April Bibliometer

Because Word Nerd just doesn't have enough free hours today to finish the last 160 pages of "Nobody True," it's fairly safe to do the April Bibliometer.

So, the readings (OK, pun intended) for April are as follows:

7 books
2026 pages
67.5 pages/day

Compared to last April, Word Nerd's way behind. April 2006 racked up a total of 12 books. Of course, April 2006 also saw Word Nerd stuck in Austin TX, Atlanta and Detroit airports for a time and she read about 4 books in two days of traveling, so that skews the numbers some.

Your Turn

All right, it's time to hear from you today.

Not that Word Nerd's TBR pile needs to get any bigger, but she wants to hear your recommendations.

What are you reading/have read recently that's really caught your attention? What did you like about it? If this author has written other books, will you pick those up? Why?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -- Book Banter with Trivia

Since Word Nerd knows that millions of people have read the Harry Potter books, she decided it wasn't worth doing the regular Book Banter for because the books are so well known.

As Word Nerd rereads the series, she's going to post trivia questions about the book she just finished... either questions relating to the plot, or the books themselves, or things learned about the wizarding world in that book.

Answers are here.

Questions:

What is special about the Hogwarts school song?
a. Everyone hums it
b. The lyrics change every year
c. Everyone sings it to their own tune
d. Only prefects know it

What is the name of the wizarding world’s newspaper?
a. The Magic Daily
b. The Daily Prophet
c. The Wizard Times
a. The Owl and Guardian

What kind of animal does Harry “free” when he visits the zoo on Dudley’s birthday?
a. Boa Constrictor
b. Tiger
c. Polar Bear
d. Alligator

How many balls are used in the sport of Quidditch?
a. Eight
b. Eleven
c. Two
d. Four

Which of the other Hogwarts ghosts can keep Peeves in line?
a. The Bloody Baron
b. Nearly Headless Nick
c. The Fat Friar
d. Prof. Binns

Who tells the staff about the troll loose in the dungeon?
a. Prof. Quirrell
b. Prof. Snape
c. Prof. McGonagall
d. Prof. Flitwick

If you bought the first Harry Potter book in England, the title of the book would be which of the following?
a. Harry Potter and the Wizard’s Rock
b. Harry Potter and the Elixir of Life
c. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
d. Harry Potter and the Three-Headed Dog

Who is on the Famous Wizards card that Harry gets with his first Chocolate Frog?
a. Merlin
b. Albus Dumbledore
c. Nicholas Flamel
d. Morgana

What does Dumbledore tell Harry he sees when he looks in the Mirror of Erised?
a. A large pile of books
b. New spectacles
c. A broomstick
d. Thick wool socks

What does Hagrid give Harry while Harry’s recovering after his fight with Quirrell?
a. A wizard’s chess set
b. A bucket of Bertie Bott’s Beans
c. A photo album of pictures of his parents
d. An owl

Author Answers with Kris Radish

This week's author is Wisconsin native Kris Radish. Her latest book, "The Sunday List of Dreams" came out earlier this year. She continues to live and work here in Wisconsin.

WN: Your new book came out in February. What’s it about and what kind of reader should make sure they read it?
RADISH: The Sunday List of Dreams is a story that catches the powerful spirit of a mother daughter relationship and addresses a woman's right to own her sexual self - no matter how old she is or what the rest of the world is trying to tell her. It is also a book about dreams - not just writing them down and thinking about them but actually living them. This story is very real. It will make you laugh out loud at the adventures dreams can give you and because the book is a reflection of so many women's lives - it's really true fiction. The story will also make you cry on a few pages as my work always deals with emotions that are real. The Sunday List will push anyone who dares to read it to not only make a list of dreams but to let go of the designs of life that someone else might have drawn for you - the journey is often more important than the destination. A reader who likes to be entertained, challenged and who wants to gain some personal insights shuld pick up this book like right now and start making her or his - if he is brave - list of dreams.

WN: Empowering women seems to be a theme in your books. Did you intend that when you started writing?
RADISH: Oh yes. I have always had fire in my heart and soul to tell it and write it like it is and to share my own life and feelings with women. I think knowing that someone else has been there, that anything is possible, that you are really never alone because there is a sister right down the street - is like a constant gift. I do not write just to write or to tell a story but to share my passions, and causes, and feelings and to empower women to be and do all they can be. Can you see me jumping up and down right now????? Go, hurry, fly like the wind....anything is possible.

