Results tagged “david j. williams”

If you don’t know, the last Tuesday of every month is traditionally when new books are released (as opposed to the first Tuesday of the month for DVDs and CDs). Why Tuesday is anyone’s guess. I like to think it has something to do with the idea that books disclose the thoughts of the author, and since, when they are published, their “Voices Carry,” the day is appropriate.

(And you thought we couldn’t get a ‘Til Tuesday reference on Suvudu!)

Well, this past Tuesday was a big one for Spectra, as we had a number of authors with new releases, including some veterans to the game and some wonderful debuts.

I’m not exactly sure what I mean by that, but I think that’s because my brain is functioning on a slightly lower register than it normally does. 

I think that’s what happens after 18 hours of Comic-Conny goodness.

Surprisingly, my spirit has yet to be dampened.  Not only did we have four very successful in-booth events with the talented Felix Gilman, David J. Williams, Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge, and Ellen Kushner, but the word is out: Random House publishes science fiction!

By my count (and I can only speak for myself personally, as my ventriloquist lessons have not been going as well as I’d of hoped), I’ve been asked 77 times when the next George R.R. Martin book, A Dance With Dragons, is going to be coming out.  So far, my favorite response to that is: “Hey, we’re in the fantasy business.  If we tell you Fall 2009, then we’re doing our jobs!”  It gets a chuckle, then a few hard looks, and then that slumping resignation realizing that, at the end of the day, this guy in a booth isn’t going to take off his mask, reveal himself to be George, and deliver a finished copy into their hands.  For this, I apologize.

I also think I might have lost some weight, as with all the excitement, I didn’t really eat anything between 8 in the morning and 6:30 at night, when I happily munched on a handful of Nilla Wafers.  And, let me tell you: as exciting as the events with our authors were, eating those cookies became a special time for me.

So, I’m willing to call this thing a success.  However, unlike a certain person who will remain nameless, I will not count this Comic Con a victory until I have truly completed the mission given to me.

Tomorrow:  You’ve been warned.

Author David J. Williams greeted fans at the Bantam Spectra booth and signed copies of his new book The Mirrored Heavens. Check out video of the signing below.

Because learning how to do this is a funny thing. It’s a strange art. A lot of folks out there will tell you get out there, go listen to how people talk. Sit in a bar. Eavesdrop on conversations.

Wrong.

Or at least: mostly wrong. By all means, listen in on conversations. You should be doing this anyway: Alfred Bester once wrote that writers are like magpies—always looking for shiny objects, be they plot threads, ideas, or … dialogue. An overheard phrase can be a nice acquisition. Who knows where you might be able to use it? But as to studying the rhythms of normal speech in order to replicate that on the page …

Forget it.

Because normal speech is tedious. It’s inexact. It’s filled with uhs, ums, and ers. And it’s usually duller than stale dogshit. Which is why in narrative you’re (generally) not going for normal dialogue. You’re going for idealized dialogue. You’re trying to capture what the French call the l’esprit d’escalier:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27esprit_de_l%27escalier

As in, the perfect line that you could have used as a rejoinder at the party had you actually thought of it while you were at the party. Only you didn’t. You thought of it while you were heading down the stairs to leave the building. Real life can suck that way.