Supanova 2018
Jun. 16th, 2018 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustSo today I went to Supanova in Sydney. There was only one panel I was really interested in this year, but it was nice to catch up with a few people, and I did a bunch of shopping.
Raymond E Feist
* I read his Riftwar Saga back in high school, and I remember it with fondness. That is, I was fond of it at the time, but the details are quite fuzzy. All I remember is that Pug became a magician, there was a war between Midkemia and the Tsurani, and me and my friends all had a crush on Prince Arutha.
* He's been writing for 36 years. Writer's block is usually an indication that you have other stuff in your life to deal with, and it's essential to resolve that first.
* Writing a new series was challenging, because he had to build a new world. He'd come to rely on Midkemia being an existing world, which was also based on a game world from the 1970s.
* Gary Gygax once said his inspiration for tabletop gaming was, "What if Gandalf was at the Battle of Agincourt?"
* When will we see his books adapted for the screen? He's been talking to TV people since 1983. He's made serious bank from movies that were never made.
* Everyone in the world pronounces it Shan-NA-ra, except for Terry Brooks who pronounces it SHAN-na-ra. Raymond has told Terry, "You've lost that battle."
* When do you need to stop worldbuilding and start writing? "I know you! 'But I have to get the plate tectonics right so the mountain ranges are in the right place!'" He told us about his old gaming group, where the party was going to encounter a volcano, and someone actually mapped out the plate tectonics to see if this was plausible. "You don't have to be an expert on anything. You just have to be convincing. Stop worldbuilding when it becomes an excuse not to write."
* Character name pronounciation? Names from Riftwar are derived from a system based on Hawaiian.
* When he destroyed a world in Wrath of a Mad God, how did it feel? It was fun. All characters and settings are there to move the story forward. It's about whether he succeeded.
* Collaborating with Janny Wurts on the Empire Trilogy. He knew he wanted a female protagonist, but felt he lacked experience, reading boy's own adventures and Marvel Comics, and didn't want to write an imitation man. Mara started the series as a kid, so she evolved throughout.
* Advice for writers? There are foundations and culture, expanded now so it's not just dead white guys from Bristol. But it's important to read everything and drink it in.
* How did he come up with the name Pug for the main character of Magician? The character was originally called Pip, because Great Expectations had a big impact on him when he was younger. But then Alan Dean Foster came out with the Pip and Flinx series. So Raymond changed the character's name to Pug, thinking he was a fighter, a tough pug, ie like a pugilist or boxer. But now everyone thinks of the dog instead.
* His latest book was inspired by a dream where a voice said, "Who is the King of Ashes?" He woke up and decided it was a great title for a fantasy book.
Shopping
I picked up Parts 5 and 6 of the science fiction comic Eternal Life - the grand conclusion! - from Hivemindedness Media.
Last year I discovered the artwork of the very talented hawberries. This year I picked up her Captive Prince zine learn it slowly, as well as a bookmark and a postcard.
Another impulse buy was from the artist False Delusion, whose gorgeous Sailor Moon poster caught my eye. It was of Serenity and Endymion, with Chibi-Usa, on the shores of a mirror lake, their city in the background, and the blue and white marble of Earth floating in a starry sky. (She also had really cool versions for each of the Inner Senshi, with their matching planet in the sky.) The poster was huge though. I kind of wanted to ask if she had it as a postcard, but I felt like that might be a bit insulting, like telling Ridley Scott you want to watch Blade Runner on your phone. She did have an A3 size print though, and that's what I went home with.
Lastly, I picked up some Studio Ghibli prints, some cute animal stickers, and a clay cat figurine.
Photos
Elphaba in a magnificent dress.
Azula and Zuko. Very awesome.
Porg. (Why do they always look so distressed?)
Beast. (With Belle, Giselle, and Belle in the background.)
A trio of fantasy cosplayers. No idea what canon, but incredible.
Costumed stallholders.
