 Orbit Ezine - November 2006
- Featured Title
- New Titles This Month
- An Interview with Juliet McKenna
Featured Title
 You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps, by Tom Holt
Colin Hollinghead is a young man going nowhere fast.
Working for his dad might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but starting
at the bottom in the widget-making industry has somehow lost its appeal. And now
the business is in trouble.
At least his father has a plan to turn things round - a new
work force that will improve profit margins and secure the company's future
for eternity. The deal looks great on paper, but they do say that the devil
is in the detail - and the old rogue certainly seems to be involved in
some capacity. Colin needs help. Perhaps his new friend from J.W. Wells &
Co. (Practical and Effective Magicians, Sorcerers and Supernatural Consultants)
can help.
Sparkling with wit and oozing charm, Tom Holt's new comic caper will delight
his readers and prove once and for all that going to work can actually be hell.
You can find out more about Tom Holt and his books at his official website. You can buy the book at £2 off RRP through the Orbit website throughout November by following this link and selecting 'add to basket'.
New Titles This Month
Orbit's other new titles this month are:
- Hinterland,
by James Clemens
- When True Night Falls, by Celia Friedman
- In the Earth Abides the Flame, by Russell Kirkpatrick
Buy any of these through the Orbit website in November by clicking on the titles and selecting 'add to basket',
and save £1 off RRP.
An Interview with Juliet McKenna
Juliet E. McKenna is the author of the series The Tales
of Einarinn and The Aldabreshin Compass, the final volume of which, Eastern Tide
, is published by
Orbit this autumn. You can find out more about Juliet E. McKenna on the Orbit website. Our interviewer sat
down to talk to Juliet about the life of a writer.
Were you a big reader as a child/teenager?
Absolutely. I was one of those children who'd be reading at the breakfast
table, on the bus, in the playground, under the desk in class if I could get
away with it and under the bedclothes with my bike light after my official bedtime.
When did you start writing?
Probably within a few months of learning to read. I think I must have been
about eight or nine when I filled one and a half-exercise books with my first
alleged novel, which was, naturally enough, a total rip-off of a series I was
currently enjoying from the library.
Why do you write?
Because it's such a natural thing for me to do. I've been making
up stories for as long as I can remember and the obvious next step was putting
them on paper. That's the easy bit. The challenge after that was learning
how to write something that other people found worth reading and that's
the hardest bit. These days I write to entertain my readers and hopefully to
challenge them with some new ideas and perspectives. The challenge for me is
exploring the fantasy genre as well as looking at our own world through that
magic mirror, all the while constantly developing and honing my writing skills.
Which writers have influenced you?
I honestly can't say, because I'm afraid if I ever start analysing
my own work like that, I'd become paralysed with self-consciousness. At
the same time I believe absolutely that every book I've ever read, from
the best to the worst, will have had some influence on my writing.
What's the hardest thing about being a writer and what's the easiest?
The hardest thing is sitting down and stringing the words together, day
after day, week after week, month after month. Though on a good day, when the
prose is flowing, let's be honest, being a writer is a fabulous job. On
a bad day, when half an hour's slid by and I'm still struggling
to find the right words for a ten line paragraph, it's torment.
The easiest thing is spinning those first shimmering ideas for a new story out
of my imagination. Turning those airy threads into a coherent and robust yarn
is more of a challenge, mind you.
How do comments from other people, such as your readers, affect your
writing?
Other people's comments offer me a broader perspective on what I'm
writing. When I'm absorbed in a story, I can end up too close to it, unable
to see the wood for the trees. A novel is always going to be the product of
one person's imagination but for it to be any good, it has to speak to
a wide range of readers. If a test reader just isn't seeing what I want
them to see in an early version, I must look very closely at my writing to see
where the problem lies and work out how to communicate my ideas most effectively
by the final draft.
Once a book's published, I'm always interested in what people make
of it but there's nothing I can do to change it, so there's nothing
to be gained by taking any review too personally. Occasionally I'll see
a comment, either positive or negative, with some constructive bearing on what
I'm currently writing and I'll think that through carefully before
I go on.
Talking to my keenest readers has prompted my own imagination to take an unforeseen
twist on more than one occasion, when I've heard about something that's
intrigued them about often incidental characters or incidents, and particularly
when they tell me what insignificant loose threads they still want to see tied
up.
