The author lives forever in the pages of his books

Ray Bradbury has inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, teleplays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Throughout his life, Bradbury liked to recount the story of meeting a carnival magician, Mr. Electrico, in 1932. At the end of his performance Electrico reached out to the twelve-year-old Bradbury, touched the boy with his sword, and commanded, Live forever! Bradbury later said, “I decided that was the greatest idea I had ever heard. I started writing every day. I never stopped.”

Source: Coliserv.net

I guess Mr. Electrico was right. Bradbury will live forever. In the hearts of all of those who read his books.

Thank you, Mr. Bradbury, for the inspiration. Thank you for igniting within your readers the desire to keep books alive. Thank you for the countless adventures. Thank you for sharing with all of us the worlds created in your mind.

RIP Ray Bradbury

 

Meet the author

Photo courtesy of Jennifer D. Scroggins

I’ve recently found out one of my online friends is an author.

First time I met her was when I read one of the many Dear Roger letters. Those are letters she writes to her dead uncle telling him about her life. I like the idea because then you can actually picture someone when you’re writing something. So I read some of her letters but since I saw them on tumblr and it was always hard to find anything there (too many updates all the time) I kind of lost track of her.

Time passed and I found her on twitter through a common friend and we started talking. I always love when we have a chance to chat over there. Hilarious conversations. She’s an odd one, which is one of the reasons why I always love talking to her.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer D. Scroggins

And just a few days ago I found out she’s an author. I finally found her blog A Modern Calamity and saw the video she made about herself and her books. She published two books already: Drifts and The Face In The Rear View Mirror. First I saw they were kindle editions and since I’m not a fan of them (I like holding the book in my hands), I started searching and found paperbacks. When you search for them on Amazon you see the kindle ones first, and it’s not that easy to find the paperbacks. Shut up, it’s not! But I found them. And bought them (finally!). And now I can’t wait to read them.

Since I can’t tell you anything about the books (since I haven’t read them yet) I’ll leave you with a video of the author talking them. And about herself and where she finds inspiration for her writing. Watch the video and then go buy a copy of her books.

P.S.: If you’re still not convinced, you can go on Amazon and can click on the book to take a look inside. Or read the reviews from people who actually read them.

Update: You can check her author’s page on Facebook.

 

Please don’t go — we’ll eat you up — we love you so

By now you probably already heard about Maurice Sendak. He left this world today, but his legacy remains. But he leaves us a vast collection of stories and illustrations that will continue to captivate and inspire young readers for generations.

Here’s what he said was one of the highest compliments he had received:

That little boy sure understood Sendak’s message.

Some quotes from Sendak:

“Oh, please don’t go — we’ll eat you up — we love you so!” — from Where the Wild Things Are

“Children do live in fantasy and reality; they move back and forth very easily in a way we no longer remember how to do.”

“And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming wild things.”

“There must be more to life than having everything!” — from Higglety Pigglety Pop!

“I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more.”

RIP Maurice Sendak. Thank you for the adventures and the inspiration.