WN: What different about writing novels and writing your column?
RADISH: Some days nothing is different because I am taking an issue and forming it into something readable and powerful. As a trained journalist I love knowing and being involved in current events and what I love about my fiction work is that I can blend all my life experiences as a woman, mother, sister, lover, friend, journalist, daughter- all the pieces that I am into my stories - as a journalists there is always - well there is supposed to be - a wall between you and the facts. I love them both but if I had to pick - I would pick novelist without blinking an eye. I love it - absolutely. If I had any more fun someone would arrest me.

WN: Did you always want to be a writer, or how did you end up being a novelist? Did you do anything else that helped you become a writer?
RADISH: I have been a writer my entire life. I knew when I was about 13, a little girl growing up in Big Bend, that I would one day be a writer and travel the world and write books and articles. I have a degree in journalism and have spent 30-plus years doing that and my work now as a novelist is a very natural extension for me. I have stories and characters and events and issues to tackle piled up all over my office - it's a wonder I can get in the door. I was also a voracious reader and still am. Reading was my launch pad for my life's work and really for everything that I do. Also, just like in The Sunday List of Dreams, I'm getting a little teared up here - honest - I never, ever let go of my dream to get to the place I am at now. I have worked so very hard to get here and even in the toughest of times I never took my fingers off the part of my heart that knew, just always knew, one day I would be right here.

WN: What’s the best part of being a writer to you? What’s the most challenging part of writing for you?
RADISH: There are so many "best" parts but what I am doing right this second - composing a sentence, putting words down onto paper - that is what makes my heart beat so fast. I love that moment when the character taps me on the shoulder and says, "Kris, take me to New York". I love when I read back through a chapter as a reader, not a writer, and I am crying and laughing and feeling - I so want to make my readers feel. But, I also very much love interacting with the women who read my work. They are a huge part of what I do and I have very strong connections to them. So I am maybe the only author who loves to tour and do events. It is where I get my fuel. I also answer all my emails - this is a part-time job in itself but very important for me and a way I can honor the women who contact me and share their own stories and hearts.

WN: What’s next for you as a writer?
RADISH: I am editing my next novel, Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA that will be released in January of 2008 and doing some research and travel for the book after that which I have started to write. I will be doing some summer touring as well and then I hope one day this summer I can sit in the backyard all day with a bottle of red wine.

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?
RADISH: It would have to be a toss up between The Secret of Shadow Ranch - yes, a Nancy Drew Mystery and my Girl Scout handbook. Nancy Drew because those were the books that inspired me to adventure and to write. I keep Shadow Ranch by my desk. The Girl Scout Handbook because I am 53 years-old and Girl Scouts was a huge part of my life before girls were allowed to do almost anything. My scouting years were empowering, fun, wild, fabulous and using the handbook - we designed a world that was whatever we wanted it to be. That is what I do now every single time I sit down to write.

Book Banter -- Nightlife

Title: Nightlife
Author: Rob Thurman
Length: 338 pages
Genre: urban fantasy
Plot Basics: Cal has been protected his whole life by his older half-brother Niko, who is determined that Cal won't ever have to face the monsters again. Though Cal grates under Niko's control, he is fairly content with the system that's keeping his monstrous relatives -- Cal's half-human, half-something -- at bay. But the bad guys show up in New York City and Cal decides that his days of running from the monsters and hiding behind Niko are done. The monsters, however, have a different sort of plan.
Banter Points: Thurman writes a great twist into the middle of the story. Can't say more without spoiling it, but it was definitely a surprise to Word Nerd. He also does a pretty good job of coming up with a new-ish monster instead of the current steady stream of vampires in books (though there is one of those too...).
Bummer Points: Thurman gives Cal a fairly sarcastic tone in the story that while it works for the character, gets a bit old after a time.
Word Nerd recommendation: Pretty good book and it's a got a sequel that Word Nerd will likely pick up at some point

April Writing Goal

If you notice, the meter over there is slowly inching towards completing the April writing goal of 20 pages. Word Nerd's making progress, yes, but she wonders if any of the last few pages are any good.

Things were clicking right along in the story, and then, there was a transition from one scene to a new scene. The new scene? Not so sure it's working. It seems slow. Unwieldy. There might be too much leaping around, trying to cover ground that at first seemed like could be dealt with in a few graphs of the main character recollecting a conversation from earlier, but that now seem distracting when it jumps.

