Category Archives: a few words you’re probably going to have to look up

Published: November 16, 2010

More Signed Books

This is a Worldbuilders blog.

A bunch more signed books today. Let’s start off with the ones donated by the authors themselves:

  • A set of The Lighthouse Duet: Flesh and Spirit, Breath and Bone by Carol Berg. Signed by the author.

I’ll admit I’ve never read Carol Berg. But when these books showed up, my assistant Valerie emitted a piercing screel of delight.

So, rather than voice my ignorant opinion, I figure we’ll just ask her what she thinks.

Heya Valerie, you remember what color you are?

A nice mellow green. So your blog readers can happily imagine you have a nice mellow assistant.

Pishaw. You’re way better than mellow. But we can pretend for the readers if you like.

Okay, here we go. Carol Berg. How good is she on a scale of one to Gaiman?

The best way I can describe my appreciation of her writing is in the fact that after I lost my first collection of books and decided to stop buying/collecting books and switched exclusively to libraries, I did re-buy copies of all her books.

Hold on. You don’t collect books?

Well I did drive across six states to come work for you, and I could only fit about six boxes of books in my car. So whenever I covet a book I ask myself if it is worthy of being personally carried around the world with me wherever I go. Final decision: no, I do not collect books and I only have two bookshelves of books in my house.

I can’t believe I didn’t know this about you. I… we… I don’t know if I can talk to you right now. I think I need to put up blurb from someone else while I wrap my head around this.

“Berg brings to life every stone in a peaceful monastery and every nuance in a stratified society, describing the difficult dirty work of ordinary life as beautifully as she conveys the heart-stopping mysticism of holiness just beyond human perception.” – Sharon Shinn

  • A set of The Books of the Rai-kirah: Transformation, Revelation, and Restoration by Carol Berg. Signed by the author.

Okay. I’m over it. Kinda. Pitch this series to me. Why should I read it?

Because, and pardon the giddy fan review, Berg writes worlds of magic and mystery. Her plots are usually grand schemes to change the world itself while the characters are full of very human flaws and failings. Plus I think her writing is classy and elegant. Is that too gushy?

Nah. You didn’t use words like “luminous” or “effulgent” or anything. You’re good.

  • A set of The Bridge of D’Arnath Quartet: Son of Avonar, Guardians of the Keep, The Soul Weaver, and Daughter of Ancients by Carol Berg. Signed by the author.

Okay. One more time. Hit me.

Everything I said before. Plus I want to add that her books aren’t just fantasy fluff. They make me think things I never thought before.

“If you enjoy fantasy with a dark thread… Carol Berg is someone you should try. If you like good characters in an exciting, unpredictable plot, this is also a series for you.” – Colleen Cahill, SFREVU

  • A set of The Twenty Palaces novels: Child of Fire and Game of Cages by Harry Connolly. Signed by the author.

Jim Butcher says Child of Fire “is excellent reading and has a lot of things I love in a book: a truly dark and sinister world, delicious tension and suspense, violence so gritty you’ll get something in your eye just reading it, and a gorgeously flawed protagonist. Take this one to the checkout counter. Seriously.”

Man. That’s a great blurb. Why can’t I get a blurb from Butcher? Every time I see him, he just curses and hucks stones at my head.

  • Five copies of Shadow’s Son by Jon Sprunk. Signed by the author.

“Masterful storytelling at its finest, be prepared for a late night.” –Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author.

“ Shadow’s Son is easily one of my favorite books of 2010 and I look forward to seeing what Sprunk can add to this trilogy.” –Fantasy Book Critic

“This collection of 17 stories from Card’s e-zine takes its title from his belief that writers getting readers to suspend disbelief is like old-fashioned medicine-show hawkers convincing customers that their patented elixirs will work. […] Adding value are the authors’ afterwords, which disclose the remarkable diversity of ways writers reach the Web or the page and how Card influences new writers.” – Roland Green, Booklist

From the back of the book: “Adventure . . . danger . . . romance . . . or maybe a good scare? Yearning to read some fantasy . . . science fiction . . . humor . . . urban fantasy . . . horror . . . or even a haunting Civil War tale? We’ve got what you’re looking for! The authors in Gen Con’s Writer’s Symposium have collected 22 of their favorite tales into this volume.”

