Former Introduction Thread Showing 2,001-2,050 of 6,846

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Ah yes. Good old Eugene.

[Richard]

Thanks Colleen that's just what my iPad was made for, instant YouTube type stuff that is not medic alert thingy type stuff.
You've also got way too much time on your hands if you can trawl through ancient adverts for little old me, talking of time it's gone 3 in the morning here so I should really try and get a life.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Yes. Far too much time to google "I've fallen and I can't get up video". Took a whole 5 seconds, that did. ;)

[Chris]

Hi, I'm Chris Moriarty, and I write science fiction and fantasy ... though I'm embarrassed to admit it after reading all the stuff in the rules about Authors Behaving Badly. I am sooo not here to talk about my books. I'm here to talk about other people's books for fun.

Also I'm here because my local independent bookstore just went out of business and was miraculously resurrected when local readers and writers held a fundraiser to buy it out and turn it into a cooperative. (Have I mentioned that I live in the coolest small town on the planet?) I am now running the SF/Fantasy reading group, and I'm hoping that I can learn something from you guys about what makes for a good discussion and which books I should choose for our local group.

Recent SF/F reads I've really loved are Justina Robson's Natural History and Ian MacDonald's Dervish House. The book I'd most like to see a discussion group about is Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death. Such an amazing book, so much there to talk about.

Glad to be here and looking forward to hearing from all of you....

[Craig]

Hi Everyone,

Just joined Goodreads on the recommendation of a friend, and I'm still getting used to using it. I love to read, especially Specualtive Fiction, and no matter how many books I go through I always seem to have more piling up.

I'm mostly reading e-books at the minute. The Kindle app on my phone has me bleeding battery on buses, while, making tea and any other time my eyes aren't engaged elsewhere.

I'm also an amateur writer with aspirations to match. I've been published in a few magazines (mostly with horror stories, oddly) and I'm constantly sending more things out. I recently released an ebook called "Not Before Bed" on Smashwords and can't stop checking my number of downloads. It's given me a real kick to carry on writing.

Books I've read recently:

Loathsome Dark and Deep - Aaron Polson
Starter for Ten - David Nichols (not spec fic, but really good.)
Boneshaker - Cherie Priest

And many more that refuse to spring to mind at the minute. I look forward to seeing some of your reading suggestions and trying to cram them into my reading schedule too.

Cheers

Craig

[Al "Tank"]

Richard wrote: "Al wrote: "Denae wrote: "I wish to fucking god text conveyed intonation."

I wish by all that's holy that people could learn to express themselves without resorting to being crude..."

Not a big fa...
WTF is ROFL-CGU, I'm starting to feel very old and computer illiterate."

The feeling "old" part is the key. It's from the new geriatric list of computer acronyms (which fits me to a "T").

On the subject of swearing, there's so much of it going around that its lost all "shock value". There was a time when, in England, some guy uttering "bloody" would cause ladies to feint. Now, no one seems to notice it nor words even further down the evolutionary scale.

If you want to make a good impression on someone or a group, the best way is to avoid such verbal crutches (and for everyone's sake, avoid "y'know" and other moronic interjections when speaking).

When someone drops into gutter language, most listeners will assume that the gutter is where he (or she) belongs.

But, considering this is a place for people to introduce themselves, I'll drop the thread. This is more suitable to a thread on writing skills (how to convey intonation in your work). That would be a good thread for the author section? Or something similar on Facebook?

[[deleted user]]

Welcome Chris and Craig :)

Chris, that co-op book store sounds pretty cool. Glad to hear of a little shop getting saved in this day and age.

Craig, we read Boneshaker as a group a while back. There's some threads you can jump in on if you want.

Al, you're more than welcome to start a thread in the off-topic section about conveying intonation through text.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Personally, as a woman, I prefer to parry rather than feint.

[[deleted user]]

What you did there, it has been seen

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Ala - Can we also start a thread about how to not come off as an insufferable, sanctimonious prig? I think that might be useful as well.

Denae - Nice pun. I snerked.

