SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS
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L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
February Question
Will the the books from the Saga of Recluce ever be produced in an audio book format?
At present, the only works of mine available in audio books are the first two books of The Imager portfolio -- Imager and Imager's Challenge -- although the third book [Imager's Intrigue] will be will also appear in audio format once the hardcover is released, and one single SF novel -- Haze. If the Imager books are successful in audio format, Tantor may consider an audio version of the Recluce Saga, but at this point, none of the audio book producers have shown any interest. Read the Answer!
At present, the only works of mine available in audio books are the first two books of The Imager portfolio -- Imager and Imager's Challenge -- although the third book [Imager's Intrigue] will be will also appear in audio format once the hardcover is released, and one single SF novel -- Haze. If the Imager books are successful in audio format, Tantor may consider an audio version of the Recluce Saga, but at this point, none of the audio book producers have shown any interest. Read the Answer!
January Questions
Will there be a fourth book in the Imager Portfolio?
I honestly don't know, but I expect I'll decide that in the immediate months to come. Read the Answer!
I honestly don't know, but I expect I'll decide that in the immediate months to come. Read the Answer!
Will you ever publish a cookbook for all the different foods you mention in your books?
I've been asked this several times over the years, and while some of the dishes are ones I've prepared, alas, many exist only in my imagination, and I lack the time to actually realize them. So, for now, the cookbook will have to wait.
Read the Answer!
I've been asked this several times over the years, and while some of the dishes are ones I've prepared, alas, many exist only in my imagination, and I lack the time to actually realize them. So, for now, the cookbook will have to wait.
Read the Answer!
December Questions
When will the new Corean Chronicles book be out?
I am still working on Lady-Protector, and that means Tor has not scheduled it, and likely will not until I finish, but I anticipate that it will appear sometime in the first part of 2011. Read the Answer!
I am still working on Lady-Protector, and that means Tor has not scheduled it, and likely will not until I finish, but I anticipate that it will appear sometime in the first part of 2011. Read the Answer!
Do you have a certain process you always use to create a universe for a book or series, or does it all come together as you write it?
I'm not an author who can put together a "universe" on the fly, so to speak. In working on a fantasy series, the magic system always comes first, setting up the rules, not to mention the social, economic, political, technological, and military implications. Then comes the geography and political-economic setting, followed by the main characters and the problems they face. Read the Answer!
I'm not an author who can put together a "universe" on the fly, so to speak. In working on a fantasy series, the magic system always comes first, setting up the rules, not to mention the social, economic, political, technological, and military implications. Then comes the geography and political-economic setting, followed by the main characters and the problems they face. Read the Answer!
November Questions
Who reads your books before they go to the editor?
With two exceptions, no one has ever read a complete novel of mine before my editor did. The first exception was my very first book, The Fires of Paratime, later republished by Tor as The Timegod, which several other editors saw -- and rejected -- before my present editor bought it. The second was The Soprano Sorceress, which I insisted my wife read, for the obvious reason that she is a soprano and a professional in music, which I am not.
Read the Answer!
With two exceptions, no one has ever read a complete novel of mine before my editor did. The first exception was my very first book, The Fires of Paratime, later republished by Tor as The Timegod, which several other editors saw -- and rejected -- before my present editor bought it. The second was The Soprano Sorceress, which I insisted my wife read, for the obvious reason that she is a soprano and a professional in music, which I am not.
Read the Answer!
Will you ever write a sequel to The Ethos Effect?
I have no plans to write a sequel, but The Ethos Effect is essentially a sequel to The Parafaith War, and I originally had no plans to write a sequel to The Parafaith War. If I ever do, however, it won't be in the near future. Read the Answer!
I have no plans to write a sequel, but The Ethos Effect is essentially a sequel to The Parafaith War, and I originally had no plans to write a sequel to The Parafaith War. If I ever do, however, it won't be in the near future. Read the Answer!
October Questions
Who determines where you go on a book tour?
The short answer is the publisher, but it's actually the publicity office of Tor, which takes into account where I've toured in the past, when I last visited an area, if ever, and how fantasy and science fiction books sell in a possible tour city or locale. As a practical matter, they won't schedule tours in places where bookstores are few and far between, or where turnout has been abysmal in the past, either for me or for other F&SF authors. Also, given the hard economic times facing publishers, tours are generally getting to be less frequent and shorter.
Read the Answer!
The short answer is the publisher, but it's actually the publicity office of Tor, which takes into account where I've toured in the past, when I last visited an area, if ever, and how fantasy and science fiction books sell in a possible tour city or locale. As a practical matter, they won't schedule tours in places where bookstores are few and far between, or where turnout has been abysmal in the past, either for me or for other F&SF authors. Also, given the hard economic times facing publishers, tours are generally getting to be less frequent and shorter.
Read the Answer!
Will you ever have a book made into a movie?
While I'd had some interest occasionally over the years, based on those incidents, I think that it's highly unlikely... but not impossible. So much of what I write about takes place on a large and complicated canvas that simplifying and shortening for a cinematic format would effectlively gut most of my books. A series or a minseries would be better, but the odds of such are rather long at this point. Read the Answer!
While I'd had some interest occasionally over the years, based on those incidents, I think that it's highly unlikely... but not impossible. So much of what I write about takes place on a large and complicated canvas that simplifying and shortening for a cinematic format would effectlively gut most of my books. A series or a minseries would be better, but the odds of such are rather long at this point. Read the Answer!
September Questions
Why do you write so many books about younger characters discovering themselves and their powers?
This tends to be a common misperception. While I certainly have written about young characters discovering themselves, less than a third of my books, surprisingly, deal with that theme. I suspect people confuse characters who learn something with young people discovering themselves, but more than 60% of my books feature characters who have a chronological age older than 30, and more than 40% feature characters older than 40. Read the Answer!
This tends to be a common misperception. While I certainly have written about young characters discovering themselves, less than a third of my books, surprisingly, deal with that theme. I suspect people confuse characters who learn something with young people discovering themselves, but more than 60% of my books feature characters who have a chronological age older than 30, and more than 40% feature characters older than 40. Read the Answer!
What is the longest book you've written?
That depends on the definition of book. In the first-printed version of novels,The Magic Engineer is the longest book. In any version on one cover, the three-novel compilation of The Forever Hero is the longest, although the three novels were originally printed in paperback separately. Read the Answer!
That depends on the definition of book. In the first-printed version of novels,The Magic Engineer is the longest book. In any version on one cover, the three-novel compilation of The Forever Hero is the longest, although the three novels were originally printed in paperback separately. Read the Answer!
August Questions
What do you mean by Commonocracy?
Commonocracy is a term I've used, if sparingly, in several books. So far as I know, no one else has employed it, but that's certainly possible. What I was attempting to convey was the idea of a democracy run wild, where the government responds almost immediately to popular whim, rather than responding to popular concerns in a considered and thoughtful manner. Read the Answer!
Commonocracy is a term I've used, if sparingly, in several books. So far as I know, no one else has employed it, but that's certainly possible. What I was attempting to convey was the idea of a democracy run wild, where the government responds almost immediately to popular whim, rather than responding to popular concerns in a considered and thoughtful manner. Read the Answer!
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