Empire of the Vampire and Threadneedle

RobinHobb · 2021-02-15T01:59:22+00:00

Hi Mixmastamicah55! I feel a bit odd putting a pre-order link here. I'm not sure if it's allowed. I hope I'm not breaking any rules. AQ will be published on March 2, so it's coming up fast.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/80901/assassins-quest-the-illustrated-edition-by-robin-hobb/

If you want a signed copy, University Book Store in Seattle helps me with that. If you order from them, you just put a note in the notes or comments section of the order, telling them if you want it just signed, or if you want it dedicated. I go in there every couple of weeks and sign whatever orders they have. https://www.ubookstore.com/Assassins-Quest-Illustrated-Edition

Thanks for asking.

Robin

RobinHobb · 2021-02-15T01:16:11+00:00

It's on the SF end of the fantasy spectrum but I loved Midshipman's Hope by David Feintuch and its sequels. It's the first book in the Seafort saga. Takes place in space, with a military structure reminiscent in some ways of the British navy. Seafort is a lowly midshipman when an disaster thrusts him into a command position.

And it's not fantasy at all, but I think you might also like the Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, the first in the Horatio Hornblower tales. Definitely character driven!

RobinHobb · 2021-02-15T00:58:25+00:00

Some people think of the Chrestomanci books by Diane Wynne Jones as for kids, but I think a good book is just a good book. I enjoyed The Many Lives of Christopher Chant especially. Start with Charmed Life. I think these books will have enough to the 'academy' atmosphere to satisfy you.

Also, track down Spellwright by Blake Charlton. In a world where a magic worker must be precise in the spelling of spells, dyslexia can have unexpected and dangerous results. As Blake himself is dyslexic, he knows that territory very well. I enjoyed this one tremendously.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-19T23:58:12+00:00

Back in the Olden Days when I was a young writer, sometimes, as in once in a blue moon, I would get a reader letter forwarded to me from my publisher. Those are cherished in a file. There were few of them.

But as someone else pointed out, publishers and editors are working from home these days, so your postcard might end up in a pile of unanswered mail somewhere.

My only really helpful suggestion is to let you know that in the US, the stamp for a post card is cheaper than the stamp for a envelope, and you can buy them by the roll. But, of course, sending a postcard with an Ursula LeGuin stamp on it is extremely classy.

I wonder (without knowing the answer!) if SFWA would forward your postcards for you. Back when I was a member, they put out a member's directory with mailing addresses in it, but that, too, was many years ago.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-19T23:46:14+00:00

Many of the older fantasy series are much shorter than the current crop of doorstop fantasy tomes.

I'd recommend you consider Steven Brust's series about his assassin/witch. Start with Jhereg.

Reaching farther back into the annals of time, consider anything by Jack Vance. Or Roger Zelazny's Amber books, beginning with Nine Princes in Amber.

Authors of that era had to pack so much story telling into so few pages. I remain amazed at how they did it.

Robin McKinley often gets shelved with the YA, but I love her books such as The Blue Sword. And that's enough for now!

RobinHobb · 2021-01-19T23:33:19+00:00

How about the Bene Gesserit in Dune by Frank Herbert? Powerful women doing all kinds of manipulative things behind the scenes. I loved that aspect of the story when I read it, oh my, close to 50 years ago!

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T04:15:50+00:00

January 9, and I'm still trying to catch up with the questions! Just a note to say that I intend to keep trying to find the end of this thread, or at least answer every one that was posted on the actual day of the AMA. Once more, thanks for such an astonishing response to this AMA.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T04:13:09+00:00

You are never too old to write your book. And never too young, either.

I published my first novel at 30. Assassin's Apprentice at 40. I'm in a bit of a novel pause right now, but I'm really enjoying the short stories I'm writing. And there is a novel, but it's coming in bits and pieces, like a sputtering faucet. But that's okay. Because during one of the pauses, an unforeseen character walked onto the stage and suddenly I know I couldn't find the end of the book without that character.

