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Signed Copies of Dragon Keeper
Nov. 9th, 2009 | 09:13 pm
I know, it's not out yet. It won't be published until January in the US.
However, if I waited until then to pass this on, it might be too late. So, for those of you who collect signed first editions, here is the information.
My friend, Shawn Speakman, runs a site called the Signed Page. http://www.signedpage.com/authors/hobb-k
For the price of the book, you can get a signed, or even a personalized and signed book. (It's not just Robin Hobb books, by the way. Shawn has a lot of authors who do this with him. Terry Brooks. Brandon Sanderson. Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. Go take a look.
Here's how it works. You order a book from Shawn, pay for it and let him know what you want written in it. A simple signature? Signature and date? To Josephine, best wishes, signature? It's up to you. Shawn orders the books, I go to his apartment, sign the books, and he ships them, carefully packaged, on to you.
So there it is. Just a reminder!
Robin
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November Updates
Nov. 4th, 2009 | 11:00 pm
Welcome to the November News-Letter from Robin Hobb
Welcome!
Well, October and Halloween are behind us here. Meant to get this out November 1st, but here it is the 4th already. I hope everyone in the US found their ways to the polls and voted!
Book and Publication News
Italian rights to Shaman’s Crossing have been sold to Fanucci Publishing. The paperback edition of Fool’s Fate is out and about by now.
Indonesian Rights to The Farseer Trilogy have been sold to Matahati Publishing.
In Mainland China, The Soldier Son Trilogy will be coming out soon from China Woman publishing.
Upcoming Stuff
I just did an on-line interview with Randolph Carter of http://grindingtovalhalla.wordpress.com/
Look for Eos Books to bring out the US hardback edition of Dragon Keeper, book one of The Rain Wilds Chronicles in January of 2010. And here you may see the cover.
http://harpercollins.com/books/978006156
In early January, visit Coffee Time Books (http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/) for an advance review of the US edition of Dragon Keeper. (I’ll keep putting this reminder up until it’s actually there!
In January, Seattle and Tacoma University Book Stores will celebrate the 110th anniversary of their founding. They were created as a student co-op to get textbooks. Pretty cool! In honor of the anniversary, they have invited some authors to submit 110-word stories. The stories will be published in a booklet entitled 1-10-110. People purchasing a volume by one of the contributing authors will receive a copy for free. Celebrate in January 2010 with University Book Store.
Personal Appearances
Portland DoubleTree Hotel at Lloyd Center
1000 NE Multonah Street
Portland, Oregon 97232
November 27-29
The writer guest of honor is
Patricia Briggs!
You are running out of time if you want to buy your membership online. You can still get a great deal ($60) until November 15. The hotel block closes November 6, however.
Below is the schedule for the panels I will be on. I hope to see some of you there.
Fri Nov 27 12:00:pm | "I have a story idea, where do I start?" | |
Madison Room | Beginnings, middles and endings. Characters and situations. What is required to translate your great idea into a real story. | |
David D. Levine, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mary Rosenblum/Mary Freeman, Robin Hobb | ||
Fri Nov 27 3:00:pm |
| "Alternate History Fantasy?" |
Multnomah | Fantasy is often written in a pseudo-medieval society. Some authors bring freshness to the setting by traveling the world, while others go backward, or forward, in time or just adopt technology or lack thereof on a secondary world. Lace and blade, prehistoric, and other choices in fantasy, and how magic fits in, if it even has to at all. | |
M.K. Hobson, Alma Alexander, Michael Ehart, Robin Hobb, John P. Alexander | ||
Fri Nov 27 8:00:pm | "Proofreading, Smoofreading: Copy Editors Untie!" | |
Hamilton | Inconsistencies, plot holes, typos. Are books being proofread anymore before going into print? Was the author not careful or did the errors get inserted? Everyone wants to look good in print. Get the skinny on how things go bad. | |
Robin Hobb, Deb Taber, A.M. Dellamonica, Kristin Landon | ||
| ||
Sat Nov 28 12:00:pm |
| "Building a balanced mythos" |
Roosevelt | How to balance the mortal, immortal, mythical, legendary and cultural elements when world building. | |
Lou Anders, Mary Robinette Kowal, Alma Alexander, Rebecca Neason, Robin Hobb | ||
Sun Nov 29 12:00:pm |
| "Theme" |
Roosevelt room | What is theme? How do you develop theme in your writing, or should you even try? For the sake of future graduate students studying your brilliant prose, learn about this often-neglected aspect of storytelling. | |
Robin Hobb, Marilyn Holt, A.M. Dellamonica, Bill Johnson, Kristin Landon, Karen L. Azinger | ||
Sun Nov 29 1:00:pm |
| "That’s gotta hurt!" |
Idaho room | Why wounding, maiming and torturing your characters is good, and why it should be done often. | |
Robin Hobb, Pat MacEwen, Judith R. Conly, Rhea Rose, Phoebe Kitanidis | ||
| ||
Not on this schedule is my secret plot to take over Hospitality (the free food room at Orycon) from 2 to 4 on Saturday. Ben Dobyns, owner of Zoe, a Seattle based production company will also be on hand, as well as the ever gracious Askable Kat. You may recognize Ben Dobyn’s name from Dead Gentlemen (http://deadgentlemen.com/) producers of the cult hit movie The Gamers and Dorkness Rising. Visit http://www.myspace.com/deadgentlemen for a free sample. And if you plan on attending Orycon, do drop in on Saturday to say hi, look at our film stuff, and have some tea with us!
