Results tagged “interview”

The internet(s) gives and gives and gives.

There are some great sci-fi/fantasy bloggers out there, fans who are devoting a lot of time and energy into supporting authors and their readers. Variety is the spice of life, as they say, and with the menagerie of unique and very different individuals out there contributing to , it produces a whole that is better than its parts.

Here are some of the highlights from the last week of blog work outside of Suvudu:

• Interview: A Dribble of Ink interviews Blake Charlton, author of Spellwright
• Review: Debuts & Reviews reads The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
• Interview: Fantasy Book Critic interviews James Barclay
• Review: Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review reads Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
• Comment: Grasping for the Wind writes On the Opinion that Authors Should Not Respond to Reviews
• Interview: SciFi Chick interviews Julie Kenner, author of Tainted
• Review: Fantasy & SciFi Lovin’ News read The Magicians by Lev Grossman
• Review: The Wertzone reads The Cardinal’s Blades by Pierre Pevel

Rarely does Orpah have a person on her show who rivals her in sheer popularity.

It happened yesterday, I think.

Stephenie Meyer, author of the mega-successful Twilight saga, spent time with the long-time daytime diva, in her only interview for the New Moon movie release. In the interview she talks about how the idea for Twilight started, how she got published, an alternate ending to New Moon that will never be seen, and many other interesting tidbits from behind the scenes.

I have been lucky enough to have lunch with Stephenie and she is the sweetest, nicest person you can ever meet. Success couldn’t have happened to a nicer or more deserving person.

Below are two YouTube clips of her Oprah appearance on November 13, 2009, followed by two links to more backstage clips:

Yesterday I posted that Stephen King would be returning to the Dark Tower, writing a novel or a collection of interwoven short stories that take place between the events of Wizard & Glass and Wolves of the Calla.

This is big news. Dark Tower fans are a cult I am proudly a part of.

It was announced on his website that the tentative title for the book will be:

The Wind Through the Keyhole

I love it!

It will be at least 8 months before Sai King can begin writing the new book. Which begs the question: What is he working on right now? A screenplay for the zombie story Cell but what else? Wish it was the The Talisman / Black House sequel…

Here is a video of Stephen King from last night’s book signing for his new book, Under the Dome. He is absolutely hilarious in it:

Enjoy!

When I was 10 years old, I spent a great deal of time with my friends drawing.

Three or four of us would lay out on the carpet with pages of white paper and sharpened pencils, bringing to life anything our imaginations could produce. We had DC and Marvel Comics spread out before us. It was great fun seeing who could create the best work, and ironically one of us went on to become a world-renowned artist.

My favorite character to draw had to have been Wolverine.

Chris Hart, the author and artist of Superheroes and Beyond: How to Draw the Leading and Supporting Characters of Today’s Comics, has spent the last decade helping people draw better. He has stopped by Suvudu to talk about his new book and drawing superheroes!

Suvudu: Hi Chris. Welcome to Suvudu! How are you?

Chris Hart: Very well, thanks.

S: Superheroes and Beyond: How to Draw the Leading and Supporting Characters of Today’s Comics, your new book, is published today. Tell us a bit about it?

CH: Superheroes are the thread that runs through all the great comic book adventures series. Superheroes. Even the word conjures up excitement and great visuals. So I decided to do a book that focused on creating original superheroes and their supporting cast members. These types of characters have inspired legions of aspiring artists. So, with Hollywood in full panic to transfer every superhero from the page to the screen, I felt the time was right to do a book that unlocked the secrets of the pros, and showed exactly how to draw those great comic book characters.

S: What is it about drawing superheroes that appeals to you?

In case you missed it, George Romero, the father of the modern zombie movie, was the guest of honor on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me…, NPR’s humorous weekly news quiz show. Here’s the way this game works, for those who are unfamiliar: George is interviewed for the audience and then he’s asked three questions on a subject or topic completely unrelated to their perceived expertise, so in this case George Romero, Mr. Zombie, gets three questions about Disney.

But wait! There are some great tidbits about George and his career contained in the interview. And the game portion isn’t that bad either. For instance, apparently Romero never explicitly called his monsters “zombies” in Night of the Living Dead, it was the press coverage that started calling them such. It’s neat little things like that. You’ll hear a lot about George’s early career and his thoughts on his zombies versus the new zombie trend. Give it a listen, I think you’ll be entertained.

