Former Introduction Thread Showing 3,201-3,250 of 6,846

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome...and tell your cat my cats said hi.

[Jacqueline]

Hi, my name is Jackie. Like many here I grew up on LOTR's, it's the series my dad chose to read to me during elementary school to convince me books were good things. I've been an avid reader ever since. I love SF & Fantasy and am intrigued by some of books this group has read over the last year. I'm looking forward to the upcoming reads, Wool omnibus is fantastic.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi welcome. I read the Hobbit to my kids first, LOL.

[Frank]

Hi all. My name is Frank, and I've been a fan of science fiction for almost my whole life. That's probably why I spent a dozen years in satellite operations and I'm currently working on spacecraft flight software. I tend to read hard SF, some alternate history, and a bit of fantasy thrown in the mix.

My brother and I have just realeased our first novel and have started our second. In this group I hope to learn what book lovers like and dislike, how they find new authors, what is their prefered medium (mine is any e-book on my iPad), and what price they'll pay to read an unknown writer.

I promise I won't spam, but I may mention my work occasionally. If I can get some new readers, great. And I'll always talk about my work.

[Ginny]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Welcome...and tell your cat my cats said hi."

My cat also includes her greetings, however, she 'believes' she is from the foreign country and has been sent as a spy. We learned about her evil tendencies a few Christmases ago when she ate some of our nativity sets. It's traumatizing to find a Wise Man's headless body in your bed.(No, we are not enchanted, we just have an overactive imaginations -her 'history' came from a t.v. free summer my teenage daughters had a few years ago and it's stuck. It was the same summer my youngest finished all the Harry Potter series in two months.)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Ahhh.... I'm pretty sure our cats keep fairies and we folk down in the house. Every now and then they seem to spot something I can't see and go for it. Also one of them occasionally goes and digs at the closet door in my bed room. Not sure what she has trapped in there.

[Sharon]

I have rarely had house cats, but I did have one Rottweiler (out of many) that definitely saw things. It was pretty weird to watch her get up, looking at something and then just sit, watching, facing a totally blank corner of the room.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

In one of the Dresden books someone says to Dresden that it freaks them out when dogs and cats stare at nothing. Harry replies that dogs and cats don't stare at nothing.

By the way as I'm typing this Romeo (one of our toms) has been "talking to me". He meows a certain way.

[Sharon]

I have to say that I always have been convinced Heidi saw 'something' although I do not know what it was and I never saw it myself.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

They keep those things away from us so we're safe...it's the same things that hide under kid's beds and in their closets. Adults can't see those either.

[Sharon]

When I moved to a cabin on the Crow reservation, she was still with me. Didn't look in the corners but every so often in the fall she would lay facing the door, absolutely still. If I was barefoot and stood over her, touching her ribcage, I could feel (though not hear) the vibration of a growl. Took me awhile, but after I saw the bear tracks in the dust on the dirt road I figured it out, finally.

Never saw the bear, either ... but it was there.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I trust my 4 legged friends.

[Tasha]

My cat has me well trained and rules our house. She also occasionally publishes blog posts before I'm done writing them. :D

[Mike (the Paladin)]

...what do you mean "our house"? I freely admit that my cats let me live here.

[Tasha]

The cat doesn't pay the mortgage so she lets me believe its my house as long as we run it her way...

[Richard]

The cats obviously already own the mortgage companies, this is just their way of letting you pay your rent to them in a more structured manner.

[Tasha]

Richard wrote: "The cats obviously already own the mortgage companies, this is just their way of letting you pay your rent to them in a more structured manner."

They are smart and sneaky creatures. I know mine remembers that once they were worshipped.

[Tasha]

LOL Clive. is that because they are the genius behind your books?

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I believe it was Edward Gorey who said, "Books, Cats. Life is good."

One of our cats (so to speak) is Romeo (named by my son some years ago) I'm pretty sure has a web sight. Twice he somehow managed to log onto the internet back when we had dial up service. I'd hear "Welcome to ...." and look around to see "Romey" sitting in front of the keyboard.