New people - Hello!

Craig - My condolences on having read Boneshaker. (Unless you liked it, of course. In which case, I said nothing.). ;)

[Stan]

Chris, I'm completely jealous of your co-op independent bookstore. I live in a small town in South Dakota, and we have two independent bookstores. Both are tiny. One stocks little except magazines, calendars, children's books, and a few bestsellers. The other is a used bookstore run by a little old lady in a run-down little house. She sells nothing but romance novels.

I hate giving my money to Amazon, but the nearest decent bookstore is two and a half hours from here. A decent co-op store would be the perfect solution for my town. How did yours get started? Were the costs involved crippling?

[whimsicalmeerkat]

I saw Al's use of it and couldn't resist. I tried. I really did. (I bloody failed.)

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Guess your parry wasn't entirely successful.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Depends on how one defines success.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Well, what with the blood and all...

[Al "Tank"]

Denae: LOL. Bloody good shot.

Ala: Not sure where to go for such a thread. We already have a blog for authors aimed at writing a salable book and it includes several articles on all of the mechanics involved, but this sounds more like something that would benefit from more "give and take" than a blog normally allows. More like a forum?

Everyone: Don't get me wrong. There is a time and place for swearing, even in literature. Heck, I've written books with some fairly "ripe" language in them. But it's used sparingly to maximize its value and only if the character in question would be expected to use it. We also publish quite a few books with gutter language, including one of our best-selling series.

Colleen: "prig"? I haven't heard that one in decades. I applaud your command of the language.

[Tasula]

Stan wrote: "Chris, I'm completely jealous of your co-op independent bookstore. I live in a small town in South Dakota, and we have two independent bookstores. Both are tiny. One stocks little except magazine..."

I used to live in a town which had a used bookstore that was a pretty good place to buy used books- and you could trade in some of your own books. They charged 1/2 cover price to buy a book, and they would give you 1/4 of cover price for any book you brought in that they wanted to add to stock. There is a non-profit used book store around here now- and sometimes I can find some UF or SF there, but mostly it's dusty old bestsellers (stress on the OLD). However, I have almost 100 books waiting to be read on my shelf- many of which I got from PaperbackSwap.com or Swap.com. I do not recommend Swap.com because they changed- but I still like Paperbackswap.com and they still come up with some of my wishlist books.

[Chris]

Stan wrote: "Chris, I'm completely jealous of your co-op independent bookstore. ... A decent co-op store would be the perfect solution for my town. How did yours get started? Were the costs involved crippling

I don't know all the details of the financing, but it was in essence an employee-customer buyout of the existing bookstore. So I don't know how viable it is as a model for a new startup. There has to be someone doing it somewhere though...

[Craig]

Ala wrote: "Welcome Chris and Craig :)

Craig, we read Boneshaker as a group a while back. The..."

Thanks Ala. I'll definately take a look at those threads.

Colleen ~blackrose~ wrote: " Craig - My condolences on having read Boneshaker. (Unless you liked it, of course. In which case, I said nothing.). ;)
"

Hahaha Smooth! I liked it. Although it took me a while to get through it. Then again, I have a Steampunk weakness so maybe I'm biased?

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Craig wrote: "Hahaha Smooth! I liked it. Although it took me a while to get through it. Then again, I have a Steampunk weakness so maybe I'm biased? "

I dunno. I have a Steampunk bias, too, but I still thought Boneshaker was dull as hell.

I love the idea of Steampunk, but I'm still waiting to read a Steampunk book that blows me away.

(I did rather love Soulless, but I always forget about that one 'cause it's more a PNR with Steampunk elements than SP proper.)

[Craig]

I find SP is leaking into more and more spec-fic recently. I read a brilliant collection of shorts called Extraordinary Engines edited by Nick Gevers. That was a particular highlight. There's also a magazine-style kindle affair called Steampunk adventures you can get on Amazon. That's had some good stuff in it.

Other than that, The Difference Engine is a personal fav although the actual SP element is subtle.

