January Fanmail

Life’s been so busy here, with the house renovations dragging out more than six months longer than they should have, and needing to spend what time I have writing, that I’ve had to put things like fanmail, newsletter and website updates aside. As a result, it’s been a long time since I’ve managed to get a month of fanmail replies up onto the blog. Here at last are the January ones. They were done in three or four batches, then resorted alphabetically, and I’m hoping that isn’t going to lead to some oddness.

Anja longs for a continuation of the BMT.

Adam from England thanks me for the hard work I put in.

Alexandra from Somerset likes how my books reflect aspects that happen in real life. That’s my aim, Alexandra. Well, except for magic, obviously!

AmyJo from the UK assures me she really did read all the pages (of my website) before emailing, which makes me very happy. She asks about the publication date of Voice of the Gods, so she didn’t read that page! But that’s probably just as well, because when she emailed me Those UK Release Dates were wrong. 

Andrea and Kyra from Germany hope I or my friends didn’t suffer as much at school as Sonea did at the University. No, we didn’t, but I did draw upon several incidents that happened to different people I knew as inspiration.

Anna from Exeter is a very fast reader. She had me laughing at her ‘straining the “homespun” metephor’ because I do a little (very little) handspinning, though I’m not particularly good at it.

Bettina from Germany asks if there will be a fourth BMT book. Go have a look at More Kyralia Books.

Bianca from Germany appreciates that it isn’t easy to write in a way that stirs people emotionally.

Cen from London likes all the things I hoped readers would like about the BMT,  and is pleased to hear about the prequel and sequel, yet hasn’t even finished The Novice yet! Hope you like the rest of the trilogy, Cen.

Chanell from South Africa wrote a lovely email. She asked for advice about writing, so I’ll direct her to the Writing Advice page. Hope you find something of use there!

Chantelle, currently of the UK, has ordered VotG from Australia!

Charlotte from the Isle of Man has read my books 20 times. And she has bought them as Christmas presents for friends. All I can say is wow. And… wow.

Chris from Chatham helped alert me to the UK VotG release date inaccuracy. See my blog entry: Those UK Release Dates.

Chris from Wiltshire dropped me a line.

Chris from Switzerland asks about pronunciation anyway.

Colin from Belfast has a very hungry imagination! He asks for two things: one I cannot do, another which is easy as all it takes is a link to the Writing Advice page.

Courtney from Long Island hopes that one day she can affect someone with her writing the way I’ve affected her. I hope so too. And I hope that she affects many, many someones, and that one of those someones can be me!

Dan from Cambridge gave me a laugh with his formatting. He also makes a very generous offer of free books. Thanksyou Dan. I read very slowly these days, so it would be better if I put those books on my recommended reading list and seek them out when I’m ready, because I have enough Must Read Pile guilt going on already.

Dave from the UK is up to the third read of the BMT and still enjoying it.

Deborah from Jacksonville received TMG for Christmas. Hope you enjoy the rest of the trilogy.

Fenja from Germany wonders why a certain character stopped grieving so early. Hmm. All I can say is the character didn’t stop, and that different people react in different ways to grief. That character is not the type to fall to pieces, but more the sort to ‘soldier on’.

Gabbie and Rebecca from England spend countless hours disscussing lots of conversational topics from the TMG. I’m so disappointed that they were kidding about the altars.

Gary from the UK says my work has ‘just the right amount of stuff in just the right amount of places’. I like that so much, I wish I could use it as a quote on a book cover!

Jo from England asked about the changed publication dates. See my blog entry: Those UK Release Dates.

Jon from the UK says my narrative feels more like history than fantasy. *grin*

Jutta from Germany says there was no better ending for the BMT than the one I wrote. Thankyou, Jutta. 

Kaiken from Hamburg in Germany says my books are authentic. *big grin*  

Katharina from Germany (which is a guess, but a good one because the email is in German) asks why one of the books of the BMT, or the trilogy (it’s not clear) called Gilde of the Black Magier. I’m afraid that’s one for the German translation publisher. It does sound like the translator for the titles wasn’t the same translator who did the text.

Katy from the UK asks about circs and how they are worn. I think the answer may be best given in visual form. Go check out this sketch on the Pinboard for the AotF, Katy.
Larry from Austin, Texas, gaves me a link to an unofficial website for Guy Gavriel Kay. Thankyou, Larry.

Lawrence from Hampshire, England, is raving about my books. Raving is always appreciated. Good luck with your writing, Lawrence!