[Sharon]

Welcome and I'm sure you will have many suggestions for books. What are some of your favorite authors?

The farm work is very familiar to me, as are the hours, as I was raised on a small cattle ranch in Montana and have lived in rural areas most of my life. Books have always been my major entertainment.

I'm retired now, but still raise horses. Are the horses you have Icelandics? I have a friend in Virginia with two Icelandics and the breed is very interesting.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Siggi, I grew up on a farm in the mountains of Tennessee. I loved to read even then, though books were hard to come by. Sounds like you and your family have a good life. Iceland is one of the places I'd like to visit...though the odds are against it now, LOL.

I'm sure you'll get LOTS of suggestions here. Enjoy and welcome.

[Sharon]

Sigurður wrote: "About your friend. are those pure breed? "

Yes, they are both purebreds. She rides quite a lot and likes them because of the tolt as she has an old back injury that bothers her.

I used to breed the big warmbloods but am a small person and the older I get, the smaller my horses have gotten. I now raise the sportponies almost exclusively, still for dressage and eventing, but in smaller packages.

[Limey]

Well, what can I say? I was very into comics and sci-fi as a child/teenager and it never left me, but adulthood, study, work and the fact that other things are interesting too led me away from reading much sci-fi later.

Living in Northampton in my late teens and early 20s means I was affected by the interest in comics around Alan Moore, and the fact that that kept people interested in sci-fi, horror and fantasy to an extent too, but then I went to study languages and foreign literature, and that was more about classics and more general contemporary psychological/social literature, which I like too, of course.

Over the last year or so I've indulged that pleasure some more again as well as also researching a little what sci-fi more suits my tastes, perceptions, interests and requirements now. So I'm here to focus my attention on maybe some more of what that might be.

Books of this type I've enjoyed recently are:

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi, welcome.

[Alan]

Hi, I'm a fiction writer with a focus on urban fantasy (with a paranormal slant), science fiction, satire and poetry with influences from magic realism and surrealism. More info from my profile, which also includes a blog I'll be adding to over the next days, weeks and beyond.

Glad to be here!

[Angelique]

My name is Angelique and I love Sci-Fi and Fantacy. Allthough I do read many subjects. reading is like breathing to me. I write as often as I can, my goal is to write a book. I am married to a wonderful man my prince Cameron. I also golf, walk and currently working on wight loss. my favorite book of all time is "The Outsiders" by SE Hinton.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Angelique, welcome.

Oh a word of advice, stay away from men named Barnabas...

[Jalilah]

Hi Everyone,
I go by Jalilah on line and I live in Ottawa, Ontario. I came to fantasy via Urban Fantasy and Magical Realism.Some of my favourite authors are Isabel Allende, Charles De Lint, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and Haruki Murakami. I just finished Among Others by Jo Waldon and loved it. Now I am curious to read some of the classic fantasy and science fiction writers that she talks about.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi, welcome.

[Azura]

Hi. My name isn't really Azura but I would like my name to remain private. I absolutely love fantasy books such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy (I'm reading it right now) and the Hobbit, and even the Tapestry series by Henry H. Neff. I hope that this group will be awesome!!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Of course we are! AND...we're humble about it!!!

:) welcome.

[David]

Jalilah wrote: "Hi Everyone,
I go by Jalilah on line and I live in Ottawa, Ontario. I came to fantasy via Urban Fantasy and Magical Realism.Some of my favourite authors are Isabel Allende, Charles De Lint, Nina..."

Hi Jalilah - where does she talk about these other writers? On her website?

[David]

Hi - I haven't replied to the replies to my original post here yet but I intend to soon. Is that bad English? :)
I had a question for everyone. I was looking at a list of Urban Fantasy. There were some interesting suggestions in it, including some books I've already read. However, the list was chock full of vampire/werewolf/romance-ish books (or combinations thereof), many of which were part of lengthy series. I'm wondering how to get a list going which would omit those types of books, as they are not my cup of tea at all; weeding them out of a large list is very tedious. My question would apply to general fantasy lists as well as urban fantasies.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

The only way I know of is to start a list in a group where you can actually communicate with everyone contributing to said list. Or start a listopia list and cull it every day as anyone can put books on a listopia list.