From NPR’s Site:

In honor of Halloween we’re talking zombies with legendary movie director George Romero — how to recognize them, how to defend against them, and—since this is Public Radio—how to try to reason with them, and come to mutual understanding and respect.

Romero is the man behind Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead. He’s made a career out of zombies and exploding brains and dismemberment, so we’ve invited him to play a gamed called “Bippity-boppityBRAAAAAINS!” Three questions about nice, cuddly Disney movies.

Source: NPR.org, Director George Romero Plays ‘Not My Job’

Eoin Colfer, bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series and now writer who holds Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker pen, is joining us on Suvudu tomorrow for a chat at 3:30 PM EDT / 12:30 PM PST!

Eoin will be talking about his new book, And Another Thing… as well as anything his fans ask. Got a question for him about the book? Ask it. Got a question about writing? Ask it. Got a question about what it is like living in Eire? Ask it!

Sign up for a chat reminder below. That way you won’t miss out tomorrow!

To read more about And Another Thing…, visit Eoin’s website at www.eoincolfer.com!

More tomorrow!

Whenever I see the sci-fi / fantasy genre get a little love from a major newspaper, I have to point it out.

It just doesn’t happen as much as I would like. That’s for sure!

USA Today visited with The Gathering Storm writer Brandon Sanderson and his editor, the late Robert Jordan’s widow, Harriet McDougal.

Click HERE for the article / interview!

The Talisman: The Road of Trials #0 was released last week in comic books stores!

Lilja’s Library, a haven of information for Stephen King fans, has conducted an interview with artist Tony Shasteen. Tony was chosen by Stephen King and Peter Straub to illustrate the adaptation of The Talisman and from what I have seen so far he is doing a great job.

To read the new interview with Tony, click here!

If you haven’t checked out the The Talisman: The Road of Trials #1 Preview, do so! It really illustrates—no pun intended, honest—the penciling power Tony is bringing to this project.

Got your Issue #0? It’s only $1.00 at comic book stores now!

Just about a week ago we asked you to submit your questions to Max Brooks for a chance to see them answered here on our site (in addition to a signed Recorded Attacks graphic novel). Well, Max selected a few at random and has answered them below. Thanks to everyone who wrote in! And now, we beg you to pay close attention to what Max has to say. Some of this might just save your life.

My son is in Iraq and I’m talking to him on Instant Message and asked him to give me a question for the contest…. he won’t stop LOL. He is a great fan of the zombie world and pointed out …. there’s a story about a girl shooting 15 zombies with changing a mag in a 15 shot m-1 and the last was her husband. The M-1 has an 8 round clip. Maybe that makes sense to you?

Yes it does. The U.S. Army M1 GARAND rifle has an 8 round clip. The U.S. Army M1 CARBINE has a 15 round clip. Sorry if I didn’t explain that better in the book. There are more than one of those confusing points in “The Zombie Survival Guide”. Don’t get me started on the use a crossbow!

Who is your favorite author:

My wife, Michelle Kholos. She’s a playwright and a novelist. Her skill at dissecting human weakness astounds me as does her ability to keep me interested in stories that have neither monsters or flame throwers. She writes about real people in real situations with a mix of humor and sadness that I couldn’t even hope to compete with. I’m constantly in awe of her talent with words.

World War Z was amazing, especially for someone who is a history buff like me. How much research did you do for the book and how did you do it?

I probably did more homework for this book than I did in 4 years of college. Simple book learning was one half of the process. I always joked that if the FBI ever raided my office, it would have looked like a terror cell (books on weapons, maps, military journals, etc.) The other half was speaking to friends of mine who actually have real jobs (doctors, journalists, military personnel, even one friend who ‘works for Uncle Sam’.)

What inspires you the most in your work:

Writing what I want to read. I have no idea what’s going to be commercially successful. If I did, I’d probably still be back on Saturday Night Live. I seem to only be good at writing about subjects that deeply interest me. I’ve always said that if “The Zombie Survival Guide” had already been written, I would have bought a copy and gone on with my life.

For your next book or graphic novel, are you planning on creating a new zombie story or are you looking to tackle other genres?

Right now I’m working on a comic book mini-series for “G.I. Joe.” I also have a graphic novel in the works that has nothing to do with zombies, or anything else supernatural, but, at least to me is just as frightening.

Eoin Colfer, bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series and now writer who holds Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker pen, will be joining his fans for a chat on October 30th at 3:30 PM EDT / 12:30 PM PST!

He will be talking about his new book, And Another Thing… as well as anything we all ask.

Sign up for a chat reminder below. That way you won’t miss out on it!

To read more about And Another Thing…, visit Eoin’s website at www.eoincolfer.com!

And to discover where Eoin is touring, make the jump!

James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner, participated in a recent panel on Post Apocalyptic young adult fiction in an uptown New York city Barnes & Noble. The Maze Runner is the story of a teen who awakens in a strange place, knowing only his name. He can’t remember much else. What he discovers is that he is in “the glade,” a large maze from which he and the other boys trapped there must attempt to escape. But, the danger isn’t only in getting lost in the maze. Oh no, there are creatures out there that they must guard against and every night the walls around the boys close to keep them safe from the hunting creatures. Then, when the first female maze runner appears, things get even more interesting.

The book, according to James, was inspired by The Lord of the Flies and Ender’s Game. Those are lofty inspirations, but having read this book (as well as the books mentioned above) I can assure you that The Maze Runner doesn’t disappoint.

During his panel, Mr. Dashner answered questions about writing his book. Below, you can hear his answers. Be sure to continue reading for a free audiobook sample as well as information on where you can find a free (and legal) free sample of the book.

Enjoy!

James Dashner Introduces The Maze Runner

What inspired you to write a Post Apocalyptic novel?

What compromises do you consider when writing YA?

The young adult section in bookstores has been growing for many years, the influence of great series like Harry Potter, Inheritance, Spiderwick, Artemis Fowl, Twilight, His Dark Materials, Bartimaeus and others driving book sales and allowing publishers to take chances on new writers.

Esther Friesner is not one of them.

Why?

Because the acclaimed author has been writing for a long time, has won two Nebula Awards and keeps writing because she loves it so much!

Suvudu caught up with Esther now that her new book, Sphinx’s Princess, has been published.

Here is the interview:

Suvudu: Hi Esther! Thank you for joining us on Suvudu. How are you?

Esther Friesner: Thanks for asking. I’m fine, and how are you?

S: I’m great! Your newest novel, Sphinx’s Princess, has been published for several weeks. What is it about?

EF: It’s about the adventures of young Nefertiti, who became queen of Egypt. I could mention the dates and the dynasty, but to keep it simple, she and her husband reigned almost immediately before Tutankhamen. (Tut married one of her daughters.) Nefertiti’s beauty brings her too much of the wrong sort of attention and her desire to live her own life peacefully comes up hard against the schemes of those who see her as just a pretty pawn they can use to further their own intrigues and plots. But what happens when the pawn decides she’s going to change the game to one played by her rules? (And now I hear my elementary-school-age self giving a book report and ending with “You’ll have to read it yourself to find out.”

S: What was it about Nefertiti that convinced you to write about her?

On October 30th, Suvudu will welcome for a chat the newest Hitchhiker in the Universe!

Salmon will no doubt be there!

Don’t panic!

Author Eoin Colfer, bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series and now new writer on the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker series, will be joining his fans for a chat on October 30th at 3:30 PM EDT / 12:30 PM PST!

He will be talking about his new book, And Another Thing… as well as anything we all ask. More information will be forthcoming, along with a contest, but be sure to sign up to be reminded about the chat!

To read more about And Another Thing…, visit Eoin’s website at www.eoincolfer.com!

More soon. Stay tuned!

Sometimes people are just too talented to be do only one thing.

Brom is one such person.

He began as an artist, one whose body of work has grown quite large. From the visually dark and creepy creations of his own personal vision to the cover artwork he’s done for Michael Moorcock, Terry Brooks, R.A.Salvatore and E.R. Burroughs to the haunting themes and designs he has contributed to numerous video games and films, Brom has a very distinctive style that has garnered a great deal of respect by his peers and has helped him grow an almost cultish fan base.

And now he is writing novels, adding another dimension to his artistry and portfolio with The Child Thief.

I had the opportunity to interview Brom. Enjoy!

Suvudu: Hi Brom! Thank you for taking the opportunity for sitting down with Suvudu. How are you doing?

Brom: It’s cold and drizzly outside — writing and painting weather. So I’m doing very well thank you.

Suvudu: Tell us a bit about your newly published book, The Child Thief?

R.A. Salvatore is doing some great work this week promoting his new book, The Ghost King!

First, every day this week various blogs around the internet(s) will be featuring questions given to Salvatore and his resulting answers. No question will be asked twice. The schedule for the posted Q&As is below:

• Monday, 10.12.09

  SciFiChick - http://scifichick.com

• Tuesday, 10.13.09
  BSCreview - http://www.bscreview.com
• Wednesday, 10.14.09
  SciFiGuy - http://www.scifiguy.ca
• Thursday, 10.15.09
  Elitist Book Reviews - http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com
• Friday, 10.16.09 (7:00 to 8:00 p.m. EST)
  Suvudu Chat - http://www.suvudu.com
• Saturday, 10.17.09
  Fantasy Book Critic - http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com

Be sure to check out those websites each day this week. And definitely be here for the Suvudu Chat with R.A. Salvatore on Friday!

He also visited the University Bookstore in Seattle, WA last week while on tour supporting his new book, The Ghost King. I took the time to video tape his presentation and the following Q&A with his fans!

I have broken up the 45 minutes worth of video into six parts for viewing ease:

Suvudu - R.A. Salvatore THE GHOST KING Q&A (Part 1 of 6)

Continue on to listen to the infamous Wubba Wubba story! Hope you enjoy!

Admittedly, I find G4 to be a little hit-or-miss*, but they excel in their comics and gaming reporting. You can always rely on Blair Butler, host of Fresh Ink, a show devoted to all things comics-related, to bring the goods**. And so she did again in a recent interview with Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis is a comics all-star and lets loose on all manner of things in this interview, including the digital future of comics and comic books. He also explains some of the economics behind comics publishing.

This is easily one of the better interviews I’ve seen in a while and I hope you enjoy it. You can find the original interview and post on G4’s The Feed. You can watch the interview here in two parts; part one is below, part two follows after the jump.

Enjoy!

Blair Butler interviews Brian Michael Bendis for Fresh Ink, pt. 1

We have less than a month and November will be here.

What happens in November? Well, let’s see:

• November 10th: Under the Dome, the new massive horror novel by Stephen King, will be published.
• November 18th: The Talisman #1, the comic book adaptation of the novel written by Stephen King and Peter Straub, hits fine comic bookstores everywhere.
• November 25th: Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill #1, the story of one of the most important tales hinted at in Stephen King’s opus the Dark Tower, also hits comic book stores.

But do you want to get a jump on November in October? Of course you do!

First, read the new Newsarama interview HERE with comic book adapter and writer Robin Furth! She was once King’s assistant but now she is ensuring his books are adapted correctly at Marvel and Del Rey Books.

Second, on October 20th, Del Rey and the creative team of Furth, Shasteen and Ruffino will publish in comic bookstores The Talisman Issue #0, a full color prequel to the novel of the same name!

Get the jump on, in October!

M-O-O-N! That spells… Halloween?

Happy weekend!

The chats keep coming!

We just had Harry Connolly for a chat centered around his debut book, Child of Fire.

On October 14th we will welcome bestselling authors Terry Brooks and Christopher Paolini to the Suvudu chat room.

And two days after that, on October 16th, we will have bestselling author R.A. Salvatore for a chat!

Sign up for a chat reminder above. Mr. Salvatore will pretty much any question posed to him. From what I understand he has put some of his characters through the proverbial ringer in The Ghost King and I’m sure people will be demanding answers.

And since Drizzt Do’Urden is one of the most beloved fantasy characters of all time, this chat will be a good one!

So, Friday, October 16th. Mark it down wherever it will remind you.

Or sign up for the reminder up above.

Boy that week is going to be tiring!

But it’s going to be fun!

See you there!

If you missed the chat, or if you watched and thought it’d be great to take the chat to your blog, then you might be interested in the embed code below. That’s all you need to take our chat and run with it on your own site. And you might be interested in doing so. Harry talked about what it was like to watch see his book in print, how he writes (outlining, free-writing, or both), writers’ groups, and a slew of questions relating to his book. Betsy spoke too about obtaining the book, sending advance copies to Harry (with some strategic labeling meant to impress the in-laws), and more.

Harry’s debut novel, has already drawn praise, like a starred review in Publishers’ Weekly and the following quote from Jim Butcher:

“[Child of Fire] is excellent reading and has a lot of things I love in a book: a truly dark and sinister world, delicious tension and suspense, violence so gritty you’ll get something in your eye just reading it, and a gorgeously flawed protagonist. Take this one to the checkout counter. Seriously.” — Jim Butcher

You can read an excerpt from Child of Fire on Harry’s website: HERE.

So, it was quite the event. Grab the code below and enjoy our chat with Harry Connolly and Betsy Mitchell!

Suvudu: Hi Lynn. Thank you for joining us on Suvudu!

Lynn Flewelling: Thanks! Glad to be here.

S: You are taking part in a writing retreat cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean luxury liner Freedom of the Seas for seven days of sun, fun, and writing from May 23-30, 2010. What made you decide to use this venue instead of a hotel or resort of some kind?

LF: To be honest, the venue chose me. I was doing a book signing last year—one of those deadly table-of-books-by-the-door-people-asking-you-where-the-restrooms-are sort—and this man walks up to me and asks if I’d like to teach a workshop on a cruise ship. It took me completely by surprise, and at first I didn’t really take it seriously. I was also neck deep in a tough rewrite at the time, but luckily George kept after me and here we are. Last weekend he took my husband and me on a tour of a similar ship. Wow! They really are floating palaces.

S: Being an author requires long hours throughout the year working on your book. Why do you take time away from your own writing to teach the craft of writing to others? What do you gain from teaching?

LF: I like to teach, I like people, and I genuinely enjoy working with new writers. Writing is a solitary, sometimes grueling profession and teaching is a great change of pace for me. I come back refreshed and recharged, ready to tackle my own work again.

S: Who is your target audience for such a writing retreat? What will they learn while traveling the seas?

LF: I’m expecting people who are already writing something on their own, at a variety of levels, but probably not terribly advanced, although you never know. One of my past workshop students is a published author now, though I can’t really take the credit for that. He was well on his way. There will also probably be a few beginners, but the way I teach, people at very different levels can all take something away, in part because I do a lot of Q&A and discussion. I’ll be dining with the students and hosting open reading salons, so there’ll be lots of time to talk shop on a casual level, too.

S: When you were younger did you have a mentor or a teacher who guided you like you hope to guide those on this retreat?

LF: Yes and no. My seventh grade student teacher, Ms. Stevens, got me started in creative writing and really praised my efforts, but she was the last one until the single creative writing class I took in college (the only one available). That was of limited use, since I was the only one writing genre and a lot of the other students, and the professor, didn’t really ‘get’ what I was doing. It was a good experience, though, in that I learned how to respectfully deal with other people’s work, how to be both honest and helpful. All the same, I kept writing, even without a lot of encouragement. What’s the sign of a real writer-to-be? Obsession.

Then, years later, when I was in the midst of finishing up the draft of what became my first two novels, I took a week-long workshop with Cathie Pelletier, a literary writer I really admire. I was a bit nervous, since I was working in genre, but she was really impressed and supportive of my work, and actually tried to connect me up with her agent at the end of it. Unfortunately, the woman didn’t handle fantasy, but Cathie remained a staunch supporter and her faith and enthusiasm really made a big difference. Whenever I tried to thank her, she’d point out that other writers had done that same for her, and that all she wanted from me was to pass it on. So I do. It changed my life, and I hope I can do that for others. And I tell them the same thing Cathie told me: Pass it on.

S: If someone with extraordinary talent came on the writing retreat, how would you help them? Would you help them meet agents and editors? Or something else?

LF: I would most certainly help them. If they were at a beginning stage with a project, I’d offer to do some reading for them if they wanted help. If they were at the end of something good, I’d ask to read it, and if it was as good as I hoped, I’d give them my agent’s name and number.

S: The truly important question: Do you drink rum?

LF: Why, yes I do, with lots of fruit and umbrellas, but not the flavored kinds. I’m a bit of a purist that way.

S: Thank you for your time, Lynn! Good luck with the retreat!

LF: Thanks!

Lynn Flewelling is a fantasy fiction author who is perhaps best known for two internationally acclaimed fantasy series: the Nightrunner books and The Tamir Triad. You can discover more about Lynn and her forthcoming sea writing retreat at her website, located HERE!