Write by Wednesday-- The Stories that Stay With You

A couple of weeks ago, I had the delightful opportunity to meet a fellow writer that, shockingly, lives in the same tiny, middle-of-nowhere town I inhabit. She had read Max and Menna and gave me some incredible feedback on the book, saying that it had stayed with her.

As a writer, I think that is the best feedback I could possibly hope for from a reader, fellow writer, or anyone else. It took me over a decade to write Max and Menna. I actually do not consider the genre or tone of the book to be in line with my typical style as a writer, but I stuck with it and had to write it because it was a story that I could not shake. The idea that I was able to convey a story that haunted me for a decade in such a way that it stays with people beyond the last page is... well, I love it. That more than any royalty check or sales rank proves to me that I need to keep sitting here and banging away at my laptop weekend after weekend.

I have to give props, though, to so many writers who created books that stayed with me and propelled me forward with my writing, and there are too many to name. However, I have selected the following list, which interests me because of its variety. Some of these books stayed with me because of their beauty, and others because of their depravity. For some, the words linger with me because of the skill of the prose, while some just tell stories too enticing to forget. In no particular order, here is my very abridged hit list of books that took days to leave me:

• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (I've written about this one and why a whole lot)
• The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
• The Color of Night by Madison Smartt Bell 
• World War Z by Max Brooks
• IT by Stephen King
• Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Flight by Sherman Alexie
• Going Bovine by Libba Bray

What are your lingering books? You know, the ones that just seem to grab on to your soul?

A to Z Challenge: My Favorite Storytellers-- C

C was an easy call for me in my April countdown of favorite storytellers, and it stands for...

Orson Scott Card
For you regulars, you know that my love of Ender's Game has become part of my identity. I read this book, on average, about once a year. I am able to do this both because the book is really, really good and pulls me in every time I open it, but also because it reminds me of a feeling, so full, and rich, and powerful, that I got the first time I read this book.

The feeling was "I want to write books that make people feel like this."

The feeling was infinite.

I've read at least 20 books by Card, some that I loved, some that were good, some that I didn't care for. He is a consistent and talented storyteller, but nothing will touch the sheer, visceral emotion behind Ender's Game. 

I'd recommend you buy it now!!

And then tell me, for you avid readers and writers, what was the first book that really got you hooked?

Summer Reading List #2-- The Genuinely Spooky

On my quest to recommend some great books to carry you through vacation, I am revealing something about myself-- I read a little bit of everything. Like my taste in movies, my taste in books typically would be described more easily by what I don't read than what I do. I don't read (or watch) comedies, romantic comedies, or romances. Almost everything else is fair game.

In the horror genre (which I watch more than I read), I have previously expoused my love for Stephen King's IT, but for a summer reading recommendation, I am going a different way.

Lost Boys, by Orson Scott Card

No, this is not the basis on the vampire movie (though I love them both). This is a book about a Mormon family relocating from Utah to a small town in the east coast. Step and his wife Diane immediately become concerned as they learn of a rash of mysterious disappearances, all involving the town's young boys. Their concern grows when their previously buoyant eight-year-old son Stevie is suddenly withdrawn, preferring the company of his new and growing army of imaginary friends.

This book is genuinely creepy, downright scary at times. Written with Card's usual penchant of narrative the carries (rather than pulls) you through a story, you will find it hard to put down.

If you've got a few days off and can afford to sleep with the lights on, this is highly recommended!