I’ll also be contributing a nice shopping tote of books and things for the convention auction. Every year, Orycon puts on the Susan C. Petrey Auction to raise funds for Clarion scholarships. Read about it here: http://www.osfci.org/petrey/
What is Clarion? A wonderful workshop for would be writers of SF. http://www.clarionwest.org/
For six weeks, aspiring writers live away from home in a writing intense atmosphere. Each week is taught by a different instructor drawn from the SF/ fantasy professionals.
Miscellaneous Bits
I will be attending Rustycon 27 on January 15, 16, and 17, at the SeaTac Marriott Hotel. Guest of Honor is James P. Blaylock. This is the same hotel that was used for SteamCon, and once again, the convention will have a Steam Punk theme. I’m looking forward to those gorgeous hall costumes again. http://www.rustycon.com/
You can still buy a $45 membership until November 29th! That’s a very good deal! If you hurry, you may still be able to get a room at the convention hotel, too.
When I know my panel schedule, I’ll put it in a newsletter.
And, of course, in conjunction with the January publication of Dragon Keeper I will be doing a localized book tour. Here’s the skeleton list. I’ll fill it out with details as the dates get closer.
January 26 7PM The Release of DRAGON KEEPER in the US! The party is at University Bookstore in the Seattle University District.
January 29 7PM Powell's Books in Beaverton, Oregon.
January 30 2PM Barnes and Noble on Black Lake Blvd. in Olympia Washington has invited me to come by and sign some books.
Feb. 6 Noon. For the first time ever, I get to sign on Fort Lewis! I'll be at Building 528 on Pendleton Avenue.
Far distant future department:
Tentatively, I’ll be at Imaginales in Epinal France in 2011. :) It's our tenth anniversary, so I'm looking forward to getting back to my French hometown and see all my friends again!
My current read
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Concise Review: Still reading. Big YES so far.
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Orycon looms on the Event Horizon!!!
Oct. 29th, 2009 | 10:11 am
It's a fun time. You should come.
Orycon this year, in Portland Oregon, will occur on the weekend immediately following Thanksgiving. We will be at the Portland Doubletree Hotel at Lloyd Center. If you want to come, and to stay at the hotel, you should act soon, as the hotel block closes on November 6! (After that, you might get a room, but not such a good deal on it!) If you buy your membership for the convention on line, you will have a much shorter wait to get your badge.
I'm going to have a number of chances to meet with readers and friends old and new.
Here is my panel schedule for the convention:
Friday, Nov. 27 Noon
"I have a story idea. Where do I start?"
David Levine, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mary Rosenblum/Mary Freeman and me.
Friday, Nov. 27 3 PM
"Alternate History Fantasy"
M.K. Hobson, Alma Alexander(!), Michael Ehart, John P. Alexander. And me.
Friday Nov. 27 8 PM
"Proofreading, Smoofreading: Copy Editors Untie"
Deb Taber, A.M. Dellamonica, Kristin Landon. And me again!
Saturday, Nov. 28 Noon
"Theme" (Theme? What's a theme?)
Marilyn Holt, A.M. Dellamonica, Bill Johnson, Kristin Landon, Karen L Azinger. And, uhm, yes, me.
Sunday, Nov. 29 1PM
"That's Gotta Hurt!" (All about why maiming and torturing characters is Good!)
Pat MacEwen, Judith R. Conly, Rhea Rose, Phoebe Kitanidis. And me, wearing a black hood with eye holes.
In addition to the panels, I hope to take over the Hospitality room for an hour or two on Saturday (time is still being decided.) Kat and I will be there, along with Ben Dobyns, one of the forces behind the movie The Gamers (produced by Dead Gentlemen). Ben and I will be offering food, drink, and glimpses into future books and productions. As soon as I know a definite time, I'll post it here! For those of you not familiar with SF conventions, Hospitality is where fans of all sorts can congregate to nibble on free food, sip soft drinks and take a break from the mad whirl of the rest of the convention.
So, it looks like it will be a busy convention for me, and that makes me happy. Those are the ones where I have the most fun.
I'll hope to see a lot of you there!
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STEAMCON!
Oct. 24th, 2009 | 09:53 pm
location: The basement of marvels
mood: 
bouncy
Has been absolutely wonderful!
