AAW: Fantasy

Thanks to everyone for all the cover and trailer love. I'm over the moon about it!Now to continue from Monday's thread - it's still Author Appreciation Week. On Monday I talked about honesty in Laurie Halse Anderson's novels. Today I'd like to talk about fantasy. Fantasy is my favorite genre. High, urban, paranormal, epic - all of it I love. There have been many fantasy authors whose work profoundly influenced my own writing: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, David Eddings, Susan Cooper, Piers Anthony, J.K. Rowling...these names are only the beginning of a long, long list.

But one writer stands out in turn of the mark she left on my life: Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Bradley's novels highlight two key features that are important to me: 1) Strong female protagonists 2)Weaving fantasy into history

History has a long, er, history of letting women down. Or more often beating them down with a stick (know where the phrase 'rule of thumb' comes from? Look it up. I dare you.) - Marion Zimmer Bradley rights such wrongs with unbelievable skill.

Wondering what Morgan Le Fay really thought about King Arthur? Check out:(When I saw this cover on the shelf as a tween, it was love at first sight.)

Think Achilles was just a big jerk? Yeah, pretty much.

Bradley also wrote wonderful high fantasy and science fiction.
My appreciation for this brilliant author's work runs deep and I am thankful for the lasting legacy she's offered to a new generation of writers.

Author Appreciation Week

The lovely and brilliant Heidi Kling is hosting Author Appreciation Week, inviting us to share thoughts on those authors who've made a lasting impression on our lives and work.
It's also spring break, so I'll be galavanting around and not at home; thus, my Author Appreciation Week will instead by Author Appreciation Monday and Friday!
The two authors I'd like to honor represent two aspects of my own writing: the hope that 1) I'll convey honest, hard realities through the lives of my characters and 2) that the myth and world I build transports readers into the story.

Today: Honesty

Laurie Halse Anderson is one of the contemporary authors I admire most. She unapologetically takes on difficult subjects and weaves beautiful tales with them.
In my lifetime, which has not been that long, I've had two friends institutionalized because of anorexia.
I've had friends and students traumatized by sexual assault.

My research and teaching focuses on the history of slavery,

violence and identity.
Laurie Halse Anderson sheds light on topics that are too often swept under the rug. She garners empathy for characters too often stigmatized and stereotyped.

She speaks out against book censorship and knows her readers are intelligent enough to engage with the harsh realities of life, that offering books as a safe space in which to encounter trauma is vital for young people. Her blog offers amazing advice and instructor to aspiring authors.

Thank you Laurie, for the amazing work you do!