THREMEDON SPOTLIGHT FESTIVAL DAY 7: JAIDANI INTERVIEW PART 2
It's the final day of thremedon's Spotlight Fest, and we've cooked up a pièce de résistance in the form of an exclusive interview with the authors made up of questions from the awesome members of this community!
Please note that we chose these questions randomly, except for four and eight. With four, everyone except one person asked a question of a similar vein and we thought it would be more efficient to rephrase these questions into something that covered what everyone wanted to know. Eight is mod's choice, because the questions for that category were so great we decided to include two!
Also, there is a bit of a spoiler regarding one of the POV protagonists of the next book (!!!), so keep an eye out for that. ;)
1. (Characters) From lizzy_someone-- Any extra information you can tell about Balfour?
Jaida: YES. Balfour is Dani's favorite character, so we've spent many a moon thinking about him and what his deal is. He has (well, had) a brother as well as a sister (still living); his brother's name starts with an A, and his sister's name starts with a C. You can probably guess their relative ages from that, and also where their parents were going with that one! He comes from country nobility, a bit of a step up from Royston's background, and he enjoys marmalade on toast. His brother―currently "A" for now ;)―is the only person who has successfully pwned Rook in a physical fight. Balfour is not so lucky.
2. (Plot) From wingstodust-- Where did Ivory learn how to play the piano?
Dani: In a whorehouse. It was an ill-thought-out bet with some other bar patrons, and never one to be caught with his pants down, Ivory promptly taught himself how to keep time in the simplest of styles. That was when he discovered―much to his surprise―that he had a natural aptitude for it.
3. (World-building) From anonymous-- Does Volstov/Ke-Han Empire have religion? National holidays like Christmas? Acknowledged anniversaries of significant battles and stuff like that?
Jaida: The Volstovic society is a secular one, so the closest thing to organized religion that they have is the Brotherhood of Regina, dedicated to the protection of the Well, although even that is secular in nature―a religious operation co-opted by the Esar to serve secular purposes! There are national holidays in place; for example, the Esar's birthday, the celebration of the erection of the Basquiat and, more recently, the day the war ended. The Ke-Han are more religious and their magic more elemental/less regulated by the state, but their equivalent of Volstov's Well was pretty much destroyed in the final attack on their capital.
4. (Shipping) From... basically everyone-- Were Rook and Thom ever intended to be a couple and how did this fit in with them being brothers?
Dani: When we first conceived of Rook and Thom, Jaida and I had already been talking about/researching a particular phenomenon that held interest for the two of us: incidents of siblings separated at birth who―when they ran across one another unknowingly―felt an irresistible attraction. That was the effect that we were working with, and we're so pleased to see that it resonated with the readers.
5. (Sequels) From fullmetalkatu-- My straight guy friend wants to know-- will we find out who Caius Greylace tortured in Shadow Magic or any of the sequels? I'm not asking who, right now, but will we find out?
Jaida: There is a LOT of Caius backstory in Shadow Magic, since he's one of the protagonists of the book, and occasionally he likes to gossip about himself―just not as much as he likes to gossip about other people. We do refer to that incident, as well as talk a lot about what made Caius the little weirdo he is today.
6. (Writing process) From bornfromthefoam-- So knowing that you spent a whole lot more time editing this book than writing it, I guess I'd like to know how you started that process. Was it harder or easier with two of you? (P.S. Hi! *waves*)
Dani: Hi! : ) I'd say it was definitely easier with the two of us. Jaida and I have pretty similar ideas when it comes to writing and what needs to be in a story, but our brains work pretty differently when it comes to editing which makes it super-easy to split up the tasks. We discussed the overall direction we wanted to take the book, as well as what we needed to do to fix certain scenes―all of course based on our amazing editor Anne Groell's letter―and after that we worked pretty much separately. Also, Jaida adds, we used the Holly Black method of color-coding different issues with Post-it notes of varying colors and sizes and matching highlighters. It makes you feel very efficient, and it's also great for being able to see immediately what kinds of issues are on what page.
7. (Misc) From anonymous-- A kind of strange question, maybe, but who are your favourite writers and what are their ages?
Jaida & Dani: Haruki Murakami who, according to wikipedia, will turn 60 on January 12 of 2009. One of our biggest influences has been Ellen Kushner, who is truly stupendous, and we're also currently loving loving loving everything Scott Lynch is writing. Another favorite book is Akira Kurosawa's "Something Like An Autobiography"―he's not generally considered a writer, though he did co-write many of his scripts, so as a co-writer he's definitely one of our favorites!
8. (Mod's choice, from the world-building category) From cellophane_ria-- Seeing how sexist the Thremedon society is, were female magicans recognized and admitted to the Basquiat from the beginning, or did something happen to change the society's view of them?
Jaida: Ahhhhh so glad you asked this question. It's been a hell of a struggle―kind of similar/comparable to the academic world, but not as accepting. In Shadow Magic, we have a character who speaks to a lot of that, and we're hoping to be able to write about her in future books, as well, since she's one of our favorites, and someone who's had to work about ten times as hard to get where she is than her male counterparts.
And any final words you'd like to say to your fans?
Hey there, Thremedon! This is Jaida and Dani. Thanks so much for all the excellent questions, especially the ones about Balfour and Caius. (But we are not biased at all!) We had a fabulous time writing the answers to all of them, though, and hopefully these are thorough enough replies to your totally fantastic questions. If not, just let us know and we will try to clarify any points we can! ;) Thanks also for nominating the community to be in the LJ spotlight and for being so freakin' awesome about the book. It 100% was the best Christmas gift we got this year, hands down. We wish we could have replied to all your questions--so if anything didn't get answered, feel free to email us! Our appreciation for all your support knows no bounds. You guys are fantastic. Happy Holidays! -J&D
There you have it, folks! You've been great! Please feel free to make your closing statements on this AWESOME WEEK (or you know, your squee about this interview) in the comments. We hope to see you around!
Please note that we chose these questions randomly, except for four and eight. With four, everyone except one person asked a question of a similar vein and we thought it would be more efficient to rephrase these questions into something that covered what everyone wanted to know. Eight is mod's choice, because the questions for that category were so great we decided to include two!
Also, there is a bit of a spoiler regarding one of the POV protagonists of the next book (!!!), so keep an eye out for that. ;)
1. (Characters) From lizzy_someone-- Any extra information you can tell about Balfour?
Jaida: YES. Balfour is Dani's favorite character, so we've spent many a moon thinking about him and what his deal is. He has (well, had) a brother as well as a sister (still living); his brother's name starts with an A, and his sister's name starts with a C. You can probably guess their relative ages from that, and also where their parents were going with that one! He comes from country nobility, a bit of a step up from Royston's background, and he enjoys marmalade on toast. His brother―currently "A" for now ;)―is the only person who has successfully pwned Rook in a physical fight. Balfour is not so lucky.
2. (Plot) From wingstodust-- Where did Ivory learn how to play the piano?
Dani: In a whorehouse. It was an ill-thought-out bet with some other bar patrons, and never one to be caught with his pants down, Ivory promptly taught himself how to keep time in the simplest of styles. That was when he discovered―much to his surprise―that he had a natural aptitude for it.
3. (World-building) From anonymous-- Does Volstov/Ke-Han Empire have religion? National holidays like Christmas? Acknowledged anniversaries of significant battles and stuff like that?
Jaida: The Volstovic society is a secular one, so the closest thing to organized religion that they have is the Brotherhood of Regina, dedicated to the protection of the Well, although even that is secular in nature―a religious operation co-opted by the Esar to serve secular purposes! There are national holidays in place; for example, the Esar's birthday, the celebration of the erection of the Basquiat and, more recently, the day the war ended. The Ke-Han are more religious and their magic more elemental/less regulated by the state, but their equivalent of Volstov's Well was pretty much destroyed in the final attack on their capital.