I didn't take my camera, but I'm sure there will be lots of photos of the convention elsewhere online. In terms of universal costuming by attendees, I think this has been the most extravagant, elegant and over the top convention I've ever been to. Men in top hats with walking sticks and carefully curled moustaches. Ladies in bustles and corsets and lovely hats. And that is before we even get to the fantastic elements of gears, sprockets, lovely weapons fashioned from brass and glass, and all manner of gears and gadgets.
Yesterday, I had a lovely dinner with Tim and Serena Powers, Duane Wilkins, Kat the Assistant, Erik my Tech Guy, and Jay Lake and Shannon Page. Earlier I did my two panels, one with Tim, and learned far more about the history of steam punk and its ramifications than I was able to share!
Today, I viewed a couple of episodes of The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne. Then I attended a reading by Jay Lake (Baby Killers, not available for a year, and he didn't finish reading the whole novella! Lots of 'close your eyes and see it' descriptions, some shuddersome) and then one by Cat Rambo (I'd already read her tale in this weeks Realms of Fantasy, but as always, enjoyed hearing the author read it.)
Then I listened to a panel on Steam punk influences on Video Games, (moderated by Cherie Priest--I'm in the middle of her Boneshaker novel) and then wandered through the gaming room to take a look at how Steam Punk tranlates to table top games. Very well indeed.
One of the most wonderful influences at the convention is the artist guest of honor. Kat loaded up on wonderful prints from Paul Guinan's Boilerplate, an extremely convincing work of art history documenting the travels of that wonderful mechanical man! Do visit that link I've posted. No description can really do it justice. Go see.
There were also various and sundry musicians to be sampled, and dashing young crewmen of various dirigibles wandering the hall, intrepid adventurers and befuddled inventors. A dealer room to end all dealer rooms, and a truly dazzling art show.
One of the most exciting things about Steamcon for me was that it was a different pool of fandom than I've seen at other conventions. I was very happy to see a wider range of ages than I've seen at most of the major conventions lately, and the resulting boost in energy that younger readers and fans bring to any event.
So. An excellent con weekend. Hope I have the 'steam' to get up early and go back to the convention tomorrow. I predict that this is a convention that is just going to grow. And I expect that Rustycon is going to be extraordinary this year, as this 'dress rehearsal' for a dazzling steam punk convention can only lead to wondrous things!
Robin
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Good News! "Amber" identity found!
Oct. 24th, 2009 | 09:17 pm
http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-amnesia-gi
Very glad to share this with you here!
Robin
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Looking for Amber
Oct. 23rd, 2009 | 10:42 am
Serious post.
This link goes to a news article about an amnesiac girl in New York City. Please read it. To sum it up quickly, she is using the name Amber and can quote a passage from Fool's Fate, but does not recall who she is. She is between 14 and 19. She is also quoted as saying that she's writing a story that features a character called Rian “who’s been raised by the commander of the guard post on the edge of a fantasy kingdom.”
Given these details, I think it's possible that she may belong to an online community that shares an interest in Robin Hobb or writing. I've already checked all my friends here at Livejournal and on Myspace, looking for females using the screen name Amber.
If you know "Amber" please contact the New York City police. If her photo looks similar to any online friends who share an interest in my work, or if her story line and character name from her writing sound familiar to anyone, please let the police know.
Some of the comments following the newstories on this that I've seen have been pretty snide and skeptical. I'd prefer to offer help even if I'm later shown to have been gullible.
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Update to the Update (tidied up)
Oct. 17th, 2009 | 05:02 pm
So, yes, I'll be at Steamcon next weekend. And on Friday I'll be on two of the early panels. They both look like fun, and I enjoy early panels at a convention as a great way to meet people at the start of the convention.
So, the panels are:
When the Sun Sets on the British Empire
Description:
What happens when you take steampunk out of its archetypal British or British-inspired milieu? What possibilities do a Wild West, Asian, African, Middle Eastern setting offer, whether they are intriguing twists on old themes or new ideas entirely?
The panelists (besides me) are:
Paul Guinan, Cat Rambo, Suzanne Jachim
That's at 2 PM Friday in the Olympia Room.
Also on Friday:
The attraction of Victorian London
Description:
If steampunk had a capital, Victorian London would likely be it; but why? What is the secret of the city’s mystique? What are the pleasures and pitfalls of the recurring emphasis on the Big Smoke? Join us for a lively discussion of the complex fascinations of Anglophilia, colonialism – and a time so like and unlike our own.
Panelists (other than me) are Tim Powers(!!!) and Caitlin Kittredge.
Looking forward already, which means that I'm looking at all the stuff I have to get ready to be away from the house for most of the days of the weekend.
Robin
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The Updated Schedule
Oct. 15th, 2009 | 12:45 pm
Over the next few months, I'm very much looking forward to getting out of my basement office and seeing daylight. And readers! So here is a brief listing of where you might run into me. For book signings, please be aware the times are tentative, and may be changed when we're a bit closer. So please do check back here or at www.robinhobb.com for an update before you hop in your car.