You write articles and reviews, as well as novels, give talks and
attend discussion panels at conventions, and teach creative writing courses.
How does all this fit into your life as a writer? Does it stop you writing?
These days, maintaining a visible profile is an increasing challenge for
genre and mid-list writers. Writing reviews and articles, being interviewed
and making appearances at conventions and elsewhere all helps with letting potential
readers know who I am and what I'm like. Hopefully that encourages them
to give my books a try. These activities are also very valuable for me as a
writer, making me think constantly about the craft of writing and keeping me
alert as to the expectations of keen readers of all kinds of books. Teaching
creative writing is a little different, in that I'm really just returning
the cosmic favour there. So many authors, often very eminent ones, were so helpful
and encouraging when I was an aspiring writer that I feel honour bound to carry
on that tradition.
Yes, there are times when all this does stop me writing, simply because it takes
me away from my keyboard. On the other hand, that's not necessarily a
bad thing, as long as I make sure it doesn't happen too often. If I'm
travelling somewhere by train I can catch up on some reading. If I'm driving,
I will often have some useful and frequently wholly unexpected idea to improve
what I'm currently working on, prompted by something I hear on the radio
or on a CD or just out of a clear blue sky.
Do you have a favourite character in your books, and if so who and
why?
I'm always going to have a soft spot for Livak as creating her and her story
inspired me with the energy and enthusiasm necessary to write my first publishable
novel, The Thief's
Gamble. I've spent the last four years with Kheda and charting his complex
story through The
Aldabreshin Compass has been both challenging and rewarding, so he means
a great deal to me. Once I go beyond that, and think how much I like, say, Shiv,
I immediately start to argue with myself and think, yes, but what about Ryshad
or Allin or Temar or Telouet or Itrac or pretty much anyone else. The only characters
I can't say I'm fond of are the villains and they're still perversely satisfying
to write.
A lot of writers seem to have a strict routine whilst they're writing: do you have one too, or does being a mother prevent that?
In some ways, having school-age children forces a routine on me. Monday
to Friday, I start writing as soon as they're out of the house and carry
on till they reappear. I generally turn to admin tasks like email while they
unwind for a bit and then we're all together for after-school activities
and cooking tea and watching telly, that kind of thing. I don't find this
is a bad thing because it does mean I never get a chance to write myself to
a standstill. I'm always keen to get back to my keyboard.
As they've got older, it's got easier to work at weekends and the
school holidays but that's not necessarily a good thing as writers need
time off just like anyone else. I tend to do more reading than writing when
they're off school, on the basis that a change is as good as a rest.
If a film-maker wanted to adapt your books, would you jump at the
chance or turn them down ?
My first impulse would be to say, show me the money! It would be very hard
to walk away from a film offer, given the authors I know who've seen their
kids through university on option fees for books that have still never come
within sniffing distance of being made into a film. On the other hand, I hope
I'd have the sense to take a deep breath and look carefully at who was
making the offer, to see if their vision for the film chimed with my feel for
the books, and find out if they had the finance and talent lined up to make
something we could all be proud of. If that didn't look likely, I hope
I'd be able to say thanks but no thanks and wait for a better prospect.
I know authors who've ultimately been very thankful they've done
that.
You recently started a blog athttp://jemck.livejournal.com.
What are the pros and cons of being a blogging writer?
The biggest plus of blogging is the increased real(ish)-time contact with
readers and other writers, about book-related issues and about other multifarious
aspects of life, from the serious to the seriously silly. The internet is all
about expanding horizons as far as I'm concerned and blogging has given
that a personal dimension that I love. The biggest disadvantage is the way it
could so easily take up far more time that is sensible, if I'm not very
strict with myself.
How do you relax?
Like anyone else, by getting away from my work. I read, only I read mostly
crime and mystery fiction because that's what I don't write. I meet pals locally
for coffee once a week. I watch telly, a lot of cop shows and also science fiction
and fantasy like Stargate, Smallville, Battlestar Galactica
and Doctor Who. I adore The West Wing. A group of us mums go to the cinema
every so often, when there's a film our assorted husbands and sons would never
want to watch. Spending all day in front of a keyboard does mean relaxation can
paradoxically end up being physical exercise. Two nights a week I do a couple of
hours of Aikido, a Japanese defensive martial art and once a week I hit the gym
for an hour or so.
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You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps
