Ask the Author: Jane Lindskold
Answered Questions (14)
Jane Lindskold
Thanks for asking! To this point, Firekeeper hasn't been snapped up, but I certainly think it would make a great TV show: all the magic, mystery, politics and drama of GoT without the grimdark and ugly. And wolves, too! The best way for Hollywood to hear about stories you love is for there to be buzz...
Jane Lindskold
Eventually, I want to return to Artemis, and the first step will be getting new e-book editions up. However, right now I have just sold two new books (the Over Where duology: Library of the Sapphire Wind and Aurora Borealis Bridge), and my first priority is getting those through the next stage, since they're due for release Spring 2022. Thanks so much for your interest and enthusiasm.
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https://janelindskold.wordpress.com/2...
Jane Lindskold
Thank you for your kind enthusiasm. As to your question... It's funny you'd mention that. When you see the end of Wolf's Soul (which should come out in early 2020) you'll see, well, no spoilers. However, I have at least six books to write before I will go back to Firekeeper and Blind Seer (three Stephanie Harrington with David Weber, as well as a project I've been longing to get back to for the last two years, and a few other things), so what is further west of the Iron Mountains will need to wait.
Jane Lindskold
You've made me smile! Thank you for sharing what my books have meant to you. To answer your question: How do I transition? Well, I rarely work on more than one project at a time. If I do, I make sure that I am in different phases-- writing the new material on one book, while doing edits on another. This keeps me immersed in the "right" world so that they won't become generic or intermingled. Another reason I think my works tend to feel grounded in their worlds is that I write from character point of view. I use omniscient narration in a very, very limited fashion. Even when tempted, I don't slip in cute jokes or references to current events that might throw a reader out of the alternate world.
(Apologies for the late reply! Notifications weren't reaching me until this week.)
(Apologies for the late reply! Notifications weren't reaching me until this week.)
Jane Lindskold
Not right now, at least, but I never rule out getting a good idea and going through with it. Do you know that there is a new Firekeeper novel? Wolf's Search came out just a few weeks ago, and Wolf's Soul will follow, hopefully early in 2020. You can learn more about it, here.
https://janelindskold.wordpress.com/2...
(Apologies for the late reply! Notifications weren't reaching me until this week.)
https://janelindskold.wordpress.com/2...
(Apologies for the late reply! Notifications weren't reaching me until this week.)
Jane Lindskold
Thanks for wandering over from Weber's stuff to check out mine. The reason Artemis Awakening and Artemis Invaded are not currently available as e-books is that Tor recently reverted the rights to me, and I have not had a chance to do new e-books. It takes a while and I'm immersed in different projects--one of which I'll mention below. If you like books with politics and intelligent aliens/animals, you might want to try my Firekeeper novels. They're fantasy, but not at all cute animal companion books. They've got... Dare I say it? Bite.
By the way, looks as if Weber and I will be doing more books with Stephanie Harrington and the treecats. We've discussed and are now in the "awaiting contracts" stage.
(Apologies for the late reply! Notifications weren't reaching me until this week.)
By the way, looks as if Weber and I will be doing more books with Stephanie Harrington and the treecats. We've discussed and are now in the "awaiting contracts" stage.
(Apologies for the late reply! Notifications weren't reaching me until this week.)
Jane Lindskold
Hi, Liam! I apologize for not answering sooner. It appears notifications were turned off and I just now saw your question.
Here's what happened with Chronomaster... Roger Zelazny and I were working on the game at the time of his death. Roger came up with the global concept, but he knew nothing about games and how they work, so I did most of the work with the computer game people on turning the general idea into a story that would work within the platform of the game at the time.
After Roger's death, I continued to work with the game people. In fact, I'm still good friends with Scot Noel, who was the producer, and with his now wife (not yet wife then) Jane who was the art director. The game was cutting edge for the time, one of the first to fill an entire CD Rom.
It was given a big Hollywood launch, received solid reviews, and Prisma Publications (who did 'secret of the game' sort of books along with some fiction) contracted with me to write both the secrets of the game book and novels based on the storyline. We were trotting along, having a great time, when Capstone, the company that was distributing the game (NOT DreamForge, which actually programmed the game) went under.
