Eddis, Attolia, Sounis

New Year's Resolution: Re-read Queen's Thief!

2023-01-22T15:20:00Z

Posted by: ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com

Hey, it's a lot more appealing than going to the gym.

In case you're like me and haven't revisited our favorite series since it's completion back in 2020 and also like me, need a push to finally listen to those audiobooks downloaded on your phone, never fear sounis is here! During our last chat, we decided to stage a complete series re-read for the community this year. Yes, alll SEVEN books. With it now having been over two years since the release of Return of the Thief and the complete recontextulization of many parts of the series, we felt it's time to finally dig back in and annalize the story in its completed form.

The current plan is to start this April and proceed through the summer with two weeks to read each book (three for RoT) and a Sunday chat in the Conspiracy Room to discuss. Since it is seven books, we will also take a break in the middle during the height of summer busy-ness (July) and finish in the fall, hopefully before the end of October and the start of the Holiday season.

As always, you don't have to be re-reading in order to attend the chats. Also, how do you all feel about chats being in the early afternoon in order to avoid dinner guest interference? Do any of you work on Sunday? Let me know!

While I work on chat dates and a reading schedule, do me a favor and check out this interview with MWT. We wanted to do a stand-alone novel for our WSK Bookclub winter pick with one of the books she recommended. Personally, I'm leaning towards The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, as it sounds especially particular to the tastes of most Sounisians, but let me know which one you would like to read.

EDIT: Seems we are leaning towards reading Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin, a retelling of the Aeneid, this February. Comment if this sounds good to you! :)

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Megan Rates the Covers of Her Books

2022-08-01T20:55:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

Check out today's article on the United By Pop website for a new interview with MWT and her views of some of the different book covers. The new UK covers look beautiful. Oh, and there's a very small tidbit/teaser about the progress of the Disney movie adaptation of The Thief. Definitely something to look forward to!

You can read the article here.

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Most Interesting People 2021

2021-01-05T16:02:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

We always knew MWT was a Most Interesting Person, didn't we? Well, now it's official.

Cleveland Magazine Most Interesting People 2021

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Frisco Library - MWT & EMB Virtual Author Event

2020-12-30T16:24:00Z

Posted by: eachase.livejournal.com

Event summary in one image...

( Read more... )

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Virtual Author Visit via Old Firehouse Books

2020-10-28T16:45:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

The author visit with MWT, Holly Black, and Marie Lu last night was great! There's a video of it on Old Firehouse Books' Facebook page, for those who couldn't make it. At one point, she talked about the dedication of RotT to sounis, which was heartwarming to hear. That starts at about 35 minutes into the video. There were very few "Not Tellings," and a funny story about authors who cut off the hands of their characters. And it was fabulous to see the interactions between the three authors. Oh, and there was a bit of a discussion if Megan should feel gratfied or "slightly terrifed" at our fandom. The sounis members DID get a little rowdy in the backchat, which was fun.

Edited to add: There were no spoilers for RotT.

This is a picture I snapped, but click on the link about to watch the video.

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Free Virtual Author Visit!

2020-10-26T13:43:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

There's a free virtual author visit to celebrate Return of the Thief, tomorrow night, Tuesday October 27 at 8 PM EDT. And if that wasn't enough, Marie Lu and Holly Black will be there, too!

Take a look at more details, and register here.

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Launch recording

2020-10-23T18:29:00Z

Posted by: freenarnian.livejournal.com

For anyone who missed the virtual launch party, the recording is finally uploaded. A great interview!

Megan Whalen Turner discusses The Return of the Thief, the final Queen's Thief novel:

Watch it here!

For those wondering about spoilers: She discusses the series overall and the process of writing the final book, but keeps plot details to a minimum (seeing as this was the day the book was released and most people hadn't read it yet).

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MWT's Reddit AMA

2019-10-15T20:19:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

All things considered, there weren't as many "Not tellings" as you might have expected. Lots of kind, gushing fans, which was fun to see, and some interesting conversation.

If you haven't read it yet, you can find it here. I wasn't able to be there while it was going on but here are some of my take-aways from reading it later.

Book recommendations: I added several titles to my TBR list. Here are some I found intriguing. Seventh Bride by Kingfisher, All Systems Red by Wells, and The City of Brass by Chakraborty. Have any of you read them?

Knowing her audience: Rather than asking the age of a reader, she wants to know what other books he or she likes. That tells her whether they'd be likely to enjoy her books. And this comment to someone who talks about not being a teen, but loving the books, "You ARE my intended audience. I'm writing the books for you."

The Buffed-Up Sophos in ACoK: "Sophos's story was originally supposed to take place off stage. Then I realized that the reader would have to see his evolution in order to believe in it. Sophos nature, his love of poetry and plays, really drives the way he tells his story to Eddis."

Inspiration for Attolia Irene: Elizabeth I of England. I'm going to have to go and educate myself about her.

What music were Gen and Irene dancing to in KoA: Lots of drums and a single flute.

What did you find interesting?

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MWT on Reddit

2019-10-14T22:00:00Z

Posted by: freenarnian.livejournal.com

From MWT's Tumblr:

"I just remembered I’m doing an AMA on reddit tomorrow.

Go on! Ask Me Anything! It will be fun.

Confirmed. AMA on Reddit tomorrow, October 15, 2019 at Noon EST."

Link to her post here!

Let's see who can get her to say not telling first! ;)

UPDATE: Here's the link to the Reddit thread.

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NTTBF19 - MWT on the "The Usual Suspects" panel

2019-03-30T16:57:00Z

Posted by: eachase.livejournal.com

To reiterate, I tried to get the gist of the question and MWT's answer. She's more eloquent than I portray.

Other panelists were: Melissa Albert, Karen Blumenthal, Stuart Gibbs, and Caleb Roehig

Q: Can your protagonist be unlikeable?
MWT: The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. People like a character in a book that they would strangle in real life.

There was some panel discussion of the fact that "like" is a highly subjective term. A character needs to be compelling, regardless of "likeablity" though, or readers don't want to read the book.

[Ed note, since I can. I think MWT is right. A number of years ago I was in charge of the blog at the library I work for. In the interest of plugging the Queen's Thief series, I wanted to write a post about books featuring theives, so I read a number of other works of fiction and biographies. I enjoyed the characters in almost every novel I read, but not a single actual thief from the biographies.]

Q: Descibe how the inclusion of folklore work in your writing process?
MWT: I write the larger story first and put in a note that says, "Insert story here." Then I consider what I can create that will seem authentic and organic -- and also support the larger story arch. Then I wait for the clouds to part. And wait, and wait, and wait...

Q: Favorite flavor of ice cream?
MWT: dulce de leche

Q: Plug a book that's not your own.
MWT: Children of GreenKnow by L.M. Green

[ed: I didn't catch the actual plug. Sorry.]

Q: Favorite character of your own to write?
MWT: Sophos - he's someone you would not want to strangle in real life; you would want to have him as a friend.

[ed: So true.]

Q: Something that makes you smile?
MWT: Festivals.

Q: Do you have any pets?
MWT: No, we move too much.

Q: What made you write KoA from a different perspective?
MWT: E.M. Forester's Horatio Hornblower. I was fascinated by the difference between the perspective from inside vs. outside. The title character believes he's a complete failure and everything he does is a mess. The first few books are from his point of view. Then comes one from another character's point of view who's just in awe of him because he always makes the right decision and does the right thing and everything turns out just right for him.

Q: Do you prefer to write in 1st or 3rd person?
MWT: I like 3rd but the books keep coming out in 1st.

Q: Is there a scene you had to cut for the good of the story, but it killed you to cut it?
MWT: For RotK, there was more than one introduction, but I realized there were too many becuase by the time you got to the actual start of the story, it was "yawn." First I decided the lyric one would have to go. Then it would stay. But the decision meant cutting an entire character from the book.

Q: What do you want people to know about what you're working on now?
MWT: 1. You do not have to start with the 1st book in the series. But... 2. I really like to leave things for my readers to figure out. So, sometimes readers start with a later book in the series and think they'd understand more if they had read the earlier books in the series. That's not necessarily the case.

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NTTBF19 - MWT on the "Under a Spell" panel

2019-03-29T16:59:00Z

Posted by: eachase.livejournal.com

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back. My husband had this thing about getting the taxes finished.... Priorities?!

FYI, the other panelists were: Tomi Adeyemi, Melissa Albert, Zoraida Cordova, and Tessa Gratton. I only tried to write down the gist of each question and the gist what MWT said. You may accurately assume MWT was much more eloquent that what I type.

That said, both MWT and Bookish Babe were there, so they can chime in to correct me. Or, perhaps, if we leave really good gifts on the alter, MWT will expand on some of her answers for us.

Hopefully I can still read and understand the notes I took.

Q: Magic is too big to be it's own genre. How would you describe the genre of magic in your books?
MWT: Rather than magic, my books have divine intervention. Gods and goddesses are real and interact with the "normal" world.

There was some panel discussion about "magical realism" and the fact that it's a specific term for a very specific genre that's generally considered to "transcend" young adult fantasy. A few panelists said they work in a "genre without a name."

Q: How do you decide what part of mythology you keep and what part you make up on your own?
MWT: I was interested in the evolution of religious sensiblity: people say they believe, but don't expect god to show up at the door. After visiting Greece, I knew I wanted a Greece-like setting, but I also wanted 3-dimensional characters, not the 5th/6th grade 1-sentence summary "everyone" knows about the gods in the Greek pantheon. I knew I wanted a female head of the pantheon. I wanted to create a sense of Greek mythology without breaking it, but also for it to feel natural, not forced.

Q: What fantasy trope do you detest?
MWT: Love triangles where 2 hot guys are in love with the main character. That said, it's not the trope, it's what you do with it.

Lightning Round Questions:

Q: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina or Sabrina, Teenage Witch
MWT: original comic book

Q: Harry Potter House - sort yourself
MWT: Lev Grossman's The Magicians - wants desperately to get into a magic college

Q: Wake up early or stay up late to write?
MWT: I prefer to write than spend time thinking, "I have not written." It's not what I prefer, but when writing The Thief, I wrote between 4:30 and 7:30am because that's when my husband took the baby. Having specific writing times helps provide "lanes to stay in" so you focus and know that's what you're "supposed" to be doing at that time.

Q: What book would you recommend to someone who just finished your book?
MWT: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Q: What book made you want to be a writer?
MWT: Not What You Expected by Joan Aiken. For a time in childhood, I did what I had learned Roald Dahl did, and carried a pencil and pocket notebook everywhere so I could write down any ideas for a story that same to me. None did.

I din't write down audience questions, but these are things MWT said in response to them:

Writers use writing to process things in real life.

I've never gotten the same buzz from writing a book as from reading one.

Always on deadline. [looking up and all around]

One of the most dangerous things for a writer is self-indulgence -- even with "writer's block." You need to be prepared and open-minded about doing whatever you need to do to write. (Even if that means keeping a box of Entenmann's donuts in the freezer so you can have a power donut everyday before you start writing.)

Don't be surprised if it doesn't come quickly or if you don't know what you're doing. Even after your first book has been published.

People come to a text with certain expectations and you have to work with those expectations. [in context of the Greek pantheon]

When you're dealing with a living religion, you're dealing with people's peace of mind.

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Q&A with MWT. Bonus Round!

2018-05-17T16:19:00Z

Posted by: ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com

Anna ask Megan Whalen Turner some additional questions in a hilarious lightning round.

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A follow up to the sounis exclusive interview HERE.

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Let's Celebrate Thick As Thieves Paperback Release Day!

2018-05-15T08:53:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

Today is the big day--Thick As Thieves is released in paperback!

You're also in for a real treat here at sounis. Courtesy of HarperCollins, we give you an exclusive video of Megan Whalen Turner answering fan questions! Anna, of EpicReads, asks all the things we want to know, questions like How did you write a character like Attolia? and When did you know that snake Nahuseresh was already married?

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BTW, Anna is also Shoe Girl, who decoupaged a lovely pair of pumps with sentences from a beloved copy of QoA.

A huge thanks to HarperCollins for providing us with the maps for the giveaway and an exclusive on this video!

I was looking at HarperCollins website and came across these fantastic blurbs from some of my other favorite authors: Laini Taylor, Leigh Bardugo, and Joelle Charbonneau.

“The Queen’s Thief books awe and inspire me. They have the feel of a secret, discovered history of real but forgotten lands. The plot-craft is peerless, the revelations stunning, and the characters flawed, cunning, heartbreaking, exceptional. Megan Whalen Turner’s books have a permanent spot on my favorites shelf, with space waiting for more books to come.”—Laini Taylor, New York Times-bestselling author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone novels and Strange the Dreamer

"Unforgettable characters, plot twists that will make your head spin, a world rendered in elegant detail—you will fall in love with every page of these stories. Megan Whalen Turner writes vivid, immersive, heartbreaking fantasy that will leave you desperate to return to Attolia again and again."—Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom

"Megan Whalen Turner has constructed a clever world filled with suspense and intrigue and characters that will never be forgotten. Once you dive into the world of the Queen's Thief, prepare to have your life stolen from you until you finish them all." —Joelle Charbonneau, New York Times-bestselling author of the Testing trilogy

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Megan's editor

2018-04-11T20:19:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

Got my new School Library Journal today and came across a familiar name--Virginia Duncan, MWT's editor. Megan's mentioned in the article, although it's about Newbery author Erin Entrada Kelly. That brought back a recollection of a fun blog entry from Shelf Awareness. It came out just after ACoK was published and describes not only how Virginia "hurled the book across the room in complete and utter disgust" after reading and being fooled by The Thief, but also how Megan got editor Susan Hirschman on board with what happens in QoA *. It's an interesting read, take a look.

*you know, the chop-chop part.

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Another MWT Interview

2017-06-12T21:47:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

Here's another great interview with Megan, where she talks about writing "twists" into books, fantasy world-building, and about Gen as a character.

Favorite parts:
"The Thief is about 21 years old now, so it's just about old enough to buy a drink."
Calling her books "Fellowship of the Hamiathes Gift."

Oh, and it's official, Gen is a jerk. She's called him that at least twice now, so there you go.

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MWT and Shannon Hale in SLC!

2017-05-23T19:58:00Z

Posted by: piartemis18.livejournal.com

Hey again! I had a great time at The Kings English on Saturday (and I know some of you were there too, though I didn't officially meet many of you). I ended up taking a video of the conversation MWT and Shannon Hale had (once I remembered; the first 5 minutes weren't captured). The video itself is terrible (I wasn't in the best ever sight location and my camera is subpar) but the audio is acceptable and you can still see them over that girl's shoulder. Usually. (I honestly didn't care that much how the video looked because I was mostly thinking I'd share it with my mom and she wouldn't care.)

Here's the video! It's 45 minutes long and very enjoyable. As long as you're not trying to see. Oh, and there are no spoilers for any of the books. So you can proceed without fear whether or not you've read the newest yet.
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Someday I may get around to transcribing it, but so far I have been too lazy. And you can't really indicate hand motions in writing.

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mwt on Scalzi's blog!

2017-05-22T18:45:00Z

Posted by: filkferengi

I've not seen this here yet.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2017/05/16/the-big-idea-megan-whalen-turner/

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MWT on The Big Idea

2017-05-17T19:43:00Z

Posted by: freenarnian.livejournal.com

From Greenwillow Books on twitter:

"Megan Whalen Turner & why she's not telling. (Shout-out to the Sounis community!)"

Read it here. (Contains mild spoilers for Thick as Thieves)

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Review and Interview With MWT

2017-05-12T09:02:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

Barnes & Noble's teen blog includes a review of Thick As Thieves, along with an interview with Megan from the recent meetup near DC. The review is filled with spoilers, so only click on the link if you want to see all that.

Review link--Here There Be Spoilers!

For everyone else, I'm including the interview for those who don't want to be spoiled. It was written by Jenny Kawecki, who may be one of our own, who knows? The only spoiler it includes is the name of the person who narrates TaT, which most of us already know.