The Writers of the Future anthology has a warm place in my heart, as I got my start in Volume 18. I always make a point of picking up the new one every year, as I know that these writers really had to beat out some stiff competition.

As Tim Powers says, “[Writers of the Future] is THE place to look for the writers who will be winning Hugos and Nebulas a few years from now.”

“The anthology stood out for one reason to me–each story captured some of the magic and uniqueness that can only be found if you live in a city.  Amid the constant lights, streams of traffic, and seeming sleeplessness, a city holds a powerful magnetism for ordinary and paranormal folks alike.  This collection spotlighted the best of those feelings.” – BSC Reviews

  • A set of the As You Wish series: How Not to Make a Wish, When Good Wishes Go Bad, and To Wish or Not To Wish by Mindy Klasky. Signed by the author.

“Fresh and often hysterically funny, this story also has a solid emotional core. Heroine Kira’s fire-person perspective keeps it all real for the reader…” – Romantic Times.

  • Two copies of The Fall of Ossard by Colin Taber. Signed by the author.

“Brave… Innovative… Bold…” – Stefen Brazulaitis, reviewer and columnist, Australian Bookseller and Publisher.

“I stayed up all night!” – Sara Douglass

“I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. The pages turn at a rapid pace and I loved the ending. This is not your expected fantasy-type book. I can’t wait for the next of the series.” – Rebecca’s Book Blogspot.

Kat Howard will always have a warm place in my heart, as she invited me to one of my first conventions as a professional writer.

I didn’t find out until much later that she’s a hell of a writer, as evidenced by the story she’s got in Gaiman’s new Anthology.

Robert J. Wiersema wrote in the National Post: “There’s not a single misstep, not a single story that can, or should, be skipped: Stories is a winner from cover to cover. […] Kat Howard’s A Life in Fictions, for example, is a strangely powerful account of what happens to a writer’s muse in both good times (when she is becoming different characters, taking on their traits and quirks) and bad (as when her world freezes, the writer suffering from writer’s block).”

*     *     *

In the two years I’ve been running Worldbuilders, I’ve hit up authors and publishers for books. It’s worked out petty well, and I’ve been really impressed at how generous people have been.

This year, just to see what would happen, I threw the doors open wider, inviting anyone to donate books. Amazingly, a lot of fans and readers have been willing to donate some really lovely stuff to the cause. All of the following are signed.

  • A copy of Odd and The Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. Signed by the author.

On a scale of one to Gaiman, this book unsurprisingly ranks in at a full Gaiman.

“Gaiman does it again…this sweet, wistful, slyly funny novella…succeeds both as a delightful children’s book and an adult collectible. Children will enjoy Odd’s quiet heroism and the simple adventure; adults will love the squabbling gods and the strong women. All in all, another winner.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

  • A hardcover copy of Hyddenworld: Spring by William Horwood. Signed by the author.

“This is the first installment in a new series that builds on the fantasy genre, taking in elements from historical fiction, folk tales and legends. The real hook, though, is the characters: each is introduced with such care that the reader really gets to know them and is genuinely concerned about their story.” – Waterstones Books Quarterly.

  • A hardcover first edition copy of Nocturnes by John Connolly. Signed by the author.

“Connolly creates those rarest of books – literate and beautifully written page-turners.” – Mark Billingham, Daily Mail.

  • A copy of Redemption Falls by Joseph O’Connor. Signed by the author.

“Redemption Falls…is told with extraordinary ingenuity, the tone a mixture of the playful and the grave, at times fast-moving, smart, and very clever, and then full of beautiful writing and heartbreaking sequences. The cadences of the competing voices in the book combine to produce a dazzling narrative.” – Colm Tóibín, author of The Master, winner of the 2006 Dublin International IMPAC Award

  • A hardcover signed numbered limited edition of The Corpse King by Tim Curran. Signed by the author.

