Monthly Archives: September 2008

Published: September 30, 2008

IAQ – Kvothe’s Alignment.

I get a lot of fanmail, which means I get a lot of questions.

The questions that get asked a lot, I put into the FAQ, for obvious reasons.

But there are other questions too. It’s occurred to me that some of these questions, while infrequent, might still intrigue or amuse folks.

So here’s the first of these. Not part of the FAQ. More like the begining of an IAQ, if you will….

Pat,

With the shape of an “L” on my forehead, here’s my question: What would you say is Kvothe’s alignment (i.e. ad&d terms)

[Name withheld for reasons of not wanting the person to die of geeky shame]

Oh yeah. Total Geek question.

Here’s my total geek answer: I didn’t even have to think about it. Chaotic good.

Though honestly, now that I pause for consideration, it’s possible he’s neutral good. He doesn’t work actively against the system, he just doesn’t feel constrained by it.

Now, of course, you’ve got me thinking about everyones’ alignment.

Some are easy, like Master Lorren: Lawful Good.

Some are hard, like Elodin. Chaotic neutral? True neutral? He’s just too complicated to put in a box like that. Plus there’s a lot of him you haven’t seen yet. I honestly don’t know where I’d put him overall.

The more I think about it, the fact that I can’t fit most of the characters into little AD&D boxes makes me feel good. It shows that they’re more complex than that. I hope that complexity isn’t just inside my head. I’d like to think that y’all get to experience it too….

Pop quiz:

What is Pat’s alignment?

Where does Bast fall on the Kinsey Scale?

What is Denna’s Myers-Briggs Personality Type?

Would Elodin pass a Thematic Apperception Test?

How many questions does it take to clear Lorren on the Voight-Kampff?

Extra Credit:

If Auri were a tree, what kind of tree would she be?

Geekily yours,

pat

Labels: Infrequently Asked Questions, gaming, geeking out

posted by Pat 28 Comments

Published: September 27, 2008

Available for a limited time only….

Did I forget to mention that I’m going to be up in Canada next weekend?

In case I did, I am. I’m going to be up in Vancouver. (The one in BC, not the one in Washington.)

The reason for this particular outing is V-Con. While I’ve done a lot of conventions lately, this one marks two notable firsts in my life….

The first first is that I’m not just attending this convention, I’m actually one of the Guests of Honor. It’s a pretty sweet gig so far. Not only are they paying my travel expenses, but I’m pretty sure that while I’m out there, someone is contractually obliged to fan me with a big leaf and feed me grapes.

The second first is a little embarrassing, actually. This will be the first time I’ve ever left the country. I feel like such an adult, I’ve got a passport and everything….

Anyway, I just thought I’d let y’all know that I was going to be out there. Part of the GOH gig is that I got to be very heavily involved with the programming, so I’m going to be doing readings, signings, and a metric ton of panels. So if you’ve ever wanted to hear me pontificate on all manner of diverse subjects, this is going to be a great opportunity.

Also, since I’m don’t know when I’m going to be up in that neck of the woods again, I’m going to do a reading/signing/Q&A session at one of the local bookstores. It’s on Tuesday the 7th (of October) at 7:00 at the Chapters out in Coquitlam. Because that signing got set up fairly recently, I’ve only made mention of it on Facebook so far. (Yeah, I’m on Facebook, feel free to add me if you’re into that sort of thing.)

Generally speaking, if you’re looking for information on my upcoming appearances, you can get the details over here on the “Tour Schedule” section of my webpage. I try to keep that as up to date as possible….

That’s all for now folks. Enjoy your weekend.

pat

Labels: Pat Rothfuss - International Man of Mystery, appearances, conventions

posted by Pat 12 Comments

Published: September 23, 2008

A New Edition to the Family

It goes without saying that becoming a published author has changed my life.

If someone were to ask how, specifically, I’d probably mention one of the big things. How surreal it is when people recognise me in public. Or when I show up to a reading or a signing and there are dozens of people there. I could mention how I travel a lot more now, or the fact that I can spend up to 5-6 hours a day just keeping up with my e-mail correspondence.

But truthfully, one of the thousand small changes has been how I feel about getting the daily mail.

Up until about a two years ago, when all this publication stuff started, my mail was pretty normal. Most of it was junk: fliers, credit card applications, cupons. The stuff that wasn’t junk was usually unpleasant, like bills or notifications about my student loans.

