Kelley Armstrong's Blog, page 160
September 19, 2013
Odd question. I used to really love reading your entries as Chloe on the Chloe Saunders' LiveJournal. I hadn't thought about the site in a while and was wanting to take a trip down memory lane, but when I went to the site, I saw that you had deleted it! Is
Ummmm… Good question! I don’t even know if I have those anymore. The LiveJournal got hacked, so I deleted it—I wasn’t using it anymore after the DP trilogy ended. I never thought to save the entries. I’ll see if I have them on my old computer, but I suspect I don’t!
Odd question. I used to really love reading your entries as Chloe on the Chloe Saunders' LiveJournal. I hadn't thought about the site in a while and was wanting to take a trip down memory lane, but when I went to the site, I saw that you had deleted it! Is
Ummmm… Good question! I don’t even know if I have those anymore. The LiveJournal got hacked, so I deleted it—I wasn’t using it anymore after the DP trilogy ended. I never thought to save the entries. I’ll see if I have them on my old computer, but I suspect I don’t!
Odd question. I used to really love reading your entries as Chloe on the Chloe Saunders' LiveJournal. I hadn't thought about the site in a while and was wanting to take a trip down memory lane, but when I went to the site, I saw that you had deleted it! Is
Ummmm… Good question! I don’t even know if I have those anymore. The LiveJournal got hacked, so I deleted it—I wasn’t using it anymore after the DP trilogy ended. I never thought to save the entries. I’ll see if I have them on my old computer, but I suspect I don’t!
September 18, 2013
Just finished Omens and I'm in love! Any idea when we can expect Visions? I couldn't seem to find a date online. Thanks!
Bumped this one forward. I was zipping to the bottom on my ask list and saw it. On yesterday’s Bitten post I joked that I could answer release date questions for books only, so I should actually do that :)
Visions come out Aug 2014. We’re still deciding on an exact date.
They’d like early in the month and I’m negotiating for later, because my kids only get July/Aug off (I had a few late July releases and they killed “family summer time”)
The choosing of a release date can be more complicated than it would seem—publishers have to juggle their own production schedule with other publishers’ schedules (if you share a release date with too many better-selling authors, it’ll lessen your book’s chances of promotion and in-store/on-line visibility)
September 17, 2013
Bitten to Air on Syfy US
Syfy in the US has picked up the Bitten TV show. That story is here. It seems they’re airing it next year, as is Space in Canada. I don’t know if that’s still scheduled for January or if it’ll be simultaneous releases etc. If you want to know when my next book comes out, I know that. Everything I know about the show is in that release and every question I can answer on it is below (an updated version of my “replies to common concerns” post from a few months ago) If it’s not there, I can’t answer it!
1) Why did you sell the rights? It’ll ruin the books.
I can 100% guarantee you that the TV show will not alter one word of my books. They won’t be reissued with changes, nor will anything in the TV show affect upcoming stories. The show is a completely separate entity.
While there are some readers who would prefer that a TV version didn’t exist, there are many more who want one. The #1 question I get asked is: when will series x become a movie/TV show? There’s enough of a demand that I’ve never felt I could refuse to sell rights. For those who want to see the show, they’ll now get that chance. Those who don’t…? Skip it. I promise I won’t come to your house and force you to tune in ;)
2) Will it come out in other countries?
It’s a Canadian production and being Canadian, I’m thrilled about that. I’m also thrilled that Syfy in the US picked it up, post-filming pre-release, which means that they bought it having seen what they’re getting while not waiting for viewership numbers. That says a lot about the quality of the show. As for going beyond North America, I know they’re trying for further distribution. Even if it doesn’t get picked up for outside distribution immediately, it will be available somehow, in some way, for those who want to see it and may always go wider later.
3) What role did you play in the production?
I read the first couple of scripts—which were great! I visited the sound stages, but not while they were filming. That’s it. Why? Because I wrote the books, and now a fine team of writers is tackling the TV show. I wouldn’t want someone hanging over my shoulder as I work, and I won’t do it to them. Professional courtesy.
4) Why aren’t you playing a bigger role in the production to make sure it matches your vision of the book?
It’s not supposed to match my vision. This will be my story as reimagined by others. Also, I know nothing about TV. My passion is for prose, and I’ve grown accustomed to only doing things I really want to do. Yeah, I’m hopelessly spoiled. I have many projects on the go, all of which I adore, and I jealously guard my time for them. So we’ll leave this one to the experts.
