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truepennyQ: Reading about the various old cemeteries, off-shoot chambers and secret underground culture makes me think of the old houses and history in and around New Orleans. I've lived within spitting distance of the city my entire life and as I was reading about the different parts of the city, I couldn't shake the sensation of being on a tour of The Quarter or the Garden District or the Marigny, and somehow France steeped in courtly manners. And Vey reminds me of a much bloodier Marie LeVeaux.
So, my question is: What informs the cityscape? Is it a combination of historical locations, pure fancy or a good dose of informed speculation? I've done some writing myself and I've found the setting can almost be an individual/independent character.
A: Yes. *g*
Mélusine is mostly Vienna, as far as real places go, with probably a dash of Paris thrown in, then filtered through Dickensian London (not real London, as I've never been there), plus, you know, every city I've ever read about, real and otherwise. New Orleans isn't a specific influence (I've never been there, either), but I've read books set there (Barbara Hambly, Poppy Z. Brite), and certainly Mélusine is somewhere around the latitude of New Orleans.
I hadn't thought about Vey Coruscant in the context of Marie Laveau; it's an interesting comparison.
Q: What was the "inspiration" for Felix and Mildmay? Where did they come from? While Mildmay is familiar (as far as thieves go) and sane, and a nice escape from the emotional imbalance that is Felix, I found Felix more engaging because he's so problematic. Clearly, he and Mildmay are not "heroes" by any stretch, but I found myself heavily invested in their successes and utterly gutted by their failures and mistakes. Felix in particular reminded me of several "problem protagonists" - Gerald Tarrant of C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy, and Vincent De Vilbiss of Brent Monahan's The Book of Common Dread. Both characters were understood to be "villains" but for the most part, they just weren’t quite that evil to me. Also, Felix reminded me of Vanyel Ashekevron of Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald Mage Trilogy. Which leads into the next question...
A: There's a reason Corambis is dedicated to Joan Vinge and Ellen Kushner. *g* Mildmay's first ancestor is Cat from Psion and Felix's first ancestor is Alec from Swordspoint. Obviously, they accreted a lot of other influences as they went along (I get my kink for Byronic wizards from Raistlin Majere, although it pains me to admit it), but Cat and Alec were the first examples I met of their character types, and their influence has been profound.
Q: Did you anticipate Felix's charm and influence outside of the text (I'm charmed despite my best intentions) and how do you think that influences subsequent rereadings as well as fresh readings of the sequels? (I almost didn’t read The Virtu because I was furious with Felix for his liaison with Astyanax.) Does reader/audience reaction to your characters figure into how you handle those minor moments in the overall plot?
A: My understanding is that many readers are not charmed by Felix. I don't know. I can't control reader reactions; all I can do is write the characters as best I can and as truthfully as I can. Felix is charismatic. He's also an asshole, and since we see him from a much closer perspective than he would like (both his own viewpoint and Mildmay's), he can't camouflage himself as he would if you met him in real life.
Also, I've learned not to try to anticipate reader reactions. I will always be wrong. *g*
Q: The narrative structure of Mélusine, The Virtu and The Mirador reminded me of Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” (which I actually liked because of the almost schizophrenic feel of the narrative). How difficult is it to stretch FP-POV across four books and maintain consistency and individual voice while avoiding redundancy and the potential for didactic writing? The way that you present each POV reads effortlessly, but is so immersed in the personal perspective of three characters, I found I was starting to prioritize Felix’s over Mildmay’s over Mehitabel’s views (could just be my obsession with troubled mages, however).
A: Um. I'm not quite sure what this question is asking. So I'll take a kind of stab at it by saying that the key to writing unreliable first-person narrators is that you have to remember that it isn't YOU talking. It's your narrator. And you have to develop a sense for what s/he would and wouldn't say. And how s/he would and wouldn't say it. As a corollary, if you're writing an unreliable first-person narrator, there had better BE things s/he wouldn't say and modes of expression s/he wouldn't use. That's what makes the narrator a character instead of just a disembodied voice.
I'm really not sure if that answers the question. Feel free to make me try again.
[Ask your question(s) here.]
So, my question is: What informs the cityscape? Is it a combination of historical locations, pure fancy or a good dose of informed speculation? I've done some writing myself and I've found the setting can almost be an individual/independent character.
A: Yes. *g*
Mélusine is mostly Vienna, as far as real places go, with probably a dash of Paris thrown in, then filtered through Dickensian London (not real London, as I've never been there), plus, you know, every city I've ever read about, real and otherwise. New Orleans isn't a specific influence (I've never been there, either), but I've read books set there (Barbara Hambly, Poppy Z. Brite), and certainly Mélusine is somewhere around the latitude of New Orleans.
I hadn't thought about Vey Coruscant in the context of Marie Laveau; it's an interesting comparison.
Q: What was the "inspiration" for Felix and Mildmay? Where did they come from? While Mildmay is familiar (as far as thieves go) and sane, and a nice escape from the emotional imbalance that is Felix, I found Felix more engaging because he's so problematic. Clearly, he and Mildmay are not "heroes" by any stretch, but I found myself heavily invested in their successes and utterly gutted by their failures and mistakes. Felix in particular reminded me of several "problem protagonists" - Gerald Tarrant of C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy, and Vincent De Vilbiss of Brent Monahan's The Book of Common Dread. Both characters were understood to be "villains" but for the most part, they just weren’t quite that evil to me. Also, Felix reminded me of Vanyel Ashekevron of Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald Mage Trilogy. Which leads into the next question...
