Top 3 Monthly Contest: Favorite Authors
Good morning and happy new year!
Getting right down to business with this contest, this months topic being favorite authors, I had to go through my stack of books that have collected a nice amount of dust.
I haven't been able to find the time to dig into a good book and let the pages lift me up and carry me away into an adventure, an imaginative world full of action. Not since having children that is. I would only have the time to pick up a book just before bed and within reading one paragraph, my eyes start to wander and close, my hand becomes so relaxed that it doesn't want to hold the book anymore, resulting in the book hitting my face as I fall asleep.
I lost the habit of taking time to read books and have also lost the habit of taking the time to read anything. Not good for a lot of things and skimming through the paragraphs has me missing out on details. Not good for being a good supportive steemian. Time to change that. New year, new beginning, new changes, new growth.
Back to my dusty book shelf, I noticed that a lot of my novels are missing. Did I get rid of them or are they just in storage? I can't remember....mom brain. So I'm going with what I got in stock and memory... Oh dear Lord....my memory.... please work for me through this.
Talking about authors is a bit of a doozy as I never chose my books according to an author. More like the genre. Years ago, my go to books would be of fantasy. Things like werewolves, vampires and other dark and lovely things. They weren't exactly of horror but of adventure and some eroticism. Books with suspense and has your mind wanting to read more to know what will happen next. This takes me to the author...
1. Anne Rice
Her image taken from her website www.annerice.com, where you can find information about Anne, her books, ways to connect with her and even to buy books. What I like about her as an author, apart from what she writes about and how good she is at doing it, is how she describes the scenes in a most realistic way. Fantasy they may be, but in real places they take place.
To my knowledge, her most famous books would be Interview With The Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned. You may not have read these books but I am pretty positive that you have seen the movies (first and last listed).
Interview With The Vampire sets scene in New Orleans where Louis starts his adventures of becoming a vampire. In the movie one of the sets takes place at the old Oak Valley Plantation. This book has actually been one of the reasons why I wanted to see New Orleans, not just because of the story, but because of the history, the scenery and everything that comes with it. And I am sure glad I went. Here are a few picture I took of the Oak Valley house when I traveled in October:
This place is huge, and you can tell why it's called Oak Valley. There are 300 year old Oak trees all over the land, beautiful strong trees just towering over the people. There is nothing like this from where I live, I was just amazed by these trees during my whole trip there. I was in love with them. Here is a picture to show the view from the house's balcony. We weren't allowed to take pictures from inside the house, but I'm sure you can find pictures online if you are curious.
You can see the scale of the trees compared to the people that were touring. Pretty huge right?
But just in case you are unsure, here is a picture of my friend beside one of them.
Ok I could talk about these trees forever! But this post is on a different topic. Back to it!
2. Lori Handleland
When clicking on to her website www.lorihandeland.com, where you find her image on the welcoming page, you can see she is a New York Times Bestselling Author. She writes romance novels but falls into the category of dark creatures. One of the books I've had the pleasure to enjoy, and still have is Hunter's Moon.
This one book is about a woman who is on the hunt for werewolves but runs into a man that changes everything. Yes, I know that happens in most cases and in real life too but ...creatures...romance...danger...I can't resist.
This author captures the essence of dangerous wolf men, giving the feeling of being watched and the thrill of a new relationship and trying to not make the wrong move. She wrote this book in a way where you want to read this book in one sitting.
3.
What shall it be? Stephen King and his horror stories? The deep and dark Edgar Allen Poe? Dante Alighieri for his poem Dante's Inferno? Or Thomas Harris for his Hannibal books?
I have to go with Edgar on this one. He can't be left out. Author and poet, this man was a genius. His style of writing and the contents is what pulled me in. Fiction and macabre. Wonderful combination.
Not sure about the author? Have you seen the movie, The Raven with John Cusack? I enjoyed it. You should watch it :)
He's got this gothic writing style that makes him unique and apart from the other authors that write of the same genre. Any Poe fans out there? If you know the game Zelda: Ocarina of time and played it; the little poes out there, I've always wondered if they were created in the game, inspired by Mr Allen Poe. After all there is a Poe collector, in a ghost shop and "he loves the spirits formed from the hatred in the world known as Poes".
These are all things I have read in the past and haven't been touched in a long time. The ones that I have read in most recent years... or skimmed through I should say, have been more practical books, like gardening (which I am soon to dig into as I want to start gardening again soon)
Martial Arts books
And even Gothic Art
This pretty much sums up the style of books and authors that I enjoy. It's never changed since my early teenage years and I hope to eventually get back into reading such books in the near future.
If you would like to enter this contest, the last day to enter is next month. Click here to be taken to the contest post to get more information on joining in. I am a panel member, so my top 3 choices does count as a submission to the contest. This post is created to help inspire and also help put more steem into the prize pool.
