I'm not that good at writing... but I sure work hard.

Wow! I get to write about myself! *Theatrical smile* Where to begin...

My (pen) name's Lisa Shafter, and I write fantasy. My story, Caste of the Spider, is up on the fantasy forum. Any crits are appreciated! viewtopic.php?t=10910 Writing is my favorite thing to do, followed by hanging out with friends, reading, taking long walks, acting, playing violin, and singing.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember, published nonfiction twice, and been rejected by a couple of agents. I'm currently working as an editor/assistant to an online writing coach, which is great fun and quite a lot of work. I graduated from homeschool last year as valedictorian of my class (and worst student as well, incidentally). I've still kept up extracurricular activities playing in a 50-piece orchestra, singing in choir, and performing and teaching drama.

Movie soundtracks and the groups Nickel Creek and DC Talk are my favorite music, although Bach, Vivaldi, and Massenet are my favorite to play on my violin. I love many different movies, though generally I prefer plot-and-character driven ones that aren't too dark or violent. My favorite book of all time is Lord of the Rings. Otherwise, I like the works of C.S. Lewis, classic novels (excluding Jane Austen), The Bartimaeus Trilogy, and other various fantasy.

As the subject heading might have tipped you off, I'm not a big fan of my own work. But I appreciate friendly shredding, so come on over to my story and have fun making coleslaw of it!

Cheers!

~Shafter

Massenet! *dies* All the violinists I know looooove Massenet... and I hate him. Hate hate hate. Heh. But you like Nickel Creek, so you are redeemed! And great quote in your sig, by the way.

Oh dear, how can you hate Massenet?? You don't play violin, do you... But if you're a Nickel Creek fan, I forgive you as well! I care about Chris Thile more than I do Julian Massenet.
Love your avatar, Fand. I've had a few characters do that on me...
Thanks for posting!
Cheers! ~Shafter

'lo darling!
What is there to say, you already know what I think of you and your writing (both of which I have high opinions of ) I'm afraid I can't appreciate the Massenet debate, but I do like listening to Vivaldi! Oh well. Oh, note from Shakespeare class for you: do NOT read Titus Andronicus. Just DON'T. Trust me.

Hum. A writer who doesn't much like her own work. Well, that sounds vaguely familiar...I happen to like your writing; you'll notice that I made noodles of it, not quite coleslaw.

Hurrah for Bartimaeus and Nickel Creek!!

Oh, and Fand: you want to hear something worse than a character changing professions on you? Try a character that changes GENDER. But that was more my fault than his, I must confess.

I still owe you a critique... *flails*

And having a mascochist view of writing is probably not a good thing.

By the way, whose cat is that in your icon? (S)He's loverly.

Snoink wrote:And having a mascochist view of writing is probably not a good thing.

Okay, Snoink, I give up, what does "mascochist" mean? My best guess would be that it means macho or something... Which I can assure you I'm not!! It's just that my mom and dad are both writers/editors, and all three of my siblings write in some way or the other. We use old drafts of our stories/articles/songs as scrap paper and mercilessly edit each other all the time. So... maybe that helps you understand better. Hope to see a crit from you soon!

Fand-- it's a pic I found on the internet, but I thought it was so cool! I love cats.

Cheers! ~Shafter

Hullo Shafter ^_^

And Snoink's comment about masochist--it means someone who takes pleasure in and/or turns their destructive tendencies inward. -_-'' It's not the most productive attitude. ^_~

Good luck with Emon. It's certainly not worthless. Who ever started anything that didn't need work? ^_^



IMP

Poor Imp wrote:And Snoink's comment about masochist--it means someone who takes pleasure in and/or turns their destructive tendencies inward. -_-'' It's not the most productive attitude. ^_~

Ah, so that's what it means! *adds "masochist" to vocabulary* No, that's not a very productive attitude at all! I just don't think I have very much natural talent when it comes to writing (story, probably. writing, no). Who needs natural talent? Working hard is the most important part!

Cheers! ~Shafter

P.S. I love your crits, Imp! My second chapter will be posted... soon.

I was gonna go and opt to play the violin at school, but it looked so confusing and strange that I opted for the subtle and heavy tenor horn. Oh how much do I regret that!

You seem nice, although I'm not into the whole 'classical scene'.

hello,

"I graduated from homeschool last year as valedictorian of my class (and worst student as well, incidentally)". - LOL! In this as well as your novel, you have a very strong "voice" as an author and a great sense of humor. I look forward to reading more of your work. I'm a big fan of Lewis as well. That's great that you've already published some nonficion, from what I've read it's not hard to imagine your fiction doing well, too. I think that it is healthy for a writer to not like there writing over-much because it allows them to be open to change (not that I follow that philosophy, lol, but I try).