October 23-25 is Steamcon! This is the first venture of this Steam Punk convention. It's close to home for me, at the Marriott Hotel at Seatac. And Tim Powers is the guest of honor. I think I've weaseled my way onto a couple of panels on Friday. I always think that's the best time to do panels, at the beginning of a con, because you start meeting new people right away. I think you'll have to take a chance on getting a membership at the door now but it's a chance worth taking.
EDIT: Actually, I may be taking part in a couple of the Friday panels early in the con! I will confirm that when it is confirmed with me!
November 27-29 is Orycon, at the Doubletree at Lloyd center in Portland, Oregon. Guest of Honor is Patricia Briggs! I'm looking forward to coffee with old friends there, and meeting new friends.
January 15-17, 2010 is an old favorite con of mine, Rustycon! James Blaylock is the Guest of Honor, and again we have a Steam Punk theme. Should be a good time. Again, it's not far from my home at the Mariott Hotel at Seatac.
Then . . . .
January 26 EDIT: 7PM The Release of DRAGON KEEPER in the US! The party is at Duane's, sometimes known as University Bookstore in the Seattle University District. There will be balloons, hotdogs and clowns. Okay, well, maybe not those things, but I'll be there to read and sign books. Please note this has been edited to correct the time to 7PM
January 29 7PM Down to Oregon again, for a visit to Powell's Books in Beaverton. With their famous dancing beaver . . . okay, that's another lie. But I will be there, to read and sign and look for coffee with friends afterwards. Please note this has been edited to the correct time of 7PM
January 30 2PM Barnes and Noble on Black Lake Blvd. in Olympia Washington has invited me to come by and sign some books.
Feb. 6 Noon. For the first time ever, I get to sign on Fort Lewis! I'll be at Building 528 on Pendleton Avenue.
Now, I'm also starting a rumor that I'll also be at Imaginales in Epinal France in 2011. :) It's our tenth anniversary, so I'm looking forward to getting back to my French hometown and see all my friends again!
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Where I hope to run into you
Oct. 8th, 2009 | 10:48 pm
So, Steamcon is a steam-punk convention in the Sea-Tac area, and it's very first incarnation will be getting off the ground on October 23rd. Guest of Honor is Tim Powers.
Do you really need to know anything more to want to attend this?
I plan to be there, solely as an attendee, with plenty of time to explore the convention and dealers room, listen to panels, wander the hallways, and one hopes, meet friends both old and new for coffee and talk. There is always something exceptionally fun about a convention's first venture. A special chemistry, if you will, when a plan comes together and then comes to life. So I'm excited about this one and plan to have a good time.
Then, come November, Orycon rolls around. It is being held the weekend after Thanksgiving, at the Portland Oregon Doubletree Hotel. Guest of Honor Patricia Briggs! And a wonderful excuse for me to get out of the house and wander down to Oregon for a weekend away from home with a gathering of like minded friends.
And in January, an old favorite of mine, Rustycon! January 15-17 at the Sea-Tac Marriott. Rustycon has chosen a steampunk theme this year, and offers James Blaylock as guest of honor.
So. Who else is signed up to be at these gatherings?
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Eighteen Years
Sep. 26th, 2009 | 08:04 pm
Problem was, a cat was still crying outside. My daughter and one son, both teenagers, went outside with me. And there, up in the laundry line tree, was a small black and white kitten. She was up high and crying.
I will never know where she came from. She was tiny, certainly no more than 6 weeks old, and we lived out in the country then, acres from other houses. Perhaps, as had happened before, someone saw our lights and simply left her out there, and she then fled up the tree from my dogs. Lots of people abandon cats and dogs near smal farms, thinking they will find homes for themselves.
She was beyond the reach of our ladders and our efforts to get her down only made her climb higher. After about an hour, we left the ladder leaned against the tree. I told the kids we'd have to go inside and just hope she'd come down the tree far enough to get to the ladder. Our trying to help was only scaring her higher.
So we went back inside the house. And once in the door, we heard the baby screaming. To which my son remarked, "Oh, wow, we forgot we had a baby and left her in here by herself." Which was absolutely true. She had only been born a few days prior, and I was really out of practice at having a baby, as it had been 13 years since my last one. My poor little girl had cried herself absolutely red and rigid while we had been outside, intent on rescuing a kitten. Milk soon solved all her problems and she went back to sleep. And I went outside to find a half-stunned kitten on the grass. The little black and white cat had fallen to the ground.
I took her into the house. It was a female. Of course. And the crook in her tail was a birth defect, not a result of the fall. Once she gathered her wits, she hissed at me, bit me, scratched me, jumped away and fled into the house. Feral as could be. Not a cuddly abandoned kitten but one born wild or at least not handled much.
My son's orange tom cat Ralph took over. He found the kitten and showed her that humans produced food on demand and were not so awful as she thought. By midnight, I was allowed to feed her if Ralph was right there.
In the morning, I discovered that my son had wrapped her in a baby blanket and put her in the crib with the other baby. With the predictable results. An extra load of laundry later, all was well. And Ralph had his own kitten, something he had evidently wanted for some time. She slept at night between his front paws with his chin on top of her. She ate and she grew to a sleek teenager cat, all black with little white paws and a white chest and white whiskers. My husband said he reminded her of a little girl dressed up in a black velvet dress. Ralph taught her to mouse and she was good at it. There were two fence posts by the pasture that gave the best views for mousing. She sat on one and Ralph sat on the next one, and they hunted all day. At night they slept curled up together. She had little use for humans but loved Ralph; she was never a cuddly kitten but always very self sufficient.
Several years later, Ralph died when he was struck by a car. Piwacket, or Pi as she was by then, was inconsolable. She went out and sat on Ralph's fencepost. She stayed there all day, not hunting, not moving. At night, I went out and carried her in. The next morning, she went out and sat there again. This went on for three days. At night, I would bring her in and put her on my lap while I typed. She was like a dead thing.
Then one morning, as I sat down to do my work, Pi came and got up on my lap. She stayed until I turned the computer off. As the Windows 'shut down' chimes rang, she jumped down.
The next day, as soon as I turned the computer on, she came to help me work. Windows welcome sound, time to go to work. Together, we wrote Assassin' Apprentice. It was her first book, for her and for Robin Hobb.
Today, 18 years later, we celebrated my younger daughter's birthday late, with lots of family and three kinds of home made cake and flowers on the table, and Pi asleep in the yard. The last year has not been kind to my old cat. Her legs are stiffening. She has lost weight and muscle in her legs and chest, and her belly has become a hard round ball. She has become senile, capable of getting lost in the back yard, or crying because she is thirsty and can't find her water dish. Stairs are her enemy now. Recently, she has begun to have seizures. I know that we are running out of time, Pi and I.
But she still loves to find a sunny spot and follow it across the floor as she naps in it.. She still greets my grand-daughter with huge purrs. She still loves shrimp. And sometimes, she still comes to the desk chair and yowls until I pick her up and put her on my lap while I type. We still may have a few stories to write together, Pi and I.
I hope she will be merciful to me, and that some night, in her basket by the fire, she will breathe out and not in again. I hope she goes quietly and without struggle.
Thanks for 18 good years, Pi cat.
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(no subject)
Sep. 20th, 2009 | 10:17 pm
The truth is that story ideas randomly and spontaneously generate in a writers' brain just as flies marvelously hatch from rotten meat. (Oh. They disproved that? Well. Just as flies were once thought to spontaneously generate from rotten meat.) The problem for most writers I know isn't to think of an idea. It's to control the flood of ideas, winnow out the ones that will actually go somewhere, and then store the rest in such a way that they can be found again in the event that there is ever a dearth of story ideas in the brain.
On my computer, I have a file that is just called story ideas. I also have on in my filing cabinet, filled with scraps of papers and scribbles. They are the leftovers from the pre-computer era. So far, I still haven't had to access that emergency supply of story ideas.
Story ideas are everywhere. But one very predictable source is that people are always telling me stories. Yesterday, I was pondering if it is something about me, or if people are always sharing stories with random strangers. Here are two tales from yesterday's catch.
I was at the grocery store, picking up a few odds and ends while my comforter was in the big washing machine at the laundromat. As the cashier rang me up, she asked for my customer card. You know, the card you present to get the sales prices. I looked for it, could not find it, and shrugged. She asked for my phone number, I gave it, and the machine gave me the savings. I laughed and told her that life was getting too complicated. Seems like every store I go to, I have to present my discount card to get my sales, and sometimes I just can't locate the correct one.
She proceeded to tell me a story. A woman came up to have her groceries rung up. The clerk asked the woman for her discount card. The woman responded that she had too many things in her purse to look for it; just ring up the order. So the cashier did. "But then, I did what we sometimes do, and just put in a random customer number so she could get the sale prices. When I gave her the receipt, I said, 'look, you saved almost eleven dollars.' The woman took the receipt, wiped her nose on it, and handed it back to me. I was shocked. How rude can you get? I could understand if it I'd said, 'you could have saved eleven dollars if you'd used the card.' But I'd actually given her the sale prices, to try to be nice and give a bit better service.'
I was shocked by her story, too. I thanked her for going the extra mile to take my phone number to get me the sales prices, and assured her that most customers would appreciate what she did. And I returned to the laundromat, to ponder what could possibly have motivated that customer to be so surly?
Later that day, I went into a leather goods store to buy some leather and a stamping tool for a bookmark making project. The woman there was extremely knowledgeable and helpful, and very talkative, in a pleasant way. Somehow, she got on the topic of a nearby coffee stand. It was one of those 'naked barrista' coffee kiosks. Well, the girls aren't really naked, but they wear skimpy bikinis or outfits that are semi-fetish . . . the lowcut, too short nurse uniform, the naughty school girl look . . . you get it. Anyway, she told me about the one girl there who hadn't had her breasts 'done' and how all the other women who worked there were urging her to get implants so she could get more tips. 'I told her, don't you do that! You just be happy being natural with what God gave you.'