5) But they’ll change things!
Yep, they will. Again, this isn’t a direct translation of my books to the screen. The story that I wrote needs to be reimagined for another medium. Those who are reimagining it are writers. They have their own creative vision, including ideas for things they want to add or change. Again, it has no impact on the books, and nothing they change for the show will affect future stories I write in this world.
6) I just saw the cast and so-and-so looks nothing like I imagined
What readers are seeing online are still shots of the cast. All one can evaluate at this point is whether the actors resemble readers’ images of the characters. That would be perfectly valid if this was a graphic novel. But it’s a TV show, which means that what counts is how those actors portray the characters. I would rather have an actor who looked nothing like my character but totally “got” the part, rather than one who was my dead-on image of him/her but couldn’t, well, act.
If you want to see my image of the characters, you need to look at illustrations, like the one Xaviere did below for the Otherworld guys (L-R Clay, Lucas, Karl, Kristof, Jeremy) And as I paste that bookmark at the bottom of this post, I can hears some readers saying “But that’s not how I pictured them at all!” Which illustrates the other half of this problem: even if the actors matched my image, they wouldn’t match the images of many readers. Best, then, to accept the differences and reserve judgment until you see the portrayals.
7) If the show is successful, will you restart the Otherworld series?
No. :) I’ve been getting more of this one as readers realize I was serious about this “finale” thing, and I’ve started a new series (Cainsville.) I haven’t abandoned the Otherworld. My annual Subterranean Press novella (Brazen, starring Nick) comes out in December. Xaviere and I are working on a graphic novella for 2013 (Bounty Hunt, starring Reese) and ever since I announced the Otherworld was wrapping up—almost 3 years ago—I’ve said that I will likely return someday for a future novel or two. Also, when I sold Cainsville, I agreed to 3 Otherworld anthologies, combining the existing short fiction with new work. Those will run 2014-2016.
All of that was decided before the show sold. My plans have not changed. And they won’t. Ending the Otherworld was a creative decision. If money was the goal, I’d have stuck with it even before a show was announced—the success of the book series continued to grow right to the end. So the show will have no impact on my plans. I’m still writing in the Otherworld, but I won’t return to it as my main book-a-year adult series. We’ve all seen series that went on too long because they made money. I won’t do that to my readers…or myself!
Write for a Better World
You may know that World Literacy of Canada is my go-to charity. They receive all my proceeds from Men of the Otherworld and Tales of the Otherworld. Much of their work is done in India, with both educational initiatives and women’s advocacy. They also have programs in Canada, encouraging kids to read and write and become global citizens. As part of their Canadian work, they run an annual writing contest for Canadian students grades 5-8. This year, I came up with the theme and I’ll be doing the judging. If you’re a teacher or librarian—or you have kids this age—please encourage them to enter. It’s free and it’s only 400 words—long enough to be fun but not long enough to be daunting! You can also download this PDF poster (8.5*11”) for schools or libraries. Lets get the word out and give me some awesome entries to judge :)
Do you have a young writer in your life in grades 5 to 8?
#1 New York Times best-selling author Kelley Armstrong andWorld Literacy Canada are teaming up to bring you WRITE FOR A BETTER WORLD 2014: a national writing contest aiming to inspire a sense of global citizenship in Canada’s youth.
1) Read the following paragraph and continue writing for another 400 words:
It’s been a long, sleepless night of strange dreams. Even once you wake up, you think you’re still dreaming, because you aren’t in your own bed. You aren’t even yourself! It’s no dream. You’ve woken in another part of the world, as someone from another culture.
What happens next is up to you.
2) Send us your story by April 4, 2014 by entering online or by mailing it to World Literacy Canada with the entry form.
Click here for full contest details, entry form, a teacher resource, & more!
Entries are accepted in both official languages.
First place wins a $500 cash prize and one-on-one Skype time with Kelley Armstrong!
The top 9 finalists win a $50 cash prize plus…
The top 10 winners:
· Become published authors in a collectible magazine and online!
· Receive a copy of Loki’s Wolves, signed by Kelley Armstrong!
· World map and atlas!
· World Literacy Canada swag!
Do you know who the actor/actress is for Maya, Chloe and Derek in The Rising trailer?
I don’t. Sorry! They really should run credits on the live-action trailers to give the actors their due.
