Mckenzie

Mckenzie asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

How do you come up with such great books?

Lois McMaster Bujold As for how I come up with books, I could talk about how I write, though not in this tiny answer box -- Sidelines: Talks and Essays and The Vorkosigan Companion, plus some of my interviews, https://vorkosigan.fandom.com/wiki/Au... go into my process at length. Also more if you scroll back to earlier in this Q&A column. (This column could really use a search function. Anyone with more energy this morning than me is welcome to throw in some links to earlier answers on the topic in the comments.)

"Great" is a reader's judgment of their reading experience, which is different for every reader-book combination. So even if you just limited your survey to people who liked my books, the array of reasons and reactions are bewilderingly varied, as any cruise through my reader reviews here on GR or Amazon will show. (Plus some people who had a great reading may not be articulate about why -- commercial fiction read for pleasure does not normally come with a quiz next period.) So that half of your question is the one the writer is least able to answer.

Ta, L.

More Answered Questions

patty irigoyen

patty irigoyen asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

Any plans for future expansion of the Sharing Knife world? I was loathe to leave it as it teetered on such social change. Not to mention my indelible curiosity about Nattie-Mari.

Kate Davenport

Kate Davenport asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

Des is keeping Penric young(ish) but I'm assuming that while she might be able to slow his aging and keep him healthy, she would not be able to extend him past the assumed human maximum of 125. In the end it still feels like it would be hard on him to outlive everyone important in his life except Des. How do you imagine she will handle his feelings of loss and possible depression? And how will she handle losing him?

Jonathan Palfrey

Jonathan Palfrey asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

In the World of the Five Gods, we know that a sorcerer who kills with magic will lose his/her demon to the Bastard. Imagine that the sorcerer uses magic to weaken a component of a bridge; the bridge collapses and people die. Does it make a difference whether the collapse happens immediately, 5 seconds later, 5 minutes later, 5 hours later, 5 days later? Apologies if this is already answered somewhere.

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Lois McMaster Bujold

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