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truepennyQ: It was described in Virtu that Felix tended to keep distance between himself and Mildmay because of his sexual attraction to Mildmay. It would seem that Mildmay doesn't really pick this up, especially in The Mirador.
So, a few questions: =o)
1)Am I right in thinking Mildmay does not pickup these cues?
2)If I'm right, is it sort of a mental block or he really doesn't get it?
3)Will Corombis explore this disconnect of Mildmay's further?
A: I'm not entirely sure I understand what the question is asking, but I will point out that two years have gone by between The Virtu and The Mirador. Also, where Felix is highly verbal and skittish about tactile, Mildmay is leery of words but uses touch a lot.
Q: How many hours a day do you usually spend writing/doing writing-related things?
A: It tends to depend rather a lot. At the moment, for instance, I'm spending hardly any time writing, because I'm trying honorably to take a vacation. In general, I don't keep track of hours per day so much as I do of tasks accomplished. Writing is, currently, my own job, so it's not like I have other things to schedule around.
Q: Is the Doctrine of Labyrinths world based (however loosely) on the real world? For instance, is Marathat France, Kekropia Germany, etc.?
A: Well, very broadly speaking, Tibernia, Marathat, and Kekropia are the North American continent, although I've moved the geographical features around to suit myself (the Rockies seem to run east to west in Meduse, for instance, and about where the Great Lakes are). On the other hand, Troia is, symbolically anyway, Asia Minor, so I'm not quite sure what I've done with Europe. And the language progression goes Anglo-French, Latin, Greek, with the Russian-speaking merrows in the middle, and Dutch/German/Norse up north and Italian to the south.
Perhaps a better answer would have been a simple no. *g*
Q: When you reference historical events in DoL that aren't central plot points (in other words, not Amaryllis Cordelia), do you know exactly what happened when, say, Violet Novadia repudiated her husband? Either way it's very successful on a worldbuilding level, but the history nerd in me always wants to know exactly what did happen.
A: There are some things I know more about--I know quite a lot about the Wizards' Coup that didn't make it into the published books, for instance--but by and large I don't work things out unless I need them. This also helps with not painting myself into corners.
Q: If Felix and Mildmay won't be returning to Melusine and we won't get any Mehitabel POV in Corambis, will we at least hear from or about characters who are still there? I feel like there are still all sorts of things I'd like to know, especially about Kolkhis and Gordeny Fisher.
A: With one exception--which would be a spoiler--the answer is no.
Q: Related to that, do we ever get to find out more about Gideon's past? Or even just whatever it was that he had on Thaddeus, to make Thaddeus help him escape to the Mirador?
A: Nope. Neither Gideon nor Thaddeus would ever tell me what happened.
Q: you said "*Despite my love for Renaissance tragedy, in general I don't enjoy stories with sad endings and will not watch/read them for fun. It's a character flaw. And, no, I can't explain myself."is there other stuff that we might expect you would read that you don't? . . . do you skitter away from stuff in other people's books that you heartlessly put in your own?
A: I don't think so. I'm all about sex and angst and violence (concurrently or consecutively, as they say) in my reading as well as in my writing.
Q: What do you think of fans who want Felix and Mildmay to get together?
A: I think that's between them and their gods.
Less glibly--I chose to publish these stories. Having made that choice, I don't get to sit here and micromanage people's reactions and interpretations. That's the trade-off. If I want to share my stories--and I do--I have to relinquish some of my control over their meaning. So there's a very significant sense in which what I think doesn't matter.
Q: Is there some significance to Mildmay's excellent sense of direction?
A: Well, labyrinths and mazes are a dominant trope of the series so somebody who can navigate any maze? It probably is signficant, although I'm reluctant to pontificate on what that significance might be (see previous question). It's also a contrast with Felix, who shares my complete lack of a sense of direction.
Q: Is there any specific time period the clothes worn in The Doctrine of Labyrinths would fall into?
A: No. I took advantage of this being an entirely made-up world to mix and match clothing styles and periods. So Felix's beautiful coats are eighteenth century, but Mehitabel's dresses are late Victorianish. And some of it doesn't fit anything because, like I said, made-up world.
Q: You mentioned there will be a 3rd narrator in Corambis, Kay. Who is Kay? Have we met her?
A: Him. Kay Brightmore, Margrave of Rothmarlin. And, no, he's new.
Q: Will you post all the scenes you had to cut (from all four books) to your website once _Corambis_ is published?
A: There are a couple scenes from Corambis that I'm really sad I had to cut, and those I will probably post. Otherwise, the things I had to cut are things I am glad not to have to own up to in public and will remain decently buried.
Q: do you have any interest in one day doing some sort of companion to the series?
A: I'm afraid my immediate reaction to that question is, God forfend! So probably not. *g*
Q: When does the paperback edition of Mirador come out?
A: It came out at the end of July.
Q: Is Britomart an intentional reference to Spenser's Faerie Queen?
A: Yes.
Q: Would you be willing to make me an extremely happy person and make a map of Meduse, not just Melusine? On that note, a list of the saints, gods and general Parthenon in Melusine's mythology?
