Bye-bye, Blogger

I'm going to move my blog over to LiveJournal, where I've had a placeholder account for several months so I can respond to my LJ friends' posts.

Blogger was already unwieldy for me because it doesn't support older browsers (a pet peeve of mine), but it got worse after the Google takeover. I can't even respond to comments on my OWN blog, let alone others. LJ is not exactly perfect for an IE 5.1 user but it's a wee bit easier to navigate.

If you are an LJ user in my circle, do friend me! If you are a Blogger or Wordpress user, be patient and I will get links to your blog up as soon as I figure out how. Meanwhile, check me out at niicelaady.livejournal.com.

What is good writing?

Prompted by a thread elsewhere on the net. My bottom line: As a certain Supreme Court justice says about porn, I know it when I see it.

Hemingway ... Clear, concise, stark, to the point. A role model for writers everywhere.

Bret Harte ... Flowery to the point of nauseating, but "The Luck of Roaring Camp" makes me tear up.

Robert James Waller ... see Bret Harte. "The Bridges of Madison County" made me bawl like a baby.

Dorothy Parker ... Queen of the cynics, whose cynicism was born of deep personal pain. Her wit was unrivaled and her similes are brilliant (of a bride on her honeymoon trip: "She looked as new as a peeled egg.").

Stephen King ... Creates characters I want as neighbors (except for the possessed ones)

John Grisham ... Master of the "OMG!" ending

Edna Ferber ... A she-ro of mine for the incredible female characters she created: born idealists believing in happily-ever-after, molded by real life into something so much stronger and more beautiful than any fairytale heroine.

Dr. Seuss and Ogden Nash: I would read them here and there, I would read them anywhere. They make me laugh, they make me smile. I'd read them a good long while.

My point? Some of these writers are considered Great Masters. Others are commercial "hacks." Some are considered masters today but were hacks in their time. And I love them all.