Chronomaster was pulled from the market. Prisma lost interest in the novels, and so only the one came out. It's a shame. I was quite enjoying fleshing out secondary characters and their motivations.
Here's what happened with Chronomaster... Roger Zelazny and I were working on the game at the time of his death. Roger came up with the global concept, but he knew nothing about games and how they work, so I did most of the work with the computer game people on turning the general idea into a story that would work within the platform of the game at the time.
After Roger's death, I continued to work with the game people. In fact, I'm still good friends with Scot Noel, who was the producer, and with his now wife (not yet wife then) Jane who was the art director. The game was cutting edge for the time, one of the first to fill an entire CD Rom.
It was given a big Hollywood launch, received solid reviews, and Prisma Publications (who did 'secret of the game' sort of books along with some fiction) contracted with me to write both the secrets of the game book and novels based on the storyline. We were trotting along, having a great time, when Capstone, the company that was distributing the game (NOT DreamForge, which actually programmed the game) went under.
Chronomaster was pulled from the market. Prisma lost interest in the novels, and so only the one came out. It's a shame. I was quite enjoying fleshing out secondary characters and their motivations.
Jane Lindskold
If someone came to me and wanted to make Artemis Awakening into a movie, I'd be quite interested. I'd be a little concerned about how they'd handle the animal characters, though. Still, FX techniques are getting better and better...
Yes. The planet is sentient. Right now, the only people she can communicate with are Sand Shadow and Adara. Who knows what the future will bring?
Yes. The planet is sentient. Right now, the only people she can communicate with are Sand Shadow and Adara. Who knows what the future will bring?
Jane Lindskold
There is no specific wolf who was my model for Blind Seer. Blind Seer is a very rare wolf in that he has blue eyes. Despite what you may hear, wolves do -- rarely -- actually have blue eyes. (I've read this in more than one scientific source.) But let me stress... The color is very rare. That's why Blind Seer's family thought he was blind.
While I didn't have a specific model for Blind Seer, cover artist Julie Bell became so interested in doing wolf art that she would go to a wildlife sanctuary near where she lived so that she could sketch the wolves. I believe she had a specific wolf she used as her model for Blind Seer. Cool, right?
While I didn't have a specific model for Blind Seer, cover artist Julie Bell became so interested in doing wolf art that she would go to a wildlife sanctuary near where she lived so that she could sketch the wolves. I believe she had a specific wolf she used as her model for Blind Seer. Cool, right?
Jane Lindskold
I don't have any immediate plans to do any new novels with Firekeeper and Blind Seer. That doesn't mean I never will, just that I won't be doing so any time in the near future. Thanks for supporting them and stay tuned!
Jane Lindskold
Gosh! I'm working on a bunch of things. First of all, the sequel to Artemis Awakening -- probably to be titled Artemis Invaded -- is in Tor's hands and I've been working with my editor on the final stages.
Then, responding to the prompting of some of my readers, I've been working on a book about writing. It's called Wanderings on Writing and is about half what it's like to be a full-time writer and half tips about writing, especially writing SF/F. I've a little more work to do, then the manuscript will go off to get turned into both an e-book and a POD.
And while I was waiting for feedback on Wanderings on Writing, I wrote a short story called "Born from Memory." It's tied to an art contest I've been helping out with over the last several months, inspired by the first prize winning piece. You can find out more about the contest and see the winning piece at http://www.scienceandfantasyfiction.c...
Then, responding to the prompting of some of my readers, I've been working on a book about writing. It's called Wanderings on Writing and is about half what it's like to be a full-time writer and half tips about writing, especially writing SF/F. I've a little more work to do, then the manuscript will go off to get turned into both an e-book and a POD.
And while I was waiting for feedback on Wanderings on Writing, I wrote a short story called "Born from Memory." It's tied to an art contest I've been helping out with over the last several months, inspired by the first prize winning piece. You can find out more about the contest and see the winning piece at http://www.scienceandfantasyfiction.c...
