Alli
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I love your work and my all time favorite series (not just of yours) is The Sharing Knife. I'm in a intercultural marriage so this series really hit home for me. One thing I admire about characters you write is that you show their intelligence. I always feel like I learn from your them. Could share any insight or tidbits on how you developed Dag and Fawn?
Lois McMaster Bujold
It's been a while... A lot of things about Dag & Fawn arrived together -- both of their starting-points at first meeting (Dag with a longer, but not more important, backstory than Fawn), their ages and heights, the uneven command of magic but equal smarts (actually, Fawn has the edge there, camouflaged by her lack of experience) the bare basics but not yet all the details of their respective cultures and families and world history, much of which was developed as the story went along.
Having set up their bare-bones backstories, I basically set the pair in motion in the opening scenes and let them show me their tale as they moved through it, adding more characters and material as needs arose. We were frequently all of us surprised.
The first two volumes were initially a single bigger one, split on publication, but ending on a down-ish if promising note. There was plainly more tale to be told and more world to be explored as both characters broke free from the constraints of family and clan and found new room to grow; the second pair of volumes became the "there and back again" of all that.
Ta, L.
It's been a while... A lot of things about Dag & Fawn arrived together -- both of their starting-points at first meeting (Dag with a longer, but not more important, backstory than Fawn), their ages and heights, the uneven command of magic but equal smarts (actually, Fawn has the edge there, camouflaged by her lack of experience) the bare basics but not yet all the details of their respective cultures and families and world history, much of which was developed as the story went along.
Having set up their bare-bones backstories, I basically set the pair in motion in the opening scenes and let them show me their tale as they moved through it, adding more characters and material as needs arose. We were frequently all of us surprised.
The first two volumes were initially a single bigger one, split on publication, but ending on a down-ish if promising note. There was plainly more tale to be told and more world to be explored as both characters broke free from the constraints of family and clan and found new room to grow; the second pair of volumes became the "there and back again" of all that.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Briantoby
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Not a question, but I'd like to pass on an article published yesterday on extra-uterine gestation (https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15112; Summary at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/artificial-womb-lambs-premature-babies-health-science/) published yesterday that immediately brought you to mind. Never thought I would see this in my lifetime! Interested?
Rodrigo Gonzalez
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hi Lois, I've been a fan of all your books from the moment I started reading them. I've been anxiously waiting for any news about your next project. Can you share something about it with us? And do you plan to return someday to the Chalion universe?? Thanks!! :) Rodrigo
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