined the group.

I'm an applied mathematician, currently masquerading as a theoretical physicist at one of my university labs. I'm 29 and going back to school, hopefully to start my masters program next year.

I've read sci-fi since I was a kid reading HG Wells Time Machine. I must confess the more and more math and physics I learn the harder it is for me to take on a less than plausible world in sci-fi. Although I have read lots of Fantasy in high school, I tend to like Sci-Fi more these days. Although I don't read very much fiction these days... lots of my time is consumed with non-fiction. Oh well, I still love sci-fi when I make the time for it though!

[Dawn]

Welcome Adam!

Applied mathematician... *drools* I love math! I was going to major in applied mathematics but ended up doing mechanical engineering instead.

[Adam]

Dawn wrote: "Welcome Adam!

Applied mathematician... *drools* I love math! I was going to major in applied mathematics but ended up doing mechanical engineering instead."

A friend of mine is a really brilliant Mechanical engineer. He works at the same lab as me building equipment.

I couldn't do mechanical engineering, I think building the stuff you people do is really cool. I just don't enjoy hands on building. I also don't like doing experiments. I'm way more into building theoretical models haha. Lots of people make fun of me for it: P

[Dawn]

You know, I'm not into the whole building/designing thing either. I do more statistical type engineering, DFSS if you know what that is. It has more of a math base than straight up design, which is good for me.

[Stephen]

I am forced to catalog rollicking adventures from my imagination because my life is too happy and conflict free to be of interest to anyone else.

Live in Marina Del Rey, California. Happily married, but the Sea is forever my mistress.

[Adam]

I don't know what DFSS. I didn't like stats so much, to be honest. Some of it's kind of neat, but to me it feels more like manipulating data on a spreadsheet to me a lot of times. The pure abstraction of statistics is pretty neat though.

[Dawn]

It stands for Design for Six Sigma, it's kind of like... I don't know how to explain it, lol. We'll just leave it at statistics :)

[[deleted user]]

y helo thar new peoples

[Adam]

Dawn wrote: "It stands for Design for Six Sigma, it's kind of like... I don't know how to explain it, lol. We'll just leave it at statistics :)"

Oh I know what Six Sigma is! Sounds like you're doing it right though. management tries to apply it to people... which doesn't really work out the same way necessarily.

[Dawn]

To people? That's weird. We apply it to try to make processes more efficient. Boring stuff, but I like it :)

[Adam]

Dawn wrote: "To people? That's weird. We apply it to try to make processes more efficient. Boring stuff, but I like it :)"

Yeah they actually try to apply Six Sigma at a business level to personnel. It's very goofy stuff, but it makes managers feel good or something. I have no idea. Humans aren't a scientific process that is very easily quantified.

[Peter]

Aloha wrote: "I heard that Mieville talks down to people, and makes things more complicated than need be. I was going to read The City & The City but got distracted by the Hyperion series."

I strongly recommend The City and The City - very interesting concept and compelling reading. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi is also a fantastic read. Very relevant to current geo political issues.

[Akintunde]

I was born and trained in Nigeria as a Pharmacist but now reside in The Gambia, West Africa where I run a charitable unit, Lifecare Foundation and also teach science along with doing some research about Biodiversity.

Presently, I'm a bit apprehensive about matters relating to the safety of people's Biometrics and DNA data that are being archived by various world governments. The thriving human organ black market also makes me paranoid. What can be done when human organs are being rated as commodities that are being traded for profit?

[[deleted user]]

Welcome Akintunde :)

What exactly does Lifecare Foundation do?

[Kelly]

I was born and raised in Medford, OR now me and my husband live in Palmer, AK. I work at an advertising agency in Anchorage. We work with Subway, Napa, Tobacco Prevention Control and some other cool clients. Political season is fun because I'm a democrat and we seem to always work with republicans. :D

I got into reading SF/Fantasy from my Dad. I used to study the covers of his books like "Prince of Dogs" by Kate Elliott and I thought it looked so cool and wanted to read it when I got older.

I read mainly Fantasy and historical fiction. I'm looking forward to finding some new good books.

[[deleted user]]

Hiyas Kelly :)

Can you see Russia from your house?

[Kelly]

Ala wrote: "Hiyas Kelly :)

Can you see Russia from your house?"

No unfortunately not. I must not go to the right area of Wasilla. Our first day in Anchorage was the same day Palin was announced as candidate for vice-pres. It was surreal.

[Aloha]

Welcome, Adam! Studied engineering. Electrical to be exact, but not further enough to remember much about it. I like Physics and Math as fun theoretical stuff, but detest the practical applications. I was in the Circuits lab staring across at a humorless engineering student and decided I was not going to condemn myself to being with engineers for the rest of my life. Ended up getting my masters in fine arts since that was what I was really passionate about.

[Joseph]

Hello everyone! I'm an author and a lifelong fan of science-fiction, fantasy, and horror stories. I'm also a long-time computer nerd and have always been into geeky things like that. I ran a dial-up computer BBS called 'The Shadow Realm' in the 1990's, and have made a few websites since then. I make computer animations as a hobby, and I love PC gaming. Lately my life has been all about my post-apocalypse sci-fi/fantasy novel, Shard Mountain, and working to write its upcoming sequels.

[Jim]

Aloha wrote: "Welcome, Adam! Studied engineering. Electrical to be exact, but not further enough to remember much about it. I like Physics and Math as fun theoretical stuff, but detest the practical applicati..."

You obviously haven't met any of the engineers where I work. Weird, different -sure. Humorless? No way. Just the opposite, too often. I finally convinced them to quit doing computer tricks since I often had to fix them.

[[deleted user]]

Hiyas and welcome, Joseph.

[Dawn]

I'm an engineer, and I'm far from humorless. I'm down right humorfull :)

[Teena]

Hi! I take it as a sign to join the group since I've just picked Doomsday Book up.

I am medical writer by day, fiction translator by night and an avid SF/F fan. My taste on fantasy is heavily tipped to Terry Pratchett side of the scale rather than Tolkien, and my SF taste is prone to Asimov and Bujold rather than Clarke.

[[deleted user]]

Welcome Teena, what language do you translate fiction into?

Hiyas Lori, English prof, eh? Well, we can't all be perfect I guess :P

[Charles]

Hello! Introducing myself here, my name is Charles, I'm a writer and short-order cook and computer programmer and I don't really know what all else. Have been reading fantasy and science fiction since I was in elementary school (which was um... while ago).

My taste tend to lean toward dytopias and alternate history. End of the world, alien invasions, all good stuff. But I also read a lot that isn't sci-fi at all... pretty voracious reader.

I also write, have written a couple novels (one war related, one alt-history) and working on a sequel.

What else? Live in Atlanta, Georgia, where I run a restaurant by day and collapse into an exhausted sleep by night.

Nice to meet you all!

Charles

[[deleted user]]

Hiyas Charles.

BBQ: sauce or rub?