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Self-praise and egoboo, so just ignore me
Jan. 20th, 2007 03:58 pmI know I was grumbling about doing too much rewriting recently and not enough fresh work - and I do not resile from one word of that grumble: a good grumble, and I stand beside it - but I am now on the final leg of this period, going over the urban fantasy before my agent starts sending it around, and y'know what? I'm enjoying it, actually.
Granted that this is just the read-through, where all I have to do is scribble on the rough bits, mark them up for my later more serious attention; it's a process of getting acquainted with the work, in fact the first time I've ever read it, but I'm still surprised at how happy it makes me. I'm none too confident of its future, mind - there are better books in this field: more considered, more ambitious, more worked up - but I like these boys, I like this girl, I enjoy spending time in their company. I suppose it's a book I wrote for my own gratification, and yup. It punches my buttons. Also, every now and then, it takes me by surprise. Not with the plot, inevitably - I do remember that - but with the language. Most of it is workmanlike, but there's a sudden paragraph that soars, that takes me with it; I like that, too.
And meanwhile, I sent the play to a friend of mine, whose working life has been in theatre; and - in her blog, bless her, where the world can read it - she said:
"I read the draft of my friend’s new play. It’s wonderful and touching and disturbing and heart-rending all at once. I knew he’d draw me in – he always does. He’s one of those writers who defies genre – call him “boxless” or “unboxed” or, what he truly is, brilliant.
"I’m talking, of course, of Chaz Brenchley, who understands what makes humans (and other beings) tick better than we do ourselves, and is brave enough to expose it. If you’ve never read a Chaz Brenchley book, go order one right this minute – and if you’re in the U.S., Bridge of Dreams is a good place to start. He’s lyrical; compelling; a stunning linguist; understands the heights and depths of love, passion, turmoil, manipulation, loyalty, and pain; and helps the reader see the world (any world about which he writes) in a new way. Sometimes the beauty of his prose literally takes my breath away.
"His work is beyond genre. It’s too expansive and too honest to fit in a box. Plus, he can write in any genre – mystery, fantasy, or, as in this play, naturalism/realism."
I can live off that for weeks...
Granted that this is just the read-through, where all I have to do is scribble on the rough bits, mark them up for my later more serious attention; it's a process of getting acquainted with the work, in fact the first time I've ever read it, but I'm still surprised at how happy it makes me. I'm none too confident of its future, mind - there are better books in this field: more considered, more ambitious, more worked up - but I like these boys, I like this girl, I enjoy spending time in their company. I suppose it's a book I wrote for my own gratification, and yup. It punches my buttons. Also, every now and then, it takes me by surprise. Not with the plot, inevitably - I do remember that - but with the language. Most of it is workmanlike, but there's a sudden paragraph that soars, that takes me with it; I like that, too.
And meanwhile, I sent the play to a friend of mine, whose working life has been in theatre; and - in her blog, bless her, where the world can read it - she said:
"I read the draft of my friend’s new play. It’s wonderful and touching and disturbing and heart-rending all at once. I knew he’d draw me in – he always does. He’s one of those writers who defies genre – call him “boxless” or “unboxed” or, what he truly is, brilliant.
"I’m talking, of course, of Chaz Brenchley, who understands what makes humans (and other beings) tick better than we do ourselves, and is brave enough to expose it. If you’ve never read a Chaz Brenchley book, go order one right this minute – and if you’re in the U.S., Bridge of Dreams is a good place to start. He’s lyrical; compelling; a stunning linguist; understands the heights and depths of love, passion, turmoil, manipulation, loyalty, and pain; and helps the reader see the world (any world about which he writes) in a new way. Sometimes the beauty of his prose literally takes my breath away.
"His work is beyond genre. It’s too expansive and too honest to fit in a box. Plus, he can write in any genre – mystery, fantasy, or, as in this play, naturalism/realism."
I can live off that for weeks...