Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
13 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
Unfortunately I won't be attending, what with school and all :(
But, I actually have a question :) Maybe a little random and seemingly inconsequential, but it has been irking me lately. In Ashling, pages 313-314, when Elspeth is feverish someone 'familiar' tells her to sleep and doesn't answer her when she asks who it is. Would Isobelle perhaps be able to share who it is?
So did anyone go to either o the first two book signings?
I couldn't go - too far from Melbourne for me during uni time. If only Isobelle could come to the city. Perhaps someone can tell us how it was.
She was like on the other side of sydney it would of taken at least 2 hours to get there and i have HSC tests soon :(.
Hope everyone who went to the book signings this week enjoyed them. :D
Dreamweavers' Guilden
13 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guilden
Rebel
Speaking about missing out. . . Trip to tassie anyone sometime soon. I cant remember the last time we had any authors down here. at least, who made public appearances. They usually just head to schools. It sucks, we have no where to hold them :(
I feel sooo sorry for you Bam. I think it's because everyone always forget about Tassie because it is down the bottom of Australia.
Dreamweavers' Guilden
13 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guilden
Rebel
yeppers pretty much :( But, I have started my campaign! I shall get people here!!! Mwhahahaha :P
Mystic Ward
13 years ago
Mystic Ward
Twentyfamilies Gypsy
any other questions people would like to ask?
How did the Queenscliffe event go (for those of you lucky enough to attend)?
Mystic Ward
13 years ago
Fri Aug 06 2010, 09:43am
Mystic Ward
Twentyfamilies Gypsy
Queenscliff was wonderful. Isobelle was vwery generous with her time and while she was being very closed mouthed on anything Sneding related she did let slip a couple of little things that Zier and I will share in the theories thread in the next couple of days.
She was also kind enough to let me record the talk and questions so once we have it transcribed that will also be available. Please be patient as it will take time to get through it.
There was sooooo much food and I think everyone that attended had a great time. Got some interesting insites to the Red Wind characters, so cute and special. Who knew that Zluty means yellow and Bily means white in the Czech language???? So cute!!
Isobelle heads over to Perth for a week then back to Prague, but she is looking forward to catching up with us when she is back in Australia next year.
More to come so keep an eye out. ;D
Edit: There was some some discussion on the launch. Is it before or after the books are available??? Isobelle said they would be available on the night and after Zier and I commented that half the room would be sitting in a corner reading rather than participating she might have decided to wait and hand them out at the end of the night rather than the beginning. :P
I'm so jealous, Deb! It sounds like an awesome night! Looks like I'll miss out on seeing IC this year :(
Mystic Ward
13 years ago
Mystic Ward
Twentyfamilies Gypsy
While we were sitting around chatting before the functionn started, we did get just a couple of little hints for the Sneding. Zier had asked about Maruman and (of course) I had asked about Swallow. Seems that both of these characters will feature in the Sneding. We will 'get more information about Maurman' and 'Swallow has a large role to play'. Needless to say Leah and myself were both very excited.
Thanks for all of this information Deb. Looks like I might have to wait till next year to visit IC. :)
I'm going to Isobelle here in Edinburgh (International Book Festival) on Saturday. Very exciting!
You'll have to tell us all about it Vililee. :P
I went to see Isobelle today and made 6 pages of notes during the talk and then got my book signed:)
I'm assuming it's ok to write about the notes I made about what she said.
The talk was with Michael Scott too, so they were both answering questions.
Isobelle started off by saying a bit about Obernewtyn, that she was finishing the series this year, that most of the letters she gets are about writing The Sending!
She wanted to be able to will people to pick up pens in school, so Elspeth was wish fulfillment with all these powers.
Michael Scott then asked if, given that she was 14, she'd like to be able to redo the first book. Isobelle said that she's not brave enough now to undertake something like Obernewtyn and that the book is the best it could be because she's not the same person now as when she wrote it.
She then talked about splitting books for America and said that she had to write the new end and beginning, she had to make the incision so the book wouldn't bleed to death.