A: I don't have a map of Meduse, nor any more than a very general idea of how the territory looks. Like I said above, I don't work things out unless I need to know them.
I can tell you that there are five principal gods in the Marathine pantheon. Phi-Kethetin (sun god); Min-Terris (goddess of time, history, and endings); Heth-Eskaladen (library god--god of memory); Ver-Istenna (goddess of balance and fair trade); Cade-Cholera (god of disease and death). It's an accretive pantheon, so there are a number of other gods, including the God of the Obscured Sun and Phi-Kethetin's daughter Phi-Lazary. Kethe is somewhere between a saint and a god (like the hero cults in ancient Greece).
Q: Where did the other character's names come from, aside from Mildmay? How deep do you name a character, ie, does the meaning of the name affect your naming choice, and by how much?
A: I am incredibly fussy about names, but it tends to be more about the sound and etymology. So, for instance, Isaac Garamond's name shows that his father's family is from the Grasslands, but his mother probably came from Lunness Point. Garamond is, yes, stolen from the font; Isaac . . . I don't even know. But its Hebrew meaning was not part of the decision-making process.
Hallam's name comes from Tennyson, In Memoriam, which is me obstinately finding a silver lining in having to read that whole damn poem.
Mostly it goes like that. I steal names from everywhere and follow sound rather than sense.
Q: What do you want to do most, with the story in the Doctrine of Labrynths? Do you think you're succeeding?
A: Number one is tell stories that people enjoy, and that seems to be working out okay.
Beyond that, I have some very ambitious and pretentious ideas about secondary-world fantasy and what it does/can/should do, but only time will tell if that part of the project has been successful.
Q: This is probably obvious, but I want to ask anyway: The similarities, surface and otherwise, between Kholkis and Felix, especially in their treatment of Mildmay, are/were they intentional?
A: Why do you think they loathe each other on sight? *g*
Q: Will we ever hear more about Felix and Mildmay's family?
A: Unlikely. I don't know any more than is in the books, and since Methony is dead, neither they nor I have any particular incentive to go exploring.
Q: Just yes/no only, do you think the series end is a happy one?
A: I think that's a spoiler, which I said I wasn't going to do. However, if you REALLY GOTTA.
Yes.
[To ask a question, go here.]
So, a few questions: =o)
1)Am I right in thinking Mildmay does not pickup these cues?
2)If I'm right, is it sort of a mental block or he really doesn't get it?
3)Will Corombis explore this disconnect of Mildmay's further?
A: I'm not entirely sure I understand what the question is asking, but I will point out that two years have gone by between The Virtu and The Mirador. Also, where Felix is highly verbal and skittish about tactile, Mildmay is leery of words but uses touch a lot.
Q: How many hours a day do you usually spend writing/doing writing-related things?
A: It tends to depend rather a lot. At the moment, for instance, I'm spending hardly any time writing, because I'm trying honorably to take a vacation. In general, I don't keep track of hours per day so much as I do of tasks accomplished. Writing is, currently, my own job, so it's not like I have other things to schedule around.
Q: Is the Doctrine of Labyrinths world based (however loosely) on the real world? For instance, is Marathat France, Kekropia Germany, etc.?
A: Well, very broadly speaking, Tibernia, Marathat, and Kekropia are the North American continent, although I've moved the geographical features around to suit myself (the Rockies seem to run east to west in Meduse, for instance, and about where the Great Lakes are). On the other hand, Troia is, symbolically anyway, Asia Minor, so I'm not quite sure what I've done with Europe. And the language progression goes Anglo-French, Latin, Greek, with the Russian-speaking merrows in the middle, and Dutch/German/Norse up north and Italian to the south.
Perhaps a better answer would have been a simple no. *g*
Q: When you reference historical events in DoL that aren't central plot points (in other words, not Amaryllis Cordelia), do you know exactly what happened when, say, Violet Novadia repudiated her husband? Either way it's very successful on a worldbuilding level, but the history nerd in me always wants to know exactly what did happen.
A: There are some things I know more about--I know quite a lot about the Wizards' Coup that didn't make it into the published books, for instance--but by and large I don't work things out unless I need them. This also helps with not painting myself into corners.
Q: If Felix and Mildmay won't be returning to Melusine and we won't get any Mehitabel POV in Corambis, will we at least hear from or about characters who are still there? I feel like there are still all sorts of things I'd like to know, especially about Kolkhis and Gordeny Fisher.
A: With one exception--which would be a spoiler--the answer is no.
Q: Related to that, do we ever get to find out more about Gideon's past? Or even just whatever it was that he had on Thaddeus, to make Thaddeus help him escape to the Mirador?
A: Nope. Neither Gideon nor Thaddeus would ever tell me what happened.
Q: you said "*Despite my love for Renaissance tragedy, in general I don't enjoy stories with sad endings and will not watch/read them for fun. It's a character flaw. And, no, I can't explain myself."is there other stuff that we might expect you would read that you don't? . . . do you skitter away from stuff in other people's books that you heartlessly put in your own?
A: I don't think so. I'm all about sex and angst and violence (concurrently or consecutively, as they say) in my reading as well as in my writing.
Q: What do you think of fans who want Felix and Mildmay to get together?
