Faulkner? Not Today.

"Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error..." ~ William Faulkner

Today I clicked over to a new follower's blog and discovered Roxy at A Woman's Write. She was reading Faulkner in the sun to the sound of her children playing on the Slip and Slide. It sounded so delightful that I decided to run over to my local library for a lending card and a peek at whatever Faulkners they might have on the shelf.

I got there just before closing time, gave them my license and an Allstate bill for ID, then went to browse with only seven minutes left. I despise hurrying. Especially in bookstores and libraries. It took five of those seven minutes to locate Faulkner and rule him out. Sorry. Just not in the mood for heavy prose. Another one minute to scan the shelves and rule out Fannie Flagg and Thomas Fleming and a blur of others. Near panic, I scooted over to the new fiction. Nada. Time's up. "Terry Brooks!" flashed in my head. Back to 'Old' Fiction.

About that time, a not-so-nice lady came over to the stack and said, "We're closed you know."

Crap. "Two minutes," I begged. She huffed and turned her back.

Of course he'd be on the bottom shelf. So I'm all squatted down, eyes darting over the titles, looking for "First King of Shannara". I was about to give up when I spotted the almost-brand-new paperback. Grabbing it, I hurried to the front desk where a much-nicer lady checked me out. I left triumphant, with the prequel to Terry Brooks' Shannara series, one I've been wanting to read since last year.

It now sits proudly on my ottoman where I can see it out of the corner of my eye. And the first sentence?

"The old man just appeared, seemingly out of nowhere."

AHA! Notice anything? Yep. There's an 'ly' adverb, right smack in the middle of the first line of a series that sold millions of copies and boasts the first fantasy novel ever to hit the NY Times bestseller list. Which confirms what I already know: sometimes an adverb is the only word that fits. So go ahead. Use it.

I've decided since my Muse seems to be herding me in a different direction, I'll take a little time off, make sure she's serious. So, I'm taking my mind to the playground. One of Terry Brooks' making. Ironically(!), in googling to see how many copies he sold, I found this tidbit in Wikipedia:

One day, in his early college life, he was given a copy of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, which inspired him to write in one genre. While Tolkien inspired the genre, Brooks stated at the Charlotte Literary Festival that he credits the inspiration of his style of writing to William Faulkner's works. With this inspiration, he then made his debut in 1977 with his first novel The Sword of Shannara. This novel became the first fantasy book ever to appear on the New York Times bestseller list, where it stayed for five months. (emphasis added)

Hmm, if I'm getting Faulkner style through Terry Brooks, I think I got the better end of the deal. Not to take anything away from Faulkner, but I'm in need of a playground, not a battle field. I'm trying to steer clear of those today.

Well, just slap ME around!! Terry's written another Landover novel, where the heck have I been?? That's the one I SHOULD be reading. Hmm. The paperback release date of "The Princess of Landover" is July 27, 2010. Next!