I'll have to read Soulless. Another on that damned expanding list!

Craig

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Hmm, yes. I had 'Extraordinary Engines'. Gave it away after reading about half-way through. :-/

[Michelle]

Ala wrote: "I really want to read a Dystopian Urban Fantasy now. Someone find me one."

Ala, i know i'm digging up some old stuff (i'm a few days behind in catching up on my discussion threads), but a UF book i'm reading with another group this month appears to be pretty dystopian (or at least post-apocalyptic, if you like to divide those two): Unholy Ghosts

[[deleted user]]

How's it read so far, Michelle? Good stuff? Typical UF or does it have a uniqueness to it?

[Leland]

Colleen ~blackrose~ wrote: "Hmm, yes. I had 'Extraordinary Engines'. Gave it away after reading about half-way through. :-/"

Yeah. I finished it...it never got better after that half-way mark. YOu didn't miss anything. I'm glad others liked it though.

[Michelle]

Colleen ~blackrose~ wrote: "Ala - Can we also start a thread about how to not come off as an insufferable, sanctimonious prig? I think that might be useful as well."

Colleen, i gotta be honest with you - i officially have a text-based crush on you now.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

*blushes and laughs* I'm not really sure how to respond to that, Michelle, so I'll just say thanks. ;)


Leslie - Good to know. Heh. I mean, you know me - it's very rare that I'll stop a book mid-way, but I just couldn't get into it. (The fact that it was short stories helped, since I didn't feel like I was just stopping in the middle of a story.)

[Robert J.]

I give - what's PNR (as opposed to SP for Steam Punk)?

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Para-Normal Romance.

[Michelle]

don't know how that one is yet, Ala, it's further down the list for this month, somewhere after 'the blade itself'. but I'm definitely hoping it'll be better than the typical.

nothing kooky Colleen it was just a *snerk*.

Robert, PNR = romance novels with fangs and/or things that howl at the moon.

[[deleted user]]

Hi everyone, I’m John, 39 year old sci-fi fan and father of two budding sci-fi fans (well, they like Doctor Who, at least). I’ve been a fan of sci-fi in most forms since my dad took me to see Star Wars on opening day in ’77 and watching re-runs of the original Star Trek. My favorite authors are Robert Heinlein, Richard Morgan, John Scalzi and so many more. :-)

[[deleted user]]

Welcome John :)

Doctor Who is a good start on the Sci-Fi indoctrination. Next step is the Original Trilogy and then maybe some Trek :P

[[deleted user]]

Ala wrote: "Welcome John :)

Doctor Who is a good start on the Sci-Fi indoctrination. Next step is the Original Trilogy and then maybe some Trek :P"

Thanks for the welcome!

They like Star Wars, but not enough to pay much attention to what's going on. I can’t get them into Star Trek at all. One of these days, they will crack! lol ;-)

[[deleted user]]

Just gotta be persistent, man. Keep at 'em, they'll come to the dark geek side eventually :P

[[deleted user]]

The Geek Side runs strong in my family. They will learn ;-)

[[deleted user]]

Rachel wrote: "My dad started us on Star Trek when we were kids. Initially I hated it, but when I was about 10 Next Generation came out and I loved it. I have been hooked to all things Trek since them (except D..."

Same for my dad. He got me into a lot of different sci-fi over the years, and still points out books that he thinks I might like. His library of SF paperbacks is very impressive.

[[deleted user]]

I came to Geekdom all on my own. The first geek in the family, too.

Started with Star Wars then Buck Rogers reruns, Battlestar Galactica(original) reruns, Greatest American Hero, TNG, Babylon 5, DS9, etc.

[Douglas]

I’ve been an author, writer, prattler, dreamer since the 1970’s, published mostly in magazines. I have three books to date, one through a publishing house the others self-published. My latest is “Writing for Profit or Pleasure: Where to Publish Your Work”. A fourth book is in progress now; if works out it would be my first attempt to publish Sci-Fi. Sci-Fi is my favorite genre to read; my favorite authors include A.C. Clarke, Isaac Azimov, Frederick Pohl and Larry Niven.

