100 Books, Sort Of...

At a loss for a topic (or beleaguered by too many potential topics), I stole this meme from Candy's blog. The idea is, go through the list and bold the ones you've read.

An interesting aside: regarding the psychology of the book mix: in a study where subjects were presented with a list of high-brow (Schindler's List) and low-brow (Mask) movies, high-brow movies made up a very high percentage of their lists. When they were told they'd actually have to WATCH those movies, the high-brow choices were suddenly 13 times less likely to be chosen.

This is why your Netflix queue is full of fine films you keep passing over for Chopper Chicks in Zombietown. And why every 'Top 100' book list is full of books people think they 'should' like...



Without further ado:


1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6 The Bible
8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Berniere
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

WOOOP!

I write like
Raymond Chandler

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I am, needless to say, chuffed!

(Tip of the hat to Kate for the link!)

Christmas Meme

Yes, I'm late on this. It charmed me, and I'm doing it anyway. So there. ;-)

The original argument:

Here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy this entire note and paste as a new note on your Facebook page blog. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag this note to a bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you...'Tis the Season to be NICE! OK, if you're reading this, feel free to cut and paste for your own blog.

My answers:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

I *love* wrapping. Probably my favorite part of the season!

2. Real tree or Artificial?

A real tree (regardless of size) is under $20 here. I'm digging that real pine smell, baby!

3. When do you put up the tree?

December, prefer before mid-month...

4. When do you take the tree down?

January 6th-- Three Kings or Twelfth Night, as you prefer

5. Do you like eggnog?

It is a very fond memory, though I wonder how all that heavy cream would go over in the middle of summer...

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

I think I was eight or nine when my parents gave me a wee plaque that read "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it because he dances to a different drummer. Let him march to the music he hears, however measured or far away." It was the closest my parents ever got to acknowledging the freak flag I fly, and that plaque still hangs on the wall in my home.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

I do pretty good, I think. Mostly. Except when I don't. What am I talking about-- who doesn't like pine tree deodorizers and wiper blade refills?!

8. Easiest person to buy for?

My parents: they get a phone call.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

No.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Not this year. Christmas kinda snuck up on me and everything was last minute...

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

Such a long line of parental 'Why can't you just be normal' gifts to choose from...

12. Favorite Christmas Movies?

Freaking "A Christmas Story"!!!!

Like Highlander, there can be only one!!!!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

Wiper blades and Pine Tree Deodorizers give you any idea?

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

See previous answer.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Lift the other end of the dinner table. I'll unhinge my lower jaw and you just let the food slide on in there!

16. Color of Lights on the tree?

Lots of colors. Pretty Colors. The more I drink, the pretty they get...

17. Favorite Christmas song? Dublin BLues, by Guy Clarke and Townes Van Zandt

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

Where's the option for Wrestle the Cops on the Front Lawn?

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?

(Stares into space) "On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen, on Comet on Cupid on Donder and Blitzen!" And of course, that alcoholic corporate whore, Rudolph.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

Angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

Christmas morning. Santa takes his time reaching the Antipodes.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

Every year, some knucklehead wants a 20-30 hour tattoo in time for Christmas dinner. They usually wander in with incoherent ravings and cocktail-napkin scrawls sometime around the 23rd...

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?

I'd like to hear more about those X-rated ornaments Charles mentioned earlier.

24. Favorite for Christmas Eve Dinner?

Does bourbon and Vicodin count??

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

To finally beat elderly Grandma Dynamo's record for the annual Christmas Day Police Wrassle. It's no use, though: she's wrinkly and stretchy, she's old and naked, and she refuses to share her recipe for body grease!

26. What is your wish for Christmas?

Refer to previous question.

That was fun! Now... who's got a hatchet?! :)

Distraction

Apparently, it's no longer Halloween...

I realize I've been distracted lately. I started a new business. Raised my art to a whole new level. I'm having one hell of a time writing this novel. So maybe it's no wonder I'm not always entirely... present.

For instance, I forgot to renew my car registration. And I paid my last power bill late. Not for lack of money, just forgot.

Also, I failed to notice the wagons. Their colors were certainly bright enough, but I had that witchy pinup to do. At night, I was so tired I slept right through the violins, the dancing, and the strange, sad chanting of the Clans Dynamo.

Working my way through a thorny bit of dialogue, I wandered right past the Uncles Dynamo, Sergei and Volstov. Didn't even occur to me to wonder why they were throwing a goat.

