Some of you know (but most of you don’t) that I’m working on a short readers-advisory/quick-reference book on fantasy authors with my esteemed work colleague Jen Stevens (whose idea it was in the first place, and whose contacts got us the contract).
This turns out to be a startlingly hard thing to work on. It’s not that there’s any dearth of information about fantasy authors out there. I just get sidetracked too darn easily by the shiny, that’s all there is to it.
Have to share a big squee: Peter S. Beagle is publishing more stuff! Soon! Now, even!
Aside from his apostrophe abuse, Beagle gets as close to my perfect writer as anyone can. (LeGuin is a wee bit closer, but Beagle at his best is that good.) He has a beautiful ear for prose as well as poetry, makes memorable and distinctive characters, isn’t afraid of the meta but doesn’t do it just to be clever, writes women I recognize and identify with (if he ever adapts “The Love Song of Sirit Byar” into a play—and it’s quite theatrical—I will fight like a gladiator to play Mircha Del), inspires laughter and tears (occasionally at the same time), and is just so damn good at his craft that I wonder why they let him live sometimes, I honestly do.
And he’s publishing more stuff! Shiny!
