Me and my shadow and other observations.

[la_marquise]

I seem to have a writing tic of having characters with silent sidekicks -- the lieutenant's ghost in Living with Ghosts and now a small steppe pony in Grass King. I really don't know why I do this: it;s hardly practical and leads to festoons of post-its reading things like 'remember the ghost/horse' all over the place. And I've done it for years. Somewhere I have a (really bad) short story about Richard III with a ghost and at least one unfinished and unfinishable novel with a familiar spirit.
And it's off-balancing. The lieutenant's ghost was bad enough (I had an awful moment when I received my copies of the published book that I'd forgotten to include it in one important scene -- luckily, I hadn't, I just didn't remember that). The horse is worse. It has to be fed. And watered. And got into boats. Waaah.

And I realised something else, too. For the last I forget-how-many years (something like 15) I've been fiddling with, rewriting and retuning LWG. Now I can't. It's set. Just as it is.... Oh, help!

Comments

Think of the pony!

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

I liked the lieutenant's ghost very much, and ended up feeling quite sympathetic towards him -- not bad for an anonymous character who communicates solely by expression! (Interpreted expression, at that. And G can't be too angst-ridden if he's put up with 6 years of sneery looks.)

As for second point, you can always start fanficcing your own work under an assumed name! (I have a Suspicion that I have seen this done by a fantasy novelist in recent years.)

Re: Think of the pony!

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

As for second point, you can always start fanficcing your own work under an assumed name! (I have a Suspicion that I have seen this done by a fantasy novelist in recent years.)

You are Evil. It's part of your charm...

Re: Think of the pony!

[elfwhistletree.livejournal.com]

I fully approve of this cunning scheme :-)

[aberwyn.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the world of the published. Everytime I look at one of my earlier books I see mistakes, infelicities, problems, contradictions, etc etc that cannot be fixed. I have frequent fits of gloom over this.

You have a lot of lovely times to look forward to as your publishing credits mount. :-)

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I don't know whether to be reassured or scared!

[philbradley.livejournal.com]

After my first book was published I took one of my author copies proudly home to my parents. I gave it to my mother to look through, and she flicked over a few pages before saying 'There's a typo here'. And that, as they say, was that!

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Oh, I know that one. Though usually it's the marquis.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

We all have writing tics. Mine is a tendency to put people up a cliff at some time or another. It has been remarked on.

It could be worse, you know. There is that story Dave Langford tells about warbling on a Mexicon panel about how William Gibson (also on panel) could have avoided the Black Ice problem in Neuromancer by having a kind of dead man switch... and Gibson spending the rest of the day trying to think of a way round Langford's nit-picking.

I am reading your book at the moment and will comment when I have finished. (I retire today so this week has been filled with arranging leaving dos and making time for people...) I'm enjoying it so far - it's a good idea and I like the characters. (Though if I didn't already know your main influences I might be able to guess... Nothing wrong with that though. We are all influenced, and some of mine are far less respectable!)

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I hop you like it.
And have a wonderful retirement week. Retired is good.

[ms-cataclysm.livejournal.com]

could this be your cats smuggling themselves into your books?

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Very probably.

[maeve-the-red.livejournal.com]

That last comment - me too with PoA. And I've had several moments where I thought 'Did I remember to mention x' and found, thankfully, that I did.

(PS - I'm posting from a friends' house in Devon where the new cats - a pair of 6-month-old ginger (ex)toms are being Too Cute For Words. D has just emptied them out of our rucksack)

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Rucksacks are irresistible: most Tuesdays the marquis nearly comes home with two Siamese that belong to some friends and love his backpack.
Have a great holiday.