Lois McMaster Bujold's Blog, page 3
February 3, 2025
another new Bujold interview
...is now up at The Great and Secret Knowledge podcast, who are also running a discussion of The Vor Game. Interviewer is Jeff Richardson, with Swedish co-host Sofia B.
Part One:
https://greatandsecretknowledge.libsy...
Part Two:
https://greatandsecretknowledge.libsy...
May also be found on Spotify, and other podcasterly places.
Ta, L.
Part One:
https://greatandsecretknowledge.libsy...
Part Two:
https://greatandsecretknowledge.libsy...
May also be found on Spotify, and other podcasterly places.
Ta, L.
January 22, 2025
another lost question
Drat it, I just accidentally deleted a Q & A question again, which seems to happen when I try to use my clumsy fingers instead of a stylus on my tablet.
In any case, the question was about writing advice, and the answer, as usual, was to go to Patricia C. Wrede's blog Wrede On Writing, who just happens to be running a series of posts on first novels at the moment. It should be just the ticket, although only if the questioner checks back here.
pcwrede.com/pcw-wp/blog/
Though if they do check in, they can also ask again.
Apologies, L.
In any case, the question was about writing advice, and the answer, as usual, was to go to Patricia C. Wrede's blog Wrede On Writing, who just happens to be running a series of posts on first novels at the moment. It should be just the ticket, although only if the questioner checks back here.
pcwrede.com/pcw-wp/blog/
Though if they do check in, they can also ask again.
Apologies, L.
January 13, 2025
Bujold impersonator on X?
I am lately informed that someone on a platform called "X" and going by the handle @AuthorLoisMc appears to be impersonating me. That is not me.
If anyone knows more about this, do chime in down in the comments.
The main place to contact me remains this blog, or google "Goodreads ask the author Bujold" to find my Q & A column.
(The Facebook page with my name is a mirror site of this one, kindly maintained by fans. I can't read or respond there myself.)
Ta, L.
If anyone knows more about this, do chime in down in the comments.
The main place to contact me remains this blog, or google "Goodreads ask the author Bujold" to find my Q & A column.
(The Facebook page with my name is a mirror site of this one, kindly maintained by fans. I can't read or respond there myself.)
Ta, L.
January 7, 2025
Penric & Bandit cover sneak peek
So...
The cover art for the upcoming Subterranean Press edition of "Penric and the Bandit" was finished this week. I don't have a pub date yet beyond "later in the year", possibly fall. I thought you all might like a peek into the process as well as the final result.
My SubPress covers start as a submission of potential sketches from artist Lauren Saint-Onge. My editor and I discuss them, and settle on a choice. Since pretty much all Lauren does is great, it can be hard to narrow it down to one. This round, we had these 5 options:
Lauren has been submitting sketch choices with horses for a while; it was fun to finally have one make the cut, as I am fond of horses too. After picking, and seeing the semi-final (I had her move a rock out of the way the poor horse was about to stumble over), and some back-and-forthing over lettering placement and colors, we ended up with this.
I never said what color Pen's borrowed horse was, so the striking white is not ruled out, given the emblematic color of his Order. I can totally see the curia's motor pool issuing him a white one for that reason. Although there ought to have been more problems mentioned in the text with keeping it clean and shiny -- perhaps Des had some tricks that work on ponies as well as vestments.
Anyway, I'm very pleased with this cover. I think it may well be my fave after the excellent Pen portrayal for "The Physicians of Vilnoc".
Ta, L.
A side note: Coming up, I'm going to be offline for much of January, so my response times will be slow, intermittent, or much delayed. I'll be back as usual in February.
The cover art for the upcoming Subterranean Press edition of "Penric and the Bandit" was finished this week. I don't have a pub date yet beyond "later in the year", possibly fall. I thought you all might like a peek into the process as well as the final result.
My SubPress covers start as a submission of potential sketches from artist Lauren Saint-Onge. My editor and I discuss them, and settle on a choice. Since pretty much all Lauren does is great, it can be hard to narrow it down to one. This round, we had these 5 options:
Lauren has been submitting sketch choices with horses for a while; it was fun to finally have one make the cut, as I am fond of horses too. After picking, and seeing the semi-final (I had her move a rock out of the way the poor horse was about to stumble over), and some back-and-forthing over lettering placement and colors, we ended up with this.
I never said what color Pen's borrowed horse was, so the striking white is not ruled out, given the emblematic color of his Order. I can totally see the curia's motor pool issuing him a white one for that reason. Although there ought to have been more problems mentioned in the text with keeping it clean and shiny -- perhaps Des had some tricks that work on ponies as well as vestments.