I live on a mountainside in the Cherokee National Forest in East Tennessee with my wonderful wife, a genius border collie and a Prima donna hound dog who is queen of the mountain. I serve as an ordained Elder in my church, am a master woodworker, former custom furniture maker and once dreamt of sailing the world in a Bristol Channel Cutter. I almost got there too. Stories about this and my life as a mountain man wannabe are posted to www.SimpleLifePrattle.com. My favorite things in mortal life include big dogs, gentle music and honest people.

Drop by any time and have a glass of lemon-aid and some home made cookies. Marie makes some GREAT cookies!

[Savion]

Hey there guys, also new here i just got started reading a whole lot more for the least few year's.

Favs so far

Anything that does not put me asleep and has the basic of a good plot line,character's,motive,good writing,and the other things that make a book readable and fun.

Deathlands is my clear favorite
Harry Potter Series (J.K is an awesome storyteller)
Ender's Game(What can you say?)

Currently-reading: The Amber Series next to Jenifer Fallon book's .
and a few others that escape me at the moment but those are the books that keep me intrigued when reading them and they are to me great literature.

[[deleted user]]

Welcome Allan and Savion. :)

Allan, I'm imagining a log cabin out in the middle of the forest with one helluva view. Please don't tell me different :P

Savion, I'm malevolent here too. And I can delete people as well! bwahahahahahaha

[Savion]

Damn you Ala...you and your mad powers of control over Good read... but your malevolence warrants the legal destruction of the Trolls and there spamming underlings forever and a decade an for that, I deem thee honorable forum overlord! bwahahahahahaha

[Douglas]

LOL - having to think hard to remember the rest of the words to that song, coming up empty on a cute comeback, but now you've got that tune running through my head!!

[Douglas]

Ala wrote: "Welcome Allan and Savion. :)

Allan, I'm imagining a log cabin out in the middle of the forest with one helluva view. Please don't tell me different :P

Savion, I'm malevolent here too. And I can d..."

Ala the all-powerful, you're pretty close to the mark. Just one teeny difference, and that isn't the view. We have a view that others pay $1500 to enjoy for just a week.

[[deleted user]]

Dibs on your couch for a weekend to be named in the future :P

[Chris]

Ala wrote: "'I'm malevolent here too. And I can delete people as well! bwahahahahahaha"


Isn't there a Vernor Vinge story about that? :D Or was it Cory Doctorow?

[[deleted user]]

Maybe it was an episode of Twilight Zone?

[Douglas]

We have a comfy couch!

[Steven]

Hi! I'm Steven Lyle Jordan, SF author from the Washington, D.C. area. I'm mostly a fan of semi-hard to soft sci-fi, as is reflected by my novels as well. Asimov, Clarke, Crighton, Bova, Kress and Bradbury are among my favorite writers.

I'm here thanks to the recommendation of other Goodreads members, to check out the community, make a few new connections, and seek new ways to promote my books. That said, I'll just be standing over there, trying to get a lay of the land...

[[deleted user]]

Welcome Steven :)

We have a folder here for authors to promote their work in, so be sure to start a thread there.

Also, as someone new to GoodReads, you should always be sure to read a groups rules when you join. Some groups don't allow self-promotional posts, some do but only in certain areas, etc. Always best to be sure beforehand ;)

[Samantha]

Hi everyone! I'm Samantha, 29, resident of upstate NY. I'm fairly new to GoodReads. Just getting the hang of the site. I work on my grandma's farm to pay the bills, but I also write fantasy (the author thread will be my next stop). I've only been creatively writing for about a year and a half (NaNo 2009). Before that, I was just a reader who wrote papers for school on occasion (earned a B.S. in English after I realized a career in programming would likely kill me!). Fantasy has always been my genre of choice. I love getting lost in someone else's world (or creating my own). What I love most about fiction is it's a way to explore possibilities that may not be reachable in other ways. Nothing is impossible in fiction as long as you can get the words on the page.