NTTBF19 - MWT in conversation
Mar. 31st, 2019 09:18 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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queensthiefI was lucky honored (and rediculously excited) to get to spend some time hanging out with MWT and Bookish Babe during the NTTBF19 weekend, so here are a few other tidbits I gleaned from various conversations and a few questions I asked.
First, though, I want to say that it was amazing to meet and talk with another fan that I didn't convert. Don't get me wrong. I'm alibrarian book dealer. I love finding the right people to introduce to MWT's work and watching them grow to adore the books. But meeting a member of Sounis IRL was wonderful.
In part, QoA was about turning a 2-dimensional character (one you don't really care if they die) into a 3-dimensional character (one you might really care if they die).
[This may have been part of a panel discussion and I just didn't get it written down.]
While MWT's typical answer as to the "correct" pronunciation of names in her books is generally "not telling," she did provide recordings of how she pronounces them to the narrator of the audiobooks. (I'm assuming Steve West; I missed the name.) However, the one name he did not ask about was her own. So he mispronounces "Whalen."
The god Anet's name is an acronym from the book that MWT read to inspire her poetry in TaT: Ancient Near East Texts
Q: I read in an interview that you found writing Greek-style mythology difficult. Was writing writing middle eastern-style poetry easier?
MWT: Yes. [And actually a fairly detailed conversation about how she really wanted to write in Mediveal sytle verse, but came to realize the the rhyme/rhythm just didn't work for the modern ear and no one would read it.]
Q: Are you a "Princess Bride" fan?
MWT: The book or the movie?
Q: Either, both?
MWT: I know a lot of people love the movie, but I prefer the book.
Q: Okay, then. I noticed that you use the phrase "As you wish" twice in QoA. Was that an intentional reference?
MWT: Probably. It's such an iconic line and I love to reference other texts.
[I think this was when we got into a discussion about the line between referencing a text and plagerism. MWT has a good anecdote about romance novels distributed through Amazon's author program. She expressed some concern that her use of other author's lines might cause her similar problems. Personally, I think the difference between referencing one line and basically copying entire passages wholesale is pretty clear. The former is an homeage; the latter theft.]
Q: How much time elapses between the end of KoA and the begining of TaT?
MWT: [shakes head] Not telling.
[I feel like an insider now. I got my very own "not telling."]
The other thing I learned is that as long as you're not asking questions that will result in a "not telling," MWT is actually quite talkative. Also, gracious, funny, and delightful.
First, though, I want to say that it was amazing to meet and talk with another fan that I didn't convert. Don't get me wrong. I'm a
In part, QoA was about turning a 2-dimensional character (one you don't really care if they die) into a 3-dimensional character (one you might really care if they die).
[This may have been part of a panel discussion and I just didn't get it written down.]
While MWT's typical answer as to the "correct" pronunciation of names in her books is generally "not telling," she did provide recordings of how she pronounces them to the narrator of the audiobooks. (I'm assuming Steve West; I missed the name.) However, the one name he did not ask about was her own. So he mispronounces "Whalen."
The god Anet's name is an acronym from the book that MWT read to inspire her poetry in TaT: Ancient Near East Texts
Q: I read in an interview that you found writing Greek-style mythology difficult. Was writing writing middle eastern-style poetry easier?
MWT: Yes. [And actually a fairly detailed conversation about how she really wanted to write in Mediveal sytle verse, but came to realize the the rhyme/rhythm just didn't work for the modern ear and no one would read it.]
Q: Are you a "Princess Bride" fan?
MWT: The book or the movie?
Q: Either, both?
MWT: I know a lot of people love the movie, but I prefer the book.
Q: Okay, then. I noticed that you use the phrase "As you wish" twice in QoA. Was that an intentional reference?
MWT: Probably. It's such an iconic line and I love to reference other texts.
[I think this was when we got into a discussion about the line between referencing a text and plagerism. MWT has a good anecdote about romance novels distributed through Amazon's author program. She expressed some concern that her use of other author's lines might cause her similar problems. Personally, I think the difference between referencing one line and basically copying entire passages wholesale is pretty clear. The former is an homeage; the latter theft.]
Q: How much time elapses between the end of KoA and the begining of TaT?
MWT: [shakes head] Not telling.
[I feel like an insider now. I got my very own "not telling."]
The other thing I learned is that as long as you're not asking questions that will result in a "not telling," MWT is actually quite talkative. Also, gracious, funny, and delightful.
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no subject
Date: 3/31/19 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 3/31/19 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 3/31/19 11:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 4/8/19 12:14 am (UTC)I hadn't ever thought that the time between KoA and TaT was a huge plot point. I'm sure it's important, but I hadn't thought it was enough to merit a 'not telling'. Interesting. I have my own thoughts, but I think I'm going to go ahead and tell myself it's long enough for a future short story or splinter book to be written. It helps with the bizarre 'RotT hasn't been released yet and it will also be the last book' variation on withdrawal symptoms.
no subject
Date: 4/8/19 12:27 am (UTC)Honestly, I had never even noticed that there was an uncounted span of time between the end of KoA and TaT until my most recent re-reading when I *didn't* read CoK in between. It finally hit me that while by the end of KoA, the Queen's Guard finally has some idea of what Eugenides is capable of and will quickly come to love him, but that change hasn't even begun in the general population.
But by the end of TaT, he's apparently turned the entire population of the the capital city (if not all of the country) in his favor. That sort of change does't happen overnight.
The questions remain: how long did it take and and how did he do it? I'm sure there are lots of untold stories!
no subject
Date: 4/9/19 10:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 4/11/19 12:34 am (UTC)But now I'm wondering how much time elapses between TT and QoA. Off-hand I don't remember any clues about that. Is it significant? Doesn't seem like it. But would MWT say, "Not telling," anyway -- if someone asked?
But I'm also wondering why you cite "August 2020" when MWT has only posted "Summer 2020." Hmmm...
no subject
Date: 4/11/19 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 4/11/19 02:43 am (UTC)Not that I entirely trust it, mind you....
no subject
Date: 4/11/19 12:41 pm (UTC)MWT pronunciation
Date: 4/12/19 07:55 pm (UTC)Re: MWT pronunciation
Date: 4/13/19 12:40 am (UTC)Reading these interviews made my day
Date: 5/26/19 05:32 am (UTC)Re: Reading these interviews made my day
Date: 7/11/19 12:25 am (UTC)