This week is another eclectic mixture of things I read.
Recommendation, the First. When I quit my job as an engineer and decided to get serious as a writer, I joined The Loft and took a class on writing speculative fiction. The instructor was a successful novelist and author of an award winning series combining elements of religion, cyberpunk, romance, and mystery. This was Lyda Morehouse and she taught me how to critique - my own and other's work. Her class was like a ball of energy and the lessons aren't stock textbook, but instead are one part real-life experience and another part shared journey. I've taken other classes from her since and every one has been better than any college class I've taken. If you're in Minneapolis and want to learn about writing, Lyda is the instructor for you.
Her blog is Day in the Life of an Idiot. I don't approve of the name because she's anything but. The stories of a writer's life are worth the reading. It may be the only Live Journal site I ever recommend (I hate Live Journal), but Lyda's worth it.
The Second. Left in East Dakota. Graeme Anfinson is a North Dakotan with a perceptive take on current events, both national and international. Given all the political voices in the blogosphere, it's hard to find one that keeps my attention. Left in East Dakota really does keep it because the posts draw stark parallels between disparate events, showing how the trends of corruption and profiteering run through all levels of our policies. Oh, and he's a good writer.
The Third. The most interesting people in the world are those who have great passions. Pica is one of those people. She's a professor of ancient history at Ohio State University and she's Italian and she approaches everything in her life with passionate intensity. This really comes through in her blog, PicaBlog. It's another fresh perspective.
The Fourth. I recently discovered Brockeim on Amazon.com. He writes these clever reviews of some of the silliest products Amazon carries, but what he does is he writes the reviews as serious stories of life, love and love-lost, and tragic encounters. They're funny in their satire and brilliant in the way he's innovated within an unintentional format. Lucky for us, he's mirrored these reviews on his blog, Brockeimia. Enjoy it.
The Fifth. I don't watch Fox News because I don't have cable and I rarely listen to right-wing radio. But I do think it's important to understand the right-wing side of American society, so for that reason I frequently read Say Anything Blog to get that perspective. What's unique about it is that the owner of the site, Rob, often tries to explain his viewpoint and he has the integrity to call out Republicans for bad behavior and ridiculous statements. The real value of the site, however is in the comments where some of the most rabid ideologues blather ceaselessly as administration apologists and propaganda spin. It's 'talking points' in concentrated form.
- rick, reading.
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