"A Problem Page For All!"

Elizabeth's mind tries to make a connection...ooooh, I get it. Francesca Lia Block! Ah. Well then. I did go to the library and did check out one of her books, but it was...weird. I confess, I was not too fond of it. All I could lay my hands on was a book of rewritten faery tales. The writing style was intriguingly bizarre, but it read more like poetry than fiction, at least to me, and more and more these days I prefer fiction-prose over poetry. Poetry is fun, but I don't find it very relaxing. FLB's book sort of put me on edge, awakened something in my creative/writer's mind that didn't want to wake up yet. I returned the book with a promise to myself that I'd check her out again in a year or so.

Maybe you can tell me, though, whether that book of faery tales is anything like her other books, her novels, or whether it's different from her others and I should try one of her novels. Any advice? I could use some new fantasy authors in my life; I'm writing a fantasy novel and find myself at something of a loss for material to read and learn from. I've given up on Mercedes Lackey for the time being; her imagination is out of this world (in a good way), but she's a really lousy writer and that bugs me so much that I can't enjoy her books. Robin McKinley is my current shero. Have any of you read her new novel, Sunshine? I read it last November and almost cried, it's so breathtakingly perfect.

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