Don't forget the classics.

Back when I was but a cut of a lad attending Saint Malachy's College in Belfast, my English master - well the examinations board really - insisted that I read Charles Dickens' Great Expectations in furtherance of my literary education.  Now, being a mere boy, with want to do all and everything except read Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, it is safe to say that I was less than enthusiastic.  I was proved wrong though, because I lapped it up - the depth of the story, the vibrant characters, the just downright brilliance of the writing.

From there on, I progressed to other classics - both accepted and modern - yet, like many seduced by the newness of contemporary fiction, I strayed and it was a good fifteen years before I rediscovered Oscar Wilde, H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, Stoker, Hardy, and the like.  Now I make it a point to either find, or reread, at least six or seven classic novels every year.  Not a great number, but it keeps my hand in.

Many people disregard the allure of the classic writers, seeing them as old, established, and jaded.  But, in their day, these writers were the revolutionaries, cutting edge writing with cutting edge messages, and I challenge anyone looking at them anew to place themselves in the mindset of the reader of the time - even swap genders if you like - and see them as they were intended.  Not a curriculum book for lethargic adolescents, but dynamic observations of the world these writers lived in.

My first suggestion for those who either haven't read it before, or wish to pick it up again, is Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.  In my opinion, one of the best put together stories of the time, with an underlying current of insurgency and a cheeky little scoff at the inflexible Victorian mindset.

Enjoy the rediscovery ... and have a funky week.

Martin :)

Michael Dortmundt - a writer to watch.

Just a short blog to give you the heads-up about a talented writer who delivers canny, rousing stories, that stretch the intellect and draw you down into those murky places of the mind.

If well written supernatural stories, with shades of Lovecraft and Poe, tickles your darker bits, then you just gotta drop by his author page on GOODREADS - MICHAEL DORMUNDT and get yourself acquainted with a writer, who I'm convinced we'll be hearing much more about in the months and years to come.

You can also get yourself a copy of his superb short-story collection, in Kindle edition, from AMAZON - 'The Chapel by the Sea and Other Tales of Terror'

Also, why not sign-up to GOODREADS, a site purely dedicated to books, readers, and writers - who talk about nothing else but - guess what - books, reading, and writers.

You can sign-up through my author page at:

MARTIN TREANOR - GOODREADS

Hope to see you there

Oh, and have a fandabbydozy weekend.

Martin :)

Welcome and shameless self-promotion.

Welcome, come in and take a seat - though not the one with the wobbly leg.

In this blog, I intend to regale you with ramblings about writing in general, along with news and reviews of books and writers - both new and old - famous, and still awaiting discovery - who I respect as both experts in their chosen genres, as well as just damned fine storytellers.

Yet no self-promoting writer would see such an opportunity pass, without first uttering a blatant and, quite frankly, hussy-like plug for their forthcoming debut novel.

'THE SILVER MIST' will be published by BETTER KARMA (USA) - release date to be announced, though sometime in early 2011 - and will be available in paperback, Kindle, and all Ebook formats through AMAZON, BARNES and NOBLE, BORDERS, WATERSTONE'S, W.H. SMITH'S, and all the usual online and onstreet outlets in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, and most other territories.

Updates will be posted via my pages on:

Now with that bit done, it only remains to thank you for dropping by, and to wish you all a happy, successful new year.

Martin :)