This page is about the literature I like to read and write. I do the most reading in our family. I like to read fiction. Non-fiction bores me to tears. I am a graduate student right now and I do plenty of non-fiction reading.
Comics have and always will be a favorite for me. Besides the Marvel Universe, Calvin and Hobbes and The Farside are favorites in our home and will remain so despite their individual author's retirement.
I’ve always loved libraries. All of those books, all of that knowledge just waiting to get off the pages and into your brain. How exciting!
I mostly read what is termed Fantasy, but I’ve been known to cuddle up to a good science fiction from time to time. Fantasy novels usually take place in a Medieval like setting. I use the word "like" because the setting is up to the author. I’ve read some fantasy novels where the author tried to combine Dark Ages with futuristic. It didn’t work well. Terry Brooks is the only one who comes close in my book. His fantasy world evolves from the ashes of nuclear devastation where all technology has been destroyed and magic reborn. Mr. Brooks is quite a good author. You should check out his works.
I’ve always been fascinated with two time periods: WWII and the Dark Ages. The WWII fascination has to do with my dad. He was a bombardier in the USAF. What boy isn’t fascinated with what his daddy does or did, especially if he dies when that boy is very young?
Anyhow, I love the Middle Ages. The swords, suites of armor, riding into battle to fight for king and country excite me. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved learning about that time period. Now, I know that it was a hard time and movies and books have romanticized it. One cut could turn gangrenous and you could lose an arm or leg or even die from it, but oh what fun!
Margaret Weis recently wrote that Fantasy is a romance of our past and that Science Fiction is or should be a romance with our future. It’s about people and how they overcome difficult circumstances. Ben Bova, a famous Science Fiction author would agree with her. He wrote that there is trashy Science Fiction out there that he calls sci-fi. He gives it a different title because it’s not about people and their trials. It’s about cut out characters who overcome their "trials" in ways that the ordinary person can’t relate to or see in their own lives with science thrown in there to liven things up and keep the interest. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about people.
Margaret Weis, with Tracy Hickman, wrote the first Dragon Lance novels. They started or inspired a whole generation of readers and writers into a love of Fantasy. Their novels and others like them evolved or originated in the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing games.
Let me say a word on behalf of Dungeons and Dragons. Some people say that it’s bad, my mother included. Those naysayers say that it corrupts the youth and causes them to be violent. Those of you who know your fallacies would reply, "Ah hah! Dicto Simplicitor!" You have hastily arrived at a judgement without examining all of the facts. If we accept your hypothesis then we must also agree that the postal system must be shut down because the stress is too much and the potential for one, single, solitary being to lose control of them self and bring harm to others is much greater than the need for delivering the mail. It’s not about killing and destruction. 
It’s about how you can use your creative juices to imagine the world your characters are in and then use your ingenuity to get them out of difficult situations.
The only way that I can see D&D as being bad or harmful is if you allow your role-playing to interfere with your responsibilities. That is true of all addictions whether they be sports watching; consumption of alcohol, cigarettes or other drugs that aren’t legal; fitness training (you must stop to smell the roses, both literal and figurative); or the mother of all addictions in today’s world WORK.
Why am I writing all of this? Partly to tell you why I like fantasy novels and partly for the sheer joy of writing. You may be snickering. That’s your right. But I love to write. I would love it if someone would pay me for the words I put on paper or electronic paper as the case may be. I’m currently working on a few different "works." I’m not working as hard as I should if I want to get published before my life is over, but then I don’t have someone supporting my writing habit. I guess it goes back to the addiction thing. Of the advice I’ve read, most published authors do surrender to their addiction and neglect other things. With little children at home now and still being in school, I can’t afford to neglect my responsibilities. But, I am going to pursue writing as a career. I plan on working in my field of Human Resources for a few years. I have to pay off school loans and put bread on the table, ya know. Writing has always been my passion. I started writing young and have continued to develop that talent. I know that these web pages don't show off much skill, but that's ok. I wasn't trying to showcase my abilities here. This was more to see if I could do it and experiment with new web techniques. I think that if you read my Ginnettic Links you will see some evidence of my ability. In the not so distant future, I hope to dedicate a page just to writing. I don't know how exactly to do it because I don't want anyone to steal my ideas, but it would be nice to have a place to post ideas or sections of my writing for others to critique. If you know of a good writing group, let me know. My email is in the side bar.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings.
Reading is one of the ways that I relax and Fantasy is a genre that I’ve grown up loving. You can call it escapism or what ever you like. I call it creativity. I see the action in my mind as I read and write as well.
Here are three other authors that I enjoy very much. I think that they are among the very best.
I've been reading Orson Scott Card recently and his books are excellent. Also, pretty much anything by Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman are good. I'd check out Brian Jacques as well. He wrote all of the Redwall Abbey books. He's a great story teller.
You should read. It’s good for you. It slows down and can actually reverse the atrophy of your mind.