As I drove home, I thought to myself that if I were writing about a character getting a 'boob job' , earning more tips as a barista would be one of the last motives I'd come up with. Then I wondered exactly how much jiggly jugs would yield in tips. Could it possibly make economic sense? How many months would that woman have to work before the extra tips equalled or surpassed the cost of the plastic surgery?
So. One day. Two bizarre and totally true examples of human nature. More grist for the writing mill.
People are strange
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The weather
Jul. 29th, 2009 | 03:04 pm
location: in hiding in the basement
mood: melted
In Tacoma, Washington.
It is supposed to be in the 70's this time of year. I am supposed to be able to walk around the block without feeling sick from the heat.
Today I was looking at the weather map, carefully considering Alaska. or Canada. Someplace with sane weather.
Robin
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Home Again, and Back to Work
Jul. 22nd, 2009 | 06:51 pm
location: the cool basement on a hot summer day
mood: resolute
Then there are the book stores and the book store staffs. At every single store we visited, I felt very welcomed. It is always a pleasure to talk to book store people. They know what's coming out and from who and give me tips about new writers to watch or the book that is hidden over in the YA section but is actually some of the best new fantasy they've seen. I love the delightful mess of book store back rooms. There are signed posters and teetering piles of books, notes warning you off of eating someone else's sandwich in the frig, and the wonderful clutter of people who love books and stories. It's an intimate peek into the day to day lives of the place where it either does or doesn't happen for a book and its author. In the final accounting, if an author does not have book sellers 'hand-selling' the book because they themselves enjoyed it . . . well, then, you just may not sell your next book at all!
I never really know how to thank all the people involved. Without exception, they all put in a lot more than they are being paid to do. The editorial folks do all the extras because at the end of the day, what they really want to do is put out a book they are really proud of. The book store people are all about sharing whatever wonderful book they have just read.
So, for me, a book tour is a solid week of spending time with the sort of people I enjoy the most.
A special thanks is due to fellow writer Terie Garrison. Terie and I became friends first on the Internet, and then at conventions. When I took an extra week in England after the book tour, Terie appeared to offer my family and me a jaunt to Stone Henge. And then we went on to Avebury and the Long Barrow. Words cannot describe the wonder of those places. Stone remembers.
I am glad to be back home, at my desk, with my cats and dogs and various sorts of kids and neighbors wandering through. But it's a bit hard to put windswept hillsides and towering cathedrals out of my brain and settle down to my work again. I think my best souvenirs are a handful of flints gathered from the fields around the Long Barrow, and half of a story about Goblins that came to my mind during a cab ride. If I can write that as well as I want to, it may possibly appear in the story collection I'm working on, though it's much more Lindholm than Hobb.
Well, as fellow writer Fiona McIntosh puts it, I need to apply the 'bum glue' and keep myself in my desk chair and my fingers on the keys for the next few months now. It's so much easier to write a journal entry or answer some email and pretend it's writing work than it is to settle down and ask myself, 'where is the next scene set, and how does it begin?' This is my fourth run at writing the story of the Piebald Prince. I think I've finally found the right narrator, the person who is in place to tell the story first hand. The trouble with that is that she knows too much, and as a result, the tale is already longer than I thought it would be. It's tempting to say, "It's too long. Put it back on the shelf and write something else." But I fear that if Ido that one more time, it will never be written at all.
So, please, wish me well. If I stick to my resolve, you will not see much of me here for awhile. Time for me to pin down to the paper the stories I've been chasing.
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UK Book Tour
Jul. 1st, 2009 | 09:27 pm
Here is an update to the schedule, as of July 1, 2009
Monday, 6th July
6:30 PM Borders Glasgow
Reading and Signing
98 Buchan St.
Glasgow, G1 3HA
Tuesday, 7th July
1 PM Waterstone's Nottingham
Signing
1/5 Bridlesmith Gate
Nottingham NG1 2GR
7:30 PM Waterstone's Norwich
11-17 Castle Street
Norwich NR2 1PB
Thursday 9th July
1:30 PM Waterstone's Bluewater
Signing
West Village, Greenhithe
Bluewater DA9 9SE
7:30 PM Waterstone's Manchester Deansgate
Talk and Signing
91 Deansgate
Manchester M3 2BW
Friday 10th July
1:30 PM Waterstone's Basinstoke
Signing and Talk with Book Group
35 Wesley Walk
Basingstoke RG21 7BE
7:30 PM Waterstone's Southampton
Talk and Signing
69 Above Bar
Southampton SO14 7FE
Saturday 11th July
1:00 PM Forbidden Planet
Signing
And Forbidden Planet will be the last stop on the book tour! I'm very excited about this and looking forward to meeting lots of readers. See you soon!
