Time for a bit o' fun

It is getting a tad serious here. I am afraid I might be exhausting people with all the heavy pondering. Therefore, in response I'd like to show how I look - if I were on The Simpsons [TM].

An intriguing likeness. I wonder what I might do in an actual episode - get shot through and acid factory like Luke Perry perhaps? Hmm...

I am probably waaaay behind; you all have probably known about Simpsonising [TM] yourselves for ages. I would love to see what you guys might look like as citizens of Springfield [TM] - not sure how though - perhaps you could post them somewhere then leave links in the comments? Maybe that'll work?

By the way, I am digging the polls - very informative, I love getting feedback. I hope people are enjoying them. Anyone got a good idea for any other questions I could be asking? Also, does anyone have a real world term they would like to challenge me to turn into a Half-Continent term? (It has been soooo long since I last had a go at this - so go on, challenge me.)

An objectionable question

After the last post I have some questions rolling about my head.

If a book that truly was objectionable is published would it be best to ban it (no doubt increasing focus on it and therefore sales) or leave it be and hope it evaporates into obscurity?

If a child you knew (son, daughter, niece, nephew, younger sibling and all the rest) wanted to read a book you had doubts about do you let them just read it - not wanting to impact their liberties - or ban them entirely - seeking to preserve their innocence? Or would it be better (though a whole lot more work) to read the text first or along with the child and then discuss the objectionable parts and give then some perspective?

Being that I have been married a little over a year and children are a possible future for me, this is becoming startlingly relevant. Anyway, nothing particularly new in these queries, they have been a vexed issue for long before I was ever pondering them.

Objectionable Book

Discovered this little gem not so long ago - found here and written by THE HON. DR GORDON MOYES.

'I knew Scholastic also had an Australian Book Club. I later found in some of their promotional material: “Welcome to Scholastic Book Clubs, where you’ll always find fabulous books, terrific value and wonderful resources! The most affordable books!” They were advocating the sale of “Harry Potter”, “Halloween” and “Monster Blood Tattoo” so I could expect to find the objectionable books with these if they had them.' (bold type added by me.) (I do not have any issue with the general content of the article - I am not that keen on wolves in sheep-clothing either.)

So if I read it right by the inference, I reckon I can say it is official: MBT is an objectionable book.

I wonder if the Honourable Mr Moyes formulated his opinion on a thorough reading of the text or rather by a cursory and shallow assumption based on the title alone? I fear it was probably not the former.

Either way, I feel like I've won something and do not know who to thank first.

And the dust settles

I must say the thorough-going discussion in last post's comments about what evil might or might not be was deeply interesting and thought provoking and I thank everyone who had a word in it. A most excellent debate. I hope it was edifying to both commentators and readers alike.

It makes me wonder whether open questions are better than closed answers - by which I mean is it better to always be searching? And if we do find answers, what happens if we do not like them? Discard them and keep searching? What if the answer with the best fit is the most uncomfortable?

Anyway, enough philosophising - this is a blog about a frivolous adventure story not the depths of the human condition.

On that note I am happy to say that (for the ANZ edition at least) MBT Book 2 goes to the printing press in a little over a week - around the 7th of November. I'll see what I can do about other parts of this world of ours. I am running my eye over the actual typeset pages and am becoming more confident with the text as a worthy continuance to Foundling - and for those who thought Book 1 not long enough, I can say the actual story text of Book 2 will be ...

600 pages!

Give or take.

The Explicarium will be about the same length as Book 1 - roughly 100 pages, with whole new maps, floor plans, schedules and drawings of clothes and equipment.

I hope this is happy news.

Meet the Herdebog Trought

This will be, from now until I change it I suppose, is to be my new profile image (along with a new title graphic too, it seems). It looks more like me than the previous illo - and it also happens to be a sneek peek into Book 2.

Which makes think of a question for you all:

What or who is your favourite monster of all time?

Quack! (of Interviews, Illustrators & Gazeteers)

Just a quick post to say that there is an interview with Miss Erin over on her blog. Thank you to her for the opportunity!

Also, it was Coz I believe who asked me a little while ago about illustrators in the Half-Continent. Sometimes they are called imagineers or fabulists (a name they happen to share with artists and sleight-of-hand men) but typically they are called simply illustrators. As it might be for some in our own lands, they consider themselves distinct from artists in the

Some of the more famous currently are Pill and Berthezene (who was the etcher of the plate of the Slothog Rossamünd reads of in his pamphlet early in Foundling) and the near legendary Gouche. My own favourite is a relative obscure fellow, Economous Musgrove (originally of Fayelillian but now residing in Brandenbrass) - who studied under the master Frabritis - and struggles to find enough work to keep he and his wife "in biscuits". His most constant source of work is for a radical periodical called Quack! (a word whose closest equivalent in our world would be "blah, blah").

With a wide yet secret readership, Quack! spends most of its articles railing against the government and the Empire and the borish attitudes of the mass. All too frequently this vaguely monthly publication finds its self being shut down by local authorities under (dubious) Imperial direction; its gazeteers and emenders are served brief stints in gaol and all those who rely on its patronage (such as Economous) now looking for other work. As the "game" goes, almost as soon as they are released the gazeteer and emenders find some new secreted location to set up new presses (the old ones having usually been confiscated or destroyed), call in all the old "gang", reconnect with the ghostly crowd of their many mysterious distributors and begin to publish once more ... until they are once again raided and shut down. They are able to carry on so because of the patronage of some figure of great substance and circumstance who remains unknown to the authorities and even the gazeteer themselves.

Ok, I am done now.

Deutologalgia (or Secondbookitis)

In a bit of a private conversation madbomber asked me "Is it wierd to be considered a professional writer now...?" to which I answered:

"As to being "professional", an "author" and all that - yes it is weird. Indeed, I think my struggle through the entirity of Book 2 (Lamplighter) has been coming to grips with seeing myself as a writer, as being able to truly consider book writing as an actual future path for me. Not only was it the 2nd book in a series (always the hardest, they say) but it was my second book ever (which is also historically difficult).

So my troubles were doubly doubled!

Very glad to be nearing the end of the Book 2 journey, many folk have worked hard to make it as good as can be - and [just so you all know] it is off to printers soon."

I would just like to say to all those who have taken the risk to come along on this whole MBT journey with me even when the rest of the series is not done yet: thank you. I intend to make it worth your while.

...btw, anyone tried the AUDIO CLIP function under links yet? It is a brief excerpt from the English audio version of Foundling. Opinions? Is it even working? For those speakers of the German tongue, there will be a Deutsch audio version of MBT coming soon.

Huzzah!