They talked about 'fantasy' as a category but Isobelle said it didn't exist when she was young, she had to ask for fairy stories and that she didn't like to put her writing in a category because it was like a cage.
She said she was drawn to write what people consider fantasy because she wanted to ask philosophical questions about why people treat each other the way they do.
She said that she always wonders why she didn't make the stories simpler!
She was asked why a post apocalyptic world - she said it was in the air at the time with Hiroshima but looking back on it she thinks she destroyed the world in the books because of her father's death. As a child she thought adults would destroy the world, they seemed unlikely to stop and she wanted to explore what would happen, could humans evolve and learn?
She said she has to relearn the world of Obernewtyn before each book - but it is all in her head. She likes a definite break between writing so each book is a separate piece.
She was asked who inspired her to write - she said the kids who chased her but also the stories she was telling to her brothers and sisters, she wanted to remember them so wrote them down, that she started writing as a kid and just never stopped, unlike lots of people.
She was asked about first fantasy book she read - she said probably Narnia but also talked about Blyton and books she discovered late on reading to her daughter.
They talked about films of books - she reacted in horror to the idea and they talked about the film of The Dark is Rising and how it is all wrong. Isobelle also said that The Gathering had been optioned for film but was it was a very slow progress.
About being published in the UK - Isobelle said that it has taken a while but Bloomsbury UK obviously liked Obernewtyn (Obernewtyn and the Farseekers have just been put out in British editions) but that she didn't have a lot to do with the publishing and that she was discovering that children's book was a different field everywhere, in the USA, Australia, Europe...
She had been asked by a journalist "Will you ever write a real book?" and she didn't know if he meant a book for adults or a book set in the real world but doesn't agree with either. She said people assume you can't talk to adults and you never get to be on literary panels etc but to write for children you have to have a good story that hooks kids but also write a good book which is a beautiful thing in itself and that often adult authors didn't do this.
She loved the idea of the adult editions of Harry Potter, giving adult's "permission" to read kids books although she thinks adults always have read children's fantasy in secret. Especially as adolescent characters are common in fantasy novels for adults and children so the books appeal to both.
She said it's hard to be asked when's the next one when this one took years! (this was part of a discussion with Michael Scott about fan feedback and their expectations)
She talked about currently working on the Red Wind series and said she hopes it will be published in the UK.
She was asked which was her favourite of her own books and (after asking to get to think while Michael Scott gave his answer) she said Little Fur and explained about telling her daughter about Little Fur after the floods in Prague, how trolls lived in the basement but not Little Fur and how they had to post letters on leaves in trees to Little Fur.
She was asked about getting published and said that she looked in the front of a book, wrote to penguin, got accepted and that was that.
She was asked about accepting editorial suggestions and said authors were idiots if they didn't, it was invaluable and could show things about your book you hadn't picked up on.
An audience member asked about using dreams as inspiration - she said she doesn't remember her dreams but likes them as a technique in books - exploring the line between dreams and reality. Michael Scott talked about how readers dream in colour not black and white but Isobelle couldn't remember if she did.
She was asked about suggestions from fanbase - she talked about being a technophobe and also how she could read fan fiction, theroies etc once Obernewtyn was over.
Then she got all tongue tied trying to explain about twitter and tweeting and twittered and really confused over the language but explained how she signed up by accident when a friend was showing her and now has all these followers for about 10 postings!
That was the end of the talk but I went and got my Legends of Australian Fantasy signed and Isobelle told me Jack Dann had written to her to say thank you for all us Obernewtyn people buying it!
My sister got her original British Obernewtyn (from 1994) signed and we told Isobelle about how we got the first 2 and then nothing. Isobelle said maybe the covers weren't right on them 9and they were marketed as sci fi) and said she was really glad to be with Bloomsbury.
And that was that - mammoth posting - sorry! It was really great to meet Isobelle and roll on The Sending!
Don't worry about the mammoth post. Sounds like you had a great time to meet Isobelle Carmody. I'm jealous!!!!!!1