Jane Lindskold
I'm really glad you enjoyed Treecat Wars. Did you see A Beautiful Friendship and Fire Season? Those are both about Stephanie and Climbs Quickly. Weber (I've called him by his last name for something like twenty years now, long story...) wrote A Beautiful Friendship, but welcomed my input. We did Fire Season together.
Will there be more? Weber and I definitely have ideas and have chattered about how we'd handle further books. However, for now Baen Books has the series on "hold." The best way to get more is to let them know you'd like to read more about Stephanie and her worlds. (Oh, and buy books... That's what convinces publishers that readers are really serious!)
Thanks for reading!
Will there be more? Weber and I definitely have ideas and have chattered about how we'd handle further books. However, for now Baen Books has the series on "hold." The best way to get more is to let them know you'd like to read more about Stephanie and her worlds. (Oh, and buy books... That's what convinces publishers that readers are really serious!)
Thanks for reading!
Jane Lindskold
When I write speaking animals, I try to think about how their different senses would influence the way the way they perceive the world. For example, humans are very sight and hand oriented. This is reflected in all sorts of little phrases: "I see your point" (see = understand or comprehend) "Lend me a hand" (meaning "assist me"). With creatures that depend on other senses and don't have hands, I strive to avoid those sort of human perceptions and substitute how they would think.
Writing Sand Shadow in Artemis Awakening presents a different sort of challenge. Her link with Adara is telepathic rather than linguistic. It's a relatively new link, so they're still building a vocabulary. Sometimes, I "shorthand" with words, especially when the communication is something they would have worked out early on. ("I'm on my way!" "Wait!") In other cases, I try to mix in the images they would use, once again keeping mind that Sand Shadow perceives very differently than a human would.
Thanks for a great question!
Writing Sand Shadow in Artemis Awakening presents a different sort of challenge. Her link with Adara is telepathic rather than linguistic. It's a relatively new link, so they're still building a vocabulary. Sometimes, I "shorthand" with words, especially when the communication is something they would have worked out early on. ("I'm on my way!" "Wait!") In other cases, I try to mix in the images they would use, once again keeping mind that Sand Shadow perceives very differently than a human would.
Thanks for a great question!
Jane Lindskold
Hi Chloe!
I like writing about animals because of a lifelong fascination with non-humankind. Actually, I'm more surprised by how many books don't have either animals or children. To me leaving out most of the living creatures -- and a large chuck of humanity as well -- is the distortion of reality, not including them.
As far as animals as companions to humans -- well, that's all a matter of point of view. Blind Seer would see Firekeeper as a human companion to wolves. For that matter, so would she! In Artemis Awakening, I go out of my way to stress that Sand Shadow and Adara are equals, not master and companion. In other words, this isn't Tarzan and his Beasts, where the human is obviously in charge...
Favorite kind! Oh, my... I've never been able to choose! When my sister, Ann, and I were little, we'd sometimes pretend that we were animals. Even then I wanted to be every animal there was. I'd go into great detail describing a creature built like a wolf (though maybe with longer legs, to run faster), but with the spots of a leopard and the antlers of a stag, and the silky mane of a horse... One reason I love writing is that I can finally "be" all of them.
I like writing about animals because of a lifelong fascination with non-humankind. Actually, I'm more surprised by how many books don't have either animals or children. To me leaving out most of the living creatures -- and a large chuck of humanity as well -- is the distortion of reality, not including them.
As far as animals as companions to humans -- well, that's all a matter of point of view. Blind Seer would see Firekeeper as a human companion to wolves. For that matter, so would she! In Artemis Awakening, I go out of my way to stress that Sand Shadow and Adara are equals, not master and companion. In other words, this isn't Tarzan and his Beasts, where the human is obviously in charge...
Favorite kind! Oh, my... I've never been able to choose! When my sister, Ann, and I were little, we'd sometimes pretend that we were animals. Even then I wanted to be every animal there was. I'd go into great detail describing a creature built like a wolf (though maybe with longer legs, to run faster), but with the spots of a leopard and the antlers of a stag, and the silky mane of a horse... One reason I love writing is that I can finally "be" all of them.
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I could see that being something which ...more
Sep 05, 2024 12:32PM · flag