The question is, does Word Nerd fix what might be a problem now, or keep going to see if the scene works itself out? Is it worth just going ahead and making a big note to study that scene when doing revisions? Help...

Book Banter -- Blood of Amber

Title: Blood of Amber (Amber Chronicles, bk. 7)
Author: Roger Zelazny
Length: 215 pages
Genre: sci-fi/fantasy
Plot Basics: Merle Corey, really Merlin son of Corwin a Prince of Amber, escapes from the blue crystal prison where he was trapped at the end of "Trumps of Doom" and sets out to start to untangle who's got it in for him. He heads back to Amber where he's nearly killed by assassins, but rescued by his uncle's former paramour, Vinta Bayle... or a woman who claims she's Vinta Bayle. Merle goes up against a sorcerer and discovers he's got ties to an unknown enemy.
Banter Points: Still good swash-buckling in this book.
Bummer Points: After six other Amber books, there's got to be on that's just not as good and that would be this one. Word Nerd found it rambly and Zelazny's usually compelling device of leaving the plot fuzzy just made Word Nerd feel in this one like she didn't have a clue what was going on.
Word Nerd recommendation: Since the others are so good, Word Nerd'll pick up book 8 sometime.

Author Answers with Kelly McCullough

This week's author is sci-fi novelist Kelly McCullough. His "WebMage"came out in July and a sequel will come out in Sept.

For more information on McCullough, check out his website and the Wyrdsmiths where he's a regular blogger.

WN: WebMage combines magic, Greek Mythology and computer programming. How'd you come up with this idea?
MCCULLOUGH: I started messing around with the web back in 1997 or thereabouts and one of the things that fascinated me about it was the way all of the pages seemed like individual worlds linked together by the Internet.
Parallel worlds stories are a long standing form in science fiction and fantasy, and this looked like a fabulous way for some entity to arrange worlds. That's where the first glimmer of the idea happened-I think I called it World Diving when I wrote it down.
Then I started picking at the edges, what kind of story could I tell that would let me really play with the concept? Since I tend to work mostly in fantasy I decided I wanted a magical analogue to the Internet. That in turn gave me my main character, Ravirn. A hacker/ sorcerer was the logical protagonist for that kind of story. Since I like familiars I gave Ravirn a familiar appropriate to someone who lived in both those worlds, a shape-changing goblin/laptop combo.
When I started to think about plot, I figured that I should have a hacking episode gone terribly wrong. So, what was Ravirn's target?
Had to be the heart of the web itself if I was going to really get into meat of the idea. Who would build a web to keep track of all these worlds? That stopped me for a day or two until I came up with the idea of the Greek Fates using this new technology to do their age- old job. To raise the stakes I made Ravirn a grandchild of one of them, and bingo, I had the heart of the short story that gave birth to WebMage.

WN: What's your writing process like? What made you keep working at it until you had a finished novel?
MCCULLOUGH: Most days I get up, read non-fiction stuff and deal with business for an hour or two. Then I sit down and work on my next project for 2-8 hours. I've been doing that for years. My answer to the question about WebMage gives a pretty good glimpse of how the storymaking process actually works. But that's now. Back when I started, I was in college. I'd come home from classes and write for a couple of hours every day until I finished my first novel—not WebMage. WebMage is my fourth and the sequel, Cybermancy, is my ninth. I finished my tenth two weeks ago.
I do it because I love the process, every step of it, from idea, to outline, to draft, through critique with other writers, and all the way up to final product. It's an absolute joy and there's really nothing in the world I'd rather do. I guess the short answer is: I can't not write.

WN: There's been some chatter lately among writers/critics about not reading books in the same genre you write, particularly while writing. On your website, you've got quite the list of sci-fi/fantasy recommendations... do you read the genre while writing? Why or why not?
MCCULLOUGH: I find the idea of not reading in genre to be very strange actually.
I write in the genre I do because I love it and I built that love by reading genre fiction. I think that you'd be quite hard-pressed to develop a sensibility for the area you want to write in without reading it. I read voraciously, both in and out of genre. I consider that part of my job as a writer and I mostly don't let what I'm currently working on dictate what I read. I say mostly, because I do try not to read anything that's really close to what I'm working on.
So, for the last six months while I was working on a young adult fantasy set in World War II, I stayed away from WWII fantasy, but I read a good deal of other fantasy and non-fantasy WWII material in that period.