We voted on a list of fantasy books in a group. It was just the people in the group. There you could make clear to everyone what you were looking for and what you weren't. I've seen the listopia UF list and it's got everything on it. Not just UF but PNR and every type of fantasy book out there.

[David]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "The only way I know of is to start a list in a group where you can actually communicate with everyone contributing to said list. Or start a listopia list and cull it every day as anyone can put boo..."

Thanks Mike. What is PNR?

[Tasha]

PNR = Paranormal Romance
UF = Urban Fantasy

Welcome to the world of abbreviations!

[David]

Abbreviations, as in?

LBJ took the IRT
Down to 4th Street USA
When he got there
What did he see?
The youth of America on LSD

Sorry, couldn't resist!

[David]

Tasha wrote: "PNR = Paranormal Romance
UF = Urban Fantasy

Welcome to the world of abbreviations!"

Thank you Tasha!

[Tasha]

David wrote: "Abbreviations, as in?

LBJ took the IRT
Down to 4th Street USA
When he got there
What did he see?
The youth of America on LSD

Sorry, couldn't resist!"

Thanks for the laugh. Glad I could help

[Jalilah]

David wrote: "Jalilah wrote: "Hi Everyone,
I go by Jalilah on line and I live in Ottawa, Ontario. I came to fantasy via Urban Fantasy and Magical Realism.Some of my favourite authors are Isabel Allende, Charl..."

No, in her Book. Among Others is homage to science fiction and fantasy literature and as well as those who read it.

[Richard]

David wrote: "Abbreviations, as in?

LBJ took the IRT
Down to 4th Street USA
When he got there
What did he see?
The youth of America on LSD

Sorry, couldn't resist!"

haha good one, I like the one from Jim Butchers Dresden Files, when Ebenezar McCoy is complaining that the yough of today use too many abbreviations.

Harry: “I’m glad you took the time to RSVP me. I have a problem that needs to stay on the QT, but is rapidly going FUBAR. I’m sorry to call you LD through AT&T instead of using UPS, but I needed your help ASAP. I hope that’s OK.’
Ebenezar: ‘Don’t make me kick your ass, Hoss.’”-”
—

Harry Dresden to Ebenezar

[David]

Richard wrote: "David wrote: "Abbreviations, as in?

LBJ took the IRT
Down to 4th Street USA
When he got there
What did he see?
The youth of America on LSD

Sorry, couldn't resist!"

haha good one, I like the one ..."

That's a coincidence - I want to read the first book in the Dresden Files series. BTW, I'm glad you didn't say STFU!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I assume this is all okay for "government work"????

[David]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "The only way I know of is to start a list in a group where you can actually communicate with everyone contributing to said list. Or start a listopia list and cull it every day as anyone can put boo..."

How do I access that list Mike? Thanks

[David]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I assume this is all okay for "government work"????"

Yes, I do high-level security clearance work for one of those 3-letter quasi-government organizations (I can't give the abbreviation here), and it's all okay as far as I can see.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

you mean....EPA. They're the scariest group I can think of...

As for a thread or list, you start a thread here by clicking on the appropriate folder and following the "new thread" prompts. I've never started a listopia list (they always seemed more trouble than they were worth) but the directions are probably there. Just do the pull down on explore on the top bar and go to listopia.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Yeah I just went and checked, there's a new list option.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi, welcome.

[Anne]

Hi, I'm Anne Marie -- a longtime reader of Science Fiction and fantasy, and also author of a new fantasy novel. I just found this group while browsing Goodreads. I'm looking forward to discovering new treasures in this genre, and perhaps re-reading some old ones! My blog is at annemariesblog.wordpress.com.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome.