Roger
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
IMHO, Mirror Dance is a modern masterpiece of fiction. Are you ever concerned that some may choose not to read the book, because it is in the middle of such a long series?
Lois McMaster Bujold
A lot of people choose not to read my books, for a lot of reasons. Whether, when, or how any given reader may come to find or to process one's works is beyond the writer's control, and always will be. Still moreso after the writer dies. I mean, really, could any of the many older writers I read have even begun to imagine me, or where their words would fall, and how? The 11th C. Byzantine biographer, for example. Through his book, I could imagine him; the reverse is very much not true.
The one thing I can do that I can control is to try to make each book work as a stand-alone, as well as being part of a larger series structure. I do the best I can, where I am, with what I have, each year. After that, my words are necessarily cast loose on their own, sink or swim.
That said, I am very pleased when my books do work well for someone, as evidently in your case.
Ta, L.
A lot of people choose not to read my books, for a lot of reasons. Whether, when, or how any given reader may come to find or to process one's works is beyond the writer's control, and always will be. Still moreso after the writer dies. I mean, really, could any of the many older writers I read have even begun to imagine me, or where their words would fall, and how? The 11th C. Byzantine biographer, for example. Through his book, I could imagine him; the reverse is very much not true.
The one thing I can do that I can control is to try to make each book work as a stand-alone, as well as being part of a larger series structure. I do the best I can, where I am, with what I have, each year. After that, my words are necessarily cast loose on their own, sink or swim.
That said, I am very pleased when my books do work well for someone, as evidently in your case.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Meredith Mansfield
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I'm in the middle of rereading The Warrior's Apprentice now. I was struck when Elena tells Miles that Baz has made up his own story about who Miles is--that he's essentially exiled for being a mutie and his younger brother has ursurped his place. Minus the exile, that's pretty close to Ser Galen's plot. Did you know that already when you wrote The Warrior's Apprentice?
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Mar 09, 2023 02:37PM · flag