Yeah sure. On some rare occasion something nice would show up. A card from mom with some cash in it, mail order something-or-other, a letter from a friend. But those were few and far between.

But now I love to get the mail. Every day is like a potential Christmas. I get all sorts of cool things. I get foreign contracts that I read and sign and mail back. I get free copies of books sent to me with the hope that I’ll read them, love them, and blurb them.

And I get checks in the mail. I won’t lie to you, that’s really cool. A lot of my life I’ve been pretty poor. Not *really* poor, of course. But student poor. I spent 11 years as a college student, and there were a lot of times when I was broke, the next paycheck was three days away, and the credit card was full. I’m sure a lot of you have had similar times in your life.

I remember getting sick once, and not having enough money to buy aspirin or orange juice. Another time, I remember digging through my cupboards, examining the cans of weird food. The food that you have left because you hate it. I remember thinking, “How old is this can of vegetable barley soup? Will it kill me?” Once I got behind on my rent and my landlord burst into my little one-room apartment, waking me from a dead sleep and threatening to throw me out onto the street.

Fast forward to now. Sometimes I pick up my mail and there’s a check in there. A check for money. A check for money that I didn’t even know would be showing up. Best of all, it’s money that I don’t immediately need for something, like paying my overdue phone bill, or buying groceries, or settling a debt with a friend who lent me a little bit to get by.

But perhaps even cooler is when things like this show up without my expecting it:

(Click to Embiggen)

I didn’t know the Danish version of the book was close to being finished. I’d never even seen the cover until I opened the envelope a couple days ago and found this inside.

I think this is translation number… six? Let me think, so far I’ve had editions in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan… Number five then. Six will probably be the German version that’s coming out later this month. I’m excited to see that one too.

Later all,

pat

Labels: foreign happenings, my student days

posted by Pat 36 Comments

Published: September 20, 2008

New Podcast – Writing Excuses.

When I was out at worldcon this year, I got to meet up with Brandon Sanderson.

This was pretty cool for me, because I’ve really enjoyed his books so far. Most notably the Mistborn series. Though Elantris was really good as well.

I’ve recommended his books on the blog before, so I won’t go all gushy again. But I have to say, his stuff is really good. Irritatingly good. Plus he writes really fast, which is nice as a reader because he has more books out. But irritating as a writer, because it makes people like me look bad.

Anyway, he does a writing podcast with a few co-conspirators, and they asked me if I wanted to be their guest for an episode and talk about exposition and stuff.

So I did.

Here’s the link, if you’re interested.

pat

Labels: Interview, meeting famous people, podcasts, recommendations

posted by Pat 11 Comments

Published: September 18, 2008

Tales from the Con: Reading in Indianapolis

So when I was attending GenCon out in Indianapolis last month, I had several adventures.

For one, I got to eat at a Stake and Shake, which was pretty cool. This may not seem like a big deal for most of you, but… well… I don’t get out much.

I also did a reading at the local library.

I love doing readings. But this one was especially fun, as I got to hang out with the folks from “…and Sewing is Half the Battle.” They’re the ones that won the photo contest from a couple months ago.

They all came dressed in their costumes and did an intro to my reading, talking about what cosplay is, why folks do it, and how to dabble if you’re interested.

I have to say that it was pretty cool showing up for my own reading and having a bunch of the characters from the book in attendance.

As a whole, I was too bemused to take a lot of pictures. But I got a huge kick out of this:

I don’t remember writing a hippie into the book. But then again, I don’t remember NOT writing a hippie into the book. Trapis, nice guy that he is, seems to be reserving judgement.

Haliax, as you might have guessed, is a big hit with the ladies. Why do they always go for the dark types?

Here’s one I snapped of Haliax when he didn’t think anyone was paying attention. Apparently when there aren’t any chicks around he summons some sort of glowing orb, practicing to destroy his enemies. I can’t say I’m surprised.

Ladies, let this be a lesson to you. Sure, cowls are sexy. Everyone loves a bad boy. But when you’re dating evil, it’s only a matter of time before you get the glowing orb.

Here’s everyone. From top left to bottom right you have: Elodin, young girl (see below) Haliax, Bast and Urchin, Ambrose, glowing death orb, Hippie, Trapis, Denna, Kvothe and Fela.

