This is the view from my office window. Second story, looking southwest. The line of trees hides the river, an upside down river full of quicksand, willows and small encampments of hippies who got lost there in the 60s. The fields visible to the right of the road are planted with strawberries, as well as herbs, flowers and rhubarb. The vegetable plots are further to the right, though not in view.
Anyway, this is my typical view as I sit and consider how to conquer the galaxy or, at the very least, think up new pie recipes and stories.
Why would anyone try to think up pie recipes in an office? Get thee to a cookery (aka a kitchen)! But maybe the invisible hippie encampments provide inspiration.
Looks nice–nicer than my view from the window in the midst of the suburbs…
And by pies, are were talking meat pies or “desert” pies?
Fruit pies. My family are farmers, so we grow a lot of pie ingredients. The whole pie thing is a value-added experiment for us. A pretty tasty experiment.
How do you know about these hippie enclaves? Sounds interesting…
Do you mean small encampments of hobbits? An upside down river sounds like their sort of habitat.
I am interested in finding books for my teenage children who can’t get enough of Tolkien. Are your books appropriate for teens? What fantasy authors do you recommend for YA?
You’re right. Besides, hobbits are much more interesting than hippies.
They’re Tolkien readers? Well, they’ve begun at the best spot. However, as I don’t know their full tastes, I can only recommend the fantasy books I’ll be putting on my own boys’ shelves when they get older. Besides Tolkien, I’d recommend the Narnia Chronicles, Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series, George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin & The Princess and Curdie, Patricia McKillip’s Riddlemaster trilogy (The Riddlemaster of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and The Harpist in the Wind), Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore). I’d include Andrew Lang’s various fairytale collections as well. I suppose children read them, but they’re fantastic and only get better with age.
And, yes, I honestly do think my fantasy trilogy is appropriate for teens. I primarily write for myself, and my reading tastes still coincide with what I read as a teenager.
Thank you for the extensive list. A list of recommended reading from a living author is a rare gift. Most of the authors I read are unable to answer such a question; or if they were alive, would hardly take the time to do so! I had the pleasure of sharing it with my children and discovering that my ten year old son had already read A Wizard of Earthsea so we’ll plunge into the series along with yours of course! He’s curious when you started writing books/short stories or anything of that nature.
I started writing stories when I was your son’s age. Long time ago. Stories, poems, songs, letters. Anything with words was fodder for me. Is he interested in writing?
Ten years old…what a great time for discovering books. The fantasy genre is full of good literature for that age, but there are so many fabulous books in other genres as well. Robert Lawson’s stories, Madeline L’Engle, of course, Sid Fleischman (I still go back and reread By the Great Horn Spoon every once in a while), the Tintin stories, Helen Cresswell’s Bagthorpe series, the Mr. Bass books by Eleanor Cameron. I’ll stop now, or I’ll go on forever.
I’m the ten year old.
Yes, I am very interested in writing. I’ve had 2 school assignments that include writing stories as long as 13 pages long and I am going to expand them to up to 250 pages and maybe publish them on my own. I’ve gone through the whole writing process twice. You obviously know it being a writer: Chapter outlines, clues (if you’re writing a mystery), and all the other stuff. My family is buying a Kindle, so we can bring your books and our whole book shelf with us on road trips.
Sincerely,
✎ ☢Daniel F. Stevens✍☢✎
Hi Daniel. It sounds like you’re well on your way as a writer. I’m impressed that you’re thinking so methodically about the process. If you ever want feedback on your stories, feel free to send them my way (besides, I’d be interested to read them). I hope you all enjoy your Kindle. There are hundreds of free books available for it (particularly the old ones), so be sure to stock up on those.
As a librarian, mother of teens, and voracious reader since childhood, I second everything Christopher said. Yes, his books are teen appropriate. Yes, all the stuff he recommends is great. And as he says, you could go on for a long time recommending good series/authors/titles- there is lots (and lots and lots). Here, just for example, is one list: http://www.pollardml.org/tolkien.html. But of course it doesn’t include Christopher Bunn yet- it should…
That was supposed to be from Daniel’s address, i_luv_ipad@ymail.com . He loves the Apple iPad, but he also likes books so much he’ll sit down and read for 4 hours at a time. He’s a REAL book lover.
He sounds like me and my brothers when we were young. We read constantly. Our parents would punish us by forcing us to go outside and play (I’m somewhat kidding).
Yesterday I realized my ten year old impersonated me in order to post his email, his love of ipads and claim he reads “four hours at a time.” The temptation online to be someone you aren’t even applies to children. Thank you Angelica for the website with recommended reading – staying one step ahead of 4 readers is challenging. I found Christopher’s comment that, as a writer, his tastes still coincide with those of his teenage years very thought provoking. There’s a lot of filler out there that won’t feed their souls, but from the lists the two of you have given me, there’s plenty of nourishment too!
“There’s a lot of filler out there that won’t feed their souls…”
That’s depressingly true. Emphasis on “a lot.”
Angelika, I didn’t realize you’re a librarian. Did I know that before? My memory must be aging. Anyway, I’m going to have to start asking you for book recommendations.