How about this one?

A man goes out drinking every night, returning to his home in the wee hours of every morning. No matter how much he drinks, he never gets a hangover. This drink is very well known, but is rarely consumed, served warm and taken straight from its source. The man is a sucker for a free drink, especially since he can't live without it. What is his favorite drink?

I've heard of all of them except John White - and even then I remember you showing me the books at your old house. I just never remembered his name
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Sutcliff is definitely someone I've kept in mind, as is de Troyes and several other medievalists (want to check out Geoffrey of Monmouth, if he's available, and Wolfram von Eschenbach). I have a copy of the The Once and Future King on my shelf - I know how highly regarded it is. The problem is making the time for it.

I wouldn't have expected you placing MacDonald ahead of Tolkien as your favorite. Shows what I know. I liked The Princess and the Goblin, but I've yet to pick up Phantastes and Lilith (I've had them for the longest time). Should also look at his short stories, too. As for his other work, I guess it depends on what's still in print.

As for the Timberlost section....yeah, I feel that there's something more that could be done, but I just don't know what. A simple little game like that is nice to have, but I wouldn't know how to expand on it. Is there something more you'd like to get out of it?

Here's an interesting site. His name is Mike Duran, and he's an ex-pastor-turned-professional-writer. I came across him one day searching for Lovecraft art. His topics include writing, theology, horror, the compatibility of horror and the Christian faith, and some current trends of the day. Maybe you'll find something interesting worth holding on to!

http://mikeduran.com/

I'm guessing...a book.

If you want a reply, I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I may have to search for something.

This was part of the old website, with a section all its own, but considering how small this new site is, I would consider reviving that section to be up in the air. But I would like to see it expanded upon, so I'd like to give it a second try here in the forums. Maybe - just maybe - it'll get its own space in the future, but then that's not up to me.

I should also state that I have not read all of these authors, not for lack of interest but for a divided attention span. Therefore, these will often be people I have heard of but not personally experienced yet, or I have begun their work but let my mind wander to other places. I WANT to read them, of course, and beyond my recommendation, these are authors who are well regarded by critics and commercial audiences alike and have raised the benchmark on the genre significantly through their contributions. Also, I don't intend to be the only one who posts - everyone is free to participate.

The original entries were George MacDonald, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Therefore, I'd like to submit 6 authors from the same relative timeframe who, in some cases, have provided an influence on their development.


WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)
One of the most well-regarded figures of the Victorian era, a committed socialist in the second half of his life,  Morris is known today for his textiles as well as his wallpaper, fabrics and other interior decorations influenced by the Neo-Gothic revival movement. But he was chiefly regarded in his time as a poet and a writer - drawing upon Icelandic sagas, he delivered acclaimed pieces such as A Dream of John Ball, The House of the Wolfings, The Roots of the Mountain, The Story of the Glittering Plain, The Wood Beyond the World, The Well at the World's End, The Water of the Wondrous Isles and The Sundering Flood; he also dabbled in sci-fi/utopian themes with the novella News from Nowhere. It is reported that Morris is perhaps the greatest influence upon Tolkien in prose style, as he greatly admired these romances and even felt he couldn't outdo them.

Offsite resources:
William Morris: The Soul of Arts and Crafts (http://www.williammorristile.com/morris_arts_and_crafts.html)
The William Morris Society in the United States (http://www.morrissociety.org/index.html)



E. R. EDDISON (1882-1945)
A Norse scholar, civil servant and close liaison of the Inklings, Eric Rücker Eddison is remembered, especially by both Tolkien and Lewis, for one of the earliest examples of otherworldly high fantasy - The Worm Ouroboros, a dense epic deliberately constructed in an archaic style reminiscent of Elizabethan drama, Icelandic sagas and Jacobean prose, chronicling the conflict on the planet Mercury (yes, that Mercury) between the nations of Demonland and Witchland. In close relation to this was his ultimately incomplete cycle concerning the world of Zimiamvia: Mistress of Mistresses, A Fish Dinner in Memison and The Mezentian Gate.

Offsite resources:
The Official E. R. Eddison Website (http://www.ereddison.com/)



LORD DUNSANY (1878-1957)
An avid chessman and supporter of animal rights, Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, is one of the earliest worldbuilders, his style influenced by both the King James Bible and his native Irish dialect, among other influences. Long before The Silmarillion was started, Dunsany created a cycle of linked stories concerning the gods and history of Pegāna, as well as other stories of fantasy and horror; even his plays and poetry are tinged with elements of the fantastic. He is also regarded for his novels, chief among them being The King of Elfland's Daughter, The Blessing of Pan and The Curse of the Wise Woman.

