Eliana
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
In a discussion with friends about Diplomatic Immunity, I mentioned having seen you say that you regretted not having made the plot resolution section with Ekaterin be present tense, from her POV, rather than described after the fact. Someone asked where I had seen that - and I can't find it! I had thought it was in an afterward, but I'm not seeing it. Do you remember where that might be? Thank you!
Lois McMaster Bujold
I don't know where you might have run across this, but what I was actually thinking was that I somewhat regretted not making the tale dual viewpoint between Ekaterin and Miles. In the early sections, there wasn't much for her to do, so it would have seemed unbalanced. By the end, I realized the viewpoints could have been balanced not side by side, but end for end, a different structure, but at that point the book was running late, and what was going to be Paladin of Souls was late to start -- long story, but it was how I learned I couldn't contract and write two books at once, at least not to two different publishers. (I had actually started with trying to alternate chapters between the two projects, got a couple chapters in, and stalled out painfully on both.) I lost about 9 months to that mental logjam, plus some concurrent health issues. I only got unjammed by setting Ista aside.
Present tense, no, that was never contemplated. If I had done Ekaterin's viewpoint, it would have been tight third person past tense, just like Miles's.
Also, on a different level, I think Ekaterin and Ista were competing for creative energy viz women's thematic issues in some weird way. But even if I'd thought of this at the time and not after the fact, I would not have had the will to rip apart a perfectly good book that was finished for a bunch of changes that would make no difference to the outcome.
Ta, L.
I don't know where you might have run across this, but what I was actually thinking was that I somewhat regretted not making the tale dual viewpoint between Ekaterin and Miles. In the early sections, there wasn't much for her to do, so it would have seemed unbalanced. By the end, I realized the viewpoints could have been balanced not side by side, but end for end, a different structure, but at that point the book was running late, and what was going to be Paladin of Souls was late to start -- long story, but it was how I learned I couldn't contract and write two books at once, at least not to two different publishers. (I had actually started with trying to alternate chapters between the two projects, got a couple chapters in, and stalled out painfully on both.) I lost about 9 months to that mental logjam, plus some concurrent health issues. I only got unjammed by setting Ista aside.
Present tense, no, that was never contemplated. If I had done Ekaterin's viewpoint, it would have been tight third person past tense, just like Miles's.
Also, on a different level, I think Ekaterin and Ista were competing for creative energy viz women's thematic issues in some weird way. But even if I'd thought of this at the time and not after the fact, I would not have had the will to rip apart a perfectly good book that was finished for a bunch of changes that would make no difference to the outcome.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Steve
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Are you worried that spending a lot of time communicating with your fans, especially in answering questions about older works, keeps you from getting back to writing and getting into the mood for something unrelated to past books? I have realized that if i spend too much time noodling on the Internet and Facebook and Goodreads, I don't get much else done for the day.
Tilia
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
In the Vorkosigan Saga, all the (lead) characters end up in happy, heterosexual, harmonious... satisfying relationships. Even Bel, whom Miles thought of as more man than woman, ends up with a quadi woman. In a world that is otherwise so believable, it makes it all feel less realistic, untrue to imperfect human nature. What prompted you to write them this way? How much did you consider this aspect of the stories?
Chris
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
For the collected novella versions of Penric, do they include the original covers? Having seen a couple of Dan Dos Santos’s amazing covers, now I want them. But I am not an ebook guy, and missed all the previous editions. I have been waiting for them to come out in relatively affordable collected editions as Mass market pb or Trade pb.
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You have so been so generous with your time and comments that it can be hard to find where a particular insight or observation was - a love ...more
Dec 17, 2024 11:16AM · flag