Anyway, I'm very pleased with this cover. I think it may well be my fave after the excellent Pen portrayal for "The Physicians of Vilnoc".
Ta, L.
A side note: Coming up, I'm going to be offline for much of January, so my response times will be slow, intermittent, or much delayed. I'll be back as usual in February.
January 2, 2025
SubPress Demon Daughter now shipping
Here:
https://subterraneanpress.com/bujold-dd/
It will not be available through other online vendors.
But it can be ordered through your favorite bricks & mortar bookstore that handles Subterranean Press. Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore and Dreamhaven Books & Comics here in Minneapolis should have copies soon. All are pre-signed.
Also, I just saw the final art for the cover of the upcoming "Penric and the Bandit", very sharp; I should have a sneak peek in due course.
Ta, L.
https://subterraneanpress.com/bujold-dd/
It will not be available through other online vendors.
But it can be ordered through your favorite bricks & mortar bookstore that handles Subterranean Press. Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore and Dreamhaven Books & Comics here in Minneapolis should have copies soon. All are pre-signed.
Also, I just saw the final art for the cover of the upcoming "Penric and the Bandit", very sharp; I should have a sneak peek in due course.
Ta, L.
December 31, 2024
Doylist vs. Watsonian, revisted
This was very fun...
https://www.pbs.org/show/lucy-worsley...
PBS 3-part series on, actually, Doyle vs. Holmes. Fascinating from a writer's point of view.
Ta, L.
https://www.pbs.org/show/lucy-worsley...
PBS 3-part series on, actually, Doyle vs. Holmes. Fascinating from a writer's point of view.
Ta, L.
December 16, 2024
PW reviews Demon Daughter!
Still nifty after all these years -- Publishers Weekly is a high-end place to get noticed, not least because libraries can use their reviews to pick purchases.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781...
Or, without the decorations,
Demon Daughter
Lois McMaster Bujold. Subterranean, $45 (224p) ISBN 978-1-64524-219-2
Bujold’s 13th Penric and Desdemona fantasy (after Penric’s Labors) takes the series in a more introspective direction as, for the first time, she places her two leads in conflict with each other. Temple sorcerer Pen and Des, the chaos demon with whom he shares a body, are called to help when an apparently possessed young girl, Otta, washes ashore in a nearby fishing village. After Pen, Des, and Pen’s wife, Nikys, determine that the child is indeed hosting a very young demon, they face a multipronged quandary. It’s unknown whether anyone else on Otta’s father’s ship survived and, if so, whether they’ll claim a child with a demon. Temple policy is to bring uncontrolled demons before a Temple saint, who will decide whether to remove it or leave it with the host. While Pen and Nikys grow fond of Otta, Des begins to care for the young demon, putting them at odds. “You think you’re taking an adopted child to be cured of a disease,” Des argues, “but I would be taking an adopted child to be executed.” Seeing these two at cross-purposes puts a fresh twist on Bujold’s formula, allowing her to reveal new sides to each character. This works well as a quiet interlude between the action of previous volumes and the adventures that await. (Jan.)
Ta, L.
Later: also now Locus:
https://locusmag.com/2024/12/demon-da...
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781...
Or, without the decorations,
Demon Daughter
Lois McMaster Bujold. Subterranean, $45 (224p) ISBN 978-1-64524-219-2
Bujold’s 13th Penric and Desdemona fantasy (after Penric’s Labors) takes the series in a more introspective direction as, for the first time, she places her two leads in conflict with each other. Temple sorcerer Pen and Des, the chaos demon with whom he shares a body, are called to help when an apparently possessed young girl, Otta, washes ashore in a nearby fishing village. After Pen, Des, and Pen’s wife, Nikys, determine that the child is indeed hosting a very young demon, they face a multipronged quandary. It’s unknown whether anyone else on Otta’s father’s ship survived and, if so, whether they’ll claim a child with a demon. Temple policy is to bring uncontrolled demons before a Temple saint, who will decide whether to remove it or leave it with the host. While Pen and Nikys grow fond of Otta, Des begins to care for the young demon, putting them at odds. “You think you’re taking an adopted child to be cured of a disease,” Des argues, “but I would be taking an adopted child to be executed.” Seeing these two at cross-purposes puts a fresh twist on Bujold’s formula, allowing her to reveal new sides to each character. This works well as a quiet interlude between the action of previous volumes and the adventures that await. (Jan.)
Ta, L.
Later: also now Locus:
https://locusmag.com/2024/12/demon-da...
December 14, 2024
amiable anime
The subject of anime (and manga) has come up on my blog or author Q&A from time to time, as it’s been an ongoing interest of mine for some decades now, as availability has increased with the advances in entertainment technologies.
