Fueling Up

As obvious as this is, I constantly rediscover the magic of reading (DUH!). It soothes some paranoia with my writing style and juices up the inspiration sponge.

Right now, I’m kind of in a book jam since I’m catching up on reading (this semester, every time I geared myself up for some leisure reading, I passed out from exhaustion. Revenge of the Late-Nighters).

Here’s what’s on the list so-far. I think I have to restrain myself from getting more books:

• Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (Got this for Christmas. Didn’t get past Chapter 4, since I kept passing out from academic exhaustion. The concepts and magical system are quite interesting so far. Allomancy!)
• Racing the Dark by Alaya Dawn Johnson (From the library. As mentioned before, I was hooked to the sample she provided on her website. Love the worldbuilding so far–on some summaries, it seems like there’s a whole lot more to discover. Something about bound-spirits in the center of the world coming loose. Ooh)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Quite a few people are highly recommending the trilogy. Judging by the wait–I was Hold No. 5 of 15 in the library system–the content must be on fire.)

I was also going to order Clash of Kings, second book of the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin (that, too, I tried to read this semester with the same result), but I need to clear my list first. I read Game of Thrones last summer and gaped at the worldbuilding. (I’m also watching the show on HBO, hehe! Cheering for Arya Stark! She and Tyrion seem to be the only people keeping it real in that hellhole. But more on that later.)

A Tough Guide to Fantasyland

Popular recommendation and Shweta Narayan’s post, Tough Guide to Fantasyland’s Locales (which is a great Mmhmm read, by the way–especially if you’re  fed-up with the RaceFail in Fantasy) brought my attention to The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, a sarcastically humorous Mmhmm! exposé on fantasy clichés, written by the late Diana Wynne Jones (I’ve never read her work, but I’ve heard of her novel, Howl’s Moving Castle, that was made into an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki) .

Half-way through the Guide, I’ve laughed out loud at familiar, eye-rolling fantasy clichés and bit my lip sheepishly at called-out characters that I’ve made.

I agree with popular recommendations–if you’re reading this blog, you write fantasy, and you’ve never read Tough Guide, well … do read it!

~Right now, I’m kind of stuck in a block. I’ve tried reading some short stories on online publications for a tad of inspiration (that’s not working), and have been skimming through my favorite websites (that’s not working, either). I’ve stared at my Word screen, read through my plot and worldbuilding notes for a kick-start (to no avail). I guess I’m still burnt out from school, hehe.

But anywhoo, I’m about to read Racing the Dark by Alaya Dawn Johnson. I read the sample on her website and enjoyed it (was so caught up in what was happening that my stomach fell out when the sample ended, hehe). I may do a section by section spoilery review as I read along  (or wait till I’ve finished it whole, instead).

Anyways, I hope I get to board Inspiration-Express tonight … Argh.