Daily I go for walks. While walking I listen to audio books. The better the book the longer the walk. I just finished another book that made me walk long distances every day. The book was the second in a series. The first book in the series also made me walk long distances.
I selected the first book because of a recommendation by my local library. On Facebook the library said to tell them what I had recently read and they would suggest the next book to read. I said I had read The Dragon Princess, Dragon Kiss, and A Prince Among Frogs by E. D. Baker, and that I loved the ice dragon Audun. Also, I think the library knows I am writing a book series about Dragons. They suggested reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente. They said the story had a nice dragon.
Valente’s writing overwhelmed me. The prose, world building, and characters were amazing. Moreover, the moment the wyvern A-Through-L, who considers himself a wyverary, was introduced, I fell in love.
Today, I finished listening to the audio book for the second book in the series, The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There. Again, Valente’s magical power with prose created a story that left me awed.
I am pleased with the progress I am making on honing my writing skills and with my progress on my current project; however, never could I achieve Valente’s level of delightful imagery and intricacies of words and phrases. I will have to settle for writing like me.
Next, I need to read the third book, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two.