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Q: ( spoiler for The Mirador )
Q: What changes have been made to Mildmay's and Felix's character overtime when the story was still stewing and being rewritten? Or Mehitabel's and Malkar's or...whoever else, for that matter. Was there a point where the story was going in a totally different direction than it is now?
AND
Q: You mentioned having had this in your head for fifteen years -- has it changed radically from what you first imagined? And was the worldbuilding a large part of that?
A: Aside from the long stretches of time where I didn't know where the story was going at all, no. There are things in Corambis that I've been waiting to do since I started writing Mélusine. The biggest change, I suppose, was in ( another spoiler for The Mirador ) The world-building has gotten deeper and richer (I hope), but I don't think there have been any radical departures from what I originally envisioned. Mostly, however, this is because my "vision" when I started this was neither sharp nor broad nor really much of anything. I world-build as I go, and I've been very lucky in writing these books that that hasn't turned around and bitten me on the ass.
Q: A lot of fantasy readers/writers hate "normal" names in fantasy. How did you decide on them, and why did you decide to use so many of them to populate the Mirador?
( answer )
Q: Have you ever amused yourself in a socially awkward situation by thinking "What would Felix/Mildmay do?"
A: Oh hell yes. I just have to remember not to act on it.
Q: Does Methony have any surviving family?
A: I don't think so, but I don't know for sure. I also don't know who Felix's father is. Or Mildmay's, for that matter.
Q: There was a panel at WorldCon this year called “20 Essential Science Fiction Books of the Past 20 Years.” I am curious what your choices would be as you are well read and never short of smart opinions. Some of the respondents have already expanded the list to include fantasy.
A: Okay, you ask that question, and my mind goes blank. Of the lists on Cheryl's blog, the books that I have read--and agree are at least important, if not essential--are:
Grass, Sheri S. Tepper (1989)
The Book of the Long Sun (Nightside the Long Sun; Lake of the Long Sun; Caldé of the Long Sun; Exodus From the Long Sun), Gene Wolfe (1993 - 1996)
Sandman, Neil Gaiman (Yes, the whole damn thing.)
I would for certain add C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner.
Most of the books I don't list aren't because I don't think they're important, but because I haven't read them. And I can assert that, for instance, Nalo Hopkinson should be on that list, but that's not because I've personally read very much of her work. I'm not nearly as well read as you think I am. *g*
Q: Is Corambis the final book of the series?
A: Yes.
Q: What is your favorite part of Corambis? I'm not asking for a pivotal plot moment, just a part or chapter that you really enjoyed writing. You don't have to say it, but maybe some page numbers?
A: The page numbers won't help you, since they aren't the same between the manuscript and the finished book. And--I just discovered--I can't even give you chapter numbers, because I seem to have done something creatively awful to the chaptering in the manuscript as it stands. So I will simply say that I enjoyed the train trip from Bernatha to Esmer quite a lot.
[To ask a question, go here.]
Q: What changes have been made to Mildmay's and Felix's character overtime when the story was still stewing and being rewritten? Or Mehitabel's and Malkar's or...whoever else, for that matter. Was there a point where the story was going in a totally different direction than it is now?
AND
Q: You mentioned having had this in your head for fifteen years -- has it changed radically from what you first imagined? And was the worldbuilding a large part of that?
A: Aside from the long stretches of time where I didn't know where the story was going at all, no. There are things in Corambis that I've been waiting to do since I started writing Mélusine. The biggest change, I suppose, was in ( another spoiler for The Mirador ) The world-building has gotten deeper and richer (I hope), but I don't think there have been any radical departures from what I originally envisioned. Mostly, however, this is because my "vision" when I started this was neither sharp nor broad nor really much of anything. I world-build as I go, and I've been very lucky in writing these books that that hasn't turned around and bitten me on the ass.
Q: A lot of fantasy readers/writers hate "normal" names in fantasy. How did you decide on them, and why did you decide to use so many of them to populate the Mirador?
( answer )
Q: Have you ever amused yourself in a socially awkward situation by thinking "What would Felix/Mildmay do?"
A: Oh hell yes. I just have to remember not to act on it.
Q: Does Methony have any surviving family?
A: I don't think so, but I don't know for sure. I also don't know who Felix's father is. Or Mildmay's, for that matter.
Q: There was a panel at WorldCon this year called “20 Essential Science Fiction Books of the Past 20 Years.” I am curious what your choices would be as you are well read and never short of smart opinions. Some of the respondents have already expanded the list to include fantasy.
A: Okay, you ask that question, and my mind goes blank. Of the lists on Cheryl's blog, the books that I have read--and agree are at least important, if not essential--are:
Grass, Sheri S. Tepper (1989)
The Book of the Long Sun (Nightside the Long Sun; Lake of the Long Sun; Caldé of the Long Sun; Exodus From the Long Sun), Gene Wolfe (1993 - 1996)
Sandman, Neil Gaiman (Yes, the whole damn thing.)
I would for certain add C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner.
Most of the books I don't list aren't because I don't think they're important, but because I haven't read them. And I can assert that, for instance, Nalo Hopkinson should be on that list, but that's not because I've personally read very much of her work. I'm not nearly as well read as you think I am. *g*
Q: Is Corambis the final book of the series?
A: Yes.
Q: What is your favorite part of Corambis? I'm not asking for a pivotal plot moment, just a part or chapter that you really enjoyed writing. You don't have to say it, but maybe some page numbers?
A: The page numbers won't help you, since they aren't the same between the manuscript and the finished book. And--I just discovered--I can't even give you chapter numbers, because I seem to have done something creatively awful to the chaptering in the manuscript as it stands. So I will simply say that I enjoyed the train trip from Bernatha to Esmer quite a lot.
[To ask a question, go here.]
