(no subject)

[tenar-padmire.livejournal.com]

So I was searching for arcs of CoK when I came up with the Dedication page which said, "This book is gratefully dedicated to Dianna Wynne Jones." Imagine my squeal when I found out that my two favorite authors honor each other.

Comments

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

Great, isn't it? From what I heard, DWJ recommended MWT to her first publisher.

I put their books next to each other on my shelf... is that weird?

[(Anonymous)]

"Despite his reputation, Howl is in reality a mostly endearing, charming man who is intelligent and considerate, if somewhat self-appreciative, dishonest and stubborn at times. He enjoys "slithering out" of uncomfortable situations, often in comical ways."

He and Gen would get on very well wouldn't they?
:]

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

really? How did I not know that? That's totally awesome =)

[eatenbyfangirls.livejournal.com]

This has filled me with squee. And joy. Squee and joy.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

Didn't I read a couple years ago that Mrs. Turner said she'd based Gen (in the first book) loosely on Howl and some other character that I forgot the name of?(Miles V. maybe?)

I seem to remember that. Whether or not it's true, she has also included quotes from Howl's Moving Castle straight from Gen's mouth. These books (both the Gen books and the Howl books) make me so happy :)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

These are Megan's comments on the Inkpop site: (http://inkpop.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/publishing-advice-from-megan-whalen-turner/)

So that’s when you dove into writing Instead of Three Wishes. How’d you get it published?

As a bookseller, I’d never seen any collections of short stories for children, so I didn’t expect that they’d ever be published. I just thought that they’d be a good practice. In the spring of that year, my husband asked a crucial question for every writer, “How do you know if they are any good?” and I really had no idea. We decided to send them to Diana Wynne Jones and ask her advice. She gave me the name of her editor, Susan Hirschman at Greenwillow Books.

I sent my stories to Greenwillow and a wonderful person named Libby Shub wrote to ask me to send more stories. Then Susan Hirschman called to say they’d like to publish the stories as a book.

I cannot tell you how much this method of getting published doesn’t work. Really. Lightning strikes are more common. That’s pretty much how I see the process. I got really lucky.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

Diana Wynne Jones and MWT are my two favorite authors also! I hope MWT is able to write a gazillion books like Diana Wynne Jones. I love when an author you can always count on has written loads of books, because if you're at a loss for what to read, you can just pick up a book by that author and know you'll be satisfied =)

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

...!!! So it was a Dalemark reference!

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

Something from Conspiracy of Kings. Not a spoiler, but highlight to read:

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I noticed that, too! (also there was a Shakespeare line)

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

Didn't notice the Shakespeare line. I've never been a fan of his.

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

WHAT?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!??!??!?!?!?!?!!?!

Ok, maybe this is because I'm an actress wanna-be, but Shakespeare is a GOD. Of AWESOME.

Of course, you're completely entitled to your own opinion.

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

I have admittedly not read many of his works. But of what I have read, A Comedy of Errors was funny, but the tragedies I've seen/read (Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet), most of the characters are unlikeable and the stories are...not to my taste, and that's putting it kindly. It also doesn't help that many English teachers fangasm over Shakespeare like he was the second coming of Christ, when in reality most of his plays are better read if you look for an innuendo in every line.

But then, I really, really hate reading plays.

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

He was emphatically not the second coming of Christ, and any English teacher who says he was needs to start reading his PLAYS, not some professor's deep analysis of them.

I think your problem is that you read them. I honestly hated Shakespeare up until I was about twelve, when I first discovered the wonderful theater company near where I live; Shakespeare needs to be watched. You just can't get the effect reading it. There are all sorts of companies out there now who preform his plays well and originally. Not like the people who take them too seriously (as in, the idiots who try to make the "yes, I would have sex with her" lines in Romeo and Juliet some deep meaningful statement), but the plays are far more powerful if done by people who get the humor and reinterpret the characters. SSC's production of Julius Caesar changed my artistic life pretty much forever. So amazing.

I think of Shakespeare like a painting - his works are the broad strokes, which he left open to interpretation, the detailing done by actors and new writers.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

From Macbeth, wasn't it?

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

Probably. Like I said, I hate reading plays. I know a ton of people who insist that play scripts are just as much of a form of literary art as any book, but would TV or movie scripts get the same treatment? Not likely. The fact is that plays were written to be performed, and something is missing from the writing that you can only get from a performance.

I admit I have always had a fascination with Macbeth and would desperately love to see it. By all accounts it sounds like HBO's Rome with less creative Ancient Roman cussing.

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

Well, I like coming up with how I would stage plays, so I have a slightly higher tolerance for reading them - but that's a technical interest, not an artistic one. For enjoyment of the piece, nothing compares with seeing it performed. Except, I have been known to reread Julius Caesar pretending I'm at SSC, watching their production of it... Ahhhh Casius was played so well... and Brutus... and everyone else... it was AMAZING.

I've never seen Macbeth, I'm sorry to say. I've seen scenes from it performed, but never the whole thing. I'll have to request that we read that in English next year - the teacher apparently has everyone act the plays out. One of my favorite yearbook pictures was from the last time the English class studied Shakespeare, and they acted out the torture scene from King Lear. None of them could stop laughing, which subtracted greatly from the gravity of the scene. One of the most cheerful people I've ever seen getting their eyes pulled out.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

*high fives*

You got it.

[ccwtaylor.livejournal.com]

Many of you might already know this, but DWJ is very very badly off right now, battling lung cancer. sadness....

[sdn.livejournal.com]

::waves::

megan pointed me here, as i am one of diana's editors, and i'll chime in here to say that i know she'd appreciate notes and cards and things reminding her how much her books matter to her readers.

you can send them c/o greenwillow.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

This is really late now, but Dalemark reference? Where?

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

charlotte, I completely missed the comments about sending cards to dwj until just now. Why don't you post the info on the main page? I bet there are lots of people who would love to get in on this.

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

There's a mention of Sophos reading poetry by a poet named Hern.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

That is awesome. :D I totally missed it!