Anime encompasses the complete range of story types and then some, but at the moment I’m only on for Smart and Kind, or at least Not Awful. Do not want horror, ultra or unrelenting or stupid violence, saccharine kiddie shows, or the thousandth iteration of [X] in Another World. Also rather tired of middle and high school angst; prefer adult characters even if they are peripheral to the youngsters. For those interested, here is my list of recs of superior non-downer series.
Mushi-shi. Always in my first place. A mysterious white-haired fellow named Ginko goes around solving (or sometimes not) people’s problems with supernatural creatures called mushi. (Which I am told is Japanese for “bug”; so the title translates something like “bug-master.” Good call leaving it in the original.) Feels folkloric, but actually these mushi are the fantasy invention of the manga writer, Yuki Urushibara… Subtle, atmospheric, and if you enjoy it, alas, there is nothing else like it.
Hard to find streaming at the moment, apparently because the first couple of seasons were produced in the US by two different companies. The real Season 1 starts with an episode called “The Green Seat”, and can still be had as a S.A.V.E. DVD box set on Amazon, I see. (If anyone knows where it’s currently streaming, chime in down in the comments.) But it’s episodic enough you can just plunge into the ensuing season on Crunchyroll and probably get enough for going on with. The manga is available as an e-manga; some paper editions left.
The rest are in no particular order. On Crunchyroll:
Natsume’s Book of Friends Adventures of a boy in modern-ish rural Japan who can see yokai, Japanese supernatural entities, light version. (The traditional originals tend to be much nastier.) Over, now, 7 seasons he develops found family and friends on both side of the magical divide.
Heaven’s Design Team. God outsources the design of the world’s multitude of animals. Delighted the biology fan in me. Likewise,
Cells at Work! It is truly astonishing how well and hilariously the human immune system fits into anime tropes. Equally good, though darker and with more adult subjects, is Cells at Work!: Code Black.
Midnight Occult Civil Servants. Young man at his first job joins the municipal team in charge of dealing with problem supernatural creatures in modern Tokyo.
The Morose Mononokean. High school student discovers a mysterious classmate who, again, deals with problem yokai.
Those Snow White Notes. Slice-of-life (non-fantasy) about modern shamisen players – based on a manga, but the anime has actual, and wonderful, music.
Barakamon. Slice-of-life (non-fantasy) about a young hotshot Tokyo calligraphy artist who goes to a rural Japanese island to get his act together after screwing up at home.
Dr. Ramune – Mysterious Disease Specialist. A young practitioner of rather shamanic magic treats the bizarre supernatural/emotional symptoms of his patients. Modern-ish setting.
Holmes of Kyoto. Slice-of-life about a young art appraiser in modern Kyoto, and the forgers and forgeries (and not) he encounters.
My Roommate is a Cat! All right, maybe not smart, but manages kind. A lonely writer picks up a stray cat, and the ensuing adventures widen his social world. The parts of the episodes from the point of view of the cat are especially amusing.
This Boy is a Professional Wizard. Short m/m romance, very pretty animation.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. Gets past my surfeit of D&D-based worlds by examining the afterward of the adventure. Unfinished, so I’m not sure if it will hold up to the end.
Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files. Spin-off of a much longer set of productions that I don’t especially rec (Fate/Zero, Fate/Stay Night), but you don’t need to have seen them first; essentials get recapped. Ex-pat Japanese magic teacher, and investigator, in modern London/Britain. Darker than most of the other recs here, but rich animation style.
Raven of the Inner Palace. Again, darker, one of a large herd of palace harem intrigue animations, but a pretty good example of its class.
Taisho Otome Fairy Tale. Despite the title, non-magical: slice-of-life romance in early 1920s Japan. Arranged marriage between a boy disowned by his family for a disability, and a girl sold by hers due to poverty.
Kakuryo – Bed & Breakfast. Another girl-sold-for-debt plot, but this time to an inn-owning ogre in the underworld; she upends the scheme by insisting on buying herself out by her own labor at the magical inn.
Zombie Land Saga. Oookaay… Does not exactly meet either of the parameters for this list, but the only zombie tale, or for that matter pop idol tale, I’ve ever liked. Unluckily deceased pop-idol wanna-be is revived, along with several others, to be part of a girl song and dance group. Nothing goes as planned. Real local color, Saga being not a story type, but the name of a prefecture in rural Japan.
Thunderbolt Fantasy. Magic & swords adventure, but with the most fabulous Taiwanese traditional puppetry. It has several seasons.
ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Division A bureaucrat with a mysterious past investigates goings-on in the 13 regions of his country.