Other people were running around buying presents. Carols were piped in on sound systems everywhere. I didn't notice, any more than I noticed the fire department's recent agitation or the night Mad Uncle Ludwig drew the lightning down to Castle Dynamo.

But now Great Aunt Agatha Dynamo is here. And there is no ignoring Great Aunt Agatha. If nothing else, the erratic beeping of her court-ordered ankle bracelet (a memento of the last Gathering of the Clan Dynamo) makes it difficult. As does the juggling. And that horrible thing she does with the horseshoe.

But the knives are the worst. She has dozens of them hidden in the folds of her dress, and she's a dead shot.

She keeps thumbing the edge of her favourite blade and chuckling softly to herself.

That's when it hit me: Christmas. Of course.

So now I'm off to bed to listen for the sound of reindeer hooves. It's that or stay awake and listen for the sounds of Aunt Agatha padding barefoot down the hall.

I hope the Clan like their gifts this year: I see myself giving wiper blade refills and pine tree deodorizers...

Oh dear.

Thanksgiving Values

I missed the turkey this year, but kept the, ahem, *proper* sentiment...

A Little Early Christmas

This is how I want Christmas to roll in my house. I've already got the accordion....




(The writing goes well...)

Topic Free Frippery

I've been stuck for a bloggable topic lately, most likely

because I'm coming up to my Big Middle and stuck deep,

deep, *deep* in the throes of Second Act Insanity. So, in an effort to break the Bloggy Ice, I thought I'd do this meme I stole from Charles and Candy.

Reading Habits

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
I read whenever, feeding times included. My favorite reading snack would be beer. My most likely would be coffee.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I'm not much for marking.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
Bookmark, or, in an effort to foster neuronal connection and stave off dementia, one simply remembers one's page.

Fiction, nonfiction, or both?
Both. Most books I read are fiction these days, since I got the hang of using the interwebs to do nonfiction research...

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I can put a book down whenever I need to, though I do prefer to at least reach a scene break.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
Nope. Sadly, I tend to drop the word and the context in which it was used in a sort of mental file, that I may bring it out later, often horribly misused.

What are you currently reading?
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (an old friend and constant comfort in times of darkness)
a biography of Henry Miller, title and author of which escape me

What is the last book you bought?
The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes

Are you the type of person who reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
I’ll frequently have several going at a time. But one will usually be my main focus.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
I grabs it where I finds it.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
I'm easy.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
Hmm...
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
The Bottoms by Joe Lansdale
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

How do you organize your books?(by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)
Organization is a strong word for what I do. A *very* strong word. There are... groupings, but attributing any intelligent design to my shelves is like seeing a sense of purpose in the formation of a sand dune...

This One's for Charles

The Way of the Barbarian: Infusing Your Spiritual Life with Conan

50 Reasons

Blatantly stolen from the brilliantly-titled Bookgasm,

50 Reasons No One Wants to Publish Your First Book

(click the 50 Reasons to go straight to the post-- the bookgasm link takes you to their latest entertainment!)

A few of my personal favorites:

#46. Historically, books written solely to settle a bar bet seldom make it to print, especially if they were written during a seven-and-a-half-hour period in the same bar where the bet was made.

#43. Writing a 97,236-word thesis arguing the inherent superiority of Wolverine over Batman is intrinsically flawed since no intelligent person could ever take it seriously. I mean, c’mon, Batman would kick that midget Canuck’s ass every single time!

#25. A young-adult novel set in the behind-the-scenes world of network reality television featuring over two dozen characters, graphic underage sex and dead prostitutes? Are you fucking kidding me? No, seriously, are you fucking kidding me?

(that one made the whiskey fly out my nose!)

and...

#6. The world isn’t quite ready for an illustrated children’s book called SOME MOMMIES ARE INTERNET PORNSTARS



How bout y'all? What's your favorite???

In a Peanuts State of Mind...

I love, love, *LOVE* Charles Schutz's PEANUTS. I learned to read from those strips, and spent many a drunken night playing pool on the site of Charlie Brown's dad's barbershop.

Later, my life's rhythms danced to the music of Frank Miller and Charles Bukowski, among others...

So of course, I was delighted to see Peanuts, in a Sin City sort of way:

(Click for big'uns!)

And Peanuts if it was written by Charles Bukowski!


