Josh Angel
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I was reading through the questions you've answered on Goodreads, and I was struck by how much your answers read as if written by Desdemona herself. I mean that in the best possible way, as I find her quite funny. I know all the characters are technically "you", but I was wondering if there may be a little more "you" written into Desdemona than other characters?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Mm, perhaps. I wrote in the introduction to the collection Penric's Progress: "In the world of the five gods, magical powers are not inborn but obtained, by—among other methods—acquiring a chaos demon, an invisible bodiless entity stemming ultimately from the fifth god, known as the Bastard in His holy family. This led me to the need to make up the character of the demon, which, in this system, opened up a huge range of possibilities, since demons, all beginning as identical blobs of escaped chaos, learn their diverse personalities from the succession of sorcerers they symbiotically inhabit over, potentially, many lives. This also, to my vast amusement, gave me the chance to combine the fetching young male protagonist beloved by the market with the cranky older woman so familiar from the inside of my own head."
None of my characters are me, but they do borrow from my experiences, as from a lending library. Or as a cup of sugar from the neighbor, or junk from the attic, or a literary garage sale, whatever.
(Beware, by the way, the common misperception that only female characters are imprinted this way from a female writer. Or only male ones from a male, I expect. Creativity routinely escapes such restrictive social roles.)
Ta, L.
Mm, perhaps. I wrote in the introduction to the collection Penric's Progress: "In the world of the five gods, magical powers are not inborn but obtained, by—among other methods—acquiring a chaos demon, an invisible bodiless entity stemming ultimately from the fifth god, known as the Bastard in His holy family. This led me to the need to make up the character of the demon, which, in this system, opened up a huge range of possibilities, since demons, all beginning as identical blobs of escaped chaos, learn their diverse personalities from the succession of sorcerers they symbiotically inhabit over, potentially, many lives. This also, to my vast amusement, gave me the chance to combine the fetching young male protagonist beloved by the market with the cranky older woman so familiar from the inside of my own head."
None of my characters are me, but they do borrow from my experiences, as from a lending library. Or as a cup of sugar from the neighbor, or junk from the attic, or a literary garage sale, whatever.
(Beware, by the way, the common misperception that only female characters are imprinted this way from a female writer. Or only male ones from a male, I expect. Creativity routinely escapes such restrictive social roles.)
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Kate Davenport
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I wonder how much interest Miles is taking in his half-sisters and one third (?) brothers, since they are so far away physically and so different in age. I have had several friends with siblings and half siblings far away physically and/or chronologically and they run the gamut from being very close, to being cordial acquaintances, to being essentially strangers.
Normalice
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Do you ever randomly see someone who seems to perfectly resemble the way you imagined one of your characters? I've had an experience like that recently, from a couple of books (one of them yours) and spent half a day trying to figure out where I knew them from before it dawned on me. I felt nearly foolish for almost approaching them to ask. Good thing I didn't..
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