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Q: What books/authors would you recommend to people who like your books?
A: As the querent surmised, this is kind of a tricky one. But I'm going to take a stab at answering it by listing the authors who write the kind of stories (and the kind of prose) I want to write. (N.b.(1), this is not an exhaustive list. N.b.(2), this is not the same as a list of authors I enjoy reading (or did, when I could still read fiction easily) or of authors I admire. Ursula K. Le Guin, for instance: I admire her passionately, and I love her books, but I don't want to write her kind of story.) I'm not claiming that I necessarily think I succeed in writing like these authors, and in fact this list may be useless for the specified purpose. But here we go anyway:
Peter S. Beagle
Barbara Hambly
Ellen Kushner
Joan D. Vinge
Gene Wolfe
Q: I had thought when I first read Melusine that the reason one of Felix's eyes (his bad eye) was blue was because he had a cataract. That would have accounted for the color (bluish white) and the partial blindness.
A: Which is a good theory, except that cataracts being as common as they are, there would be no way for him to conceal that that eye was mostly blind.
Q: What is your favorite book-length poem or poem cycle?
Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene, neck and neck with Shakespeare's Sonnets.
Runner-up is Beowulf.
Q: Does Felix see Corbie as an echo of Joline, or more to the point, did you, the author, create Corbie as a kind reminder of a Joline-type kid?
A: Except in being female, Corbie isn't the least bit like Joline. Which is to say, that never even occurred to me and certainly isn't what's on Felix's mind. Felix, consciously or unconsciously, sees Corbie as an echo of himself.
Q: How does inheritance and name inheritance work with the Teverii? First, is it oldest son, or oldest child? Are there only Lady Protectors when there are no sons? Also, when there are Lady Protectors, it seems that their children inherit their last name. Is this just an exception (from paternal name inheritance) to continue the family name ? Finally, can regular noble families have female heads?
A: ARGH! I haven't thought about any of this stuff in years, and I'm not sure I remember all the answers. But I'll try and fake it. Inheritance is actually by appointment, either by the head of the family or by the current Lord/Lady Protector, should the head of the family die intestate. Although it is MOST OFTEN the oldest child, that's by no means universal. The Teverii are not a very prolific family, so there's rarely a welter of siblings to choose between. Name-inheritance is complicated and is actually something negotiated during marriage settlements. In general it depends on which family is more powerful, not on which family is providing the bride or groom. And, yes, regular noble families can have female heads; there was one in an early draft of The Mirador, but she had to be cut because she and her grandsons were extraneous to the actual plot. (That's a feature of the way I write which I didn't mention in earlier questions about my process: I kitchen-sink the first draft and find out by trial and error which bits are actually part of the story and which bits aren't.)
[Ask your question(s) here.]
A: As the querent surmised, this is kind of a tricky one. But I'm going to take a stab at answering it by listing the authors who write the kind of stories (and the kind of prose) I want to write. (N.b.(1), this is not an exhaustive list. N.b.(2), this is not the same as a list of authors I enjoy reading (or did, when I could still read fiction easily) or of authors I admire. Ursula K. Le Guin, for instance: I admire her passionately, and I love her books, but I don't want to write her kind of story.) I'm not claiming that I necessarily think I succeed in writing like these authors, and in fact this list may be useless for the specified purpose. But here we go anyway:
Peter S. Beagle
Barbara Hambly
Ellen Kushner
Joan D. Vinge
Gene Wolfe
Q: I had thought when I first read Melusine that the reason one of Felix's eyes (his bad eye) was blue was because he had a cataract. That would have accounted for the color (bluish white) and the partial blindness.
A: Which is a good theory, except that cataracts being as common as they are, there would be no way for him to conceal that that eye was mostly blind.
Q: What is your favorite book-length poem or poem cycle?
Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene, neck and neck with Shakespeare's Sonnets.
Runner-up is Beowulf.
Q: Does Felix see Corbie as an echo of Joline, or more to the point, did you, the author, create Corbie as a kind reminder of a Joline-type kid?
A: Except in being female, Corbie isn't the least bit like Joline. Which is to say, that never even occurred to me and certainly isn't what's on Felix's mind. Felix, consciously or unconsciously, sees Corbie as an echo of himself.
Q: How does inheritance and name inheritance work with the Teverii? First, is it oldest son, or oldest child? Are there only Lady Protectors when there are no sons? Also, when there are Lady Protectors, it seems that their children inherit their last name. Is this just an exception (from paternal name inheritance) to continue the family name ? Finally, can regular noble families have female heads?
A: ARGH! I haven't thought about any of this stuff in years, and I'm not sure I remember all the answers. But I'll try and fake it. Inheritance is actually by appointment, either by the head of the family or by the current Lord/Lady Protector, should the head of the family die intestate. Although it is MOST OFTEN the oldest child, that's by no means universal. The Teverii are not a very prolific family, so there's rarely a welter of siblings to choose between. Name-inheritance is complicated and is actually something negotiated during marriage settlements. In general it depends on which family is more powerful, not on which family is providing the bride or groom. And, yes, regular noble families can have female heads; there was one in an early draft of The Mirador, but she had to be cut because she and her grandsons were extraneous to the actual plot. (That's a feature of the way I write which I didn't mention in earlier questions about my process: I kitchen-sink the first draft and find out by trial and error which bits are actually part of the story and which bits aren't.)
[Ask your question(s) here.]