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Book Trailer for The Dragon Keeper
Jun. 17th, 2009 | 10:38 pm
location: Deep in the Caves of Creativity
mood: adventurous
If I were very clever, or even moderately clever, I think I'd know a better way to link to this.
For now, I'll go with simple. Here is a link that will take you to YouTube and the site for Sabotage & Dialogue. That's the small production company I've been working with in my first efforts to creat a book trailer for one of my own books.
I am emerging from this experience with a much greater amount of respect for people who make videos and movies. I've come to realize that this creative process is far more complicated than writing. With a book, it's me and the keyboard, and an unlimited budget for special effects. You want dragons the size of construction cranes? Sure. Gimme a paragraph, and they're all yours.
But with a camera and a soundtrack . . . whoah. Whole different thing.
This has been a steep learning curve for me, so be kind. Anything you like, put that down to cooler and more experienced heads prevailing! Anything a bit bumpy, well, that's probably me driving from the back seat!
And all in all, we had a lot of fun doing this. And it couldn't have been too bad for S & D, because Kat says that yes, they'd be willing to do another book video. Even with me!
Hope you enjoy this, my first effort to make images that match what I see in my mind!
Robin
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'Friending' people
Jun. 15th, 2009 | 11:51 am
That is not because I disdain you! It's because I restrict myself to stopping in here only about once a week. And if my allotted time for Livejournal runs about before I've read all the messages, etc. I promise myself I will do the 'friending' the next time I come in.
Only, somehow, I don't get it done!
I will freely admit that I am terrible at blogging and Livejournal in particular. I don't know why it takes so many clicks simply to friend someone!
So, please. If you have friended me and NOT been friended back, send me a note and I'll fix it!
Robin Hobb
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Book Tour Confirmed Dates in UK
Jun. 14th, 2009 | 09:59 pm
Update on the UK book tour for The Dragon Keeper.
These dates, places and times are now confirmed. More dates and events may be added but these ones are the confirmed ones.
Monday, July 6
6:30 PM
Borders Glasgow
98 Buchan St.
Glasgow, G1 3HA
Tuesday July 7
1:00 PM
Waterstone's Nottingham
1/5 Bridlesmith Gate
Nottingham NG1 2GR
7:30 PM
Talk and Signing
Waterstone's Norwich
11-17 Castle Street
Norwich NR2 1PB
Thursday, July 9th
1:30 PM
Signing
Waterstones Bluewater
West Village, Greenhithe
Bluewater
DA9 9SE
7:30 PM
Talk and Signing
Waterstones Manchester Deansgate
91 Deansgate
Manchester
M3 2BW
Friday, July 10
11:30 AM
Stocksigning (not a public event - just write my name in books in the store!)
Waterstones Stained
77 High Street
Staines TW18 4 PQ
1:30 PM
Signing and Talk with Book Group
Waterstones Basingstoke
35 WesleyWalk
Basingstoke RG21 7BE
7:30 PM
Talk and Signing
Waterstones Southampton
69 Above Bar
Southampton SO14 7FE
Saturday, July 11th
1:00 to 2:00
Forbidden Planet
And that is as much as I know right now!
Robin
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UK Book Tour
Jun. 12th, 2009 | 10:30 am
location: Basement office
Okay, nothing is for certain here . . . except that it’s all GOOD and I’m very excited about this.
This is the very tentative, could change at any moment schedule for the book tour.
First off, I arrive there. Then I get to fly to Glasgow to sign lots of stock. While I’m there, I’ll drop in at the Glasgow borders on Buchan Street.
Next stop will be Waterstones in Nottingham, and later, Waterstones in Norwich. (Hurray! I love Norwich!) I’ll probably love Nottingham, too, as soon as I’ve met it!
Then I’ll do a stock signing at Goldsboro Books. And a signing at Waterstones in Bluewater and a talk and signing at Waterstones Manchester Deansgate. Yay Manchester!
Later I’ll be doing a signing and talk with a book group at Waterstones Basingstrone. And then on to Waterstones Southampton.
And a grand finale at Forbidden Planet!
I’ve deliberately left out dates and times because they are not yet fixed in stone. As soon as they are, I’ll be sharing them here and elsewhere!
So excited about this!
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Back to the Rain Wilds again
May. 29th, 2009 | 10:40 am
location: in the comfortably cool basement
mood: 
cheerful
Another busy day. I have writing to do, weeding to do, a house to tidy and an airport run to make.
So, of course, I'm here, doodling around when I should be working!
As you may have noticed, I've changed the userpic for the journal. The above shot is from the book trailer for The Dragon Keeper. It's a closeup of Thymara. Makeup is by Cast of Thousands, operated by Tacoma artist Tim Peirson. I've been very impressed with his work, and he has been a pleasure to work with. There will be more on this later when the trailer is completed and uploaded. For now, I will add only that I was incensed by a chance remark: "You can't do film in Tacoma. There's no talent pool."
What?!
