Tuesday, February 14, 2006

   Success!

I finally got myself some Photoshop! Whoooo! *does happy dance* Sorry, I just had to shout that ^_^ I haven't loaded it on my computer yet, since I spent all day cleaning off extra crap to make space for it, plus I had to go with the family to the mall and look for some new glasses frames (the ones I have now are from the 8th grade... and they were geeky back then, plus they have lenses in them that were out of date back then too. My perscription had gone WAY up) Also, I finished rereading the book Hexwood, for which I am very proud. It's by Diana Wynne Jones, the same author of Howl's Moving Castle fame. That woman is a great author. She's been famous since before I was born and pretty much anything that J.K. Rowling has done in her books, Diana Wynne Jones was that revolutionary a couple decades ago. She's got that twist ending down like nobody's business. By the end of the story, you're in awe at how so intricately she can weave the plot to make you think one thing while she later pulls the rug out from under your feet and changes everything. So, on to reccommended reading. The Dalemark Quartet is great. Four books that don't seem to have much to do with each other until the end. Of course, Howl's Moving Castle and it's sequel, Castle in the Air, not to be confused with Miyazaki's film "Castle in the Sky", which is something completely different. Then there's The Crestomanci Chronicles, the fifth of which is coming out soon (the previous four can be found in two volumes). Then there's good old Hexwood, a fabulous sci-fi fantasy that is so delightfully confusing until the end that you just have to read it a second time when you know what the hell's going on. And let's not forget The Merlin Conspiracy, one of the newer additions to the long and distiguished list. And of course, one book that every aspiring fantasy writer should own, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. Designed as a sort of fake travel encylopedia, this book merrily and hilariously rips on every cliched and overused fantasy element, from the "Reek of Wrongness" to the highly overused character color-coding system (because those evil villans always have to have the red eyes... ^_^) Well, now that I'm done pimping books... AGAIN, I'll be off. I need to sleep, unfortunately. So, later all! -Quote of the Day- (this quote is all the funnier when you know that Yam is a surly robot) "Yam was running round and round in little circles. 'The Wood has taken us prisoner. The Wood will not let us go!' Mordion heard him cry out. 'We shall be here forever!'" -Hexwood- (trust me, it's funnier when you've read the book ^_^) This is from Juvenile Orion. Love the prettiness! *pokes people til they love it*

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