"That novel you've been working on...?"

[la_belle_laide]

Umm, this is weird. I gacked this off of skitty_kitty and we got the exact same frigging answer, lending even more evidence that we are, in fact, the same damn person.

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Mary Gentle (b. 1956)

29 High-Brow, 7 Violent, 9 Experimental and 11 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical! These concepts are defined below.

Mary Gentle is a UK author whose work has received some acclaim. Her great break-through came with 1984 fantasy novel Golden Witchbreed, which depicts the travels of a UK envoy on a planet, Orthe, where the inhabitants have, by choice, abandoned a high-tech society for a seemingly less advanced way of life. Though nominally science fiction, the novel is generally called fantasy, partly because Orthe has the feel of a fantasy world. Nothing is what it first seems to be on Orthe, however, and the envoy's journey across the planet gradually reveals a vividly imagined alternate society, where nothing is ever over-simplified or, for that matter, easy. Gentle revisited Orthe in 1987, when the sequel Ancient Light was published.

Since then Gentle has written the White Crow sequence, starting with Rats and Gargoyles (1990), which has received some acclaim, not least from other writers; China Miéville, for example, put it on his list of "50 science fiction and fantasy novels socialists should read". She has also written Grunts! (1992), a novel set in a Tolkien-like fantasy world, but told from the point of view of the orcs, as well as several other books.

Gentle is not one to shun away from difficult issues in her works and is equally unafraid of discussing and depicting violence. Neither has she settled to writing the same kind of story over and over, and, while being at her best a great entertainer, she has the ability of twisting and bending fantasy environments and themes at her will, making unafraid a key-word of her career as a writer.

You are also a lot like Gene Wolfe.

If you want something more gentle (no pun intended), try Philip Pullman.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, J K Rowling.

Your score

This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.

High-Brow vs. Low-Brow

You received 29 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.

Violent vs. Peaceful

You received 7 points, making you more Violent than Peaceful. Please note that violent in this context does not mean that you, personally, are prone to violence. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you are, and you do, then you are violent as defined here. At their best, violent people are the heroes who don't hesitate to stop the villain threatening innocents by means of a good kick. At their worst, they are the villains themselves.

Experimental vs Traditional

You received 9 points, making you more Experimental than Traditional. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, experimental people are the ones who show humanity the way forward. At their worst, they provoke for the sake of provocation only.

Cynical vs Romantic

You received 11 points, making you more Cynical than Romantic. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, cynical people are able to see through lies and spot crucial flaws in plans and schemes. At their worst, they are overly negative, bringing everybody else down.

Author picture by the talented artist "Molosovsky". Visit http://www.flickr.com/people/25360041@N06/ for more!

Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy

Speaking of, I spent the weekend writing my stupid novel. I haven't really written in months. You lose the groove; that's really what "writer's block" is, because writer's block is a myth. No one simply can't write. You just have to forget your fear of sucking, and write anyway.

So my novel's main problem is that the first three chapters are ridiculously boring, and everyone agrees that's so. So, I added a few new scenes and characters to liven things up.

Now I've got mind-sucking zombies, whores, and RELIGIOUS CULTS as well as a few new hopefully creepy characters.

I'm happy. My characters are the lovers I long to return home to when I'm in school and that hasn't happened in a long time.

I think everyone should write stories. ^_^ It doesn't matter what they're about. :)

Hey, I got a brand new stove and range! It's black and it's so cute, nice and clean, new and fresh. Everything in my house is changing. It's weird, and too soon. You know? But it's the nicest little range. It was supposed to go in on Friday but it was raining and the electrician couldn't come then, so it was done today and yay.

There were so many other things I wanted to babble about, but I have to get up at ass o'clock again tomorrow and I'm actually kinda sleepy anyway. My wonderful friend Kim is coming over tomorrow after school so we could sneak ice cream into the movies again, though I don't know what we're going to go see.

I love these late spring nights where it stays warm, and then you go out to the movies and hang out in the parking lot afterwards talking about what you just saw, and why it sucked or why it was great. I've loved that since I was a kid.

But it could be warmer. I'm still wearing my sweater here, people, and it's frigging June. Can we have some heat up in this bitch? Thanks.