Writing about a childhood bard
Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall series, has passed away. Sudden heart attack, apparently.
I was obsessed with those books in about fourth, fifth grade. Obscenely obsessed. I had a crappy AOL website and tons of fanfiction and everything (none of which made it online; yes, all of which I still have; no, I am not showing it to you). I was a Long Patrol hare for Halloween one year. Yes, the costume sucked, but what mattered was that at the time I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
I grew out of his books--they are one of the few things I did grow out of. I retained a lot of childhood fandoms. But re-visiting them upon the onset of adolescence, I found them simplistic. Pulpy adventure stories, sure, and feminist (which was a huge plus), but, still, very straightforward good-vs-evil type stuff where good and evil tend to be species demarcations. I still have a huge soft spot, rooted in nostalgia, and remembering how completely that world engrossed me.
Mr. Jacques, thank you for all of the fond memories, and for being one of the (if not the most prominent) figure who inspired me to read and write prolifically. Those gifts never left me.
I was obsessed with those books in about fourth, fifth grade. Obscenely obsessed. I had a crappy AOL website and tons of fanfiction and everything (none of which made it online; yes, all of which I still have; no, I am not showing it to you). I was a Long Patrol hare for Halloween one year. Yes, the costume sucked, but what mattered was that at the time I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
I grew out of his books--they are one of the few things I did grow out of. I retained a lot of childhood fandoms. But re-visiting them upon the onset of adolescence, I found them simplistic. Pulpy adventure stories, sure, and feminist (which was a huge plus), but, still, very straightforward good-vs-evil type stuff where good and evil tend to be species demarcations. I still have a huge soft spot, rooted in nostalgia, and remembering how completely that world engrossed me.
Mr. Jacques, thank you for all of the fond memories, and for being one of the (if not the most prominent) figure who inspired me to read and write prolifically. Those gifts never left me.