The Case Files of Jeweler Richard. College student in modern Tokyo is hired by a mysterious ex-pat British jeweler; together, they fight not crime but clients’ personal problems.
ReLife Pushing-30 shut-in is invited to a rejuvenation/psychology experiment reliving his high school years, trying to get it right this time. Not time travel, I should clarify, though the science is equally bogus; it’s a current high school.
Elegant Yokai Apartment Life wasn’t bad.
Hozuki’s Coolheadedness. Administrative adventures of the ogre who is second-in-command of the Japanese/Buddhist hell. Not on Crunchy anymore; not sure where it’s steaming at present. Likewise a problem with the amusing yokai rom-com Kamisama Kiss.
And that’s enough for now.
Ta, L.
Anime encompasses the complete range of story types and then some, but at the moment I’m only on for Smart and Kind, or at least Not Awful. Do not want horror, ultra or unrelenting or stupid violence, saccharine kiddie shows, or the thousandth iteration of [X] in Another World. Also rather tired of middle and high school angst; prefer adult characters even if they are peripheral to the youngsters. For those interested, here is my list of recs of superior non-downer series.
Mushi-shi. Always in my first place. A mysterious white-haired fellow named Ginko goes around solving (or sometimes not) people’s problems with supernatural creatures called mushi. (Which I am told is Japanese for “bug”; so the title translates something like “bug-master.” Good call leaving it in the original.) Feels folkloric, but actually these mushi are the fantasy invention of the manga writer, Yuki Urushibara… Subtle, atmospheric, and if you enjoy it, alas, there is nothing else like it.
Hard to find streaming at the moment, apparently because the first couple of seasons were produced in the US by two different companies. The real Season 1 starts with an episode called “The Green Seat”, and can still be had as a S.A.V.E. DVD box set on Amazon, I see. (If anyone knows where it’s currently streaming, chime in down in the comments.) But it’s episodic enough you can just plunge into the ensuing season on Crunchyroll and probably get enough for going on with. The manga is available as an e-manga; some paper editions left.
The rest are in no particular order. On Crunchyroll:
Natsume’s Book of Friends Adventures of a boy in modern-ish rural Japan who can see yokai, Japanese supernatural entities, light version. (The traditional originals tend to be much nastier.) Over, now, 7 seasons he develops found family and friends on both side of the magical divide.
Heaven’s Design Team. God outsources the design of the world’s multitude of animals. Delighted the biology fan in me. Likewise,
Cells at Work! It is truly astonishing how well and hilariously the human immune system fits into anime tropes. Equally good, though darker and with more adult subjects, is Cells at Work!: Code Black.
Midnight Occult Civil Servants. Young man at his first job joins the municipal team in charge of dealing with problem supernatural creatures in modern Tokyo.
The Morose Mononokean. High school student discovers a mysterious classmate who, again, deals with problem yokai.
Those Snow White Notes. Slice-of-life (non-fantasy) about modern shamisen players – based on a manga, but the anime has actual, and wonderful, music.
Barakamon. Slice-of-life (non-fantasy) about a young hotshot Tokyo calligraphy artist who goes to a rural Japanese island to get his act together after screwing up at home.
Dr. Ramune – Mysterious Disease Specialist. A young practitioner of rather shamanic magic treats the bizarre supernatural/emotional symptoms of his patients. Modern-ish setting.
Holmes of Kyoto. Slice-of-life about a young art appraiser in modern Kyoto, and the forgers and forgeries (and not) he encounters.
My Roommate is a Cat! All right, maybe not smart, but manages kind. A lonely writer picks up a stray cat, and the ensuing adventures widen his social world. The parts of the episodes from the point of view of the cat are especially amusing.
This Boy is a Professional Wizard. Short m/m romance, very pretty animation.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. Gets past my surfeit of D&D-based worlds by examining the afterward of the adventure. Unfinished, so I’m not sure if it will hold up to the end.
Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files. Spin-off of a much longer set of productions that I don’t especially rec (Fate/Zero, Fate/Stay Night), but you don’t need to have seen them first; essentials get recapped. Ex-pat Japanese magic teacher, and investigator, in modern London/Britain. Darker than most of the other recs here, but rich animation style.
Raven of the Inner Palace. Again, darker, one of a large herd of palace harem intrigue animations, but a pretty good example of its class.
Taisho Otome Fairy Tale. Despite the title, non-magical: slice-of-life romance in early 1920s Japan. Arranged marriage between a boy disowned by his family for a disability, and a girl sold by hers due to poverty.
