Paksworld

Author’s copies of the UK edition of Kings of the North arrived yesterday and look really good…the cover is stunning.   Including the double-page-spread map.   I think you in the UK will see the actual books in the stores earlier than we in the US, if I understood  UK Editor’s email.    Thus it’s time for a reminder that any spoilerish comments  need to be clearly marked with “Spoilers” in the subject line so that those who haven’t gotten the book yet aren’t given tidbits they don’t want…and ideally no spoilerish comments will appear until mid-April.Both UK and US Editors want me to contribute the respective publishers’ blogs, which of course I’ll do–in fact, two blog entries are already with US Editor, and I’m awaiting pub data so I can pass the links along.   I’m also waiting for UK Editor’s suggested topic range, before writing those.   One of the blog entries at the Del Rey blogsite Suvudu will show what my desk looks like (more or less–the actual content of the mess varies) and the other will have an image or two of a book my mother wrote for me years ago.

US Editor has also connected me with someone who’s going to write up an interview.   This interviewer has emailed  a list of questions, including questions proposed by his followers on Twitter and Facebook.   That’s a new element in email interviews and I think it’s interesting what sorts of questions  experienced interviewers ask v. what non-interviewers ask.     This interviewer has avoided some of the questions I’ve had many-many times before–hurray for that.  I’m impressed with some of the questions he did ask.

After many interviews over the past 20-odd years, I’ve come to realize that even professional interviewers differ widely in their skills and their use of available background material.   I’ve had excellent interviewers in all media (radio, television, written) and (because of many more written interviews than the others) more less-able interviewers in written form.

It’s easy to tell the difference between those with a genuine interest in the subject (writers and writing, books, the SF/F genres) and those who’ve already chosen their “side” and are out to fight for it…for whom the writer or book they’re supposedly interviewing about is merely the jumping off point for a tirade.    Luckily, I’ve dealt with only a few of those.   In general I enjoy interviews, especially by email…it’s more relaxed, which means I don’t have to answer all the questions at once and hope the interviewer transcribes or records the answers accurately.