Ain’t no beauty queens in this locality

[rolanni]

So, a couple of upcoming events.

Event the First

Aelliana Caylon and Daav yos’Phelium will be Guest Tweeting at BaenBooks all next week, starting on Monday morning, May 17, and going straight through until Friday night, May 21.  Unless I screw something up.  But!  That’s the plan.  I will try to post the day’s content in this space for those who are Tweetless.   For them as indulges, may I ask you to please boost the signal (reTweet?) if it amuses you to do so.  We’d like to get the pilots as wide an audience as possible.

Event the Second

Less exciting, yet still worthy of note — Sharon Lee will be speaking at the Fairfield Public Library in beautiful downtown Fairfield, Maine on Tuesday evening, May 18, starting at 7 p.m.  The local cable television company will be there to record.  I will be speaking on the topic “Sharon Lee and Books” and will therefore be addressing such Dark Topics as How an idea becomes a book, as well as How a manuscript becomes a book.  Do come by if you can!  If you can’t — how about some on-topic questions to get me warmed up?  What did you always want to know about how a book gets written and/or published that no one has ever told you?  C’mon, folks; I’m supposed to talk for half-an-hour.  My last gig, I was supposed to talk for 15 minutes and managed eight.  Obviously, I need all the help I can get!

Event the Third

And! Don’t forget, as I nearly did, that on Monday, May 17, the May issue of Geek Speak magazine will hit the web, featuring an interview with Sharon Lee and Steve Miller!

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[leecetheartist.livejournal.com]

Now THAT might actually tempt me to get a twitter account. How exciting!

[baggette.livejournal.com]

Dear gHOD Woman! You write BOOKS! Can't you write a speech?
I know, I know they are completely different animals, but ...really, now.

Good luck! Or....
what DOES one say to Author/Speakers to wish them good fortune?

[(Anonymous)]

Warm-up question suggestions:
1) How does one find the confidence that someone else might be interested in one's stories? Or is it like jumping off a cliff when you submit an MS? Does having a writing partner help with this?
2) What do you wish you had known when you first started submitting stories to be published?
3) What character or event has surprised you most as you wrote it?
4) How do you organize your writing schedule: words per day, full draft before rewrite, etc.?
5) Why is it worth becoming a member of a professional writers' association?
6) What are five things that any editor will curse you for if you do them (or don't)?

(Hope these help.)

mf

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

i'd love to hear the origins of the Liaden Universe as a Place Where Stories Happen -- i.e., why that universe, why those people, why that social structure, how it all gelled -- and how it looked from the author POV. we're seeing the finished product; what did the construction phases look like?

(and as a one-time German student, I love your Use of Capitals)

Topic ideas

[(Anonymous)]

You have worked in more than one genre (SF, fantasy, mystery) - how are they similar or different? How hard is it to switch from one to the other? Or from one series to another?

Mary

[(Anonymous)]

Lets hope Daav doesn't get a headache if Aelliana really gets into tweeting.

You have touched on the topic before, but I think a compare and contrast of writing solo vs with your own co-conspirator is a good place to start since the pair dynamic is unique to the couple and I would expect to be a good place for stories.

So, what is your goal for the speaking engagement ? How do you want the audience to feel as they leave ? What personal interactions do you have that will support getting them to that feeling ? Maybe it would help to think of this as an extended version of the role play you do for scenes in the books - just have Edger talk to a bunch of Terrans about how his story came to be in the world.

What makes one editor better than another for you ?

How many bows does it take to have a working knowledge of Liadan interaction ? Is it similar to the basic moves of square dancing ?

How would Sheather understand the process of writing and book publishing and how would he explain it ?

By the way, when are we going to find out how the Clutch came into the universe ?

Hope this helps or is somewhat entertaining.

Event the Second

[trekgirlmo.livejournal.com]

Here's a question, but I don't know if anyone else wants to know the same thing:

Why does the publisher give you a word limit? As long as it's a good story and the characters engaging, etc., why should it matter how long it is?

Maureen

Re: Event the Second

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure it will fit into the talk, but the answer is: Because publishers must budget. And they must project budgets ahead of books that have yet to be turned in. So, they posit a book at X number words = X number pages, will cost the house X number of bucks to print.

On the other hand, SF publishers at least very often option the "next work in the universe" so if the story's good and the characters are engaging, there's room for another book.

Suggestions

[(Anonymous)]

How do you write?

e.g.
Do you scribble down ideas on scrap as you get them and then assemble those each evening or morning?

Do you write mostly in the morning? Or the evening?

Does it have to be dead quiet or do you write better with noise?

Is it mostly drafting, then a small amount of editing or vice versa?

Do you find yourself constantly writing MORE than you need to (and therefore have to cut back) or do you find you have to go back and fill in?

How do you make the switch to short story from novel?

Note - I found your comments on science fiction (If this goes on..., etc) from that other talk really, really helpful. If you
need to fill in, that was a good source.

Re: Suggestions

[(Anonymous)]

Oops, that was me,
Lauretta@ConstellationBooks

I hit post instead of preview by accident.
I do apologise.