Eliot’s Comments (group member since Jul 10, 2011)

Eliot’s comments from the Q&A with Eliot Pattison group.

Daniele wrote: "Hello, Eliot.
Will there be more books in this series? They are two of my all-time favorites."

Daniele--

Thanks for your message. I am just finishing up another of my Shan novels and then I will start writing another of the Bone Rattler novels. I am looking forward to it--I will really enjoy another journey with Duncan and Conawago. If you enjoy these you might try one of my Shan novels; they share a lot of elements and the relationship of Shan and Lokesh is a lot like that of Duncan and Conawago.


Eliot

Laura wrote: "Hi Eliot -

I also have a question about your writing process. How much of yourself is in each character and do you consciously create a character with certain traits in mind or does each characte..."


I think undoubtedly every novelist puts something of himself/herself in their characters but certainly there are many more factors that enter into the creation of characters--I have murdering shiftless liars in my books but that doesn't mean I am one. When I create a character it is for a reason--to drive the plot, to stir some thought-provoking theme, to provide friction for the development of the main characters. That means I do have something of a skeletal view of each character but without question each evolves as they interact, each builds flesh as the novel builds. As I have said many times, each novel I write is a journey with my characters and sometimes my characters take me to unexpected places. Writing Ashes of the Earth made the apocalypse for me disturbingly real because the characters were my close companions for many months.

Eliot

Jan wrote: "Eliot wrote: "Fran wrote: "I am creating my fall schedule and I hope to interview you in November. Fran"

Fran--I meant to mention that my next novel will be the seventh in my Shan series.

Eli..."

Jan wrote: "Eliot wrote: "Fran wrote: "I am creating my fall schedule and I hope to interview you in November. Fran"

Fran--I meant to mention that my next novel will be the seventh in my Shan series.

Eli..."

Jan wrote: "Eliot wrote: "Fran wrote: "I am creating my fall schedule and I hope to interview you in November. Fran"

Fran--I meant to mention that my next novel will be the seventh in my Shan series.

Eli..."

Asking what map of Tibet to use is a really good question. I have never found just one map that I can use for all purposes. Anything that has been touched by the Chinese government is questionable since their maps go through political censorship and also include primarily the government's Chinese names so that traditional Tibetan names are lost. For example, millions of Tibetans came from Amdo, a province of Tibet, and my characters often speak of that land--but you will never find it on a Chinese map. For general purposes I find the National Geographic maps to be the best. I also have some maps from the 1940's I use.

Eliot

Fran wrote: "I am creating my fall schedule and I hope to interview you in November. Fran"

Fran--I meant to mention that my next novel will be the seventh in my Shan series.

Eliot

Jill wrote: "Hi Eliot -

I really liked Ashes of the Earth. I have to admit that it gave me nightmares:-) But in a good way. The setting was so vivid. What made you chose the location?"

Jill--Thanks for the message and kind words about Ashes. You mention nightmares--during the last few weeks of writing the book I had post-apocalyptic dreams almost every night; some I would call nightmares but others were just intriguing.

I always try to have my physical backdrops play a role, almost like that of a character, in my books. A lot of factors went into my decsion to set it on the Great Lakes--I needed somewhere remote enough to plausibly escape the destruction, rich enough in natural resources to support new, albeit primitive, industry, and somewhere where water transportation would be readily available since long distance roads are a thing of the past. And I have always admired the beauty of those big lakes.

best,

Eliot

Gabriele wrote: "I think that our psychological make-up and the way we look at the present and future comes from the past. It's interesting because I practice Yoga, precisely because the idea to just exist in the p..."

Maybe the advance of civilization--or call it the progress of humankind--depends on how much we are willing to deliberately move on from our past. In a very real way that became a theme in Ashes.

Eliot

Gabriele--

A great question. The most unexpected aspect of writing Ashes was the evolution of my characters. By setting the book a generation after the actual apocalypse, I was able to insert a fresh generation to play off the survivors. The characters became very real to me, very close companions, and the friction between them felt very genuine--and an effective way to develop the characters. My survivors felt guilt, despair and shame about the prior world, and the new generation felt confusion and resentment.

In a sense these characters are making a fresh start every day, and I do think as time progresses there will be more of the "new" world than the old in their society. Yet there are interesting questions raised, like who are we without our past? How much does culture and history define us? How much does it just shield us from making hard decisions?

What do you think?

Eliot

Maxine--

Thanks for your interest. Ashes is my ninth novel and if you enjoyed you should try some of the others since they have a lot of themes in common--all of them feature people or peoples who have been outcast or abandoned by their society (in Ashes their society was destroyed) and who have to find their own form of justice when faced with crimes.

Writing Ashes was quite an adventure. On the one hand an author setting his book in the future has something of a blank slate to work with in terms of backdrop but the setting and story still have to have an air of authenticity to resonate with readers. I wanted some extrapolation of science but I didn't want it to be science fiction. I wanted to include some whimsical, unorthodox characters but did not want it to be fantasy. I am glad you enjoyed the endproduct.

Eliot

Mallory--

Thanks for taking the time send a message. It's fascinating to me to learn how different authors are in their approaches to writing. Some thrive in quiet places, some crave the throng of a busy Starbucks. Some outline almost every page, some wing it. I don't much care for outlines--and when I am asked to do one in advance, I never stick to it. Writing a novel is a journey I take with my characters. When I start a novel I know the opening, the closing, and have a strong view of my main characters. When you have an instinct for your characters they very much help write the book.

The research for Ashes spanned a wide spectrum. A lot of it, ironically, was on history since I used a lot of early Industrial technology and science in the book.

best, Eliot

Fran wrote: "Hi Elliot:
I loved reading both of your novels and I am looking forward to reading Beautiful Ghosts. What is your next novel and which series is it in? Hope to schedule another interview with you..."

Fran--Great to hear from you. I plan on sending out a copy of Beautiful Ghosts soon--that was the fourth in the series (six in all). I very much lok forward to another interview in the fall. Eliot

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