I both love and hate Jim Shepard . Love, because his stories are so ridiculously good. Hate, because his stories are so ridiculously good. Sometimes I wish I could program my brain to work like his just for one day. I'm currently devouring his 2011 collection of short stories you think that's bad (he didn't capitalize it, so neither will I). It's so much fun to read. Every single story is transportive and I was trying to put my finger on all the reasons why that is the case. The most obvious reason is the setting. Each story is carefully placed in a land unfamiliar to me: the Netherlands in the near future, New Guinea, the Alps. Each setting is vivid with weather and language and a sense of cultural flavor. But I realized this morning that he actually accomplishes the whole setting thing through the use of the character's job. What the character does for a living, whether it is climate control, military, or avalanche research, it's the specificities
"In the midst of winter I found in me an Invincible Summer." - Camus ...On exploring strength in its many forms: strong people, strong writing, strong curiosity, obsessions, stances, and loves. Strength as a concept wide enough to encompass fear, truth, vulnerability, and joy.