Josh Angel
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I was reading through the questions you've answered on Goodreads, and I was struck by how much your answers read as if written by Desdemona herself. I mean that in the best possible way, as I find her quite funny. I know all the characters are technically "you", but I was wondering if there may be a little more "you" written into Desdemona than other characters?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Mm, perhaps. I wrote in the introduction to the collection Penric's Progress: "In the world of the five gods, magical powers are not inborn but obtained, by—among other methods—acquiring a chaos demon, an invisible bodiless entity stemming ultimately from the fifth god, known as the Bastard in His holy family. This led me to the need to make up the character of the demon, which, in this system, opened up a huge range of possibilities, since demons, all beginning as identical blobs of escaped chaos, learn their diverse personalities from the succession of sorcerers they symbiotically inhabit over, potentially, many lives. This also, to my vast amusement, gave me the chance to combine the fetching young male protagonist beloved by the market with the cranky older woman so familiar from the inside of my own head."
None of my characters are me, but they do borrow from my experiences, as from a lending library. Or as a cup of sugar from the neighbor, or junk from the attic, or a literary garage sale, whatever.
(Beware, by the way, the common misperception that only female characters are imprinted this way from a female writer. Or only male ones from a male, I expect. Creativity routinely escapes such restrictive social roles.)
Ta, L.
Mm, perhaps. I wrote in the introduction to the collection Penric's Progress: "In the world of the five gods, magical powers are not inborn but obtained, by—among other methods—acquiring a chaos demon, an invisible bodiless entity stemming ultimately from the fifth god, known as the Bastard in His holy family. This led me to the need to make up the character of the demon, which, in this system, opened up a huge range of possibilities, since demons, all beginning as identical blobs of escaped chaos, learn their diverse personalities from the succession of sorcerers they symbiotically inhabit over, potentially, many lives. This also, to my vast amusement, gave me the chance to combine the fetching young male protagonist beloved by the market with the cranky older woman so familiar from the inside of my own head."
None of my characters are me, but they do borrow from my experiences, as from a lending library. Or as a cup of sugar from the neighbor, or junk from the attic, or a literary garage sale, whatever.
(Beware, by the way, the common misperception that only female characters are imprinted this way from a female writer. Or only male ones from a male, I expect. Creativity routinely escapes such restrictive social roles.)
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Starsreader
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I am devouring the snippet like short books on Penric, excellent idea pacing them out like this and whispersyncing the ebook with the audiobook. When writing these, I always love the names you find for the protagonists (may have mentioned that earlier). It's almost sad if Penric gets shortened to Pen, though, so would you consider this compromise: use Pen in spoken language, and Penric, in full, in storytelling?
Rupert Morrish
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Just visited my son who lives in Mears Park, St. Paul. It's a one-block park, surrounded by tall modern buildings, with an artificial stream running through it and brick pathways among the plantings. It felt so familiar I started looking around for the two-century old mansion in four stories and two wings protected by a force field. Any connection?
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