At Dusk I Reign
Sage
Greetings one, greetings all.
Having been told by my late mother to always be polite, I thought I'd do the right thing and post here first. Seems logical. (My mother's not dead, by the way. She's just very bad at timekeeping.)
Anyway, I'll keep this brief:
My name's Tom.
Too brief? Okay then, I'll bore you with some details. Be warned, though – I'm a very dull person, so if you've got anything better to do, such as descaling your toenails, I'd suggest you do that now and come back for the end. You'll thank me someday.
Right, what to say? As mentioned above, my name's Tom. I'm 40 years old, though on a good day with the wind blowing in the right direction I could probably pass for 39. I've been reading fantasy and SF since I was about 11, and the first fantasy book I ever read was Lord of the Rings. I know it's fashionable in some circles to bash LotR, but it has a special place in my heart and I'll give a very stern look to anyone who suggests 'it's all about walking and silly songs' (as someone on TV once described it). In my list of Top Five Books it's right at the top, along with:
Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett.
The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
and Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen Donaldson.
Sadly, while I used to devour 4 or 5 books a week up until my twenties, the last couple of decades have pushed reading further into the realm of 'luxurious past-time', so I'm not up to speed on who the hot new authors are. Hopefully I'll pick up a few tips here.
On the writing front, I've been working on a novel for the past 15 years or so. The fact that it's still half-finished should give you some idea of how easily distracted I am. The fact that I tend to edit as I write, often spending hours over a sentence, knowing it's wrong but not knowing why it's wrong, is also a hindrance. I can't say I'm too bothered, though. I realise I'm not a great writer, so it wouldn't be published even if I did finish it. This is just one instance of the journey being more important than the destination. Writing keeps me off the streets, and as anyone who's ever seen me in the flesh can attest, that's a Very Good Thing.
Well, I think that's probably enough waffle for one day. It's quite possibly the greatest pleasure of my life to be here, and I'm not a man prone to exaggeration. Or lying. Honest.
Seriously, though, this looks like a friendly forum, so hopefully I'll be able to make some contribution to it, however meagre.
(And kudos to whoever designed the graphical interface - or whatever it's called - for the tasteful design. My eyes appreciate it.)
Oi! You can leave your toenails alone now, I'm done.
Having been told by my late mother to always be polite, I thought I'd do the right thing and post here first. Seems logical. (My mother's not dead, by the way. She's just very bad at timekeeping.)
Anyway, I'll keep this brief:
My name's Tom.
Too brief? Okay then, I'll bore you with some details. Be warned, though – I'm a very dull person, so if you've got anything better to do, such as descaling your toenails, I'd suggest you do that now and come back for the end. You'll thank me someday.
Right, what to say? As mentioned above, my name's Tom. I'm 40 years old, though on a good day with the wind blowing in the right direction I could probably pass for 39. I've been reading fantasy and SF since I was about 11, and the first fantasy book I ever read was Lord of the Rings. I know it's fashionable in some circles to bash LotR, but it has a special place in my heart and I'll give a very stern look to anyone who suggests 'it's all about walking and silly songs' (as someone on TV once described it). In my list of Top Five Books it's right at the top, along with:
Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett.
The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
and Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen Donaldson.
Sadly, while I used to devour 4 or 5 books a week up until my twenties, the last couple of decades have pushed reading further into the realm of 'luxurious past-time', so I'm not up to speed on who the hot new authors are. Hopefully I'll pick up a few tips here.
On the writing front, I've been working on a novel for the past 15 years or so. The fact that it's still half-finished should give you some idea of how easily distracted I am. The fact that I tend to edit as I write, often spending hours over a sentence, knowing it's wrong but not knowing why it's wrong, is also a hindrance. I can't say I'm too bothered, though. I realise I'm not a great writer, so it wouldn't be published even if I did finish it. This is just one instance of the journey being more important than the destination. Writing keeps me off the streets, and as anyone who's ever seen me in the flesh can attest, that's a Very Good Thing.
Well, I think that's probably enough waffle for one day. It's quite possibly the greatest pleasure of my life to be here, and I'm not a man prone to exaggeration. Or lying. Honest.
Seriously, though, this looks like a friendly forum, so hopefully I'll be able to make some contribution to it, however meagre.
(And kudos to whoever designed the graphical interface - or whatever it's called - for the tasteful design. My eyes appreciate it.)
Oi! You can leave your toenails alone now, I'm done.
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