Offsite resource:
Lord Dunsany: The Potency of Words and the Wonder of Things (http://pweb.jps.net/~sangreal/ld.htm)
Great Science-Fiction and Fantasy Works - Lord Dunsany (http://greatsfandf.com/AUTHORS/LordDunsany.php)



JAMES BRANCH CABELL (1879-1958)
Sort of a fantastic contemporary of Mark Twain and H. L. Mencken, Cabell is known primarily for The Biography of the Life of Manuel, a large cycle of novels regarding the imaginary French medieval country of Poictesme and the antiheroic character of Dom Manuel and his descendants. These are definitely fantasy works, but they are also severe satires of the mores and values of his native Virginia and its society. The most famous of his works is Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice, which follows an amorous fool through a fantastically absurd cosmic journey; it only increased in fame after being the subject of an obscenity trial in the 1920s.

Offsite resource:
James Branch Cabell: Overview and Personal Notes (http://www.cadaeic.net/cabell.htm)



KENNETH MORRIS (1979-1937)
Unrelated to William Morris, this Welsh theosophist is known both for his stories published under several pseudonyms as well as his own name, ranging over a wide spectrum of mythologies, and for his own personal retelling of the First and Third Branches of the Mabinogion over two respective books - The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed and Book of the Three Dragons - as well as an Aztec fantasy, The Chalchihuite Dragon. Aside from being well regarded for his particular prose style, it would seem that he remains a rather enigmatic figure.

Offsite resource:
Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Kenneth Morris (http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=morris_kenneth)
Theosophical University Press - The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed, Full Text (http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/dyfed/fates-hp.htm)
Theosophical University Press - The Chalchihuite Dragon, Full Text (http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/dragon/dragon-hp.htm)



H. RIDER HAGGARD (1856-1925)
A contemporary of Rudyard Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson, Haggard is one of the pioneers of the "Lost World" story, mostly the ancient civilizations of newly colonized Africa, and a chief influence on mythopoeia. His most treasured works are the adventure story King Solomon's Mines, a prototypes of Indiana Jones which has led to quite a few homages, and She, a gothic fantasy highly regarded by Tolkien and Lewis as well as psychologists Freud and Jung. Other works well remembered are Nada the Lily, a historical novel of a Zulu prince and his tragedy in love, and Eric Brighteyes, a Viking epic.

Offsite resource:
The Rider Haggard Society (http://riderhaggardsociety.org.uk/)
Visual Haggard (http://www.visualhaggard.org/)

Yes, all the doors were locked, and there were no bullet holes, so there were no signs on the doors, the trunk, or the roof.

But then the perpetrator didn't really need to worry about that. After all, when is a car open and closed at the same time? What car is it that can be sealed safely against common passerby, every door locked and every window rolled up, and yet you can still feel the wind and the sun when you drive it?

Comments on the YouTube page identify it being as part of The Kentucky Fried Movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076257/), so this is actually the dialogue from the movie.

All the windows had been rolled up (knew I was forgetting something).

Do I ever, Raven Fithiach. Coír Draoi Ceítien remembers. Of Dregnot, of Cathrís Bane and Sting, of Falcon Claw and Gorthang Firefist. There's also Azarthrim, but that's separate, to my knowledge.

Afraid I don't have much. I like riddles, but I don't know if I can think of anything really challenging. The most I have is this:

A man was found shot in his car. There was no sign of entry nor of leaving the car. No trace of gunpowder could be found in the vehicle, nor was any window broken. How was the man shot?

Elvis Costello and Van Morrison. Also currently listening to the complete studio work of Lou Reed and David Bowie.

Really, I have so much music that I have a couple external hard drives set aside to keep space free on my computer. I'm constantly collecting and playing stuff on my iPod.

I can't say, though, that I have a whole lot in the way of world music, though I am quite fond of it. Yes, I have a good number of classical pieces, but nothing like that Mongolian band. Shame. They really are good.

I think I've heard this before: he was riding a horse named Friday.

Has anyone found any good music lately? Any new discoveries or appreciations? I'm curious, because, since 2012, I've been collecting all kinds of music, going for as complete a collection as I can of a number of artists. As such, I feel I have quite an extensive library. Some I've found to like even more than I did originally, others I didn't expect to like as much but came off as quite a surprise. I'd sure like to know others' experiences.

So what have you found?

I might have a couple things. Some thoughts I've been toying with for quite some time, imagining what they'd be like on this forum, but I might need some more audience for that, so I may hold off on them. But I can still start small with some other topics.

In the meantime, I'll get the word out on Facebook - it might turn some very old heads (no disrespect meant towards them).

I think it depends on several factors, some which I probably don't know of. An attractive design/user-friendly layout and some good word of mouth may be part of it, but that's really just guessing on my part.