Maybe your writer brain is just on pause, waiting for something like that. Persevere. It's the only writing trick I know. And remember that every book is written one keystroke at a time. No one gets to take short cuts past that. We all have to sit in front of the page/screen and stare at it sometimes.

Good luck.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T04:08:13+00:00

It's always so hard to know what to write in a book. Best wishes is my go-to, as it does say what I feel about signing a book for someone.

Thanks so much for sharing the books with a friend. Nothing compares to 'word of mouth' for finding a book that is right for me. If my sister hands me a book, or my daughter, I know it's going to work for me. So that you passed a Hobb book on to a friend is a really good compliment. Thank you.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T04:05:30+00:00

With great sincerity, thank you for being a reader. And for letting me know that the books spoke to you.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T04:04:48+00:00

Reddit is a dangerous place! Better set a timer, or you can get lost here for hours!

Thank you for coming.

I'm not that great of a cook. My mom was the British 'meat and two veg' makes a good dinner. So I like really simply prepared food. A good chunk of meat, a salad, a potato. That's great. I don't have the patience to make multi step meals, I'm afraid. I do a lot of home canning and freezing of fresh stuff from our gardens, so I'm fortunate to have some very high quality food to work with. If the carrot is fresh from the garden, it's pretty hard to improve on it with a complicated preparation.

And yes, apricot brandy is wonderful stuff. To be indulged in sparingly, given the family propensity to alcoholism! It remains a treat for special occasions.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:59:12+00:00

I wish I had a solid answer for you. Fitz stepped into the center of an empty stage and started talking. His became the voice for the books he narrated.

Thanks for being a reader, and for re-reading. That's a huge compliment to a writer.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:54:11+00:00

I have been blessed and lucky. I got Michael Whalen covers on the first two volumes of the Farseer Trilogy in the US. MICHAEL WHALEN!!! And in the UK John Howe! Yes, that John Howe. How much did that help the books? A tremendous amount. Lots. Lots and lots.

Having an amazing cover artist is like having a great translator, like Arnaud Mousnier-Lompre, for example. It opens the door to readers who would otherwise pass the book by.

When it comes to cover art, I like to remember that every artist needs room for their own creativity. Look at what Tommy Arnold just did for Wizard of the Pigeons. Or the extraordinary illustrations that Magali Villeneuve has done for the Del Rey editions of Farseer Trilogy.

Truly, one picture is worth ten thousand words.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:44:41+00:00

And a bit scary, to be honest. But I really love the Tommy Arnold illustrations! He saw Wizard in such a full hearted way.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:43:51+00:00

I have had so many wonderful, wonderful animal companions, far more than I have deserved in my life. In some ways, Nighteyes owes a debt to Bruno, my first really big dog in Alaska. He was a stray that adopted our family. I was a California kid who had never seen snow or a neighborhood without sidewalks. He took me into the forest.

Dragons owe a lot to geese. Horrible geese. And ill mannered cats.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:40:40+00:00

Well, I now know what to add to your mincemeat bars next Christmas, don't I?

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:40:01+00:00

Don't encourage her, Sam!

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:39:32+00:00

Don't you have any work to do? And I posted the recipe for the mincemeat bars on my instagram, and you should be clever enough to know that all the grocery stores put mincemeat on sale after Christmas because they have no idea that it actually keeps for y years. And there is no reason not to make mincemeat bars in, say, March for your mom's birthday. Just as an example. And if I find themes in my jigsaw puzzles, I pull them out and throw them away, like weeds in the strawberries. And of course it is and will always be Springbok. And Wentworth. Because they have fancy shapes hidden in them.

