Hunkered down, digging in, clearing the decks, gearing up
Just so’s you know.
I’ll be treating that Florida house-sitting trip as a writing retreat… Traditionally I don’t post much during those, but you might hear from me now and then.
Right now I’m:
a) writing hard, so as not to lose momentum while I
b) figure out what I need to bring, and gather it all, including some documents required for more Chores of Officialdom, and
c) trying to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of here before going there, and
d) thinking ahead to the holidays for which I will not be actually at home, so plans must be managed remotely, and thank you Internet.
And some other plans that are afoot…
Well. Much to do.
In other news, a shout out to some people who wrote some rather nice reviews:
Christina Vasilevski reviews both books and tea, two things which I can vouch go together very well. I think it’s a charming idea, and you should definitely pop over and see what’s new.  She has pledged to write thirty (short) reviews for November (in honor of National Novel Writing Month AKA NaNoWriMo), and there I am, on November 3rd. What’s more, Christina is herself a writer — She provides (and edits) content for the business world.Â
More recently, Justin Howe has reviewed the series on his 10 Bad Habits blog; apparently he read the old paperback versions, with those overly-spoilerish covers. (Especially for The Outskirter’s Secret. Ouch. Del Rey called it a marketing decision, but Yikes!)Â Justin is also a writer, and a frequent contributor to the online magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
Well. Back to my doings.
More later…
(PS: At some point I’ll say something about the election. Not yet. Can’t quite bring myself to, yet.)
November 16th, 2016 at 5:15 pm
It’s remarkable what authors and/or publishers sometimes decide to spoil with their titles/covers. I still can’t get over “The Traitor Baru Cormorant”. It essentially made me sit there waiting for betrayals to happen – which they did, unsurprisingly.
On the other hand, going into a book with the wrong expectations can be fatal. I know I’ve occasionally read something where I for some reason expected a different genre, basically, and most of the time it ends up bugging me the entire read; and it doesn’t matter then whether the book is hypothetically good or not.
So I’m not sure I’d consider those old covers particularly problematic, spoiler-wise. Now, aesthetically …
On a side note, I found it kinda amusing that that review praises your series for “not sending its characters careening across the landscape like tourists or anthropologists for hundreds of pages.” Huh. They travel for large parts in the first book. They travel for basically every page in the second book. Half of the third book again is traveling.
Not that I don’t understand what he’s talking about, but maybe not the way I’d have put it in view of the book’s content 😉
November 18th, 2016 at 12:57 am
Yeah, I thought of that too, about them basically wandering all over the countryside. But they’re not doing so pointlessly, so that’s something.
November 16th, 2016 at 6:45 pm
Oh but I love that cover! I remember seeing it (secondhand) on the shelf in Vibes & Scribes in Cork and going “OMG OMG OMG” and Emmet hadn’t read the first one and had no idea why I was so excited and wanted to go home and read it right away. I read most of it on the 9 hour boatride home actually. Hey, starting a long tradition of reading your books on the way home from where I bought them, thinking about it. Read Lost Steersman and Language of Power on Amtrak.
People are alwasy asking me for blurbs. When you get the new one done, you can put on the cover “The book Jo Walton has been waiting for!”
November 18th, 2016 at 12:55 am
Jo —
Well… I’m glad it made you buy the book, but Holy Moses, that cover drives me crazy. I mean, jeez, it’s the last scene in the book! How is that a good choice for the cover? Instant spoiler!
I actually saw a couple of color sketches that Richard Hescox made when he was trying out ideas for the cover, and there was one I just loved (which Del Rey rejected). It was the scene with Rowan and the Seyoh of the Face People in his tent, with him showing Rowan the bit of the fallen Guidestar he had recovered. It was really moody and intriguing, and also had the extra virtue of not being the last scene in the book.
I very much look forward to finishing “The book that Jo Walton has been waiting for!”
November 17th, 2016 at 2:05 pm
I so hope you have all the medical stuff finished before you leave. And too, I note from my first day on a common cold that I am one of your most dedicated readers. I own duplicate copies of your paperbacks, whose covers I like, and lend them out with enthusiasm.
Thank you.
November 18th, 2016 at 12:46 am
Wow, thanks for your support! I have to say that the cover for The Steerswoman, by Richard Hescox, is excellent, and even better if you can see the original artwork, which is pretty big. Hescox is a very good artist, and the colors on that one are especially rich. If you go to SF conventions, it’s often on display in the Art Show, and actually for sale, for persons with thousands of dollars to spend.
November 20th, 2016 at 10:38 am
I just wanted to drop a note and say how much I love this series. I discovered it way back when I was teaching in the high school library, and was absolutely fascinated. I just repurchased the series and am thrilled that I was able to get them all with the covers by Cliff Nielson, which is how I remembered my first introduction. Now I have a lovely matched set. I am so glad you are working on a fifth, because I just finished the 4th (again) and am still reeling from needing more!
November 20th, 2016 at 6:53 pm
Amanda —
Thanks!
My favorite of the Cliff Nielson covers is the one for The Lost Steersman. I feel it really conveys a sense of adventure and exploration, without depicting any particular scene from the book.