Smile - Geraldine McCaughrean
Geraldine McCaughrean's Smile!
Saturday, April 01, 2006
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About Me
- Michele
- Oxford, United Kingdom
- I write and read every day - sometimes I read an entire book a day, sometimes I don't. I did a degree in English and History in the late 90s as a mature student, but I've loved these subjects since my school days. I concentrated on studying First World War literature and history for most of my degree, until I wrote a paper on Harry Potter in my final semester. I've been writing about fantasy fiction (for children and for adults) ever since (although I haven't lost my interest in the First World War.) In January 2007, inspired by David Tennant's performances as the Tenth Doctor, I took up writing "Doctor Who" fan-fiction (and no, I don't intend to try to publish it anywhere except on my Blog. I'm just writing it for fun.) I'm also about to start writing non-fanfiction as well. I have a 'day job' which isn't very well paid, but does keep me in Oxford, the city I love, and is flexible enough to give me time to write. I am a participant in the Amazon Europe S.à r.l. Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.
4 comments:
McCaughrean is just an interesting writer - she seems to be playing with what in litcrit circles would be defined as "postmodern" ontological concerns (see A Pack of Lies, for instance... This one sounds good - I'll have to look for it!
I've read and reviewed A Pack of Lies; it's another excellent book.
"Postmodern ontological concerns" are not words I would use to write about books I've enjoyed ! I try to avoid using LitCrit jargon, because often it's impenetrable to non critics, and this Blog is as much for "lay people" as it is for other critics. (Which is not a criticism of your use of them, just an observation.)
Debbie, you know you can (if you wish) include a Feed for my Blog to your LJ - the Feed's on the front page of my Blog. ?
Urgh - sorry (smacks herself on head) - I knew you would know what I was talking about, but will respect your editorial wish for clarity! I guess that litcrit swill tends to pop out of my brain because that particular area - "metafiction," or fiction about fiction - and the ideas that McCaughrean explores about fiction and truth interest me a lot. That's vaguely what I was doing my dissertation on, so they are right on the surface (hence, too, my LJ user name "intertext"). *blush* sorry to sound pompous on my first visit!!
Re: syndication - I use a nifty little tool called "Bloglines" for all my non-lj journal reading and for news etc. I also use it for LJ users that I like but haven't yet "friended" - "friending" being rather more than a casual hookup in the LJ world. I have you, Judith Ridge and Roger so far hooked up in there :)
That's OK Debbie - and I didn't mean to imply that you were being pompous - just that those are not terms I feel comfortable in using. I've been writing about literature for 8 years now, and it's nearly always been aimed at a lay audience as much as an academic one - for years I've had a website on First World War literature that's been very popular with non-academics, so I'm used to pitching my writing at a wide audience and that makes me wary of using any kind of "jargon".
But yes, McCaughrean's metafictional narratives are interesting - particularly A Pack of Lies, with its (to me) surprising twist at the end...
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