Interview – Popmatters

There’s a new interview over on Popmatters that was just posted up last week.

Share and enjoy. I’m off to write.

pat

This entry was posted in InterviewsBy Pat17 Responses

17 Comments

  1. patham
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 9:48 AM | Permalink

    Ooh, I’m first! :DJust finished your audio interview, now on to this one! :)The audio interview was quite good, answered a few of my potential questions. :)

  2. Captain Joe
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 11:03 AM | Permalink

    Whoo… that was a technical interview of sorts. I think that guy wanted to challenge you to a sixteen-dollar word fantasy dance-off, Pat!It was well-played, too, but you out-foxed him.

  3. matt
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 11:29 AM | Permalink

    What a great interview, Pat. You touched on some very significant issues, such as the standard low for quality in children’s books, and how fantasy is eeking its way into mainstream readership (from what I’ve heard, NOTW is bridging that gap a bit, too… Or maybe I’m just thinking of Mr. Card’s review).Your interviews always have nutritive value. Sure, we enjoy the standard fair of “favorite food, favorite color, tell us about your book,” but your interviews always go a step or two further than that (credit goes to the interviewers, as well…).

  4. marky
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 11:42 AM | Permalink

    “I think fantasy can help keep our minds limber and open to extraordinary opportunity.”Some really great questions answered superbly. I couldn’t agree more about fantasy novels being linked to creative thinking. I was having a discussion about this a few nights ago. My friend is a lover of all things factual. He won’t watch any sci-fi or fantasy, let alone read any. I was trying to explain, that when I’m reading fantasy/sci-fi/horror, I get this kind of bright eyed enthusiasm akin to when I was given an assignment in art school. Your brain goes off in different creative tangents, searching for an idea that you can work with and make your own. Due to my limited vocabulary I don’t think I got the point across very well.That’s why I’m so glad you touched on this in your interview. Now I can print it off and say, “see, see, that’s what I meant!”

  5. Ryan
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 2:39 PM | Permalink

    As much as I love sci-fi/fantasy…when it comes down to it, the parts that make the story fit into the genre are window dressings. The core of everything is the story, which could (with little effort) be transformed into a more literal version of itself. However, I agree with Pat. Sci-fi/fantasy is a more fun and more creative way to explore stories.

  6. Anonymous
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 3:01 PM | Permalink

    Pat, I have a question regarding interviews. Do you get to review and revise your answers prior to publication? Your thoughts are remarkably well constructed and thought out if you are just shooting from the hip. Maybe it’s your teaching background.

  7. Kanna
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 4:51 PM | Permalink

    That was awesome! I’m glad the interview strayed to a more technical side of things. It was nice to get away from the normal questions and cover some new ground. I love what you said about language, plot, and character. You have an amazing talent for putting concepts into words that would leave the rest of us waving our hands and saying “Well, then, you know…” Great interview, Pat.

  8. Incubus Jax
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 5:12 PM | Permalink

    I knew it! I knew something was off this morning. I got up, and first thing I cut myself shaving, and knew it.It was like a great disturbance in the force, or like that episode of Star Trek when they got caught in that time loop and kept reliving the same day over and over again until Data figured out that his little positronics brain was wrong and Riker was right about ramming that other ship and…d*_*b I’m sharing too much with you people.Anyway, now I know what it was. Pat’s <>writing<>, the sheer awesomeness of that prospect shakes the very earth to its core.

  9. Kanna
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 5:48 PM | Permalink

    I loved that Star Trek episode!

  10. Incubus Jax
    Posted June 12, 2008 at 7:06 PM | Permalink

    Heh. Yeah you know it’s going to be a good episode when the Enterprise explodes before the opening credits. ;)

  11. marky
    Posted June 13, 2008 at 9:16 AM | Permalink

    Pat.Ok. this is just weird. A couple of days ago I posted a comment (in response to Joe), on how much I like pies. There isn’t a problem that can’t be solved without pie. This morning, I received my signed copy of your college survival guide from Doodled books. Inside there is a picture of Caesar with a vaguely familiar beard. He has a thought bubble saying “If I stand like this and look thoughtful, people will assume I’m hella smart, and not just thinking about eating pie…”How lucky am I!! I’ve got a signed copy, complete with a pie reference!Friday the 13th my arse!

  12. matt
    Posted June 13, 2008 at 11:52 AM | Permalink

    Thanks, Marky. I was doing just fine until you pointed out that today was Friday the 13th. And since the bad luck hasn’t landed on you, there’s an increased probably that I’m a target. I’m going back to bed.Pat: one of the things I love most about NOTW is that it feels so <>real.<> The world’s mysteries have layers, revealing seeds of logical truth in every childhood story. Does your world have any superstitious beliefs about bad luck (Friday the 13th, black cats, breaking a mirror, etc) that may or may not be linked to kernels of truth?

