Q&A with Daniel Abraham!!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

There's actually an ongoing China Mountain Zhang Buddy Read going on right now, since you mentioned Maureen McHugh...

[Margret, Caladan Brood Face]

@Melissa you won’t be disappointed :) the last two of TLPQ are very emotional books for me, in a good way of course.

[Daniel]

Iain wrote: "There's actually an ongoing China Mountain Zhang Buddy Read going on right now, since you mentioned Maureen McHugh..."

Maureen is an awesome writer and a wonderful human being.

[Silvana]

I have to say my first reaction when reading you are considering to write YA was, like, 'omg don't do that!' Two of my fave authors did it and both fell to the formulaic stuff and it was just bad. However, I think since you are not trope-y and have matured writing you could be the one who brings my trust back to the YA genre and show to others how a good YA could be.

As for board games, have you played the Game of Thrones one? If yes, which version and House do you usually use? How long do you usually play in one session? Any tips to keep the endurance and enthusiasm during a board game night?

Last but not least, how did it feel to talk about SF in the World Government Summit? Any request from the UN to create a colony in Mars or something?

[Daniel]

Silvana wrote: "I have to say my first reaction when reading you are considering to write YA was, like, 'omg don't do that!' Two of my fave authors did it and both fell to the formulaic stuff and it was just bad. ..."

1) If I did a YA, I already have a plot in mind. The name of the book is STARE, the first line is "The power of invisibility isn't that no one can see you. It's that you can see them." and the epigram is from Walker Evans "Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long."

Have I pitched you?

2) I play tested one of the early versions of it, but I haven't picked it up recently.

3) The World Government Summit was awesome, but I felt entirely like an impostor. They had the prime minister of India and the head of the IMF. And, y'know, us.

The Ramez Naam talk about exponential technologies (and why the economic base of petroleum nations is about to evaporate) was the high point.

[Silvana]

Daniel wrote: "Silvana wrote: "I have to say my first reaction when reading you are considering to write YA was, like, 'omg don't do that!' Two of my fave authors did it and both fell to the formulaic stuff and i..."

That is rather intriguing. YA is a tricky genre since it is easy to fall into the overused tropes like: "Unqualified Protagonist Succeeding Above Overly Qualified Supporting Characters", "Insta-Love", "Love triangle", "Brooding but Hot Lead Male Character", and so on.

Just an illustration:
image:

2) How did you get to play tested the board game? Is it something Fantasy Flight Games normally do, sending you stuff to test?

3) If I were there and not knowing who James S.A Corey was/were, I'd still be interested. This kind of global event needs more spice and views. For me SF/specfic represents human exploration and speculation on the future, and that includes a wide range of topics imaginable. I'd be happy to have Kim Stanley Robinson or Paolo Bacigalupi as speakers in a global environment or urban conference, for instance.

Ramez Naam....need to check out his book someday :)

PS: the new trailer for The Expanse looks fantastic!

[Daniel]

Silvana wrote: "Daniel wrote: "Silvana wrote: "I have to say my first reaction when reading you are considering to write YA was, like, 'omg don't do that!' Two of my fave authors did it and both fell to the formul..."

1) I absolutely agree that bad YA is bad. Good YA is awesome, though. Paul Westerfeld's PEEPs is both a cracking fine vampire story *and* a parasitology 101 course that my wife and daughter both enjoyed. Catherine Valente's Fairyland series is a rich and magical soup that will make any kid's brain a more interesting place just by being in it. Und so weiter...

2) George was playtesting it. He needed players.

3) I don't know Stan personally, though we've met a few times, but I think Paolo would have been a fascinating voice at that summit. He's a lovely, interesting person. When he was born the good fairies gave him a deep talent for writing and a gift for making people uncomfortable and the bad fairies gave him a gentle heart...

PS: yeah, Syfy's doing a good job with these cuts.

[Silvana]

Catherynne Valente's Fairyland, checked....We will have a buddy read on Deathless this year.

You know I do have one YA series I like: The Lockwood & Co series by Jonathan Stroud starting from The Screaming Staircase. Excellently written, fantastic characters, downright entertaining and because it involves ghosts, the chill factor is there. He writes mostly middle grade series, and I enjoyed most of his works. including the Bartimaeus Sequence - which djinns, their summoning and binding by their magician masters now reminds me of the andat and the poets.

For buddy readers, just in case anyone who have not seen my post here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... TLPQ will be in 4-in-1 paperback edition, coming November 2018.

By the way, while waiting for the others to finish the second novel, since this is a Q&A and we want to be as interactive as possible, Daniel, you are welcome to ask us anything as well.