Kakuryo – Bed & Breakfast. Another girl-sold-for-debt plot, but this time to an inn-owning ogre in the underworld; she upends the scheme by insisting on buying herself out by her own labor at the magical inn.
Zombie Land Saga. Oookaay… Does not exactly meet either of the parameters for this list, but the only zombie tale, or for that matter pop idol tale, I’ve ever liked. Unluckily deceased pop-idol wanna-be is revived, along with several others, to be part of a girl song and dance group. Nothing goes as planned. Real local color, Saga being not a story type, but the name of a prefecture in rural Japan.
Thunderbolt Fantasy. Magic & swords adventure, but with the most fabulous Taiwanese traditional puppetry. It has several seasons.
ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Division A bureaucrat with a mysterious past investigates goings-on in the 13 regions of his country.
The Case Files of Jeweler Richard. College student in modern Tokyo is hired by a mysterious ex-pat British jeweler; together, they fight not crime but clients’ personal problems.
ReLife Pushing-30 shut-in is invited to a rejuvenation/psychology experiment reliving his high school years, trying to get it right this time. Not time travel, I should clarify, though the science is equally bogus; it’s a current high school.
Elegant Yokai Apartment Life wasn’t bad.
Hozuki’s Coolheadedness. Administrative adventures of the ogre who is second-in-command of the Japanese/Buddhist hell. Not on Crunchy anymore; not sure where it’s steaming at present. Likewise a problem with the amusing yokai rom-com Kamisama Kiss.
And that’s enough for now.
Ta, L.
December 10, 2024
LMB interview musings
So...
I'd just this week finally figured out how to set my Pixel earbuds, which had been sitting in their case for a year, to different volumes on each side. (I am near deaf in my right ear.) There is a well-hidden slider bar deep in the buds' control panel on my tablet or phone. The immediate motivation for this was to be able to move around while listening to podcasts, instead of yet more sitting which is hell on my back. (Spine issues, details on request. MRIs are fascinating.)
On impulse, I tried Googling "Lois McMaster Bujold interview", and a rather astonishing number of old and more recent interviews popped up. (Is "googling" still capitalized, now that it's a verb and not a proper noun?) You all can do the same, if you are curious.
A few hourswasted spent ego-cruising the results reinforces two observations I'd made before about my interviews; the same questions get a lot of by-now rather canned repeats on the answers, and my written interviews are way more coherent and focused than my audio ones. I have concluded I talk in first draft, more trying to get to my meanings by bracketing fire than direct hits. Spoken interviews put into text by the interviewer that I get to edit before publication are rather better. (Unedited auto-transcriptions get pretty hilarious.)
On the other hand, I've lately been made aware of how very many more readers are now primarily audio consumers, as technology continues to create the ambit of the possible for art.
Besides Google, there is a nice collection of my interview links on the Vorkosigan Wiki, but one has to find it.
https://vorkosigan.fandom.com/wiki/Au...
A top-level Google (or google) does pretty well, if one chooses the right keywords.
...And there are also the hundreds of answered questions right here on my Goodreads "Ask the Author" feature, as if the foregoing weren't more than enough.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/1609...
Ta, L.
I'd just this week finally figured out how to set my Pixel earbuds, which had been sitting in their case for a year, to different volumes on each side. (I am near deaf in my right ear.) There is a well-hidden slider bar deep in the buds' control panel on my tablet or phone. The immediate motivation for this was to be able to move around while listening to podcasts, instead of yet more sitting which is hell on my back. (Spine issues, details on request. MRIs are fascinating.)
On impulse, I tried Googling "Lois McMaster Bujold interview", and a rather astonishing number of old and more recent interviews popped up. (Is "googling" still capitalized, now that it's a verb and not a proper noun?) You all can do the same, if you are curious.
A few hours
On the other hand, I've lately been made aware of how very many more readers are now primarily audio consumers, as technology continues to create the ambit of the possible for art.
Besides Google, there is a nice collection of my interview links on the Vorkosigan Wiki, but one has to find it.
https://vorkosigan.fandom.com/wiki/Au...
A top-level Google (or google) does pretty well, if one chooses the right keywords.
...And there are also the hundreds of answered questions right here on my Goodreads "Ask the Author" feature, as if the foregoing weren't more than enough.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/1609...
Ta, L.
November 25, 2024
fumble finger
I accidentally just pressed "ignore" instead of "accept" on a friend request -- Jessica, please try again.
(I trust that isn't a perma-block -- folks who are familiar with the hazards of such error issues on GR, do chime in below for our educations.)
Ta, L.
(I trust that isn't a perma-block -- folks who are familiar with the hazards of such error issues on GR, do chime in below for our educations.)
Ta, L.
