I'm baaack!

[eldritchhobbit]

I'm back at last! The book is completed, and I have slept, at least a little bit...

Birthdays
Happy belated birthday to the wonderful maidoforange! I hope your day was magical.

And happy birthday to the fabulous goodnightlady and the fantastic clara_swift. May your dreams come true!

Publication News
In other news, my piece "The Myth of the Passive Indian," which is a review of Charles C. Mann's new book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus is now on newsstands in the April 2006 issue of REASON Magazine.

Music Recommendation
Jon Anderson's brand new In Elven Lands: The Fellowship album, subtitled Music on ancient and modern instruments, inspired by the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, is quite an interesting achievement. The restrained, exotic cover of "The Battle of Evermore" alone is worth the purchase price.


The drums will shake the castle wall.
The ringwraiths ride in black,
Ride on.

"The Battle of Evermore"

Comments

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

I thought about buying this book by C. Mann. Do you think the content is sound? Is it worth it? It sounds so interesting :)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I really do recommend it. Mann is a respected journalist, and his role in this book is to collect and summarize the new discoveries/insights made by specialists in their fields over the last fifteen years. It's very well documented, and he goes straight to the sources to get the updates on these finds that simply haven't "trickled down" yet to textbooks and mainstream knowledge. In some cases, he shows why there is political resistance to some of these new revelations. Very interesting indeed.

[groovekittie.livejournal.com]

What does your review say? How can I read it?

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks for being interested! It's a very favorable review of the book; I highly recommend it. It's available now through the U.S. and Canada where magazines are sold, and in about two months it should go online (and I'll post an update when it's available on the Reason website).

*bows down to her royal pimpness*

[aelfgifu.livejournal.com]

You are so disgustingly prolific! I get two dis pages done and call myself a genius- yet you put me to shame! Congrats an a project well done- I can't wait to read it!

Now you must tell us what you meant by "great storyteller, poor writer!" ;) (after about 8 Vente Mochas at Starbucks, of course!!!)

Hugs!

Emma-the still-plugging away on Dis, fanfic and novel-un-professor!

Re: *bows down to her royal pimpness*

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Her royal pimpness! LOL! Alas, it's a name that fits. I'm shameless. ;-P Thank you for your congrats. They are most appreciated!

And congrats to you on your dissertation progress. I wouldn't compare dissertation work to any other kind. It's twice as intense and time consuming!!!

Oh, I'm SO glad you reminded me about my Rowling comment. I apologize for taking so long to reply! I think the "great storyteller" probably speaks for itself; I love how she ages her characters, and weaves her symbolism and storylines, and folds into her work imagery and characters from history and other legends/folklore/traditions. I can't praise her enough for the meat of her fiction, and because of it, I think she will be read and studied for a very long time. I would defend her works' future status as "classics" to my last breath.

I think the mechanics of her writing are rather poor, though. She is the queen of comma splices and run-on sentences, to the degree that it makes my composition-loving heart ache, and she overuses "ly" adjectives on almost every page. (When a character shouts or whispers or otherwise reveals voice inflection, the reader should know whether the words reflect scorn or fright or excitement. She has the tendency, with her adverbs, of telling rather than showing.) Her grammatical faults are at the "101" level, and I think her popularity has transcended expectations to such a degree that editors won't touch her. This is unfortunate, since Rowling herself has said that she's trying to improve her writing.

So, what do you think?

Incidentally, how's he job search going? I wish I knew more helpful information about schools in your neck of the woods. I'm sending best wishes your way!

Ah, for some vente mochas right about now... mmmm...

Huge hugs to you!

[mizz-history.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the birthday wishes, hun. rest assured, I'm having a good one :o)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

So glad to hear it! *hugs* By the way, thanks a million for the link to the Qui-Gon bust. I just went back through LJ and found it. He must be mine, oh yes. I don't care if he looks like he's either blessing the congregation or hailing a cab. *wink*

Hugs to you!

[mizz-history.livejournal.com]

I was hoping to see one of those busts while I was out and about in London, but no luck. I think it's luverly and I'm very tempted to get one :o)

[melissagay.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! :-)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! :) Now that all of that work is over, I'm really getting excited about MidSouthCon!

[maidoforange.livejournal.com]

Ooooh. Thank you, ((((EH)))). I found 1491 fascinating and eye-opening. I may have to get the elven CD.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

((((((MoO))))))) I'm so glad you found 1491 good, as well!!! I really love this new Elven CD. The Elvish sounds somber and liturgical, and soooo exotic. I think they captured the sound extremely well.

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

Congrats on finishing the book! It's nice to see you back again :D

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! It's good to be back. :)

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, and many, many warm hugs to you. You must feel as though a massive burden has been lifted from you.

:::loves, loves!!:::

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

*huge hugs back* You've been such a constant source of support and encouragement through all of this, and I can't thank you enough! *loves*