The Bujold Nexus

May 2005

Subject: (chat) owl
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005

So...

just as I stepped out on my deck at ten till one in the morning to look at the full moon before bed, an owl passed not ten feet over my head, in utter silence, and vanished north.

I love this city...

Ta, L


Subject: (news & chat) On-line video interview
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005

Hiya --

Another interview -- this one, if your computer plays Quick Time, in video. There is also a less connectivity-demanding audio-only version. This was recorded last October in Washington, DC, when I was there for the National Book Festival.

Ta, L

LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD, AUTHOR OF THE AWARD WINNING NOVEL, PALADIN OF SOULS, IS THE GUEST ON THE MAY EPISODE OF FAST FORWARD. Writer Lois McMaster Bujold is interviewed on this month's episode of Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction. Bujold discusses her book, Paladin of Souls, which has received both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel.

In conversation with host Tom Schaad, Bujold talks about how 15th century Spanish court history influenced her in the creation of her Chalion universe. She also provides insight into several key characters from the novels, discusses details of the theology of Chalion, and talks about the next book in the series, The Hallowed Hunt. A video version of the entire interview is available online at www.fast-forward.tv.


Subject: (news chat) Hallowed Hunt interview
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005

I have a new on-line interview up, which we should get a link to from dendarii.com...

blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/21/090528.php

It touches on The Hallowed Hunt and my writing process generally. Good questions this round.

Ta, L.


Subject: (chat) HH preliminary cover sketches
Date: Mon, 16 May 2005

Hi all --

Harper Collins gave me permission to post the preliminary cover sketches artist Dave Bowers did for The Hallowed Hunt last summer. This is a peek for you behind the scenes as to how cover art happens.
In this case, after discussion with my editor ("Do you have any ideas for the cover, Lois?"), and discussion of various possible representative scenes, I supplied the basic idea, and one of my kludgy back-of-napkin sketches. The notion was to draw from a scene about a third into the book; the male character is intended to be the god known as the Son of Autumn, and the other two figures... well, you'll find out. The editor took it to the art director who took it to the artist. Meanwhile, I was also asked to e-mail the artist some character descriptions and excerpts, and any other clues I could supply. (I mentioned "a god of the forest hunt, a medieval Germanic flavor".) Bowers loves the Old Masters, though I didn't suggest Durer, because I find his work too creepy, but as usual, references to other visual media worked best to get the idea across. As ever, Bowers' version was worlds lovelier than anything I could have imagined.

The sketch labeled #1 was closest to my original idea, but I liked #2 best. The editor thought the poses a bit static, however, so we went with the standing/moving version, 3a. (The only difference between 3 and 3a was the placement of the title lettering.)

The little author's name gaffe has to do with the art department being for a very large company with lots of projects, who don't have time to actually read the many books they are asked to work on. It was of course the first thing we fixed...

This is a pdf file. You may have to shrink your image a bit to get the individual sketches to fit your screen.

www.dendarii.co.uk/Covers/American/hh_sketches.pdf.

For more of Dave Bowers' amazing work see www.dmbowers.com

And for a sneak peek at the text itself, although not of the scene that inspired the cover (which falls a bit later in the book),

www.harpercollins.com/global_scripts/product_catalog/book_xml.asp?isbn=0060574623&tc=ae

Ta, L.


Subject: (news) HH access
Date: Fri, 06 May 2005

Ah ha!

In response to the complaints of some of having trouble with the pdf files, HarperCollins is graciously offering the sample chapters in html as well, now.

www.harpercollins.com/pc/book_xml.asp?isbn=0060574623&tc=AE

That should help... do please pass this URL along.

Ta, L.


Subject: (news) Nebula for Paladin of Souls, HH sample chapters up
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005

Hi all --

I'm very pleased to report that Paladin of Souls has won the Nebula Award for best novel this year in Chicago. A complete list of the nominees and winners, plus some photos, available here: www.sfwa.org/awards/2005/.

Also very exciting, some sample chapters of The Hallowed Hunt are up on the Eos/HarperCollins website. At the moment they are in pdf format, tho' they tell me they will try to add html soon. Only a few more weeks till book launch!

www.harpercollins.com/pc/book_xml.asp?isbn=0060574623&tc=AE

Ta, L. (Home. Tired. Happy...)


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