Today I'll start things off with a little humour. I just can't help but laugh at this every time I watch it. It's not cruelty, it's humanitarianism. You may notice the website that particular link is a byproduct of, AlbinoBlackSheep just so happens to be one of my favorite websites. I recommend everyone peruse the great content for plenty of laughs and entertainment.

I'm currently making my way through Guy Gavriel Kay's latest book, The Last Light of the Sun. I'm about midway through, and I'm quite enjoying it. In fact, anyone who ganders at my fairly moderate collection of books will notice that I in fact own every one of Kay's nine novels, the only exception in ownership being the book of poetry published last year entitled Beyond This Dark House. (I'd love to pick it up one day, but at the time I couldn't justify paying $25 for a 120 page book. I'm not a wealthy man.)

One of the things I really, really like about Kay's work is how he elevates his prose to poetic quality. The verbiage he employs tends to pull upon the emotions, perhaps, in a more profound way than most other authors. This, to me, is the mark of a truly gifted writer. Not only does Kay craft for us a wonderful story, but the way it is crafted is what leaves such an impression.

Why I appreciate him so, and why it pains me. For someone such as myself, a (little bit) of an aspiring (wishful) writer, reading Kay is like being uplifted, yet at the same time feeling a constriction around the heart. A constriction brought on by the knowledge that it can't be possible for one such as myself to equal the aforementioned prose in its pure majesty. Punishing thoughts, to say the least, not worthy of anyone who purposes to become a serious author. In reciprocation, I also become inspired. To create my own prose, and if it isn't as poetic as that which it strives towards, then at the least I would have it be engaging.

The reality is that writing, especially in the fantasy genre , is no easy task. Attempting to create a deep and convincing alternate reality is taxing, to say the least. To despair is possibly the first and most base emotion felt by anyone who wishes to write. The determination to overcome that, is much harder to come by.

Yet, that is what I aspire to.

~K