WN: Did you always want to be a writer, or how did you end up being a novelist? Did you do anything else that helped you become a writer?
MCCULLOUGH: No I didn't. From the ages of 11-22 I pursued theater with great passion. I was dead certain I was going to work in the industry and even landed the occasional paying gig in acting or tech theater. Then I met the woman I'm now married to—we've been together for almost 18 years—and realized that theater and anything resembling a normal home life aren't terribly compatible. The hours and the travel are both deadly for relationships. About that same time I got my first computer and decided to try my hand at writing a novel. I fell in love with the process inside of a week and haven't really ever looked back. The funny thing is that I think theater probably prepared me better for writing what I do than an English degree would have. I did renaissance festivals, stunt work, slapstick, makeup, stage combat, lighting, all sort of things really, and I got a feeling for story and scene that has served me very well, and developed skills like fencing and dancing that map directly onto writing fantasy.

WN: What's the best part of being a writer to you? What's the most challenging part of writing for you?
MCCULLOUGH: The first one is easy, the process. I love creating worlds and filling them up with people and stories. I basically get to play make believe for a living. What's challenging has changed over time. It used to be the business side of things, all the endless submissions and querying and the rejections—I've got something like 400 of those.
But after I broke through on selling short stories and landed an agent, that all got much easier. Now, I guess it's making sure that I keep pushing myself to the very edge of what I can accomplish.
Writing is like any art, the more you practice the better you get, and being better means you can try more difficult projects. Really, it means you _have_ to try more difficult projects, because that's how you grow as an artist. It's really much more fun that way, but also hard, pushing yourself to work beyond the edges of what you know you can do is always scary.

WN: What's next for you as a writer?
MCCULLOUGH: Well, Cybermancy comes out this fall so I'm dealing with the copy editing process on that. But mostly I'm working on a 3rd WebMage book and will go straight from there into a 4th—I'm hoping to get those done in the next 8 months or so. After that, I'll probably write the second book in a young adult trilogy I started in August of '06–that's the WWII fantasy I mentioned and flat out the best work I've ever done. But I've got five novels with various editors at the moment and five book proposals as well, and if any of those sell it'll have a major impact on how I schedule things. Beyond that I don't know. I've got about twenty novel outlines in my ideas file, but the chances are good I'll come up with a new one that I like better than any of those before I finish the WebMage books. But that's half the fun.

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?
MCCULLOUGH: That's a real toughie and I'm going to cheat and split my answer. The Lord of the Rings is probably the single most influential book in my life. I had it read to me for the first time before I could speak, and I've read it about once a year since 1975—it's practically written into my DNA. The best book I've ever read in terms of teaching me what it means to be a writer is Tim Power's Anubis Gates.
It's a time travel book which is a genre of fantasy and science fiction that generally doesn't appeal to me, and it's almost perfect as a fantasy novel. He handles events across three time periods and involving more than a dozen major characters in a way that's practically magic. I learn something new every time I reread it. In particular, Tim's villains are amazing, genuinely scary and at the very same time sympathetic and understandable. Actually that's one of the best things about being a writer, I've gotten to meet so many of my heroes since I started down this path, and even studied with some of them, like Tim.

Book Banter -- The Sun over Breda

Title: The Sun over Breda (Captain Alatriste, book 3)

Author: Arturo Perez-Reverte
Length: 253 pages
Genre: historical fiction
Plot Basics: Sometimes soldier-sometimes mercenary Captain Diego Alatriste is back with his page and the story's narrator, Inigo Balboa, under the employ of Spain, fighting against the Dutch in the Eighty Years' War. Inigo recounts the life of the campaign, Alatriste's involvement in several key raids against the Dutch and the toil of the siege at Breda.
Banter Points: The writing is good in this book as in the first two of the Captain Alatriste series. Also, it's nice to have a writer not overly glorify warfare. The reader gets a clear picture of how hard life was as a soldier during the early 1600s. Though the series is named for Alatriste, the reader gets a lot in this book of how 15-year-old Inigo is changed by going to war.
Bummer Points: Unlike the first two Alatriste books that had more intrigue and swash-buckling, this one is largely about war. The story is more violent and more bloody.
Word Nerd recommendation: Not the best book so far in the Captain Alatriste series, but worthwhile if you enjoy the first two, Captain Alatriste and Purity of Blood.

