December talking meme - 14th &15th Dec

[amberdreams]

Oops I missed a day again! So this is a twofer.

First yesterday's for matchboximpala - What stresses you out?

Stress is an odd concept - I usually think that I get more annoyed by things than 'stressed' as such, though there are certain things that I get really nervous about. So maybe I'll go with those. Giving presentations, or any kind of situation where I feel I have to perform in some way, these make me very nervous. I'll get all fluttery and sweaty and shaky, and stutter or babble a lot. I am absolutely awful at formal job interviews for this reason. When I'm in a state about it, I can't find the right words and I can't remember things, so I come across badly. That is the main one, I think - my bête noire.

And today's is for tifaching - Were you into scary books as a child? Any particular genre that was your favorite?

I never liked scary. Yeah yeah I know, what am I doing in this fandom then? Fortunately, I don't actually find SPN that scary, never did - there isn't enough suspense and build up for it to really frighten, as far as I'm concerned. I was, however, thoroughly terrified by the Black Riders in the first book of the Lord of the Rings when I first read it when I was eleven. I remember being so scared but having to keep reading (I was in bed reading by the landing light with my bedroom door open because I should have been sleeping). I just couldn't stop until the Hobbits were safe. Another book that scared the wits out of me was Alan Garner's Elidor - there's a sequence in it where one of the characters is in their bedroom and a damp patch or discolouration in the wallpaper starts to form into a figure from the other world, about to step through - wowser that was utterly chilling and had me avoiding staring at any weird patterns on walls for ages after.

My favourite genre. Mmm well, I started with fairy stories and moved to fantasies like Narnia and LOTR and the Weirdstone of Brisingamen. Then I started reading historical fiction thanks to a wonderful junior school teacher when I was nine - Rosemary Sutcliffe and Henry Treece were my favourites but I read plenty of others. Jean Plaidy, Anya Seton, Ronald Welch. When I wasn't reading historical or fantasy I'd be reading school stories. I did love the Chalet School books but wasn't keen on reading about girls so I moved to Frank Richards and Greyfriars because they had much better stories and hey, guess what? - hurt!heroes popped up fairly regularly.

Basically, as long as the story wasn't about every day 'normal' life, I loved it. Still do. Plus ça change!

Comments

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much me, I get rankled, annoyed, even pissed off, but stressed isn't something I tend to suffer with. It takes a great deal to tip me over into properly stressed!

A fair reaching tastes in genres :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

We should form a club for Angry People. :D

[tifaching.livejournal.com]

Heh, I'd join!

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[matchboximpala.livejournal.com]

That's funny. I give presentations all the time - in front of students, at conferences, at meetings -- no problem. But sometimes I sit in front of my computer at work, with 15 tabs open on my browser, 15 different piles of paper in front of me, and my 6-page to do list and I am absolutely paralyzed by stress.

I'm trying to force myself to get up and walk away from it, take deep breaths, and try to focus on one thing at a time.

I always liked historical fiction, but I haven't read anything by the authors you mentioned. Do you have a particular book you'd recommend by one of them?

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Mmm let's see:
Rosemary Sutcliffe - Sword at Sunset or Warrior Scarlet
Henry Treece - Dream Time or The Burning of Njal
Jean Plaidy - much of a muchness, just take your pick based on the historical period you are interested in
Ronald Welch - he wrote about members of the same family through the ages so again, pick a period you like. I have a fondness for Captain of Dragoons and Bowman of Crecy
Anya Seton - I loved Green Darkness but The Mistletoe and the Sword was a more conventional historical novel

I'd forgotten another favourite - Barbara Willard's Sprig of Broom series. Oh and T.H. White's The Once and Future King

[matchboximpala.livejournal.com]

Thank you for these -- I am adding them to my 'to read' list.

[tifaching.livejournal.com]

OOh, the Black Riders were scary as hell. I'm not really familiar with the other books in your list. I feel like I may be missing out. :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I'd highly recommend Alan Garner - Elidor was my favourite probably because it includes one of my fave tropes when I was a kid - ordinary kids being thrown into magical situations and other worlds. The Owl Service was another one I loved even though that was a really creepy, scary one. They are all very short books by today's standards so wouldn't take you long to read if you can get hold of them.

Of the others, Rosemary Sutcliffe and Henry Treece are the ones who kindled me love of history and archaeology because they wrote so well about Vikings and Celts and Saxons. So I can blame my degree on them and Mrs Goodier, the teacher who introduced them to me.