Entry tags:
Authorsday
Thursday evening was chock full of authors.
It started with a reading and signing by Brent Weeks, an author whose works I quite enjoy but (like most) I don't re-read enough to want to own. The store was packed and I should have called ahead to reserve a sponsor chair upfront. I did get there early enough to get a chair anyway, and since I wasn't getting a book signed I didn't really care where I was.
Weeks didn't read from his new book, which is #5 and ends the current series. Instead he read a prepared 30 minute piece about writing and reading endings. It was very good, and he is also a talented reader. It was easily one of the best author readings I've been to in a long time.
During the 30 minute Q&A, I asked about an essay he wrote a few years back that I have referenced a few times. It was addressing the "George RR Martin is not your bitch." Weeks empathized with not being inspired to write; sometimes you're blocked, sometimes you're just not feeling it, sometimes (especially with longer epic works) you have produced so many points-of-view and plot threads that figuring out how to juggle all those balls simultaneously - and produce a piece of work you are happy with - is just too difficult to progress. So he agreed that authors don't "owe" readers anything and they can't just write on command. I have no problem with that.
He went further, though: he pointed out that while Martin, Neil Gaiman, and other A-listers might be able to go ten years without publishing and still sell millions of copies if and when they do - most other authors are not so lucky. That readers don't owe authors their attention either, and the longer you go without keeping them engaged the more likely they will abandon you and move along to other authors who do produce new works. That's basically what happened to me with Martin; I eventually got rid of my (signed) Song of Ice and Fire books and wouldn't bother reading any future ones.
Anyway, I brought the essay up and asked him to expand on it. I think he was a bit taken aback; he made it clear in his response that he wasn't going to criticize Martin or any other authors. That actually wasn't my point, though, and I clarified that part of what I liked about his piece was that he acknowledged that both sides have validity. You can't usually force creativity and authors shouldn't put out dreck for the sake of publishing; but readers can't be expected to hold a torch forever.
I then walked a mile to a piano/martini bar, where![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
desperance was one of five authors reading short spooky stories. I was a bit late by then and came in right at the end of the first one. The quality of the remaining four was mixed, as might be expected. One was really not very good; she was an engaging performer, but her story was really not. The others ranged from decent to quite good. I liked desperance's, and not just because we're friends.
Sadly, he forgot to bring me some cookbooks that I was going to get signed for him. Oh well.
We bailed as soon as the reading was over rather than stay and socialize. It was a work night, after all. I'm glad I did both though.
It started with a reading and signing by Brent Weeks, an author whose works I quite enjoy but (like most) I don't re-read enough to want to own. The store was packed and I should have called ahead to reserve a sponsor chair upfront. I did get there early enough to get a chair anyway, and since I wasn't getting a book signed I didn't really care where I was.
Weeks didn't read from his new book, which is #5 and ends the current series. Instead he read a prepared 30 minute piece about writing and reading endings. It was very good, and he is also a talented reader. It was easily one of the best author readings I've been to in a long time.
During the 30 minute Q&A, I asked about an essay he wrote a few years back that I have referenced a few times. It was addressing the "George RR Martin is not your bitch." Weeks empathized with not being inspired to write; sometimes you're blocked, sometimes you're just not feeling it, sometimes (especially with longer epic works) you have produced so many points-of-view and plot threads that figuring out how to juggle all those balls simultaneously - and produce a piece of work you are happy with - is just too difficult to progress. So he agreed that authors don't "owe" readers anything and they can't just write on command. I have no problem with that.
He went further, though: he pointed out that while Martin, Neil Gaiman, and other A-listers might be able to go ten years without publishing and still sell millions of copies if and when they do - most other authors are not so lucky. That readers don't owe authors their attention either, and the longer you go without keeping them engaged the more likely they will abandon you and move along to other authors who do produce new works. That's basically what happened to me with Martin; I eventually got rid of my (signed) Song of Ice and Fire books and wouldn't bother reading any future ones.
Anyway, I brought the essay up and asked him to expand on it. I think he was a bit taken aback; he made it clear in his response that he wasn't going to criticize Martin or any other authors. That actually wasn't my point, though, and I clarified that part of what I liked about his piece was that he acknowledged that both sides have validity. You can't usually force creativity and authors shouldn't put out dreck for the sake of publishing; but readers can't be expected to hold a torch forever.
I then walked a mile to a piano/martini bar, where
desperance was one of five authors reading short spooky stories. I was a bit late by then and came in right at the end of the first one. The quality of the remaining four was mixed, as might be expected. One was really not very good; she was an engaging performer, but her story was really not. The others ranged from decent to quite good. I liked desperance's, and not just because we're friends.Sadly, he forgot to bring me some cookbooks that I was going to get signed for him. Oh well.
We bailed as soon as the reading was over rather than stay and socialize. It was a work night, after all. I'm glad I did both though.