“Horror finds its roots in many places […] Often overlooked, however, but perhaps even more potent are the pages of history. We didn’t always live in such a sanitized, advanced, progressive world.  For all but a few, especially those who lived in crowded urban areas, life was often a miserable, filthy, degrading experience that offered little hope for the future, and in this sewer-bound world very real, tangible horrors, inescapable abounded.” — Kevin Lucia, Shroud Magazine

  • A hardcover copy of Under the Poppy by Kathe Koja. Signed by the author.

“This book made me drunk. Koja’s language is at its poetic best, and the epic drama had me digging my nails into my palms. It’s like a Tom Waits hurdy-gurdy loser’s lament come to life, as sinister as a dark circus.” — Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing

This book is a serious treasure. Not only is it a massive collection filled with a lot of hard-to-find Ellison stories, but it’s signed by Ellison AND Dowling. I covet it.

I was seriously considering selling this one in an auction this year, but I’ve decided to leave it in the general lottery instead. Why? Because I like having some rarer stuff in the lottery, that way, everyone gets a shot at it, not just collectors or folks with a ton of money to spend.

I also hope things like this in the mix will help to nudge people to donate a little more. Because you never know, you might get lucky…

“Ellison has never fit comfortably in any category. Instead, he’s tackled them all (or so it seems) and more often than not has come out on top. Considering the often insular tastes of genre readers, that alone is reason enough to place this book at the top of every recommended reading list.” – Jayme Lynn Blaschke SF Site

Remember folks, for every 10 dollars you donate to Heifer International, you get a chance to win these books and hundreds of others like them. Plus there’s the whole helping make the world a better place thing. That’s nice too.

Don’t forget, Worldbuilders is matching 50% of all donations made. So why not head over to my page at Team Heifer and chip in. Trust me. You’ll feel great afterward.

If you want to go back to the main page for Worldbuilders, you can click HERE.

Also posted in a few words you're probably going to have to look up, Neil Gaiman, Worldbuilders 2010 | By Pat33 Responses
Published: April 12, 2010

My Fictional Nature

It’s strange to me, knowing that if I write a blog, thousands of people will read it. Thousands and thousands. A ridiculous number of people, really.

It was less strange when I wrote the College Survival Guide for the campus paper. With the column, I knew what my job was. I wanted to make people laugh, and maybe, occasionally, slip a bit of reasonable advice to my unsuspecting readership.

Pure advice is unpalatable. It’s preachy. But if you make people laugh a little, they may not notice you’ve slipped them a little bit of truth. And even if they do notice, they’re more likely to forgive you for it.

I was a tiny bit of a local celebrity when I wrote that column for the campus paper. A few hundred people read it every week. On rare occasion people would recognize me as that-guy-who-writes-that-column. Once, the guy delivering a pizza to my house looked at my name on the credit card receipt and said, “Are you THE Pat?”

I laughed. “I didn’t know I’d become superlative,” I said.

I haven’t done the column for a couple years. These days I channel my humor writing into the blog instead. But there’s a difference. Back then I was a little bit famous because people read my column. Now people read my blog because I’m a little bit famous.

There’s more to it than that, of course. People read the blog because it’s amusing, or because they’re interested in news about upcoming projects and appearances. They tune in because they’re curious about book two, or because they’re looking for writing advice.

But mostly, people read the blog because they read my book and were curious about the author.

So I tell stories and post pictures. I screed and opine. I post up little pieces of my life. Then y’all take those pieces, fit them together, and you form an impression of me in your heads.

This is the interesting thing. It’s something I think about a lot. That person you create in your head out of these bits and pieces. That Pat Rothfuss you get to know from the blog, he’s fictional.

(It’s true that you could say the same thing of anyone. You could say that you don’t really *know* any of your friends or family, you just have flawed impressions of them based on your limited perceptions and experience.