It is a fun and easy contest that encourages people to find things to write about and connect with other like minded people on the platform. Give it a try, there's nothing to regret ;)
Nice choices! Oh those trees really are so stunning! I'm sure I would have Rice in mind at every turn visiting New Orleans, too. I very much enjoyed her vampire stories. I've never heard of the second author, but I'll have to look up some of her work to add to my exponentially growing list. Poe is a perfect choice, though I totally forgot about Thomas Harris and what a great choice he is! I enjoyed the Hannibal books and movies. Happy to get you back around here. Hope the kiddos give you a little reading time this year--both on here and off!
I had the Hannibal books for some time and then donated them to the library here. Great read and the movies were great too. Have you seen the hannibal series on netflix? INTENSE!
It's great to be back. It has brought a good feeling to write a blog and to talkl and reconnect with everyone. My kids are older so I am not as tired as I used to be. I get my full nights most of the time. But I still have fatigue. It's like a long term thing and sleeping in, although it feels great, doesn't seem to be enough to catch up on all that was lost. It's weird. Who knows though, might come back to me when my kids are out of the house :P
Ooh, you know I haven't watched the Netflix series yet! I think that would be something both @dksart and I would enjoy, though.
How's the weather been up there? I imagine the long winters make you a bit more fatigued, too. Not as much sunshine and outdoor time to boost the spirits! Or maybe you just need some good top 3 banter to get you going again, haha!
Most definitely!
Long winters and short days do make me more tired. I would definitely sleep more if it wasnt for school days having me wake up at 630.
It does create a more slothy, down feeling to the days. And with it being so cold, I dont want to go outside most of the time. Winter isn't for me but I can deal with it.
Thanks for these awesome suggestions for our contest this month! We've given you an upvote and logged your nominations, ready for the dpoll - keep an eye on our blog for the dpoll post!
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NH
Nice choices, @foxyspirit! I agree with all of them, although not my number 1, because who can have just three!!
That house!!! Oh, may I?? The surrounding trees only add to the beauty! I like your choices, have I said that??
Hi #foxyspirit~
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Hahaha! You're awesome! Beautiful place right! I want to go back so bad! I did the tour but I want to stay and connect with the feeling of it, so much history there that has shaped our world to what it is today.
It's good to see you again. I have been off for some time as life has kept me busy. I'll pop by one of your blogs a little later :) Thanks for sticking around. I massively appreciate it.
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Oooh! I only know Poe. Will have to add him to my list.
What I do know is all about nit getting time to read any more, dusty bookshelves and missing books, scanning instead of in depth reading and having my bedtime book fall on my face! 🤭
Oh, and those trees? Awesome. And I mean awesome. Great photos, too.
haha the never ending bruised nose :P
Happy that you like the trees and photos. Im happy to be able to share and know that people feel the same way. Theres like a magic to them, no?
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What a gorgeous post this is! Is this the first viewing you've offered of those awesome photos you took of the plantation? Those trees are just amazing!
One of the genres I like a lot is true crime, but I haven't read a true crime book in quite awhile.
I've never had a favorite true crime author, but one book that I read had to do with this teen boy who imagined himself to be a vampire. He formed a cult-like club of other teens, and then he and some of his cult members murdered the parents of one of the girls who was attracted to him and was also in his cult.
That's how I first heard about Anne Rice, due to the subject of the book, she had been mentioned in the book as a writer about vampires. I haven't read any of her books however.
I've read some Stephen King. Poe was the one I almost included, as he has occupied a piece of my mind ever since I heard him described in class by an elementary school teacher of mine. She painted quite the picture of Mr. Poe in my mind, and his words have done the rest. Definitely one of the all-time greats!
Thank you so much!
Yes I believe it is the first time I share those pictures. Ive only wrote a couple times about my trip and then I just ran out of time. I run out of time for a lot of things unfortunately. Then when I want to get back to it, it feels like its lots its magic. Sad.
I love books about vampires, creepy and dark ones. The ones with a sparkling vampire sure doesnt cut it for me. What was it called... Twilight. Yuck. LOL good music in the movies though.
Poe is amazing! Definitely should have more light on his books.
Thank you for coming by and leaving such an awesome comment! Much appreciated :D
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@foxyspirit, In any work when we see the Reflection Of Reality in a way we can connect with that work in more Realistic Ways. Stay blessed.
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Thank you for this. Very true
Welcome and thank you. 🙂
Edgar Allen Poe I read some of his work many years ago after learning about him through music by Allan Parsons Project, Joan Biaz, The Beatles, Van Der Graaf Generator, so not as much via reading, if musicians sing about the man it must be an interesting read.
Don't recognize either female authors, did love those gardens and impressive old Oak trees, what a treat being there knowing the history.
I have to agree with you there. I didn't know that he was talked about in music. Pretty cool.
It was a real treat. I want to go back.