Ask the Author: Katharine Kerr
Answered Questions (23)
Katharine Kerr
Nope, on the Late Bronze Age question.
That 's an extremely interesting query about the AIs. I'll probably never get that far, but I'd assume they'd be dwarven-made. Given the dwarves' suspicious nature, they'd probably be created with strict controls that kept them only semi-sentient.
That 's an extremely interesting query about the AIs. I'll probably never get that far, but I'd assume they'd be dwarven-made. Given the dwarves' suspicious nature, they'd probably be created with strict controls that kept them only semi-sentient.
Katharine Kerr
No, you didn't imagine it. I just haven't got around to writing it yet. :-) I will someday, maybe soon.
Katharine Kerr
Thanks, Chris! I'm glad you've still got some of them. :-)
Katharine Kerr
Jill seemed to create herself as I wrote the first draft of Daggerspell. I really don't know where she came from -- or Nevyn, either, for that matter. I thought I was writing a short story about a woman warrior seeking revenge, and as I wrote the story changed, got LOTS longer, and turned out to be about a very different woman.
Katharine Kerr
Some of the classical Greek and Roman authors claim that the Gaulish Celts (ancestors of the Deverry people) believed in either transmigration of souls or reincarnations. Some modern scholars dispute that, but I didn't care. :-) It makes a great story, which is what I care about. The reincarnation theme continues throughout the 15 books of the series; the past lives move forward in time until they almost catch up with the main timeline. But then the series circles around and goes back to the very beginning of the karmic knot, when the Deverrians arrive in Deverry long before the series opening.
Katharine Kerr
My agents have been working on this, Robin, but so far no audio publisher is interested. One of them told us that the books were "too long"!
Katharine Kerr
Thank you! Alas, my husband's never going to be really okay, but we're coping. New book may take a while to be finished, therefore.
Katharine Kerr
No, unfortunately. The publishers own the rights to sell them to an audio company, but they haven't done anything about it. I'm not sure if my agent can prod them into it or not. I'll have to ask her.
Katharine Kerr
I really don't know. A lot of ideas just occur to me. Most are lousy. :-) The few good ones make me eager to start turning them into narrative.
Katharine Kerr
Katy, thanks for asking. My husband has Alzheimer's dementia. I was trying to take care of him and write, too. Needless to say, that didn't work. We now have a professional caregiver in the house. It took some searching, but I've found the right person. Next step: work out a routine so I can get some books written!
Katharine Kerr
Well, I hope you've got friends now! But that's a cool response. :-)
Katharine Kerr
Bill, alas, the wyvern in Red Wyvern is a clan badge, not a real critter. It takes place during a war between 2 factions for control of a kingdom, the red wyvern and the green.
So I'm afraid it'll be no help. And yes, it was written -years- before George RR Martin did the game of thrones series. :-)
So I'm afraid it'll be no help. And yes, it was written -years- before George RR Martin did the game of thrones series. :-)
Katharine Kerr
First I have to write it. :-) My husband's illness has set everything way back. So, next year some time, I hope.
Katharine Kerr
Kate, I'm hoping to write at least two more books about Nola and Ari. The publisher dropped the series, which wasn't selling well enough for them, and so I'll have to publish them myself.
Katharine Kerr
Sam, I originally thought I was writing a short story. A version of that now forms the last chapter of Volume 6. Talk about not knowing what you're getting into!!! I kept asking myself questions such as, how did these people get to the inn on the borderlands, and what lies on either side of this border? I kept scribbling pieces of story until finally Nevyn appeared. At that point the structure of the whole thing dropped into place, but I foolishly thought I was writing a trilogy. :-)
Katharine Kerr
Tolkien is certainly the biggest influence on me, as well as every other modern epic fantasy writer. Without him the genre would never have taken off the way it did. I also loved and still do all the old epics, Iliad and Odyssey, Aeneid, Beowulf, Ramayama, and so on. Favorite genre authors -- I like Tad Williams, Juliet McKenna, and Kate Elliott. A newcomer with a small output as yet is Kari Sperring. I don't read much YA. I hated being a teenager and don't want to go back there is one reason. :-) The other is my love of complicated books.
Katharine Kerr
My most recent book is SORCERER'S FEUD, which came out on July 1 in trade paper. It's a continuation of SORCERER'S LUCK, which came out last summer, and thus I got the idea from unanswered questions and hints in the first volume. Since I usually do write multi-volume works, this happens a lot. I'll get an idea for the beginning work, which then spawns the following volumes.
Katharine Kerr
Very badly. :-)
Katharine Kerr
Ray Bradbury said it best, "Read, read, read." I'd add that you should read all kinds of books, not just your favorite genre. Read literature, trash, journalism, history, lots of genre books -- everything.
And be one-pointed. If you want to be a writer, concentrate on wordcraft. Unless of course you want to do graphic novels, in which case, you'll need to combine the words with drawing. :-)
And be one-pointed. If you want to be a writer, concentrate on wordcraft. Unless of course you want to do graphic novels, in which case, you'll need to combine the words with drawing. :-)
Katharine Kerr
I'm working very slowly right now, because my husband is very ill. When I can snatch some time to write, though, I'm working on a new Deverry novel, set some 200 years after the previous series ends. There will be mostly new human characters, but a few of the elven characters are still around. The working title is A TALENT FOR MAGIC, but that may well change.
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