4. (Shipping) From... basically everyone-- Were Rook and Thom ever intended to be a couple and how did this fit in with them being brothers?
Dani: When we first conceived of Rook and Thom, Jaida and I had already been talking about/researching a particular phenomenon that held interest for the two of us: incidents of siblings separated at birth who―when they ran across one another unknowingly―felt an irresistible attraction. That was the effect that we were working with, and we're so pleased to see that it resonated with the readers.
5. (Sequels) From fullmetalkatu-- My straight guy friend wants to know-- will we find out who Caius Greylace tortured in Shadow Magic or any of the sequels? I'm not asking who, right now, but will we find out?
Jaida: There is a LOT of Caius backstory in Shadow Magic, since he's one of the protagonists of the book, and occasionally he likes to gossip about himself―just not as much as he likes to gossip about other people. We do refer to that incident, as well as talk a lot about what made Caius the little weirdo he is today.
6. (Writing process) From bornfromthefoam-- So knowing that you spent a whole lot more time editing this book than writing it, I guess I'd like to know how you started that process. Was it harder or easier with two of you? (P.S. Hi! *waves*)
Dani: Hi! : ) I'd say it was definitely easier with the two of us. Jaida and I have pretty similar ideas when it comes to writing and what needs to be in a story, but our brains work pretty differently when it comes to editing which makes it super-easy to split up the tasks. We discussed the overall direction we wanted to take the book, as well as what we needed to do to fix certain scenes―all of course based on our amazing editor Anne Groell's letter―and after that we worked pretty much separately. Also, Jaida adds, we used the Holly Black method of color-coding different issues with Post-it notes of varying colors and sizes and matching highlighters. It makes you feel very efficient, and it's also great for being able to see immediately what kinds of issues are on what page.
7. (Misc) From anonymous-- A kind of strange question, maybe, but who are your favourite writers and what are their ages?
Jaida & Dani: Haruki Murakami who, according to wikipedia, will turn 60 on January 12 of 2009. One of our biggest influences has been Ellen Kushner, who is truly stupendous, and we're also currently loving loving loving everything Scott Lynch is writing. Another favorite book is Akira Kurosawa's "Something Like An Autobiography"―he's not generally considered a writer, though he did co-write many of his scripts, so as a co-writer he's definitely one of our favorites!
8. (Mod's choice, from the world-building category) From cellophane_ria-- Seeing how sexist the Thremedon society is, were female magicans recognized and admitted to the Basquiat from the beginning, or did something happen to change the society's view of them?
Jaida: Ahhhhh so glad you asked this question. It's been a hell of a struggle―kind of similar/comparable to the academic world, but not as accepting. In Shadow Magic, we have a character who speaks to a lot of that, and we're hoping to be able to write about her in future books, as well, since she's one of our favorites, and someone who's had to work about ten times as hard to get where she is than her male counterparts.
And any final words you'd like to say to your fans?
Hey there, Thremedon! This is Jaida and Dani. Thanks so much for all the excellent questions, especially the ones about Balfour and Caius. (But we are not biased at all!) We had a fabulous time writing the answers to all of them, though, and hopefully these are thorough enough replies to your totally fantastic questions. If not, just let us know and we will try to clarify any points we can! ;) Thanks also for nominating the community to be in the LJ spotlight and for being so freakin' awesome about the book. It 100% was the best Christmas gift we got this year, hands down. We wish we could have replied to all your questions--so if anything didn't get answered, feel free to email us! Our appreciation for all your support knows no bounds. You guys are fantastic. Happy Holidays! -J&D
There you have it, folks! You've been great! Please feel free to make your closing statements on this AWESOME WEEK (or you know, your squee about this interview) in the comments. We hope to see you around!