  13. Anonymous
    Posted June 13, 2008 at 8:03 PM | Permalink

    GRATUITOUS PRAISE:Okay Pat, if you odn’t like this sorta thing, you should scroll down now and skip this entry. If you do, then read on.I’m reading NOTW for the second time. I wanted to tell you that i don’t think its “good,” and despite the words emblazoned on the cover, its not really “a novel.” I think its a masterpeice, and as much a work of art as literature. Let me re-emphasize that. It is an absolute MASTERPIECE. Like sistine chapel, the I have a dream speech, love song of j. alfred prufrock, etc… Nearly every word in the book is perfect. It is hands down, far and away, the best book i have ever read in my 27 yrs. Assuming your next two books are 2/3rds as good, this will be a transcendent book.Reading through for a second time (and having a better understanding of the book) one realizes what a true treasure every chapter and every event is. How perfect your delivery of Kote is, how perfect your delivery of Kvothe is, the poetry behind it, and the beauty from it. On the first read through i knew i was reading something special, on the second read through i’m realizing just how special it is. The power you can draw from a single sentence is astounding. To be the creator of such a rich, wonderful, and lovely story is something you should be eternally proud of. I can’t imagine having this sitting on my desk..errr floor..frustrated as to why you can’t get it published.You da boss, pat, you da boss.

  14. Anonymous
    Posted June 13, 2008 at 8:03 PM | Permalink

    GRATUITOUS PRAISE:Okay Pat, if you odn’t like this sorta thing, you should scroll down now and skip this entry. If you do, then read on.I’m reading NOTW for the second time. I wanted to tell you that i don’t think its “good,” and despite the words emblazoned on the cover, its not really “a novel.” I think its a masterpeice, and as much a work of art as literature. Let me re-emphasize that. It is an absolute MASTERPIECE. Like sistine chapel, the I have a dream speech, love song of j. alfred prufrock, etc… Nearly every word in the book is perfect. It is hands down, far and away, the best book i have ever read in my 27 yrs. Assuming your next two books are 2/3rds as good, this will be a transcendent book.Reading through for a second time (and having a better understanding of the book) one realizes what a true treasure every chapter and every event is. How perfect your delivery of Kote is, how perfect your delivery of Kvothe is, the poetry behind it, and the beauty from it. On the first read through i knew i was reading something special, on the second read through i’m realizing just how special it is. The power you can draw from a single sentence is astounding. To be the creator of such a rich, wonderful, and lovely story is something you should be eternally proud of. I can’t imagine having this sitting on my desk..errr floor..frustrated as to why you can’t get it published.You da boss, pat, you da boss.

  15. stephanie
    Posted June 13, 2008 at 9:06 PM | Permalink

    oh! friday the 13th! i completely forgot about it…of course, all of my fridays the 13th are really awesome…well, they sometimes get weird if angela and i get in the mood to unravel the space-time-continuum. don’t worry, though…i’m sure we’ll start it out with a book fight…we just got several new ones. so any weirdness will have to wait until that is over…so since i finished NOTW a couple days ago, i’ve reread maybe eleven of my favorite books and have realized just how much higher NOTW now stands on my favorite list (it’s at the top of the andes right about now; the himalayas are still scattered with three or four other books. good side: NOTW gets the whole andes mountain range to itself!). ahh, today has been smattered with a little bit of bad luck but, wonderfully, that bad luck has led to extreme fun…happy friday the 13th, everyone!

  16. Cuppa Jo
    Posted June 19, 2008 at 7:30 PM | Permalink

    I have to wonder if Archimedes had “slightly Freudian implications” in mind when he made the original statement….Either way, your explanation of the use of a frame story was terrific. This was a really interesting interview. Although I appreciated learning who your favorite authors are (which, BTW, greatly influenced my birthday shopping for my husband), etc., from other interviews, the way this one delves into the mechanics of NOTW was very engaging. And despite believing that I have a fairly vast vocabulary, I didn’t know what “militate” meant, either. My two favorite quotations: “Science is just magic with better PR.”“I think fantasy can help keep our minds limber and open to extraordinary opportunity.”

  17. Jessica
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 2:23 AM | Permalink

    Hey, you gave just a tantalizing bit about the magic Norse sword, can we get more info on that? Please? Where could one go to read about that? It sounds like good reading, say, if one wanted to take one’s mind off of a soul-crushing sadness, something like that. :)

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