Raymond E Feist, and MC, at his panel.
Bookmark and postcard from hawberries: Damen and Laurent.
Raymond E Feist
* I read his Riftwar Saga back in high school, and I remember it with fondness. That is, I was fond of it at the time, but the details are quite fuzzy. All I remember is that Pug became a magician, there was a war between Midkemia and the Tsurani, and me and my friends all had a crush on Prince Arutha.
* He's been writing for 36 years. Writer's block is usually an indication that you have other stuff in your life to deal with, and it's essential to resolve that first.
* Writing a new series was challenging, because he had to build a new world. He'd come to rely on Midkemia being an existing world, which was also based on a game world from the 1970s.
* Gary Gygax once said his inspiration for tabletop gaming was, "What if Gandalf was at the Battle of Agincourt?"
* When will we see his books adapted for the screen? He's been talking to TV people since 1983. He's made serious bank from movies that were never made.
* Everyone in the world pronounces it Shan-NA-ra, except for Terry Brooks who pronounces it SHAN-na-ra. Raymond has told Terry, "You've lost that battle."
* When do you need to stop worldbuilding and start writing? "I know you! 'But I have to get the plate tectonics right so the mountain ranges are in the right place!'" He told us about his old gaming group, where the party was going to encounter a volcano, and someone actually mapped out the plate tectonics to see if this was plausible. "You don't have to be an expert on anything. You just have to be convincing. Stop worldbuilding when it becomes an excuse not to write."
* Character name pronounciation? Names from Riftwar are derived from a system based on Hawaiian.
* When he destroyed a world in Wrath of a Mad God, how did it feel? It was fun. All characters and settings are there to move the story forward. It's about whether he succeeded.
* Collaborating with Janny Wurts on the Empire Trilogy. He knew he wanted a female protagonist, but felt he lacked experience, reading boy's own adventures and Marvel Comics, and didn't want to write an imitation man. Mara started the series as a kid, so she evolved throughout.
* Advice for writers? There are foundations and culture, expanded now so it's not just dead white guys from Bristol. But it's important to read everything and drink it in.
* How did he come up with the name Pug for the main character of Magician? The character was originally called Pip, because Great Expectations had a big impact on him when he was younger. But then Alan Dean Foster came out with the Pip and Flinx series. So Raymond changed the character's name to Pug, thinking he was a fighter, a tough pug, ie like a pugilist or boxer. But now everyone thinks of the dog instead.
* His latest book was inspired by a dream where a voice said, "Who is the King of Ashes?" He woke up and decided it was a great title for a fantasy book.
Shopping
I picked up Parts 5 and 6 of the science fiction comic Eternal Life - the grand conclusion! - from Hivemindedness Media.
Last year I discovered the artwork of the very talented hawberries. This year I picked up her Captive Prince zine learn it slowly, as well as a bookmark and a postcard.
Another impulse buy was from the artist False Delusion, whose gorgeous Sailor Moon poster caught my eye. It was of Serenity and Endymion, with Chibi-Usa, on the shores of a mirror lake, their city in the background, and the blue and white marble of Earth floating in a starry sky. (She also had really cool versions for each of the Inner Senshi, with their matching planet in the sky.) The poster was huge though. I kind of wanted to ask if she had it as a postcard, but I felt like that might be a bit insulting, like telling Ridley Scott you want to watch Blade Runner on your phone. She did have an A3 size print though, and that's what I went home with.
Lastly, I picked up some Studio Ghibli prints, some cute animal stickers, and a clay cat figurine.
Photos
Elphaba in a magnificent dress.
Azula and Zuko. Very awesome.
Porg. (Why do they always look so distressed?)
Beast. (With Belle, Giselle, and Belle in the background.)
A trio of fantasy cosplayers. No idea what canon, but incredible.
Costumed stallholders.
Raymond E Feist, and MC, at his panel.
Bookmark and postcard from hawberries: Damen and Laurent.
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