A: There's a reason Corambis is dedicated to Joan Vinge and Ellen Kushner. *g* Mildmay's first ancestor is Cat from Psion and Felix's first ancestor is Alec from Swordspoint. Obviously, they accreted a lot of other influences as they went along (I get my kink for Byronic wizards from Raistlin Majere, although it pains me to admit it), but Cat and Alec were the first examples I met of their character types, and their influence has been profound.
Q: Did you anticipate Felix's charm and influence outside of the text (I'm charmed despite my best intentions) and how do you think that influences subsequent rereadings as well as fresh readings of the sequels? (I almost didn’t read The Virtu because I was furious with Felix for his liaison with Astyanax.) Does reader/audience reaction to your characters figure into how you handle those minor moments in the overall plot?
A: My understanding is that many readers are not charmed by Felix. I don't know. I can't control reader reactions; all I can do is write the characters as best I can and as truthfully as I can. Felix is charismatic. He's also an asshole, and since we see him from a much closer perspective than he would like (both his own viewpoint and Mildmay's), he can't camouflage himself as he would if you met him in real life.
Also, I've learned not to try to anticipate reader reactions. I will always be wrong. *g*
Q: The narrative structure of Mélusine, The Virtu and The Mirador reminded me of Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” (which I actually liked because of the almost schizophrenic feel of the narrative). How difficult is it to stretch FP-POV across four books and maintain consistency and individual voice while avoiding redundancy and the potential for didactic writing? The way that you present each POV reads effortlessly, but is so immersed in the personal perspective of three characters, I found I was starting to prioritize Felix’s over Mildmay’s over Mehitabel’s views (could just be my obsession with troubled mages, however).
A: Um. I'm not quite sure what this question is asking. So I'll take a kind of stab at it by saying that the key to writing unreliable first-person narrators is that you have to remember that it isn't YOU talking. It's your narrator. And you have to develop a sense for what s/he would and wouldn't say. And how s/he would and wouldn't say it. As a corollary, if you're writing an unreliable first-person narrator, there had better BE things s/he wouldn't say and modes of expression s/he wouldn't use. That's what makes the narrator a character instead of just a disembodied voice.
I'm really not sure if that answers the question. Feel free to make me try again.
[Ask your question(s) here.]
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-07 10:23 pm (UTC)I'm not sure I'm explaining it well. But it was a fascinating sensation. But I wasn't so much prioritizing as just...taking them all into account, all at once, and having such a feeling of being full of understanding of all of them from all sides, or at least as many as they were willing to admit to.
As for the second question(s), I will fully admit that I was a hardcore Mildmay fangirl for the first two books (oh, how I hated Felix after he went sane), but in Mirador I felt like I had such a better grasp on Felix and his motivations that I felt much more sympathetic to him. I want to go back and reread the whole series (clearly necessary, in any case, before reading Corambis) to see if it was just me being a fangirl, or the presentation of the character. (Utterlyinsane!Felix was brilliantly done, btws. I've read people saying it was too confusing, which makes me think that they were just, uh, not connecting the dots.)
no subject
Date: 2009-04-07 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-08 01:05 am (UTC)I love Vinge's Cat! That was the first real scifi book I fell in love with. I can see the basis for mildmay now, but it really surprises me that I don't like Mildmay more.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-08 02:48 am (UTC)I don't have a question right now, so I just wanted to say I have enjoyed these books so very, very much, both as a reader and a writer (because I learn so much from incredible books like these). Can't wait until Corambis shows up at my door!
(Forgive me if this shows up twice...my computer did something weird a moment ago...)
no subject
Date: 2009-04-08 08:22 am (UTC)And yeah, I spent a lot of the time hating Felix. Not all the time, but a big portion of the time, and sometimes violently so in some portions. But I think that only made the series that much more wonderful for me. There's something delightful about having to put down a book just to scream at the characters for a moment, lol.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-08 03:08 pm (UTC)I find Felix...not quite likable, but someone who rouses my compassion. He's quite often an utter bastard, but deep, deep underneath, you can see he really does want to be the nice person that people like. He's just got no clue how to get there from here (more of the labyrinth theme, I guess). But I do prefer Mildmay, partly because I just adore his voice, and also because I find the nature of his flaws more tolerable than Felix's. Backstabbing bitchiness has never been a trait I could handle well. I don't think Mildmay is a much better person than Felix (well, maybe somewhat). He's capable of being a stone-cold killer, which is at least something Felix has never had in him, and he's inclined to hide or run away from his problems, whereas I have to give Felix credit for at least trying (sporadically) to engage with his.
But it's something I love about the books. Nobody's entirely a good person (though poor Thamuris would probably be a saint if he weren't an addict), but seldom entirely bad either. They're sympathetic in their humanness.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-09 12:20 am (UTC)Unlike the apparent majority, I remain painfully infatuated with Felix, even though I know he's bad for me...
I suppose I'm the only one who finds Mildmay an awkward adolescent - he's always so terribly aware of what other people think of him (and he's often wrong). Sometimes I find reading an extended Mildmay section an exercise in patience (like I do most teenagers). Although I do need the occasional break from Felix. I want to murder Felix half the time- he scatters raindrops of pain to his loves and enemies alike just by trying to run away from his own insecurities.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-11 09:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-13 02:27 pm (UTC)Melanie