Come to think of it, that one strip recounts a conversation I've had with more than a few people...

Enjoy!

Who Knew?

I could survive for 1 minute, 44 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds.net

Seems a little low to me, but these:

71%

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

33

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

Yeah, they seem about right!

Aftermath

Well, this year it happened again: the Great Pumpkin passed us over.

In years past, I understood. We lived down of a long drive at the end of a dead-end street. Not exactly a big area for foot traffic. This year, though, we were on a more-traveled street. I decorated the front of the house, and because New Zealand shops did not supply my needs this year, the decorations were handmade. Dammit, I was sincere.

Of course, it might have helped if my home were not quite so Dark & Forbidding. Good thing I'm moving on Wednesday!

Many people I know got trick or treaters. I have an enormous bowl full of candy.

Hmm.....



Maybe that's not *all* bad, after all.

That All You Got, Pansies?

So I'm basically hammering away:

Yeah, I'm taking over the tattoo shop in a month.

And working a LOT of extra shifts to make it happen.

And finishing the new novel. Another week. Maybe two.

And moving house. (Did I not mention moving? Yeah, I'm moving in a couple weeks.)

And trying like hell to find a tattooist who won't flake out after one day.

You know what I need? What's been lacking? This weekend I found out:

Food Poisoning.

Maybe it was a stomach virus, I don't know. After a day and a half of vomiting, I didn't care.

One good thing about the experience, there was plenty of time to think. I figured out where BURIED was going wrong, unpicked the bad chapters and am once again going strong. Full throttle, as it were...

Also, it turns out, I'm less the Marv-type than Dwight. Probably on account of that time I faked my own death. Maybe it's a coincidence on account of the Dwight tattoo on my leg these last ten years. Who knows? My favorite thing is that I came in second for Lucielle! Which Sin City character are you?




At the moment, the Full Throttle Daily Wordcout-O-Meter stands at 63,000 words (since about 3,000 had to come out...)

Slow Moving, All Limbs Intact

Because everyone deserves to find that special someone...


Even if they're dead.

Disclaimer: ZombieHarmony is for zombies only. We advise signing up for ZombieHarmony only if you lack a pulse, have limited motor skills, or feel an intense desire to feast on human beings. We are not responsible for lost or ingested loved ones. If you go on a date with a zombie, we cannot be held liable for contributing to the apocalypse.

Please date responsibly: bring a baseball bat or crowbar.

Today I hit the Act II Climax right on time-- the Full Throttle Wordcount-O-Meter stands at 60,000 words!

No two people are not on fire.

Some people need to laugh.

Steve needs a full-throttle laugh!

The Meme Raths Outgrabe

Meming time again....


What were you doing 10 years ago?

I had either just moved to New Zealand, or I was just about to move to New Zealand. It was a scary, exciting time for me, and one of the best things I ever did.

Five things on your to-do list for today

Write.

Read.

Paint.

Draw.

Play with the Tiny Dynamo.

(not necessarily in that order)

(What can I say? La Vie Boheme is La Dolce Vida up in here!)

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

Two Words: SECRET VOLCANO LAIR, baby!!!

Seriously, about five years ago I quit worrying about money. My life now is *exactly* what I would want if I had a billion bucks, just with shabbier clothes, house, etc. I do my best every day to humbly serve the talents I've been given, and there's always enough money there by bedtime.

And, while I would like a little pied a terre in Chartres (I could always take the train into Paris), it seems to me that *actually* having one billion dollars would be a job in itself. And not a fun one. Even if I managed NOT to be one of those 'Winning the Lottery Ruined my Life' stories, I do believe the constant demands of dealing with that kind of cash would detract from my art.

What are three of your bad habits?

1. Action. (The title of this blog might just as easily have been Ready, FIRE, Aim!)

2. Horizontal Organization. (Or, as the Tiny Dynamo puts it, clutter.)

3. Coffee rings. (The not-so-secret ingredient to the Full-Throttle lifestyle has a dark side of its own...)

What are some snacks you enjoy?

1. Baby Ruth bars, unavailable in New Zealand (my penance for life in Paradise)

2. Whittaker's Chocolate, the finest in the world imho

3. Coffee. It is snack, beverage, pick-me-up in the morning and relaxing break in the middle of the day. Teacher, mother, secret lover......

What were the last five books you read?