I won’t bore you with the whole story of the reading, but here are the high points.

A 10 year old girl made fun of my handwriting.

She looked down at the book I was writing in. “Authors are supposed to use cursive,” she informed me.

“Not me,” I said cheerfully, scribbing away.

“Is that your name?” she asked.

“Yup.”

She kept watching in disapproval, then said. “Authors are also supposed to have better handwriting than a third grader.”

“You’re fat,” I said.

I didn’t really. She was adorable. Plus, I was on an adulation buzz by that point and nothing could bring me down. I long ago came to grips with the fact that my handwriting looks like a psychotic grade schooler’s ransom note. She wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know.

At some point during the Q & A period, I used a terrible phrase.

I used to do improv comedy. This is a good thing. I know how to work a crowd and think on my feet. Public speaking doesn’t freak me out. I’m relaxed. I make jokes. It’s a good time.

The down side is that I’m not exactly working off a script. And that means sometimes I’ll say awful things.

I’m not talking about cussing. I cuss all the time. It’s not a big deal.

All humor is rooted in transgression. That means that most things that are genuinely funny also have the potential for being really offensive, or weird, or creepy.

I can’t remember the exact context for this phrase, but I was answering a question. I think I was making fun of the fact that since I hit the NYT bestseller list, everyone seems to think I’m all rockstar famous.

As I said, I can’t remember the exact context. But I do remember the phrase I used.

It was: “Come Ride the Rothfuss Train!”

Yeah. I even pronounced it with the exclamation point, which is something I very rarely do. It was one of those things that seems brilliant before you say it, but goes horrible as soon as it leaves your mouth.

There was a half-second of quiet, then I said. “I’m never going to say that ever again.”

THAT got a laugh. A big laugh.

So later, when I was signing books, everyone wanted me to write something about the Rothfuss train. So the story has a happy ending.

I got to hang out with the “Sewing is Half the Battle” crew.

After the reading, we all hung out, and I treated them to dinner as part of their prize for their epic win the in the photo contest.

Eventually the restaurant closed, so we went to… you guessed it. Steak and Shake. My second trip in as many days. It was there that a talented artist who will remain nameless drew this on a placemat for me.

Yeah. It’s the Rothfuss Train. Hop on. Ride it. You know you want to….

Later all,

pat

Labels: The Rothfuss Train, costumes, photo contest, small adventures

posted by Pat 30 Comments

Published: September 16, 2008

What should I do #10: Jonathan Coulton

I just got an e-mail asking the now-familiar question: “What am I supposed to do while I’m waiting for your second book to come out?!?”

So let me throw out a new answer: Check out Jonathan Coulton.

I’m guessing many of you already know about Coulton. He strides the world like a colossus. He mocks. He’s funny. He has a pretty good beard….

Mostly though, Coulton does music. Smart, funny, wonderful music.

It’s possible that you might know Coulton’s work even if you don’t know his name. If you’ve finished Portal, for example, you’ve heard his stuff. “Still Alive” the song that plays during the end credits is his.

And if you went to PAX this year, you got to see him onstage. Not that I’m bitter that I missed it because I was at Dragoncon that weekend. Not that I’m bitter that I missed the chance to hang out with Felicia Day of Dr. Horrible fame at PAX too. Not that I’m bitter that apparently Felicia got up and sang on stage with Coulton at the concert….

Yeah. Okay. I’m a little bitter.

For those of you out of the loop, a couple years back Jonathan Coulton started something he called thing a week. As the name suggests, he wrote a new song each week and released it for free on the internet.

As you might guess, some of the songs were a little forced. But what’s far more important is how often he struck gold. A lot of his songs are pure, distilled brilliance.

How good are they? Well…. imagine if someone unspeakably hot person came to your house. Imagine whoever you like: Brad Pitt. Alyson Hannigan, Bea Arthur. Whatever turns your crank.

So. This person shows up at your house and gives you a really good backrub. Then they make you an ice cream sundae. Your favorite kind. Then, and this is the key part, they sex you up while you’re eating the sundae….

Okay. Honestly, his songs aren’t quite as awesome as that. But they’re maybe…. seventy percent that awesome. Which you have to admit, is pretty amazing.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s a few Youtube samples from an acoustic show he did in LA a couple years back.

Here’s one of his more popular ones called Code Monkey: