Friday Favourites - Your Favourite Author's Blog?

Friday Favourites - a chance to rave about a favourite reading/book related topic each week.

Sometimes you just want a chance to rave about some favourite aspect of reading that doesn't really come up during regular blogging posts - that's what this is about. I'm willing to bet that at least some of those will come up one week or another.


This week I'm asking what your favourite author's blog is. It doesn't have to be the blog of your favourite author though (assuming he or she even has a blog), but the author's blog that you check the most or enjoy the posts from the most.


My answer:
I've found that a number of the authors I like have blogs: Elizabeth Moon (The Deed of Paksenarrion, Trading in Danger) has a number, Jo Graham (Hand of Isis) has one, Patricia C. Wrede (Caught In Crystal) has one, as does L.E. Modesitt Jr. (The Parafaith War). Other authors do too - but these are the ones I tend to check the most often.


Of them though, my favourites are Elizabeth Moon's general blog, MoonScape, and her Paksworld blog, closely followed by Patricia C. Wrede's blog. A lot of the reasons I like these three are that (normally at least) they're updated fairly regularly. Also, it's the subject matter involved.


Patricia C. Wrede's blog is almost entirely centered on writing: tips, tricks and techniques. Some posts are about the mechanics of writing, and others are geared around the business side of thing. All in all, for anyone who's interested in writing, fiction or otherwise, I think this is a fascinating blog to check out - if not to bookmark and return to on a regular basis.


Elizabeth Moon's MoonScape blog on LiveJournal is an equally fascinating read for the variety of topics discussed: writing, politics, knitting, cooking and land management are all subjects that come up regularly. Personally, while I find them all interesting, there are two subjects that seem to be inspiring me more than the others: knitting and cooking. Every time I read a post on the latest in her adventures in knitting socks, my determiation to learn to knit socks is reinforced. And, the same thing for cooking. Just recently I tried making beef stock from scratch for the first (and not the last) time.


At the same time, her Paksworld blog is also fascinating to me because the world of The Deed of Paksenarrion is one of my favourite series. I love the insights into that world - the research, background on the writings and the world, and the like. Not to mention the snippets - both not used and from the future books in the series.


What is your favourite author's blog?

Caught In Crystal - Patricia C. Wrede

Caught In Crystal
Patricia C. Wrede
Open Road
Copyright: 1989 (2011)
Kindle Edition

The amazon.com product description:

In the magical world of Lyra, an innkeeper is forced to confront her darkest secret
For more than a decade, Kayl has run a modest country inn. She opened it with her husband, and they managed it together until a summer illness took him away, leaving her alone with their two children. The three of them get by, living happily together as the years pass, but everything changes the day a sorceress asks for a room.

Her name is Corrana, and by her silver brooch Kayl knows that she is a member of the order of Sisterhood of Stars, a coven of witches that Kayl left after a secret mission went horribly wrong. Kayl is sure that Corrana has come to take her back to the life she had renounced years before. Now, to save her family and her world, she will have to unlock a side of herself that she buried long ago.

Caught In Crystal was offered to me through NetGalley. Now that that's said, on with the review. This is the first book in the series about the world of Lyra. It's also an edited re-print, IIRC. One of the neatest things I found in this edition was the preface, where Patricia C. Wrede discusses the process of writing, and also how she rewrote the first chapter of Shadow Magic, another of her Lyra novels, and one that I've read. Basically, the chapter is there, in it's original form, with the new version marked, and some explanation of why she made the changes she did. I found it fascinating.

Caught In Crystal flowed, grabbing me each time I started to read it - and that was when I was in front of my computer, reading through Adobe Digital Editions. Not my favourite method. Despite that, I found that I couldn't put the book 'down' as it were, and had to keep reading, especially as I came towards the end of the story.

Patricia Wrede has created a very intriguing world with Lyra - multiple races living together, not always in harmony and some intriguing forms of magic, all blend with a sense of history that left me wanting to read more. Caught In Crystal is set fairly early in that history, giving the background that I wanted back when I was reading Shadow Magic.

Definitely a book I'm going to recommend.