1. Severance Package, by Dwayne Swierczynski

2. Frank Frazetta: ICON

3. Cold in the Light, by Charles Gramlich

4. Shane, by Jack Schaeffer

5. Money Shot, by Christa Faust

What are five jobs you have had?

I've pretty much spent my life doing creative work.

1. Tattooist

2. Illustrator

3. Cartoonist

4. Storyboard Artist

5. Painter (like gallery shows, with the wine and the cheese, not houses, with the overalls and the dropcloths...)

What are five places where you have lived?

1. St. Paul, Minnesota

2. New Orleans, Louisiana

3. Barcelona, Spain

4. Jerusalem, Israel

5. Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealand

And now for the tagging:

Riss

Lana

Sphinx

Shauna

Avery

SQT

I've tried to leave out those of you I know don't like memes...

But Seriously, Villainy

(My humble apologies to all of you on dial-up. Today's post is *very* visual...)

I'm working hard out (full-throttle, as it were) trying to finish the last edits after the MAJOR rewrite. In the meantime, I figured I'd give you folks a little frippery, a tiny something to amuse and confuse.
Then I realized, there's actual, solid, good advice here, both positive and negative, for writing your villains. Or is that just me?

As always, take what you like and leave the rest...

IMPORTANT ADVICE FOR VILLAINS


Do:
Do Not:
Do:Do Not:Do:

Do Not:
Do:
Do Not:

Do:

Do Not:And Lastly, DO:And Do NOT:

Heard It Through the Grapevine

Helpful Google found me this:

ATONEMENT author Ian McEwan got a nasty shock when he read fans an extract from his latest novel - only to be told they had heard the storyline before.
Several members of his audience at the literary festival realised that the incident quoted bore a remarkable resemblance to one from a book published by another writer.

In McEwan's new novel in progress, he describes how a scientist on a rail journey feels uncomfortable when he realises that the man opposite has begun to eat from his packet of crisps.

His character then gets off the train - only to realise that his packet of crisps, unopened, is still intact under his coat.

No sooner had McEwan read out that extract than a man in the audience in Hay on Wye, Wales, pointed out the story had been told already - except that it had previously involved a packet of biscuits.

Stunned McEwan replied that he had heard the story as an anecdote from someone and did not realise it was already in print.

He said: "Perhaps it's one of those urban myths."

Laughing, he asked for anyone who could tell him the name of the book to get in touch.
He added that perhaps the extract would not feature in his new novel, after all.

Ian, if you're out there (and why wouldn't Ian McEwan read my blog, right?), I'm pretty sure I first read about this in a book by Douglass Adams, either the Hitchhiker's Guide series or the Dirk Gently ones. Adams used to say in interviews that the incident (with peanuts) happened to him.

Of course, this has *nearly* happpened to me on several occasions, so it may be one of those incidents that becomes urban legend through sheer weight of constant occurence.

You know, like microwaving poodles....

The Truth About Hobos

Beverage alert!

Or if I didn't embed it right, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1JIa5r5nkE

A Few of My Unremarkable Things...

So both Avery and Sphinx Ink have tagged me with the Six Unremarkable Things meme. The rules are:

* Link the person who tagged you. (See above)

* Mention the rules in your blog. (These are they)

* Tell about six unspectacular quirks of yours. (See below)

* Tag six bloggers by linking them. (They shall be "it")

* Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged. (OK, that will take a little time.)

I rather enjoy memes, let's see how I do on this one:

(just to hedge my bets, funnies will be served as a distraction...)

1. I have a weird, Ayn Rand-ian belief (Fountainhead, not Atlas Shrugged) that we each have something in life that nourishes our souls above all other activity. It might be playing with the kids, following the Mets or crafting dollhouse furniture, but identifying that thing and staying true to it is the key to a fulfilling life.

2. That pile of wood outside is larger than my old kitchen. I'm splitting it with an axe and maul and having a BLAST!

3. I prefer cats to dogs. Nothing against dogs, but for me it's cats, all the way.

4. I went blonde again with my dreads, hence the change in the profile picture.

(even managed to get my tattoo in there!)

5. IF is my favorite poem.

6. Three times a week, I shave with a straight razor. My oldest razor is 180, my youngest a mere 60-70. I find the ritual of shaving calming: something about knowing that a moment of distraction can mean a lost nose is very centering!

Yay, fun! And for all you Tom Waits fans out there, his new gangsta rap album: