Ask the Author: Patrick G. Conner
Answered Questions (4)
Patrick G. Conner
Honored, actually. We've never been in this for the money. Andre, Nikki and Sonya have always wondered how this book would read in Russia. The fact it has been bootlegged in their native country actually made them relax. Apparently it plays as well there as it does in the West.
Patrick G. Conner
It relaxes my mind. Like jazz music. Or intense physical exertion. Complexity is a form of beauty. It is a joy to make that complexity flow back and forth over time... which is exactly how the books are melded together.
One of my most favorite things in the series is how people who write the later books correct misimpressions of earlier writers, especially the ideas children have about their parents. The core truths take a while to fully come into the light. As is true in all of life.
One of my most favorite things in the series is how people who write the later books correct misimpressions of earlier writers, especially the ideas children have about their parents. The core truths take a while to fully come into the light. As is true in all of life.
Patrick G. Conner
What an insightful question. Seemingly simple. But oh, so complex.
There are about a hundred people in the Thunder Valley Trilogy, roughly seventy with significant dialog. Each of them are interesting in their own way, so I enjoyed writing about each one. From disgusting Grady Thompson in Hangtown, to my astounding Jane Harding when she becomes so... breathtaking... in her maturity. And of course Nikki. Knowing her has been thrilling.
Colleen, of course. My dear wife of many years. Heather, naturally. A dream of long ago that has become reality.
Am I rambling? Certainly. Some lives are so intricately woven, with many turnings.
But to answer the question, I have to say Catie.
Daughter of Eowyn, daughter of Jane, daughter of Gwendolyn. Her mother is a force of nature, her grandmother somewhere beyond that, and although I never met Jane's mother Gwendolyn, I can only imagine what she was like. Or is like. Jane has been less than transparent on the subject, and I won't push against her reticence. I've learned that lesson the hard way, more than once.
I wonder some days how Catie will turn out. We may not have so many years in front of us, with the world as it is. But each day, that little one astonishes us all. We try not to make too big an issue of it. We want to keep her pure and... although this is certainly the wrong word... simple.
If you wonder how I came to know about what she and Mishka did in the postchapter of Fireside Stories, I do not blame you. Although it happened the only way it could have. Cate came up to me as Colleen and I were finishing the book and simply told me. She said I'd need it to make the trilogy complete. At least for now.
So, once again, Catie.
There are about a hundred people in the Thunder Valley Trilogy, roughly seventy with significant dialog. Each of them are interesting in their own way, so I enjoyed writing about each one. From disgusting Grady Thompson in Hangtown, to my astounding Jane Harding when she becomes so... breathtaking... in her maturity. And of course Nikki. Knowing her has been thrilling.
Colleen, of course. My dear wife of many years. Heather, naturally. A dream of long ago that has become reality.
Am I rambling? Certainly. Some lives are so intricately woven, with many turnings.
But to answer the question, I have to say Catie.
Daughter of Eowyn, daughter of Jane, daughter of Gwendolyn. Her mother is a force of nature, her grandmother somewhere beyond that, and although I never met Jane's mother Gwendolyn, I can only imagine what she was like. Or is like. Jane has been less than transparent on the subject, and I won't push against her reticence. I've learned that lesson the hard way, more than once.
I wonder some days how Catie will turn out. We may not have so many years in front of us, with the world as it is. But each day, that little one astonishes us all. We try not to make too big an issue of it. We want to keep her pure and... although this is certainly the wrong word... simple.
If you wonder how I came to know about what she and Mishka did in the postchapter of Fireside Stories, I do not blame you. Although it happened the only way it could have. Cate came up to me as Colleen and I were finishing the book and simply told me. She said I'd need it to make the trilogy complete. At least for now.
So, once again, Catie.
Patrick G. Conner
Working now on the fifth book of the Thunder Valley Trilogy with my wife Colleen, and of course I need Jay's help now. It's turning out to be full of surprises... what a surprise. The experience of hearing all these stories, and being quite a large part of them, this time around, is overwhelming. But good overwhelming. Working title is Fireside Stories From Thunder Valley. Sounds so warm and calm, doesn't it? Warm, yes. Calm... no. More like stepping onto a battlefield. Which happens in more than one of the stories. Jeb's, of course. Heather's, oh yes. But everything has turned out better than I could have ever imagined. Makes me smile.
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