some entries are just all about me

[truepenny]

Jeff VanderMeer ambushed me yesterday.

And speaking of Jeff, his and Ann's anthology, The New Weird, in which I participated, got a starred review from Publishers Weekly. w00t!

orrin likes The Bone Key, as does Sam over at Whatta Fiasco. (I'm both pleased and amused that no one can agree on what the best/worst stories in the collection are, although, yeah, "Listening to Bone" is the slightest. I could explain what it is I think the story is doing and why I still think it belongs where it is, but, you know, that defeats the purpose of telling the story in the first place.)

tangeriner likes The Virtu, ethereal_lad gets the nutcase mishmash of genres, and schnaucl thinks the series should be longer (an idea which, I have to confess, fills me with terror and ennui in roughly equal measures--I love these guys, but I am done).

Poodlerat has a review of A Companion to Wolves.

I've no idea exactly what this is (oh the wonders of the internet and its daily doses of wtf?), but some of you may know and/or be interested in it.

Shadow Unit will be updating regularly Thursday night and Sunday night; the first full story will be posted in exactly one month (February 18). There's an RSS feed for updates, also a message board, so I'm not going to mention updates here after this, except as the spirit moves me. It's my blog; I can be capricious like that.

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

I'm not holding out for more Felix and Mildmay, but it seems a shame to let such an intriguing world go begging. Maybe someday you'll come back to people's grandchildren--I can see Bernard Heber in old age, running a tavern somewhere, and so on.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

Well, there is potentially a story about Cardenio Richey, Vey Coruscant's copy of Artemisia de Charon's Principia Caeli, and a serial killer in the Lower City, but the burner it's on is so far to the back that you'd have to be Inspector Gadget to reach it from here.

I want to play in other sandboxes for a while.

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

That's understandable; it even happens to people who don't write. I remember talking with someone at my office who has thinking about taking a different assignmnet; he said "Of course, anything you try is likely to suck at some point, but I'm ready for some scenery that sucks in different ways. And there's always the chance that the new work won't suck as much or as often." Which should be read as a comment on his view of the world of work, not a comment on what you do, but yeah, I can see your point.

I, too, would like to know more about your man falling out of an airship. I won't know more until you do, will I?

[scribblemoose]

I'll be terribly sad to think there won't be any more Felix and Mildmay after the next book, but you're the boss. There's no point in writing more for the sake of it when the story's done - sooo many good fictional worlds have been ruined that way.

Of course, if they were to mug you with a new idea a few years (decades? *g*) down the line, that excited you so much you just had to write it, that would be just fine! We can live in hope....

Ambush Heroism

[michaeldthomas.livejournal.com]

I liked the ambush. The definition of heroism is something that’s been important to me ever since I had it out with my AP English class. They felt that Michael Jordan was a hero; I thought that he was just a guy who was good at his job.

In my world, children like my daughter are the biggest heroes that I know. I am amazed every day at how she fights to thrive despite her illness and disabilities. I agree that the heroism of endurance is real and just as important as the heroism of action.

[orrin.livejournal.com]

I don't think "liked" is a strong enough word for my feelings about The Bone Key, but it'll do. [grins]

The rest of everything else you ever wrote is now On My List, and I am watching you. (Take that as you will.)

[jcdracon.livejournal.com]

I think one of the things I respect most in a writer is the ability to stop when I story is done. That being said, I won't deny that I would probably crawl over broken glass for more A Companion to Wolves or Booth.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

I adore the Doctrine of Labyrinths series with mad unreasoning adoration, but I say stop when the muses tell you to. We've all experienced far too many series that went on long after they should've stopped. I don't want to see that happen to this wonderful story.

[poodlerat.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I'll be sad to see Felix and Mildmay go, of course, but I think you've conclusively proved to me that I'll love anything you write, so it's not too much of a disappointment.

[1trackmind.livejournal.com]

It also made my list of top 3 favorite new (to me) series for last year.

[fyretoppaaa.livejournal.com]

Confession time: I picked up Mélusine, got to the 'workroom scene', promptly put it down again because I'd read far too many scenes of that nature and Felix's personality/development at that point wasn't enough to carry it, at least from the point of view of a cynic.

I'm glad I picked it back up again, out of sheer stubbornness, I think, because that got me right on through Virtu and Mirador without ever looking back. <3 I don't think I've ever read any series as many times as I've reread this one (I'm surprised my local library didn't crack down on me for having the books out for two months under various family accounts), but I think I'd have to blame it on the amazing character voice and psychological insights. Hmmm.

But what I'm actually here to say (if you'll forgive my inner fangirl having run away with me for a moment) is that I was a little flabbergasted to learn that Summerdown Corambis was to be the last book (goes to show where I've been), and that I'll have to reorient my sense of this series all over again to accommodate the suddenly looming ending, but at the same time, I completely trust your judgment on these things, because they're your boys, after all, though I love them dearly. (: Good luck with the ongoing rewrite!

Though, I'm only human and must add my hopes for inspiration striking down the road/those sidestories to come off the backburner before I'm too well on in years. XD