tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post2030444646179474890..comments2024-03-27T23:55:17.673-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: Four-for-Four on the Locus PollMichael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-89245203344534761672008-03-19T10:20:00.000-07:002008-03-19T10:20:00.000-07:00Well, I can honestly say Tachion got ridiculously ...Well, I can honestly say Tachion got ridiculously lucky with "The Dog Said Bow-Wow". That was really an amazing collection.<BR/><BR/>Speaking of collections and new editions (well, we weren't technically, but we may as well start now), is there a chance of reprints of your other short story collections and novels?<BR/><BR/>Because I gotta tell you it's a bit hard to purchase out of print books from Bulgaria. I've so far managed to get my hands only on "The Dog...", "The Iron Dragon's Daughter", "The Dragons of Babel" and "Stations of the Tide" and from those only the last is truly out of print.Simeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11435940295167464898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-90165982574588204192008-03-10T05:24:00.000-07:002008-03-10T05:24:00.000-07:00Emo, thank you for all your kind words.I hope you'...Emo, thank you for all your kind words.<BR/><BR/>I hope you'll find it encouraging (rather than the opposite) when I say that in your sense I'm still a struggling writer. Writing never really gets easier, but as you learn more and more craft, the results look increasingly effortless. As easy as, in your graceful phrase, taking a bottle of beer from the table beside you.<BR/><BR/>You have hold of one of those key observations that any serious writer must at some point learn, and for the sake of any new writers who might chance upon this, I'll spell it out: It takes very little to make a story believable and smooth. This is because the reader is on your side and wants your story to be good. So it's not necessary to trick him or her into believing you. It's only necessary to not betray their trust.<BR/><BR/>Which can be difficult. But that's another subject entirely.<BR/><BR/>Thank you and your colleagues for making me your AUthor of the Month. It is an honor I shall relish. As you suppose, one never gets tired of such things.Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-84746191179629075832008-03-09T07:27:00.000-07:002008-03-09T07:27:00.000-07:00Greetings and Congratulations from Bulgaria! :) I'...Greetings and Congratulations from Bulgaria! :) <BR/><BR/>I'm about halfway through "The Dog Said Bow-Wow" - it most certainly deserves the nominations.<BR/><BR/>Mr. Swanwick, you are an inspiration. As a struggling writer (struggling-at-every-sentence kind of writer, to be more precise), I find your stories a neverending source of information on how the thing's done. As I read, I was amazed by the ease with which the stories glide from beginning through middle to end. <BR/>I have always tried too hard (and rarely succeeded) to make my stories "believable" and "smooth" when it comes to motivation and coherence, (these two things, as the previous two, quite often seem to mean different things every time I sit down to work), and you have shown me how little is needed to make a story believable and smooth. It seems as easy as taking bottle of beer from the table beside you.<BR/>But then again the Moon seemed only a hundred miles away to the ancients. A hundred miles of walking on air...<BR/><BR/>Anyway, congratulations again on the nominations. I suppose one doesn't get tired of receiving recognition ;) Me and my colleagues at our online magazine have decided to make you Author of the Month this month. It was about time :) <BR/>Also, a friend of mine is returning from the States in a couple of days and I can't wait to get my hands on "Dragons of Babel" once I snatch it from him. God knows, you have done a good job piquing my interest on this blog :)<BR/><BR/>The comment was juvenile and overeager, I know. It's just that I don't often get very excited about stuff, and I don't quite know how to handle it :) Sorry.Emohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04859734934843528256noreply@blogger.com