This might be true in some small theoretical way, but in a bigger more practical way it’s pure bullshit. You know your friends. Let’s not become hopelessly meta here. If you follow that line of reasoning too far you end up in the pointless philosophical morass of relativistic solipsism.)

Anyway, my point is this: I think about this fictional Pat Rothfuss sometimes. I wonder what he’s like.

I expect in some ways, fictional Pat is pretty much like me. I’m honest to the point of blinding stupidity, and I talk about things here on the blog that any sensible person would keep quiet about. Anyone who’s ever seen me speak in public can attest to the fact that I can’t help but express myself freely and clearly, even if it’s not entirely appropriate.

Still, I can’t deny that I present an edited version of my life on here. The blog lies by omission. I talk about my signings and answer fanmail. I post a cute picture of my baby and talk about the new foreign edition of my book. I link to an interview and do a fundraiser for my favorite charity.

Given all of that, fictional Pat seems to have a pretty swank life. He seems really nice. He seems kinda cool.

And that makes me feel dishonest, because it’s not really true. You’re putting together the fictional me without the grubby bits. The truth is, I am at times a contemptible human being. The truth is, I have deplorable habits.

For example, when I go on Facebook, I post status updates talking about Dr. Horrible. Or I joke about the dream where I ended up in bed with Willow and Spike. I don’t mention what happened the other day with Oot.

You see, right now Oot loves my beard. In terms of desirability, beard ranks #3 in all creation. Boobs hold the top spot, of course, and the telephone is currently a strong #2. But other than that, he loves nothing more than to clutch at my beard.

I think gripping it appeals to some primal, monkey part of him. He gets his sticky little hands tangled up in the beard, and some piece of his primal baby brain thinks: “Good. I’m safe. If we’re attacked by a predator and forced to run to safety, I won’t be left behind.”

The problem is this: if you don’t have a long beard, you have no idea how painful it is to have it pulled. He could swing from my hair from all I care. He’s even managed to kick me square in the junk several times in an ongoing  campaign of sibling prevention. Those pains are nothing by compairison. Having your beard pulled hurts as much as when you’re walking around barefoot in the middle of the night and you stub your little toe really hard against a table-leg.

Usually I’m able to head him off when he grabs for it, but his motor skills have really been developing lately. So the other day, before I know it, he has both drooly little hands in it up to his forearms, then he yanks on it for everything he’s worth.

“Ahhh!” I shout. “Stop it you little fucker!”

Oot doesn’t seem to mind in the least. For all he knows I’ve just called him by one of his other countless names, (Thunderbutt, Prancibald, The Dampener…) He just laughs and tugs the beard some more, happy to be safe from prowling lions and packs of hyenas.

Still, it’s a shitty thing to say to your baby, and I feel bad about it.

The point is this: I suspect that fictional Pat would never refer to his adorable baby as, “you little fucker.” I suspect he’s better than that. I expect he’s a nicer person than I am.

Part of me thinks, even as I write this, “Of course you don’t talk about those things on the blog. Why *would* you? That’s not why people read the blog. You’re supposed to be putting your best foot forward….”

But then I think about that fictional Pat again, and I feel dishonest. There’s a difference between putting your best foot forward and subtly misrepresenting yourself.

The thing is, professionally, I should be careful here on the blog. If I was going to be smart about this, I’d never talk about sex or politics or religion, never make any jokes that could offend anyone, never tell you a story that makes me looks like the idiot I sometimes am. The smart thing for me to do is carefully groom and maintain this fictional Pat and use him as a promotional tool.

But the truth is, the thought of maintaining that sort of professional persona makes me distinctly uncomfortable. Given the choice, I think I’d rather be too honest and have you like me a little less. I’d much prefer to look like a bit of an ass, because… well… I am a bit of an ass.

So tomorrow I think I’ll post up a story of one of the countless times I’ve made an fool of myself in public. Maybe I’ll tell a few of those stories. I don’t know if they’ll help round out the fictional Pat some of you have come to know, but I expect it will make me feel a little bit less like a poser.

