Report from a Megan meet up

[heiros-acumen.livejournal.com]

Several of us got to attend a meetup at a Barns and Nobel this week and I thought you might like to hear about it.

She was very careful not to give any spoilers for Thick as Theives, so it's safe to read on.

Megan spoke for an hour, telling stories then answering questions from the crowd. Then she signed our books and took pictures. She started by talking about Rosemary Sutcliff; her life story and writing inspirations. She talked about how as a child, Rosemary Sutcliff was sick in the hospital where boy and girls, as well as the books for boys and girls were kept seperate. Since Rosemary didn't like the books chosen for the girls, she was inspired to write her own adventure stories.

She answered questions about things like how the POV keeps changing in each of the books. She said she doesn't think she could ever write from Irene or Helen's perspective because they are "perfect" (her words) and would either seem fake or not relatable. She cleverly refused to answer questions about how old any of the characters are or what the Minister of War's name is. (Although it seems he does have a name and one other person besides herself knows it.)

If anyone wants to know more, or see pictures, let me know.

Eugenides's Mother, "The Queen Thief"

[11rod88staff11.livejournal.com]

Does anyone wonder just what Eugenides's mother was really like? I ache with curiosity about her and a little bit of disbelief. While I know the QT Universes are not intended to be historically accurate, being a female professional thief seems a very unlikely position to have even in the comparatively progressive country of Eddis at the time. With the ways that women were oppressed and reduced to being swathed in stifling velvets and made to spin and weave and gossip all day in Attolia, denied lessons in swimming, fighting and riding (although Irene eventually got the riding lessons) it seems comparatively radical that a woman could rise to master a complex professional skill of thieving to the point that Gen's mother did to become known as the Queen Thief (not to be confused with the Queen's Thief, although I'm not exactly sure what the differences are precisely). Maybe it's another nod toward the obviously borderline criminal, informality of the "profession."

( Read more... )