Yesterday I posted about having been blogging for six and a half years now. And about relooking at some of the considerable depth of material in the blog backlist.

I thought I’d start today with six posts that you have particularly liked over the past six years — one for each year (but not necessarily from each year since this is about what has proven the “most-read”) of “…on Anything, Really’s” life. So without further ado…

1. Without question, readers have really liked and kept coming back to my 2012 interview with Kristin Cashore. Here’s a retrospective taste of what it’s all about:

“Helen:  So what do you, as the author, love most about Bitterblue’s character?

Kristin:  I love her loneliness. I love her loyalty. I love how much she loves her friends. I love how hard she tries, and I love her refusal to give up.”

To read or re-read the interview in full, click on:

An Interview with Kristin Cashore, Author Of Bitterblue
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2. Also from 2012, I posted the tauparapara, Te Tangi O Te Matui, as a Tuesday Poem feature and it has proven to be another consistent favourite. Here’s a snippet…

Kia wkakarongo ake au
Ki te tangi a te manu nei
A te matui…

I listen
To the cry of the bird
Of the matui, calling…

For the full tauparapara, click on:

Tuesday Poem: Tauparapara—“Te Tangi A Te Matui”; Traditional

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3. Poetry has proven popular and this time it’s the critically praised “The Fox” by NZ poet Bernadette Hall. I featured two, more recent poems by Bernadette just this past Tuesday, but this is the very first poem of hers I featured on the blog, awa’ back on 17 August, 2010:

The Fox

The fox is a single red stroke that cuts across
the clearing. The colour seems to hang like smoke,
you can almost see where she has come from…

To read the poem in full, go to:

Tuesday Poem: “The Fox” by Bernadette Hall

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4. Next off the blocks is one of my many “list” posts, My Favourite Fantasy Standalone Novels, this time from the 30th of January 2013.

“With this list though, it’s just “Fantasy” because I honestly couldn’t think of 10 standalone epic fantasy novels—epic really does seem to run to series! I should also note that I tried to stick to one book per author, otherwise around four on my list would be by Guy Gavriel Kay. And yes, I know my reading “slip” is now showing, but hey—just sayin’”

To check out the ‘list of ten’, go to:

My Favourite Fantasy Standalone Novels

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5. The poets certainly seem to have their following and another Tuesday Poem feature, AB Negative (The Surgeon’s Poem) by US poet Brian Turner, has also proved an enduring favourite — from back in that vintage year, 2012:

“AB Negative (The Surgeon’s Poem)

Thalia Fields lies under a grey ceiling of clouds,
just under the turbulence, with anesthetics
dripping from an IV into her arm,
and the flight surgeon says The shrapnel
cauterized as it traveled through her
here, breaking this rib as it entered,
burning a hole through the left lung
to finish in her back, and all of this
she doesn’t hear…”

You will find the full poem at:

Tuesday Poem: “AB Negative (The Surgeon’s Poem)” by Brian Turner

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6. The sixth post readers kept returning to for quite some time was the synopsis for Daughter of Blood that I posted in early 2014 — which is, I must admit, rather gratifying. 🙂

“But also very cool (I thought!) was the sneak preview on the synopsis for DAUGHTER:

“A Failing Wall, a Broken Shield… Malian and Kalan are pursuing separate paths back to the Derai Alliance – but already it may be too late….”

Wanna reread the original for old times sake and decide if it does accurately and aptly foretell Daughter of Blood as published? Then go right here:

Sneak Preview: A Synopsis For “Daughter Of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three”

And have a great weekend, one and all!