Lindsay from South Africa says I changed a ‘rather stubborn male’s view of female fantasy authors’. He he! You should give him some Jennifer Fallon books to read next. I’m thinking the Second Sons trilogy. She tells a ripper of a tale.

Lucia in Blackpool, UK, read the BMT after a referral by a bookshop assistant. (Yay bookshop assistants!) She’s hoping for a resurrection spell. He he. Hope you enjoy AofF, Lucia!

Malcolm pointed out the release dates mixup for Voice of the Gods. Thankyou! See my blog entry: Those UK Release Dates.

Malini from Bangalore, India, is pulling at hair in anticipation of reading Voice of the Gods. Thanks for pointing out the typo, Malini.

Mark from Liverpool, England asks two questions:

A) A reason that there is 2 sets of books available in England (paperback and Hardback) and is it true one set is for kids and the others for adults?

and

B) Any difference between the content of these books?

There are two UK editions, and one is for ‘younger readers’. The adult paperback editions were printed first. They sold so well that the publisher, realising they would suit a younger audience as well, rereleased a hardback edition for younger readers. There is no difference in the content of either editions – and price is the same, too.

Mattias from Austria liked the BMT and is going to look at what else I’ve writtern. You’ve probably already found it, but look here for info on the Age of the Five.

Natasha from Aberystwyth in Wales, UK offers up support and thanks. Thankyou!

Paul was looking for a way to order Voice of the Gods from outside the UK. I list a few specialty bookstores in the FAQ page, and there’s always Amazon. Hope you found the book and enjoyed it, Paul.

Philippa from Wearside, UK has set up a fan forum and posted the link in the guestbook. She emailed around the end of January, so if anyone’s interested go check out the entries from around then.

Rika from Finland appreciates the maturity of the characters and plot of PotW and LotW.  Thankyou Rika. A more mature story and audience was what I was aiming for, so it’s good to hear it worked. I hope you enjoy VotG. The BMT wasn’t written specifically for a younger audience, but it is a different kind of story and writing style.

Robyn from Newcastle, England noticed an interesting coincidence in the AotF books.

Rodders from the UK gave some feedback. He asked if I will be producing any more paintings for the BMT. No, but there is a sketch of the Guild grounds on the BMT Pinboard. Who are the magicians on the UK covers? Well, I can’t speak for the illustrator, but my guess is Sonea, on all of them.

Ryan of England would like to know where he could find my short story “Whispers of the Mist Children”. The only suggestion I can make is you order the issue of the Aurealis magazine it was published in.

Sebastian from Berlin, Germany, was Curious to the End. I love that. I hope you enjoy The Magician’s Apprentice when it does finally come out.

Shazia from Birmingham, UK, was halfway through The Novice when she emailed me. I hope you enjoyed the second half of the trilogy as much as the first, Shazia!

Simone from Basel, Switzerland, loves the BMT and my website (*big grin*) and give many wonderful compliments!

Spence from the UK hits the nail on the head when he says ‘It must be very gratifying knowing that you can touch so many people in so many different places with the words that you write.’ It sure is!

Stuart from Glasgow says lots of good and interesting things about the BMT – and amusing things about my friend who wanted to be in the book. I think anyone who wants to be one of my characters is very brave, or very foolish! Hope you enjoy Age of the Five, Stuart.

Susan from Reading, UK, likes to believe the characters of the BMT and AotF exist somewhere and are carrying on with their lives. This is why I like to put a few loose ends in a story. It gives the feeling that life carries on, as it does in real life.

Theresa from Australia enjoyed the BMT and is writing her own books. Good luck and if you’d like some tips head on over to my Writing Advice page.

Toni from England’s family had to hide the books from her so she would revise for exams! I hope the timing of future book releases is a little kinder for you, and that you enjoy them as much.

Tracey and Nicholas from Scotland also encountered the Amazon UK release date mix up. Hopefully they read my blog entry explaining the delay. I’m so with them on preferring series to have a conclusion. I don’t start series now until I know the last book has been published.

Vedrana from Croatia wonders if I am aware of the power books hold. Oh, yes, I sure am!

Victoria of Melbourne sustained minor injuries (crick in the shoulder, sore elbow) while reading the BMT that I hope she successfully recovered from. I love her comment comparing the how much description was given of different moment of, er, ‘affection’. I wasn’t too confident that I could find a balance between cheesy romance and being too explicit while writing the BMT. Be assured, I gained more confidence while writing the AotF.

Vincent… is from germany I think. Thanks, Vincent. Hope the presentation went well.