(or, a shoutout to Michael Reynolds)
One of the first bloggers who ever linked to this little place of mine was Michael Reynolds, then of the Mighty Middle. It was a wonderful moderate/atheist blog, but unfortunately after some time he decided to close it down because he was an author of kids' books and didn't want his younger readers finding his fouler-mouthed political musings online. This was in August 2006, I see looking back through the lamentations of his passing. Now, out of the blue, he shows up and puts a comment on my blog on the post getting adults to read. It turns out he's now blogging under his own name at Sideways Mencken. This is a blog I had found some time ago via technoarti because it had said nice things about me, but at the time I had no idea it was Reynolds. It looks like at some point he went from using a pseudonym to not. I'm curious to hear the story there. Anyway, I think I'll be reading it regularly for at least awhile now. I rather liked his summary of reasons to vote for the presidential candidates.
Now to say something that actually matches the post title: I think perhaps the perspective expressed in the post was skewed a little by the fact that around my senior year of high school, I made a fairly radical shift from a big reader of fiction to a big reader of nonfiction who can barely find time for short stories out of Asimov's. I really have no idea how much earlier fiction reading contributed to my present nonfiction reading. I suspect my current habits have more to do with starting to read newspapers young and getting Philosophy for Dummies, but I don't really know.
Oh, and Michael: I loved your books as a kid. Not the sort of think I go around raving about now, but still not half bad.
books, reading, literature, fiction, nonfiction
3 comments:
Hi, Chris:
Yeah, I hid out under pseudonym for a while, but now I've pulled a switch and will be writing a new series under a different pseudonym. I think I shook off the Ani----- readers. I never put that series title or my wife's name on my new blog. I'm outwitting Google! Yep, that'll work.
Even I get confused with it. I mean, Jesus, pick a name, Michael, and stick with it.
You've done nothing but get better, Chris. And you were already one of the smartest guys online.
As for me, I'm only half-assedly blogging. I have a six book -- six books at 650 pages each -- so I'm busy. It's with HarperCollins, so I am now officially working for Rupert Murdoch. (Don't tell him.) Me and Bill O'Reilly.
Hey, I was an Ani----- readers, and you haven't shook me off!
What's the story with the six book? Sounds like it's going to be quite a bit different than your previous work, I want to hear this one.
It's a sort of Stephen Kingish series. Think "The Stand" but with kids. And mutation. And lots of politico-philosophical subtext. Very dark, very complex, hardcover as opposed to paper. Send me an email to reynoldsapplegate at mac dot com, I'll send you a signed book when it comes out in spring of 2008. It would be my pleasure. But you can only review it if you like it. (Kidding. Mostly.)
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