A: I think that's between them and their gods.
Less glibly--I chose to publish these stories. Having made that choice, I don't get to sit here and micromanage people's reactions and interpretations. That's the trade-off. If I want to share my stories--and I do--I have to relinquish some of my control over their meaning. So there's a very significant sense in which what I think doesn't matter.
Q: Is there some significance to Mildmay's excellent sense of direction?
A: Well, labyrinths and mazes are a dominant trope of the series so somebody who can navigate any maze? It probably is signficant, although I'm reluctant to pontificate on what that significance might be (see previous question). It's also a contrast with Felix, who shares my complete lack of a sense of direction.
Q: Is there any specific time period the clothes worn in The Doctrine of Labyrinths would fall into?
A: No. I took advantage of this being an entirely made-up world to mix and match clothing styles and periods. So Felix's beautiful coats are eighteenth century, but Mehitabel's dresses are late Victorianish. And some of it doesn't fit anything because, like I said, made-up world.
Q: You mentioned there will be a 3rd narrator in Corambis, Kay. Who is Kay? Have we met her?
A: Him. Kay Brightmore, Margrave of Rothmarlin. And, no, he's new.
Q: Will you post all the scenes you had to cut (from all four books) to your website once _Corambis_ is published?
A: There are a couple scenes from Corambis that I'm really sad I had to cut, and those I will probably post. Otherwise, the things I had to cut are things I am glad not to have to own up to in public and will remain decently buried.
Q: do you have any interest in one day doing some sort of companion to the series?
A: I'm afraid my immediate reaction to that question is, God forfend! So probably not. *g*
Q: When does the paperback edition of Mirador come out?
A: It came out at the end of July.
Q: Is Britomart an intentional reference to Spenser's Faerie Queen?
A: Yes.
Q: Would you be willing to make me an extremely happy person and make a map of Meduse, not just Melusine? On that note, a list of the saints, gods and general Parthenon in Melusine's mythology?
A: I don't have a map of Meduse, nor any more than a very general idea of how the territory looks. Like I said above, I don't work things out unless I need to know them.
I can tell you that there are five principal gods in the Marathine pantheon. Phi-Kethetin (sun god); Min-Terris (goddess of time, history, and endings); Heth-Eskaladen (library god--god of memory); Ver-Istenna (goddess of balance and fair trade); Cade-Cholera (god of disease and death). It's an accretive pantheon, so there are a number of other gods, including the God of the Obscured Sun and Phi-Kethetin's daughter Phi-Lazary. Kethe is somewhere between a saint and a god (like the hero cults in ancient Greece).
Q: Where did the other character's names come from, aside from Mildmay? How deep do you name a character, ie, does the meaning of the name affect your naming choice, and by how much?
A: I am incredibly fussy about names, but it tends to be more about the sound and etymology. So, for instance, Isaac Garamond's name shows that his father's family is from the Grasslands, but his mother probably came from Lunness Point. Garamond is, yes, stolen from the font; Isaac . . . I don't even know. But its Hebrew meaning was not part of the decision-making process.
Hallam's name comes from Tennyson, In Memoriam, which is me obstinately finding a silver lining in having to read that whole damn poem.
Mostly it goes like that. I steal names from everywhere and follow sound rather than sense.
Q: What do you want to do most, with the story in the Doctrine of Labrynths? Do you think you're succeeding?
A: Number one is tell stories that people enjoy, and that seems to be working out okay.
Beyond that, I have some very ambitious and pretentious ideas about secondary-world fantasy and what it does/can/should do, but only time will tell if that part of the project has been successful.
Q: This is probably obvious, but I want to ask anyway: The similarities, surface and otherwise, between Kholkis and Felix, especially in their treatment of Mildmay, are/were they intentional?
A: Why do you think they loathe each other on sight? *g*
Q: Will we ever hear more about Felix and Mildmay's family?
A: Unlikely. I don't know any more than is in the books, and since Methony is dead, neither they nor I have any particular incentive to go exploring.
Q: Just yes/no only, do you think the series end is a happy one?
A: I think that's a spoiler, which I said I wasn't going to do. However, if you REALLY GOTTA.
Yes.
[To ask a question, go here.]
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-25 11:10 pm (UTC)Clearly you are some kind of genius because that is EXACTLY what I was picturing.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-26 03:13 am (UTC)I'm enjoying reading the answers to these questions; I've only read the first two books, and will hopefully read them all again after Corambis comes out (as every time I want to read Mirador I realize I have to reread Virtu and to reread Virtu I really ought to reread Melusine and next thing I know school has started and I don't have time anymore), so I have trouble coming up with things to ask, but reading the answers to other people's better questions is very cool. So thanks for doing this.
Garamond is, yes, stolen from the font;
Wow, I feel SO MUCH BETTER about, um, everything I wrote when I was younger. Granted, it's still pretty awful, but it's nice to know that I'm not the only person who would scroll through the list of fonts, looking for character names. (My worst names are probably those that actually correspond to real places that I wasn't aware of as existing. *g* At least Garamond is fairly innocuous...) :-D
no subject
Date: 2008-08-26 05:38 am (UTC)