Some great fantasy books are anything by R. A. Salvatore (The Dark Elf Trilogy; The Icewind Dale Trilogy), and Neil Gaiman (try "Neverwhere").
My favourite mystery series is Laurie R. King's Mary Russell books. She pairs Sherlock Holmes in his later years with a young female partner. King...
Well i'm not sure of the essays you're alluding to so I can't really suggest anything about them specifically. However, for a presentation on this topic in general I would totally find some way to work in David Letterman's 'Art or Ape?' segment. If you're not familiar, each time he runs the...
I experience the EXACT same issues!!! It's not weird, and you're definitely not alone!
I don't know what it is, but I am more comfortable on a stage than almost anywhere else. But I always got the shakes when forced to do a presentation in Uni or whatever. For me I think part of it is I'm...