History and art (especially photography), music, philosophy, and associated subjects.
Music
Top pf my list has been YES since the first time I heard them in 1970, late at night, on my first stereo, when they were the featured "underrated band."
That said...I listen to music to take me out of where I am at any given moment or to put me in a frame of mind to do particular tasks. U2 I have found to be one of the best "driving bands" I've found--hard, in fact, to stay within the speed limit while listening to the Joshua Tree album. Others would be Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Juno Reactor (yes, I am into electronic).
But when I'm writing, I have some rules. I can't listen to vocals then. Instrumental only. I listen to a lot of electronic and classical. Occasionally jazz, but not often. So my favorites for working on stories include Synergy, Juno Reactor, Air Sculpture, Roedelius on the electronic side; Giorgy Ligeti, Samuel Barber, Stravinsky, Howard Hanson, Saint-Saens, and Mozart on the classical side. (Using the term "classical" loosely here to indicate pre-contemporary, symphonic idiom, which includes baroque, classical, romantic, neoclassical, etc.)
In general, otherwise, I'll list Emerson Lake & Palmer, Renaissance (very big on Renaissance), Genesis, Jeff Beck, Steve Vai, some periods of Clapton, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, John Abercrombie. Eclectic, sure, and I'm always looking for something new. Recently I discovered The Editors, The Arctic Monkeys, The New Pornographers, and John Mayer.
I don't want to get into a big thing here about what I don't like, but I'll list two categories I categorically do not care for--C & W and opera. Light years apart, I know, but then who said taste had to make sense?
Movies
Best written: THE LION IN WINTER
Best film as film: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
Films I will watch over and over again: PLEASANTVILLE, BLADE RUNNER, A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, TOMBSTONE, FORBIDDEN PLANET, HOLLYWOOD CONFIDENTIAL, INHERIT THE WIND (Spencer Tracy version), THE GODFATHER, and THE FISHER KING.
Television
I'm watching less and less as time goes by, but I'm really enjoying BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and as soon as I can swing it I intend getting the full series of SEX AND THE CITY. I've been watching BONES and, on and off, HOUSE and N.C.I.S. I was outraged when FIREFLY was cancelled.
Books
This...could take a while...
But let's start with DHALGREN by Samuel R. Delany, SLOW RIVER by Nicola Griffith, THE TRANSLATOR by John Crowley, and LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad. The MARY RUSSELL novels by Laurie R. King, THE RECOGNITIONS by William Gaddis, THE HERCULES TEXT by Jack McDevitt, FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM by Umberto Eco, CONSIDER PHLEBAS by Iain M. Banks, THE PROUD TOWER by Barbara Tuchman, HALFWAY HUMAN by Carolyn Ives Gilman. I'll discuss other books in the blog.
Heroes
My mother who told the principle of my grade school to never, ever again censor what I read.
Ansel Adams, a consummate artist.
Earline Knackstedt who trained me in a profession and showed me that it was possible to do anything, regardless of the obstacles.
About me:
Well, not exactly about me, but this is what I do. This is my latest, though it is now almost two years old in print. I write science fiction. REMAINS is my tenth novel. I'm writing an historical at the moment, so soon, if all works out, I'll be more than a science fiction writer. But I find enough similarities between SF and historical that I don't see it as a stretch. So please, if you've a mind to, check out this book. Or my others. They can all still be found available on Amazon, even the officially out-of-print ones. Have a good read.
Meanwhile!
No one is only one thing, though they may claim otherwise. Having thought about it, I've decided to reveal a few more aspects.
Besides the writing, I am a phtographer. I don't do it professionally anymore, unless you consider lab work as a day job "professional." I took it up in high school, became enamored of the black&white work of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and other members of the f/64 Group. On my regular website you can find some examples of my work. Oh, that site is at www.marktiedemann.com
I am also something of an amateur musician, though I say that with irony and amusement. I play piano and guitar and occasionally I write some of what I do down. I'm just competent enough to sit in with groups or play the occasional "original" piece, but to be honest I play music the way I write stories---I make it up. I don't have the time anymore to sit down and seriously learn a repertoire, but I've been playing long enough to be able to "pretend" to play just about anything.
I have a dog. Coffey. She's a mix---of what with what I don't know, but the same can be said for most people, so I consider that a plus.
As part of the strangeness that has been my life, I am the current president of the Missouri Center for the Book. This is a state program connected to the Library of Congress. Our goal, our mission, is to promote the culture of the book in Missouri. Check out our website at books.missouri.org
I should say that both websites mentioned above are slated for thorough revision and reconstruction some time in the next several months.
I may add more here later, depending on how much of my secret identity I think I ought to reveal.
Who I'd like to meet:
Myspace Backgrounds
Finding new people is like walking down a particularly interesting street or alley and expecting...
"In the vein of Solaris, K-PAX
and The Man Who Fell to Earth,
PROXIMA is a refreshing film full of wonder."
(LONDON SCI-FI FESTIVAL)
"If you’re looking for something different
in science fiction from your traditional lasers
and alien monsters, check out
Carlos Atanes’s PROXIMA.
Remember Proxima is not just a place,
it’s a state of mind… literally."
(NIC BROWN, B MOVIE MAN)
Hi, Mark. Nice to make your acquaintance. Thanks for stopping by my page. My best, --R.J. Archer, author www.SeedsOfCivilization.com www.ParallelOps.com Mystery/adventure novels with a SciFi twist
Hi Mark! Thanks for accepting the add! It's nice to meet you. :)
Check out my website some time, for good horror/supernatural fiction. On the website you can safely download a selection of my stories in .pdf format absolutely free!!
Also, check out my blog here on Myspace and subscribe so you know as soon as I put new stories on my website!
Hey Mark, Glad to have you here. I hope you can hang around for a long while. I invite you to read my offerings and if the urge hits you, let me know what you think. Be seeing you.
OH
and in celebration of our new friendship I'M NAKED!! Come
read my latest "First Chapter." It's
all about PUBLIC RELATIONS! PUBLIC
RELATIONS Chapter 1
Chicks dig scars, everyone knows that, right? Meet Severence DeSnappio, a man who creates ‘fake’ injuries for desperate clients. He’ll get you a stab wound, shot gun blast, snowboarding injury - but a bite from a great white shark?
Set in Miami, Chicks Dig scars is a lyrical, Lynchian mix of dream logic and hard boiled detection.
I drop you a line to tell you that some copies of The Field Where She Died, my first album, are still available, but stocks won't last... Only 150 copies left...
Thank you for connecting! If you're interested, I'm offering one free original MP3 download to my new MySpace friends, just let me know the name of which track would you like to get and I'll tell you where to download it for free.
Online Now!