So, the book trailer is definitely a very Tacoman production, featuring Tacoma talent exclusively. Not that I have anything against Seattle or Olympia or any other pool of talent. I think that creative people everywhere ought to be given a chance to succeed. I especially enjoy, however, working with local people on things like this.
Progress on The Dragon Keeper? It will come out from Voyager in the UK and Australia in late June, early July. I'm also now scheduled to do a book tour of the UK from July 4 to July 12. And I'll be spending an extra week afterwards just to wander around London a bit and see the sights. Scroll down slowly and with great pleasure, enjoying the scenery along the way, to see Jackie Morris' cover art for The Dragon Keeper.
Dragon Haven, the concluding volume, has been turned in, but not yet edited. At the current time, I'm working on a story collection that is due December 2009, and on a longish story for the anthology Star Crossed Lovers, edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois.
More later, and in a more timely fashion.
It has come to my attention that I am apparently 'twittering.'
Heads will roll!
Robin
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Peculiar day
May. 16th, 2009 | 11:10 pm
It was such a strange mix of things.
Perhaps, since I haven't posted here for awhile, I should explain what I've been up to.
Dragon Keeper turned in.
Too long. Split it into two books.
Dragon Keeper turned in again, then copyedited and turned in yet again, to both US and UK editors.
Second half of Dragon Keeper, now titled Dragon Haven, with new opening chapter and much more detail added turned in again to both editors. Now hard at work on creating the 'book trailer' for Dragon Keeper, writing a short story called Dog Years for the story collection and somewhat having a life.
So. Somewhat having a life means that this week I've seen both Wolverine and Star Trek. And that I weeded a big section of my garden. And that today we went down to the old house to mow the field/lawn before it gets too high as the Spousal Unit ships out on Monday to return to Texas and fixing the Sea Trader.
Well, almost every time I go down to my old house, I discover that we've been broken into, yet again. This time, all seemed well, until we discovered that the little boat from the pond had been carried up from the pond and set at the end of the house, obviously all ready to load into someone's vehicle. The peculiar part of this was that the day was very warm and dry, but the painter on the boat was still dripping wet. So I we must have missed intersecting with out thieves by only a matter of minutes. I still can't decide if that is the good news or the bad news.
We mowed a good part of the lower field, with me running frantically about and saying, "No, look, there is a baby tree here, the little flourescent flag just slipped!" So Fred missed all my trees, which I am very happy about. And I'm happy to say that almost all of them came through the winter just fine, and that the plum trees have already set some fruit.
Then we hooked up the water pump and pressure tank for the house again, so that we will have running water for the summer. And I did some tidying inside and made a mental list of things we need to restock. The last break in, the thieves took the microwave, the little hibachi, my electric drill and charging base (that was my favorite tool!), my flame-thrower/weed burner, the big cooler, the cots for kids staying the night down there, and . . . well, I'm going to stop listing it all. It's too depressing. Most of it, I'm not going to replace. There's no point to it. I feel bad about the microwave. Last summer, we had a batch of kids down for a judo seminar. Travis Stevens, our local Judo Olympian, came down to do a workshop with the kids, and the kids ran all over the acreage and had a good time. The parents came down and helped with cooking and kid minding. One of the families brought the microwave down and left it there so we could use it again this summer. Only, well, we won't. So. Blah. Fred says I should assume that whoever stole it needed it a lot more than we did.
Fred is a much better person than I am.
I do have a new flame thrower/ weed-burner now, so I can resume my eternal battle against the himalayan blackberries and the tansy ragwort. They are noxious weeds, both officially and in my opinion. Tansy is a cumulative poison for horses and cattles. Himalayan blackberries devour the land and climb up the trees and choke off everything underneath them. They grow really fast, too. So the battle is to keep them cut back so they can't flower, fruit and seed. They spread fast enough just with runners.
The thieves did leave my coffee pot, so I try to be grateful for small mercies. They also did not steal my lawnmower or rototiller. More things to be thankful for. And I chained the boat to a tree before I left. They will probably come back and steal it anyway, but at least they'll have to work for it. Work is good for the soul.
On the way home, we stopped at the Roy Steak House for food. Because Fred is running away to sea on Monday, we consoled ourselves with prime rib. The small serving, which was still twice as much as I could eat. The serendipity of stopping there was that they were giving country western dance lessons to several couples. We watched that as we ate, and then Renegade came in and took over the bandstand and started playing. And the dancers claimed the floor and it was really nice to sit there and listen to live music and watch the cowboys and the ladies. Fancy boots and hats. Young couples and old couples. There's an old fashioned grace to that style of dancing, one that I envy when I see it. But I can enjoy watching what I cannot do myself, and it was really a very nice evening.
And now it's late. So I'm off to bed. Tomorrow there are more fields to mow. I still have about a dozen native trees to get into the ground down there.
Saw lots of snakes today, many frogs, and my red-wing blackbirds are nesting in the cat tails again.
Life is good, really. Can't let the small disasters get you down.
RH