Peg Kerr's Journal

This morning, with much whispering and giggling, the girls came and rousted their Daddy out of bed. I barely registered this as unusual before drifting back to sleep (Sunday's Rob's designated day to sleep in) They all trooped back about fifteen minutes later proudly bearing a breakfast-in-bed tray for me (my usual breakfast cereal, garnished with strawberries). And then they all sat around on the bed and watched me eat it. They had brought the newspaper, but it felt too odd to read it, with two little girls staring at me, rather like cats staring up at someone opening a can of catfood.

I just finished (again) Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary by Pamela Dean. I was crossly wishing for an annotated version--and just found one on the Internet! Squee! There's an annotated Tam Lin, too. I also found the ballad the story is based upon ("Riddles Wisely Expounded").

Huh. Maybe I should try writing a book from a ballad. I've already written one from a fairy tale. Stealing somebody else's plot seems to help.

Pamela Dean is one of my favorite authors, and Tam Lin (especially) is one of my favorite books. I know that some readers may find the style unrealistic--and some find it downright annoying--all those quotations, all those allusions! Although ordinarily my taste runs to a much more transparent style, I adore Pamela's. It's the sort of writing I'm not too confident I can do myself, but I enjoy watching Pamela do it.

Another thing, rather odd: when I read Pamela's books, I hear Pamela's voice as the central character's voice. Perhaps that's because both Gentian (the protagonist of Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary) and Janet (the protagonist of Tam Lin) remind me a lot of Pamela--certainly they have her habit of sprinkling poetic allusions through their conversations. I was in a Shakespeare reading group with Pamela for over five years, and it was a feast of wild delight. Other members included Mike Ford (John M. Ford is his publishing name), Elise Matthesen, Patricia C. Wrede, Lois McMaster Bujold, and aside from the joys of Shakespeare, the conversations were fascinating, although I often felt totally intellectually outclassed. There aren't many groups where I'm aware that I'm less well-read than the people around me, and I think it was good for me.

But I was speaking of hearing the author's voice in one's head when reading certain books. Pamela is one, Eleanor Arnason is another (with that dry, drawling Icelandic wit). And Steve Brust.

Oddly enough, however, I never hear Lois' voice when I read any of her Miles Vorkosigan books. Miles has his own very distinctive voice, quite different from Lois's.

I wonder if people who know me hear my voice when they read my characters.