Meeting with Ms. Turner at Rakestraw Bookstore

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

Ms. Turner started by talking about the maps and their details.

It was a really nice. I'm glad I went.
I got to meet my favorite author and agh_4, please fill in details, I'm sure I missed lots.
There was a question about the audio books. Ms. Turner said that she chose Steve West because when she listen to The Scorpion Race, he seems to disappear into the story, and the story becomes more important than the reader (or performer). The reason they had new recording for all books because the publisher got the rights back so it's less expensive to have a new recording (if I remember correctly). The publisher sent her 3 readers, she sent them all back because she didn't want the reader sounds like Percy Jackson, Gen is older than Percy :) Then she chose her own 3 readers, the publisher sent back another 3. After she listen to Steve West for 30s (Did I remember correctly?) or was it 5min? (Anyway, I think it's a very short time), she said he's the one. So ...

At the end, I asked the following question for an_english_girl:
"In one of the recent interviews, Megan mentioned reading the Green Knowe series as a child. Did her copies have the Peter Boston woodcut style illustrations in?" from her post last week.
The short answer is "yes." She elaborated about the books and authors that influenced her and her writing. She said that Dianna Wynne Jones' Dalemark Quartet, how some of the characters seemed like gods or goddesses of some religion even though they were made up, and in particular about Green Knowe series, the illustrations seemed to be from a different world (maybe?), and Light Bearer (?)
She had seen the question from the community and thought it was mine. I said I asked for an_english_girl (I'm sorry, I wish I had recorded it or taken notes)

While she was signing my books, I asked her if there will be hard cover books for the new covers, she said that if many people ask for it, maybe. She also said that she wish that the publisher would have a design to match with the old set, so that readers can have the matched set, because basically, it's just the jacket :) She also mentioned that the previous books are in different sizes.

photo behind cut:

Comments

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

Awesome pic! And great recap - thanks so much!

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoy it :)

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, I hope it answers your question.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for sharing this with us! Sounds like a fun event, and that is a lovely picture.

You mentioned "Light Bearer" and I wondered if she was maybe talking about Rosemary Sutcliff's The Lantern Bearers?

Also, I did wonder if she chose Steve West after hearing The Scorpio Races audiobook, which is simply fantastic.

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

"... Rosemary Sutcliff's The Lantern Bearers?"

Yes! Thanks for the correct title. She did mention Rosemary Sutcliff's books but I couldn't remember the author's name. Now I have more books to add to my to-be-read pile :) It's a good problem to have.

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting the recap and initiating the taking of the picture, @badtzphoto :)

A few more details:

Megan's main talk about the maps was so interesting! She spoke at length about her reservations about the inclusion of a map, the process of working with the artist, the real-world maps that inspired her, and what she hoped to accomplish. I don't want to give away too much for those of you who'll be seeing her in the near future, AND I have a feeling that the discussion comparing the two maps in TaT MIGHT end up getting at some of our author's (thoughtful and brilliant) intentions, but I will say that the process of making the map included a language barrier and an 80,000 word document, and that she insisted that it include sailboats and fish. :) If you haven't already, you should definitely check out the maps she posted on her tumblr in February, as they were included in the images she showed us. Here? (http://meganwhalenturner.tumblr.com/archive/2017/2)

There was a shoutout to the "yo-yo" cover of TT and the "oh wait that's not a perfume bottle" cover of QoA (guess which one she thought would scare away prospective readers from the books?).

"I was good for 30 seconds of Jeff Woodman before running screaming out of the room." Ok, this was because she can't listen to anyone else read her writing and not actually because of Jeff Woodman himself, but I thought it was hilarious. She feels the same way about the new recordings.

It was a lovely afternoon! There were several folks with huge stacks of books that I would have loved to meet, but I was very flustered after getting my own copies signed. I was NOT gutsy enough to ask Megan to compare Costis and Stenides' muscles on the behalf of several of you, so I suppose someone else will have to. HOWEVER, I did ask if she could confirm that @checkers65477 is the one who knows the minister of war's name .... and she claimed she couldn't hear me. ... ;)

Lastly, they were indeed handing out lovely copies of the main map! If you want one at a future event, I recommend showing up early, because they'd run out by the time I got there.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

80,000 word document? o_O That's a novel in and of itself!

So funny, about her not being able to listen to her own audiobooks. (I wonder if it's at all like actors who can't watch their own movies?)

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

I know!! I hope someone chimes in to correct me if I wrote down the wrong massive number in my notes, because, oof.

And yes, possibly? That, and that they will always be different than the voice in her head, I think. She did say that she likes Steve West's voice when he's not reading her words, and that to her the best audiobooks are the ones where the listener ends up hearing the story and not the reader.

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

yes, I think that 80,000 word sounded right.

[r.j. anderson (from livejournal.com)]

It's not just Megan -- I find my own audiobooks really hard to listen to as well. It's not that the readers aren't competent actors (far from it, in fact -- I'm still over the moon that Lucy Scott, aka Charlotte Lucas in the 1995 P&P, read so many of mine), it's just that the voices they do for the characters so often do NOT match up with the voices in my head.

Plus, audiobook narrators occasionally read lines in a way that changes the emphasis and sometimes even the intended meaning, which can be terribly frustrating for an author to hear! (Though again, not the actor's fault.)

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I can totally understand what you're saying!

Personally, when I co-wrote a novel with a friend, I *loved* hearing her read my own chapters aloud, back to me, after I submitted them to her. We made a common practice of this. It gave me a certain amount of distance from my own brainthings and helped me edit the chapters afterward. Then again, it would be frustrating if I *couldn't* edit anything at that point!

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for taking details notes and comment :)
As for the picture, I wanted to have something so that I can enter the contest for the next book, so totally selfish on my part. She was so gracious to agree and the staff was so nice, too.
As for the map, this store got only 10 maps from the publisher, I overheard this fact while on line to have my books signed. The owner said he wanted to keep one for himself but didn't and gave all away. That was very nice, I thought.
I wish I were braver to ask more questions, though. Next time ...

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

Also, I was a dork and wore every item of clothing/jewelry that evokes the books for me! Here's a picture of my boot charm, [peace in Greek] necklace, and remaining bee earring (I misplaced the other member of its matched pair a few years ago), on a jacket that probably wouldn't quite suit a canary but that Gen might wear ... if he had to choose something from my closet.



P.S. Apparently you can't tag people in comments? That's what I was going for with all my @s above. Oops. I just want Checkers to know that she caused my first up-close and personal Not Telling experience!

P.P.S. MWT's boots concealed her socks, but ... c'mon, I'm sure they were mismatched. ;)

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was wondering about your jacket. That's so cool. I really like your other accessories, too, especially the boot charm. Thanks for not telling :)
By tagging people in comments, you mean like this agh_4? It's: <lj user=agh_4>
Hope that works.

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks! That's exactly what I meant. :)

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

Ah. Yes. Hey, checkers65477, Megan was no help at all about the MOW's name! I'm in shock.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I know! Such a surprise. Glad to have been the cause of an actual live Not Telling moment. :-)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I might have arm wrestled others for one of those maps, if I'd been there. Thanks for posting all this!

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

ha ha, one staff jokingly suggested the very same thing to a sad fan even said that they'd look away :)