Because that's dedication

Word Nerd thought she was doing pretty well, when this morning, with a bit of time to spare before needing to be at work, she worked on the WIP and got a whole page written.

Then, this afternoon, she's reading an interview with Lloyd Alexander in "The Wand in the Word" only to discover that when Alexander was working at his day job in publishing and writing the Prydain Chronicles, he got up at 3 a.m. every morning to write.

No wonder his books are so good.

Book Banter -- Sir Thursday

Title: Sir Thursday (Keys to the Kingdom, bk. 4)
Author: Garth Nix
Length: 323 pages
Genre: juv/fantasy
Plot Basics: SPOILER ALERT

Arthur Penhaligon, rightful heir of the House, isn't even recovered from his adventures to best Drowned Wednesday and contain the Border Sea when he receives a summons that he's been drafted into Sir Thursday's army. Arthur assumes the name Ray Green and goes off to his basic training to become one of the soldiers fighting off the Nithlings in the Great Maze. Only the Nithlings have brought a device into the Maze that keeps the normally moving tiles of the Maze from moving and threatens the Star Keep and could overrun Sir Thursday's army unless Arthur can get the Key that Thursday has.
Banter Points: Garth Nix's imagination and creativity never ceases to amaze. Book after book, he keeps coming up with unique devices from the Improbable Stair to the Not-Horses and the Great Maze that moves. It's this creativity that's got Word Nerd so hooked into this juvenile series. The book may be for kids, but the writing is crisp and descriptive and inventive.
Bummer Points: Sometimes because it's a kid's book, the characters seem a little flat.
Word Nerd recommendation: These are great books for young fans of Harry Potter looking for something else to read. Adult fans of the fantasy genre should also like these, just for the imaginative value.

Author Answers with P.N. Elrod

This week's author is P.N. Elrod, author of the Vampire Files novels and several other series. She's got more than 20 books to her credit. To find out more about her, check out her website or her blog.

WN: Bram Stoker aside, you’re one of the earlier writers in this whole supernatural/vampire book trend. What do you think of the plethora of books now in the supernatural genre?
ELROD: The more the merrier. Readers can go through a book faster than we can write 'em, so there's plenty of room for new talent.

WN: Since there are a bunch of vampire books, what should readers know about Jack Fleming? How is he different from other vampires?
ELROD: He's a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Bogart--a nice guy, but don't push him too far. He's got a great sense of humor, but a smart lip that gets him into trouble. More often than not he's checking to see how people will react. If they get him, he's a good friend to have at your back.

WN: It sounds like you did a lot of rewrites on the first Jack Fleming book… what made you keep going until it got picked up by an agent?
ELROD: I knew I was good and getting better and had something different to offer. I did not have an agent; that first sale was right off the slush pile. My first three chapters caused the editor to miss her subway stop. She figured if my writing could do that, then the rest would be worth checking out!

About a year ago a soldier serving in Iraq sent me the best fan letter I will ever get. He said reading my books made him forget that any given pile of garbage along the road could blow up his ride. That was danged humbling to me!

WN: Did you always want to be a writer, or how did you end up being a novelist? Did you do anything else that helped you become a writer?
ELROD: I always wanted to be a writer. I read the library as a kid and that pretty much did the job.

WN: What’s the best part of being a writer to you?
ELROD: I'd be writing anyway, paid or not, but getting a check at the end of all that work is always nice. I also like hanging in the bar with other writers, talking shop. There's always something new to learn on the craft.

WN: What’s the most challenging part of writing for you?
ELROD: Sometimes people don't see it as being a real job. When I'm staring blank-eyed at a wall there truly is major work going on inside the ol' bone box.

WN: What’s next for you as a writer?
ELROD: More books, more editing, meeting the readers so I can thank them.

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?
ELROD: There are too many, I couldn't pick just one, but I give props to writers like Alan Caillou, Ray Bradbury, Donald Westlake, Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Walter B. Gibson, (Maxwell Grant who wrote The Shadow novels) for inspiring the Vampire Files series. They all made me want to write.

A Book List

USAToday just released a list of their picks of the 25 most influential books of the last 25 years.

Their top five are as follows.
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2. Deep End of the Ocean
3. The DaVinci Code
4. The 9/11 Commission Report
5. Chicken Soup for the Soul

The full list is here.

Word Nerd isn't too terribly surprised by the list, save perhaps for "Deep End of the Ocean."(The USAToday blurb about that one explains that it was the start of the Oprah book club phenomenon since Oprah picked Mitchard's book as the very first one for the club.)

Obviously, since their releases, Harry, DaVinci and Chicken Soup have become near book-empires with movie deals and in the case of "soup" oodles more titles. The 9-11 report makes sense on the list because of the historical and national impact of that event.

Honestly, from the full list, Word Nerd hasn't read many of the titles, but she gets the impact these books have had.

Any of the titles you agree with/disagree with on the list? Any you would have picked instead?

Book Banter -- Something Rotten

Title: Something Rotten
Author: Jasper Fforde
Length: 383 pages
Genre: mystery/comedy
Plot Basics: SPOILER ALERT

Literary detective Thursday Next decides that living in the Book World with her now two-year-old son, Friday, has lost its luster and she wants to return to the real world. She returns to find that her former nemeses, Goliath Corp and Yorrick Kaine, are still up to go good... and unless she can help her hometown croquet team, The Swindon Mallets, win the SuperHoop championship, Goliath and Kaine could bring about the end of the world. It's going to take all of Thursday's craftiness and some help from Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, Thursday's time-traveling dad and some neanderthals to possibly avoid disaster.
Banter Points: Fforde's imagination just keeps getting wilder. One would think that the books where Thursday is working for Jurisfiction inside Book World would be the really odd ones, but Fforde keeps things just as strange in this one in the real world. Time-travel, genetic engineering, Hamlet, croquet... It sounds strange all listed out, but Fforde makes it work together in a good read. Word Nerd especially liked Hamlet's role in the story, since Hamlet is one of Word Nerd's favorite Shakespeare works.
Bummer Points: Again, no chapter 13. Fforde explains why here.
Word Nerd recommendation: Fans of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett should enjoy Fforde. Don't skip ahead in the series though... these books do need to be read in order.

Sorry Harry, or There's Just No Time

Word Nerd has made a decision. She's most likely not rereading all six of the Harry Potter books before the last one comes out.

Her decision came down to the fact that there are just too many other books and not enough time. Yes, Word Nerd reads a lot. Yes, it's still almost four months before HP 7 comes out. But... well, Word Nerd's got too many other authors she's never read before/books she's never read before to make it worth going back to the beginning of the Harry Potter series.

She reached her decision last night, when after arriving home from the library, she realized the stack was five books deep and she could have brought back more than that from the library but didn't.

Word Nerd will eventually reread at least Harry Potter 5 and 6 in preparation for the new one, but it's looking highly doubtful now she'll reread the entire series again.

Book Banter -- Trumps of Doom

Title: Trumps of Doom (Amber Chronicles, book 6)
Author: Roger Zelazny
Length: 183 pages
Genre: sci-fi/fantasy
Plot Basics: Merlin Corey, son of Corwin a prince of Amber, has given up living in the magical world of Amber and, instead, works as a computer programmer in our world. Come April 30, every year, someone tries to kill him. He's dodged it so far, but this year, the killer is more insistent and it sets Merlin off on a journey back to Amber and back into the political machinations of his vengeful family.
Banter Points: Zelazny's writing is just so good. He's sparse, but manages to recount the information readers might have forgotten from an earlier book in an effective way. The combination of sword-and-sorcery and science and technology makes a fun read to see how they blend.
Bummer Points: As always, a cliff-hanger.
Word Nerd recommendation: Fans of Steven Brust or Nick Sagan would definitely like Zelazny, who likely based on style, was an inspiration to them.

Author Answers with Jasper Fforde

This week's author hails from across the pond, but Jasper Fforde's books are pretty funny on this side as well. Fforde is the author of the Thursday Next detective series. The fifth Thursday Next book, "First Among Sequels," will hit shelves this July.

For more on Fforde, Thursday Next, Goliath Corp and the Toast Marketing Board (OK, read the books, you'll understand that part), check out his website.

WN: Your bio said you got 76 rejection letters from publishers before “Eyre Affair” got picked up. What made you keep working at it?
FFORDE: When I finished my first novel I was convinced then and still am now, that it would be enjoyed by the reading public. Sadly, this isn't enough. A far greater battle is convincing a publisher of the same thing. The book business is exactly that - a business - and if a book isn't going to make money or is an unacceptable risk, then only a brave publisher will touch it. After the initial rejections for the first book I resigned myself that this would either take a long time or I would never be published. Once that fact had been entered into the equation and I realised that I was doing this because I enjoyed it, then all the rejections suddenly seemed that much less important. After all, I was earning a good wage in the film business and it wasn't as though agents and publishers were reading my book and rejecting me - they just didn't like the idea of it. So I wrote 'No surrender!' and 'Press on regardless!' on post-it notes and stuck them on the wall of my office. I felt a bit low after each rejection but redoubled my efforts each time.

WN: Why don’t you write chapter 13 in your books?
FFORDE: I'm not sure why this might be so but suffice to say that since I write most of my books 'on the hoof' but also want an 'interconnectiveness' about them (two things that would seem at first sight to be mutually incompatible) I tend to leave blind or 'partially sighted' alleys for myself to exploit later - or not. You know when you see an asphalted road leading into a field? Well, you just know there will be a housing estate there - they just haven't built it yet. That's what the chapter 13 thing is.

WN: If you could take the ProsePortal into a book, what book would you want to visit and why?
FFORDE: The Little Prince by Antoine de St Exupery. Because I love the book, I suppose, and where love is concerned all the usual rules go flying out of the window and things just become 'so' without the annoying baggage of reason. Witnessing the events described in the book would be like witnessing an historic event. Being there when something truly, truly wonderful happened...

WN: How do you come up with the names for characters?
FFORDE: Names just come to me all the time. I see something nonsequitous in a newspaper article, or a sign in a museum, and think: “Now that would make a great name!” Norman Bailey or Bowden Cable, for instance. Sometimes it is the rhythm that stands out: Dum-de-dum. Thurs-day-next. Or it could be a word that when split has a very ordinary first name within it. Paige Turners is a good case in point. It could be a name but isn’t and is truly an awful pun. So bad, in fact, that I never used the full name in the book - she was known as either ‘Paige or ‘Turner’ until the end of the book when I put them together for the benefit of people who hadn’t spotted it - and hey presto - you’ve been punned and you never knew it.

WN: What’s the best part of being a writer to you? What’s the most challenging part of writing for you?
FFORDE: I have no trouble with writing other than the overwhelming urge to search eBay for things I don't need and can't afford. I have been doing a book a year for the last seven years and a deadline is a pretty good incentive to me. I was a freelance assistant for many years and that sort of uncomplaining follow-orders-or-get-fired ethic seems to have stuck with me.

WN: What’s next for you as a writer?
FFORDE: I’m working on the fifth in the Thursday Next series at this very moment. It’s exciting to write as I never quite know exactly how a book is going to end - so I’m desperate to find out! The title is “First Among Sequels” and it will be out this July. I can tell you that It is fourteen years since Thursday Next pegged out at the 1988 SuperHoop, and the Special Operations Network has been disbanded. Using Swindon's Acme Carpets as a front, Thursday and her colleagues Bowden, Stig and Spike continue their same professions, but illegally. After that... It’s a surprise!

WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?
FFORDE: Probably the 'Alice' books by Lewis Carroll as they were the first books I remember choosing to read of my own volition. (Important, I think; the first fifty or so dowdy reading primers are chosen for us. It is a 'learning to walk' moment when you have the power to read, and, critically, choose to do so) I must have been seven years old at the time and was swept away by Alice's madcap escapades and respectful irreverence of established nursery characters and situations.
On subsequent readings I enjoyed it even more - truly a multilayered book from which you can either just enjoy the story or, on a deeper level, understand the subtleties of the White Knight's 'names of names' metalanguage. It is no accident that many of the characters in my books originally appear in Alice - The Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen, the King and Queen of Hearts. I think the mix of highbrow and nonsense greatly appeals to me; Lewis Carroll was an extremely intelligent man and could make humorous connections in his writings that are as fresh, full of genuine charm and as delightful now as they were in the late nineteenth century.
But for all that Grade-A nonsense there is a strong and very logical construction of Alice's world. Everything that happens is entirely reasonable given the framework that Carroll creates. Alice herself is only mildly curious about growing larger or smaller, feels only timidity meeting Humpty Dumpty and will quite happily assist Tweedledee and Tweedledum to do battle. This ‘compassionate observer' of all that is weird and wonderful and unexpected is something that I try to reflect upon Thursday. There is little that surprises or fazes her - she just shrugs and gets on with the job in hand; an unflappable guide to lead us about a fantastic place.
I think it would be fair to say that I am influenced by almost everything I see and read or hear. All writers are. I just tend to take life's rich tapestry and wring it out into a bucket, distill the contents and spread it thickly on paper.

WN: What piece of advice helped you out the most as a writer?
FFORDE: Do it for fun. Do it for yourself. Do it because you want to write. Writers write because they can't stop. They scribble notes in books, write poetry, jot down good snippets of dialogue and generally exist in their own little world. Write, write and write some more. Write what you want to write, no matter how daft it seems. Don't be frightened of dumping a sentence, character, chapter or book and starting again. When you've finished one book, write another. You'll be surprised how much better the second one is to the first. Above all, enjoy it. Even if you never find a publisher, you'll still have been on a wonderful adventure.

Book Banter -- Explorer

Title: Explorer (Foreigner, bk. 6)
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Length: 408 pages
Genre: Sci-fi
Plot Basics: After traveling in space for about a year, diplomat and translator Bren Cameron, a contingent of the atevi and the rest of the crew of the Phoenix finally reach the space station Reunion to rescue the crew left behind there. But station administration and ship administration don't see eye to eye on who's really in charge. The situation grows more tense when Bren and the Phoenix start communicating with another alien ship in the vicinity and find out that what they were told had happened to Reunion station might not have been how it truly was. Now, Bren has to use all his diplomatic skills to negotiate among the three parties to rescue the station inhabitants and get home safely.
Banter Points: This book brought this series back to life. The first three in the series were great, then four and five really dragged on. Explorer blew the plot open again with lots of action and a fast-paced narrative. Bren got to do what he's good at again, which was nice to see him get back to his linguistic roots.
Bummer Points: Still a bit wordy and the end wrapped up faster than expected.

Word Nerd recommendation: If you liked books 1-3, stick with it through four and five because this makes it good again.

February, March and 2006 LY* Bibliometer readings

*LY = literary year, March 20, 2006- March 19, 2007

With Word Nerd's hiatus, she got behind on some bibliometer readings, so here's a recap.

February
5 books
1409 pages
50.3 pages/day

March
6 books
1829 pages
59 pages/day

2006-07 Literary Year (This is tracked from March to March because that's when Word Nerd started keeping the list.)
06-07 LY = 93 books
Five Year Running LY total = 371 books

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Trivia Answers

The correct answers are in bold. Thansk for playing.

What is special about the Hogwarts school song?
a. Everyone hums it
b. The lyrics change every year
c. Everyone sings it to their own tune
d. Only prefects know it

What is the name of the wizarding world’s newspaper?
a. The Magic Daily
b. The Daily Prophet
c. The Wizard Times
a. The Owl and Guardian

What kind of animal does Harry “free” when he visits the zoo on Dudley’s birthday?
a. Boa Constrictor
b. Tiger
c. Polar Bear
d. Alligator

How many balls are used in the sport of Quidditch?
a. Eight
b. Eleven
c. Two
d. Four

Which of the other Hogwarts ghosts can keep Peeves in line?
a. The Bloody Baron
b. Nearly Headless Nick
c. The Fat Friar
d. Prof. Binns

Who tells the staff about the troll loose in the dungeon?
a. Prof. Quirrell
b. Prof. Snape
c. Prof. McGonagall
d. Prof. Flitwick

If you bought the first Harry Potter book in England, the title of the book would be which of the following?
a. Harry Potter and the Wizard’s Rock
b. Harry Potter and the Elixir of Life
c. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
d. Harry Potter and the Three-Headed Dog

Who is on the Famous Wizards card that Harry gets with his first Chocolate Frog?
a. Merlin
b. Albus Dumbledore
c. Nicholas Flamel
d. Morgana

What does Dumbledore tell Harry he sees when he looks in the Mirror of Erised?
a. A large pile of books
b. New spectacles
c. A broomstick
d. Thick wool socks

What does Hagrid give Harry while Harry’s recovering after his fight with Quirrell?
a. A wizard’s chess set
b. A bucket of Bertie Bott’s Beans
c. A photo album of pictures of his parents
d. An owl