Barring that, it should be good for a laugh or two.

See y’all tomorrow….

Pat

Also posted in a few words you're probably going to have to look up, BJ Hiorns Art, blogging, College Survival Guide, emo bullshit, ethical conundra, my beard, Oot, things I shouldn't talk about | By Pat113 Responses
Published: February 3, 2010

Interesting times….

I really don’t go in for talking about current events on the blog. The main reason for this is the fact that I am profoundly out of touch with the outside world. I don’t have cable and I don’t watch the news. On the rare occasion I miss the news and feel the need to absorb some fearmongering bullshit, I just drop a tab of acid and read a Lovecraft story. There’s less pretense that way.

I generally assume that if something really interesting happens, one of my friends will tell me, or it will show up in some of the webcomics I read. In a pinch, I assume I’ll simply absorb the knowledge through the aether, have it beamed into my mind with alien space rays, or apprehend it directly through examination of my Socratic soul using the dialectic.

I’m well aware that this isn’t the most efficient or comprehensive way to aggregate information. But it still beats the hell out of watching Fox News.

The other reason I don’t talk much about the issues on here is that when things are big enough to be interesting, they also tend to be so big that it’s hard for me to form easily encapsulated opinions about them.

For example, when there was the big kerfuffle about Google digitizing a shitload of books and thereby egregiously violating international copyright law, I was interested. Anything dealing with intellectual property rights effects me personally and professionally. So I read a bunch of stuff about it, thought some thoughts, and had a few really good conversations with a few of my librarian friends.

The upshot of my research? It’s a really complicated issue, and I have mixed feelings about it. Is Google being a bit of a dick and doing morally questionable stuff? Absolutely. But…. Well…. It’s more complicated than that.

See? Any blog I wrote on the issue would be nothing more than a long-winded shrug. Not terribly fun to write, and not particularly entertaining to read.

That’s my recent take on the current Amazon dealio.

For those of you who haven’t heard. Amazon (the bookseller) recently got into a bit of an argument with Macmillan (a book publisher) about e-book pricing. As a result, Amazon pulled all of Macmillan’s books off their website. Not just the e-books. All the books.

I’ve done some research and talked to some people and my conclusion is that.

1. This is a big deal.

2. Amazon is being a bit of a dick, and attempting to bully folks in order to get more of the publishing pie than is really fair.

This feels weird for me to say, because honestly, Amazon has been good to me over the years. They gave me good reviews and really helped promote my book early on. It was really nice.

But it really doesn’t matter how good they’ve been to me in the past. If you’re nice to me, then beat up my neighbor for his lunch money, you’re still a bully. I’m afraid there’s just no way around it.

3. This whole thing is pretty complicated, and I’m not well informed enough make any real intelligent assessment of the overall situation or what it might mean for publishing, DRM, or the future of e-books.

If you’re interested in that sort of thing, you might want to check out this blog written by the lovely and talented Charles Stross. He understands the landscape of publishing WAY better than me and does a great job of summing things up.

Amazon, Macmillan: an outsider’s guide to the fight.

Here’s also a blog from Tobias Buckell that has more technical details. He does some of the math for you and explains what all this really means in a delightfully low-bullshit way.

Link to Buckell’s blog.

Here’s the public statement from Macmillan too.

I’m bringing this to your attention because if you’re like me, you sometimes miss things like this unless someone points them out. Also, I’m guessing most of you kinda like books.

I like books too, and while two companies having a corporate slapfight might seem far removed from the book you pick up, read, and enjoy, the truth is that these corporate manoeuvrings have very real effects on which books get published in the future, their quality, and how well authors get treated in the process.

If anyone else has relevant links they’d like to post in the comments below, please feel free to do so. I’m way too tired to dig up more stuff right now. I’ve got to go to bed.

We’re living in interesting times, folks….

pat

Also posted in a few words you're probably going to have to look up, Things I didn't know about publishing | By Pat52 Responses

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