( Interview is here... )

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Report from a Megan meet up

2017-05-06T08:34:00Z

Posted by: 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.

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That New Map

2017-04-28T12:00:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

tiegirl recently posted a link to this great interview from HarperCollins in which MWT says:

Virginia: They asked you for a map, didn’t they?

Megan: They did! And they are getting two of them! I think both maps are beautiful and I’m having trouble with the whole “not telling” thing as I want to point stuff out and say, “Did you see? Did you notice?” But I’m biting my tongue.

This is really making me want to reexamine the map so I can see and notice because I'm guessing I haven't yet. Anyone have any insight as to what the map's telling us? Do you think it's the map itself, or maybe the caption on the side? Ideas?

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MWT Interview

2017-04-26T21:37:00Z

Posted by: checkers65477.livejournal.com

Click here to read a brand new interview with Megan, courtesy of Goodreads.

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Super Long Chat Transcript - Warning for Spoilers

2016-11-08T15:55:00Z

Posted by: ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com

The long awaited transcript from the chat we had on the 16th. Sorry, this took so long! As I was copying it, Chatzy added many lines of computer coding for some reason. I had to tediously go back through hours of chat log and delete all of that, which is why this took so long. Curse you, Chatzy!

In which...

We fangirl Thick As Thieves.

Reprobates overexcitedly ask questions at the same time that do not get answered.

We fail at explaning the Overdrive app.

YA vs. Middle Grade

Bookish talks about her interview with MWT.

Lady Jane devours every single last muffin!

Please, remember that this was a SPOILER chat, so if you don't want to know anything about the new book other then the cover and release date, cover your ears.

OPEN PDF

Even LJ deemed this too long! We will have to have a chat again sometime soon.

*Fixed link issue. The internet made it vanish on me. XD

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Interview Links

2015-05-04T10:49:00Z

Posted by: maidenbeckah.livejournal.com

For some time now, whenever I come across an interview with Mrs. Turner I've been filing away a link away in a word-document. So I thought I'd post all the links here, for easy reference.

Caution: The reading of these interviews may cause Not-Telling Overdose, with symptoms including, but not limited to, frustration, sleeplessness, and the urge to reread all of the books again.

( Read more... )

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#Unlikely

2015-03-24T13:49:00Z

Posted by: puppeteergirl.livejournal.com

Excerpt from CoK:

Sounis turned to the magus. "Did you know?"

"That he was relentless?" The magus finished his question. "Yes. That he had this in mind, no. I did not realize that he disliked the ambassador so much."

"Melheret has a reputation as one of the best swordsmen in the Mede court," a soldier informed them, having overheard. "They say he trained the former ambassador, Nahuseresh."

"Ah," said the magus, understanding at once. "I see that he means to be prepared if he meets him again."

"Surely that's unlikely," said Sounis.

"I don't think unlikely means to him what it does to the rest of us," said the magus.

Sorry magus, I'm starting to agree with Sophos.

Let's do some math, folks!
The Thief 1996
Five years later: QoA 2001
Five years later: KoA 2006
Four years later: CoK 2010

As of yesterday, it has been five years since CoK was released. I think we're due.

Yet, no news. Interviews from MWT have dwindled. Sounis has grown quiet. The majority of posts by its members tend to be about other fandoms, or asking for reading suggestions. Because we have NOTHING to read.

Will Eugenides ever get his revenge? #watchoutpointybeard #swordskillz

Will the Eddisians escape the sacred mountain in time? #ohnolava #zipcodechange

Will we ever find out why the woman in the kitchen still includes sand in certain recipes? #what'swrongwiththegravy #i'mnothungry

Is the poor elephant doomed to wait ten years before he is stolen from a nameless intimidator? #impatientpachyderm #omghowcanistealthat

Will I ever break this cycle of despair when I read those fatal words, "'You gave me the gun.' They both laughed." and realize I just finished the book, with nothing new in sight? #whatnow

I know, I know. Stop whining and go to bed.

This has been a pity party by puppeteergirl. #icandoanythingiwant #smashinginkpots

Proceed with your attempted encouragements or your commiserations below.

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