Chloe
asked
Jane Lindskold:
Hi Jane. Why do you like writing about animals? Or having animals as companions to humans? What do you like most about writing them? And do you have a favourite kind? (besides wolves of course!)
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.
More Answered Questions
Ellery Duncan
asked
Jane Lindskold:
Hi! When I read your books I loved the way that nonhuman characters were distinct from humans in their speech patterns. What was your process was on writing characters like Blind Seer and the other speaking animals. How do you get inside the mindset of an animal in order to write them? What are the significant differences between writing an animal character that speaks, and a human character?
Paul Dellinger
asked
Jane Lindskold:
Hi Jane. What are you working on now, and where and when can we see it?
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