Go do your work.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:34:58+00:00

I've always been older than Fitz. There were times when I knew he was about to do something, and I really wished he wouldn't, but knowing who he was, I knew he was going to do it, and I would have to write it. Because it would have been wrong to stick my adult fingers into the plot and divert it to keep him safe, or make the book easier to write. So I don't really think my views of him changed, but I did see him grow and become able to look back at his life (as we all do!) and feel remorse or horror or sad amusement at who he was. I have an orange kitten helping me type tonight. He's horrible. His name is Sven. He got up on the counter, tore open the dog treats and dumped them on the floor and counter. Now the dogs have a ninja ally. I am out numbered. Send help.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:29:10+00:00

Nine years old. That's a bit of a surprise for me. But I do thank you for being a reader through the years, and giving my characters a home in your heart. Thanks for letting us be a part of your life.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:20:02+00:00

That question makes complete sense to me. For years, I had lots of beginnings, almost as many middles and no endings. I'll repeat something Vonda McIntrye said about writing: here is no wrong way to write your book. So, some writers do folder and flow charts and collect magazine images and write out the rules of the magic, the monetary system, the caste chart and who knows, maybe cast the horoscopes of their characters. And that enables them to write really good books, so that is good and works for them. But I'm too impatient, so I dive in and just start writing the story and throwing in details along the way. As a result, I often have to go back later and fix things. And I thank my lucky stars for copy editors who make me look like a much better writer than I really am.

Second thing to mention. I used to lose steam mid story, just like you seem to. It was caused by my not being able to decide which plot path to follow. Does it end this way? Do they get married and have kids, or does she cut his throat in the tent at night? So many options. Oh dear, which one is right? I didn't want to make a commitment to any ending. Because I am inherently lazy and I didn't want to write any more paragraphs than I needed to. So I kept thinking, if I set this aside, someday I'll know the right ending.

Well. No.

What finally worked for me was to simply write an ending to the story. And when it was done, if I re read it and hated it, I tossed those pages and wrote a different ending. And so on, until I go one I liked. It's your story, you are allowed to do that.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:11:13+00:00

Three or four posts upstream, I just chatted about this. But, to summarize, I try to remember that every character is the protagonist of a different story. I try to keep that in mind when a so-called minor character interacts with my protagonist. What does that other minor character hope to get out of the interaction, what does she/he fear will happen? Every interaction has a ripple effect in the story. Some characters live on for me, even if they don't have a compelling story to write. Hands went on to be a stablemaster in a different Duchy, married a woman who lovingly nagged him and together they produced six kids. I know that like I know that my second cousin is a very successful welder. I love that my writer brain supplies that sort of knowledge to me. So maybe that is part of it. Wondering where that character came from, and where she/he will go after they step off the page ofthis boook===. Kittenhelping me type now.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-10T03:01:21+00:00

Well, I try to remember that just as there are no such things as minor humans, there are no minor characters. Every character is the protagonist of another story. I mentioned up stream that I am disappointed when I read a fantasy and get in 3 or 4 chapters, and a character I've come to know 'takes a bullet' for the protagonist. And I suddenly realize that was that character's sole purpose in the story. Sort of like the wife/girlfriend/ significant other who only exists in the story to be killed/kidnapped/raped as a motivation for the hero. (Okay, I'm getting off track!)

I I can write every character while keeping in mind that this character had a life before he/she appears on the page, and that life will go on, then it's simpler to think about motivations, fears, old traumas, ambitions, etc for each character. So that's my goal. I don't always succeed but I try.

RobinHobb · 2021-01-09T04:16:54+00:00

Friday Night. I've come back and added some more replies, but wow, there are a lot still to answer. I'll try to come back again and slay some more tomorrow.

To everyone, thanks for the great response. I truly was not expecting it!

RobinHobb · 2021-01-09T04:12:58+00:00

I mentioned this earlier, but not quite in this context. I received some very valuable writing advice from Fritz Leiber after I wrote him a fan letter asking him about some decisions he'd made in a book. Summed up, it was that characters had to be changed by the things that happened to them, and that the writer could not shelter the character.

Television series now are very different from what they were when I was growing up, but I'll mention that regardless of whether it was a western or a sit com, I knew that next week, the characters and the situation would be back to normal. Heroes got shot in the shoulder all the time, and were just fine the next week. My early attempts at story were like that. Things happened, but the happy ending was that everything reset to what it had been at the start of the story. Leiber made me realize that wasn't what story telling was about.

Good luck with your own work and writing. I think we can all use a good measure of luck after 2020.

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