Chloe
asked
Jane Lindskold:
Hi Jane. Why do you like writing about animals? Or having animals as companions to humans? What do you like most about writing them? And do you have a favourite kind? (besides wolves of course!)
Jane Lindskold
Hi Chloe!
I like writing about animals because of a lifelong fascination with non-humankind. Actually, I'm more surprised by how many books don't have either animals or children. To me leaving out most of the living creatures -- and a large chuck of humanity as well -- is the distortion of reality, not including them.
As far as animals as companions to humans -- well, that's all a matter of point of view. Blind Seer would see Firekeeper as a human companion to wolves. For that matter, so would she! In Artemis Awakening, I go out of my way to stress that Sand Shadow and Adara are equals, not master and companion. In other words, this isn't Tarzan and his Beasts, where the human is obviously in charge...
Favorite kind! Oh, my... I've never been able to choose! When my sister, Ann, and I were little, we'd sometimes pretend that we were animals. Even then I wanted to be every animal there was. I'd go into great detail describing a creature built like a wolf (though maybe with longer legs, to run faster), but with the spots of a leopard and the antlers of a stag, and the silky mane of a horse... One reason I love writing is that I can finally "be" all of them.
I like writing about animals because of a lifelong fascination with non-humankind. Actually, I'm more surprised by how many books don't have either animals or children. To me leaving out most of the living creatures -- and a large chuck of humanity as well -- is the distortion of reality, not including them.
As far as animals as companions to humans -- well, that's all a matter of point of view. Blind Seer would see Firekeeper as a human companion to wolves. For that matter, so would she! In Artemis Awakening, I go out of my way to stress that Sand Shadow and Adara are equals, not master and companion. In other words, this isn't Tarzan and his Beasts, where the human is obviously in charge...
Favorite kind! Oh, my... I've never been able to choose! When my sister, Ann, and I were little, we'd sometimes pretend that we were animals. Even then I wanted to be every animal there was. I'd go into great detail describing a creature built like a wolf (though maybe with longer legs, to run faster), but with the spots of a leopard and the antlers of a stag, and the silky mane of a horse... One reason I love writing is that I can finally "be" all of them.
More Answered Questions
Wolfy
asked
Jane Lindskold:
Hello, I want to, first and foremost, thank you. The worlds you've built have sheltered and encouraged my imagination since my early years of scifi readership. Now that that's out of the way: How do you so gracefully switch between such intricate worlds? Each of your series has its own feel and life to it, how do you transition out of one and into another when writing?
Anthony Klassen
asked
Jane Lindskold:
Hi Jane, First of all... I love these books. They are on of the series that I will re-read once a year. I was wondering if you had ever given any thought as to what is west of the Iron Mountians, and if maybe Firekeeper would ever go there looking for the Royal Songbirds?
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