{never was and never will be/you're not real and you can't save me}

[lokei]

Writing meme stolen from inlovewithnight:

Make up a title for a story I didn't write, and I will respond with details of those non-written stories. You may if you like include details, such as pairings or fandom or whatnot.

Also, writerly questions from my latest Writer's Digest email, which is sometimes cool and sometimes danged annoying.

1. Who are your favorite authors and why?  Austen, Susan Cooper, Robin McKinley, Lloyd Alexander, JRR Tolkien.  I'd say the common thread there is that I love the way they take mythology, fairy tales, and the idea of happy endings and give it weight in whatever world it is they construct.  Whether it's the Assembly room at Bath or the Mines of Moria, there's struggle and epiphanies and ultimate triumph of good.  Also, most of these authors are like comfort food.  They're familiar, they never let you down, and if you read them when you have the energy to truly appreciate, then often you find something new there that adds extra flavor to something you already loved.
2. What do they do that grabs your attention and keeps you turning pages? See above.  *wry grin*  Susan Cooper's pacing, Lloyd Alexander's mythology, Robin McKinley's characters, Tolkien's world building, Austen's irony.  All these writers are witty and have strong interesting characters, both male and female.
3. What keeps you coming back to your favorite genres? Do I have a favorite genre?  Probably fantasy/scifi, but I love mystery and historical fiction almost equally.  Some combination of any of the above always gets me.  I think I like the fact that these are genres where it's ok not to be cynical, where you can look at big questions without them being scary or too close to home, and where a little faith and a little imagination gets you a lot of magic.  I need my world to come through the darkness to the rainbow on the other side.
4. What compels you to write fiction/ memoir/ poetry? I can't not.  Words are my thing, and they just overspill into fiction or poetry.  Mostly when it's poetry, I'm inspired by natural phenomena or personal emotional events, and sometimes by whimsy.  Fiction (the original stuff, not the fan which is self-explanatory) is generally inspired by a character or characters, a theme from folklore/mythology, or a place.

This is all in lieu of a real post for several reasons.  I'm tired beyond belief, I'm reveling in the results of the William Bush Alphabet Soup (still a few letters to go, if you're still interested in playing!), and my brain is jumping all over the place, for another list of several reasons which I'd rather not rehash at the present time.