An end to a beloved fantasy series

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A Memory of Light, postaday2013, Robert Jordan, series, Wheel of Time, writers

Have you ever encountered a series that kept you enthralled for two decades? I have, The Wheel of Time fantasy written by Robert Jordan. The first book entitled The Eye of the World and it was published in 1990. I stumbled onto the book after the birth of my baby boy in 1991 and I have been an avid fan since. Yesterday I finished the final installment, the 14th volume A Memory of Light. When I closed the book and said good by to all of my friends, I was both very sad and very happy. Sad because that marked the end of a very long friendship with all of the people that I cared about and I was very happy to know that some fates were saved and others fell, but in the manner in which they chose; heroically and courageously.

Robert Jordan passed away in 2007 but he left enough material and notes to let his wife find another huge fan take up the baton and finish the series; the lucky author is Brandon Sanderson and I am so grateful to him for delivering on the promise of the wonderful universe that is the Wheel of Time.

The first time that I opened book one of the series, I was drawn in by what became the signature introduction to each and every book thereafter

“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginning nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.”

I read this and it instantly appealed to the romantic in me, the historian in me, the fantastical in me. I wanted to know more of these Ages, how one was different from the others. Upon meeting the first characters, I got to know plain folk trying to make sense of extraordinary things and events. There was power, there was darkness and there was light.

I grew up loving Tolkien and here in Robert Jordan, I found a writer who paid serious homage to Tolkien all the while keeping it uniquely his own. I am writing this as a small tribute to a writer who took me to other places and gave me wonderful friends, I couldn’t ask for anything more. Thank you Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

My ghostwriter

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biography, Emile Zola, postaday2013, talent, writers

The question here is, if you can have any author, living or dead, write your biography who would it be? One of my favorite writers is Emile Zola, granted he is not one of the most uplifting writers that you will ever encounter, but I feel that he brings a passion and a heart to whatever he chooses his subject matter to be and he never shied away from the down and dirty aspects of his subjects’s lives. His works include Germinal, about the mines around Sainte-Etienne, France or The Earth, La Terre, essentially documenting the plight of the peasants and farmers. Most would agree that both of these works are downright depressing so why would I want Emile to write my biography? Well since my life hasn’t been anything as difficult as mineworkers or farmers, then perhaps my biography would be one of the most uplifting works that Emile Zola would ever have the joy of writing. Could that be possible? Well not in reality, but in my rich fantastical imagination, it could.

It would be so interesting to see how an artist would interpret my little life that is all my own. What broad strokes would he paint and what fine lines would be drawn, I wonder? How would he explain motherhood and tending the home in the grand scheme of the rest of my universe? Even if no one else was interested, I sure would be intrigued.

How it should have ended

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characters, endings, novels, postaday2012, re-writing, stories, writers

There was a story you once read (or saw, or heard) – and it didn’t end the way it should have ended. And that really annoyed you, right? So how *should* it have ended?

When I was in high school I didn’t appreciate the tragic romanticism of certain writers such as Tolstoy, Flaubert and Bronte. When I read Anna Karenina, I identified with the confusion and the desire for the seemingly unobtainable and forbidden passions, after all I was a teenage girl, if it is unobtainable and forbidden, it is automatically more desirable. While reading Madame Bovary, I remember getting so exasperated with her, understanding her willingness to risk everything for love but not understanding her concurrent obsession with all things materialistic. Similarly with Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff would drive me mad with his arrogance and refusal to allow anyone in: Catherine herself wasn’t off the hook from my frustration. Her similar arrogance and immaturity vis a vis her true feelings towards Heathcliff made for painful reading at times. All I wanted for these tragic characters was a little happiness and tranquility. Now as an older reader, I appreciate the masterpieces for what they are, brilliant insights into the frailty of human nature and its inner demons.

A handful of favorite writers

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postaday2012, writers

Name your top five favorite writers.

June 18, 2012

Favorite Writers

Rue Emile Zola

My top five would be:
Emile Zola
Colette
Robert Jordan
Shakespeare
Agatha Christie

Ideas for a t.v show anyone?

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actors, creativity, postaday2012, reality shows, t.v shows, writers

Create a new television show that will delight audiences.

May 27, 2012

Idea for a New TV Show

Writers Guild Deal

I can’t think of anything groundbreaking, it isn’t my forte. I feel that the epidemic of reality t.v. shows, while it makes money for the producers, deprives Hollywood and New York actors, writers and crews, jobs and creative outlets. I would love to see something as wonderful as House come to t.v in September, I would also love to see some great comedies liven the t.v lineup during week nights. Creativity does us all a service over those reality shows where we often see human behavior at its worst.