In Defense of GRRM...
Hey folks. I'm off to the coast for some camping this weekend. Should be nice, shorts and tee shirt type of days. (Sorry to folks in the Northeast right now.)
I'd like to leave you with a link...
Shawn Speakman recently did a long, in-depth and quite interesting post In Defense of George RR Martin on Suvudu. I'm sure if you're a GRRM fan you'll understand the context of that without explanation. Go take a look. It may, perhaps, make it easier to carry on the wait for A Dance with Dragons
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I'd like to leave you with a link...
Shawn Speakman recently did a long, in-depth and quite interesting post In Defense of George RR Martin on Suvudu. I'm sure if you're a GRRM fan you'll understand the context of that without explanation. Go take a look. It may, perhaps, make it easier to carry on the wait for A Dance with Dragons
.Labels: Links, Other Authors
posted by David Anthony Durham at
10:54 AM
6 Comments:
I tend to agree for the most part but at the same time I feel the fans were duped into believing we were getting another book very soon(1 to 1 and a half years). I dont feel like George owes us any explanation for what is going with the book but i just feel like being honest to us the fans would be the correct course to take. He knows right now wether hes close to being done or if hes miles away. I understand he cant tell us exactly where he stands but just a general idea of whats going on would do wonders for the fans that feel disgruntled. Im very interested to see how you feel about this David, being an author yourself.
Well, I think "duped" is probably a bit strong for what went on. I believe that George did figure he was pretty close to having the next book done when he said he thought he'd have it done soon. Why say that if he didn't mean it? Finishing a book is such a monumental task that most writers will feel they've taken care of business for a while. No reason to say the next book is coming soon unless they actually believe it's coming soon...
But obviously things did not progress as he planned. I can understand that. I know I tend to be overly optimistic when I predict my work schedule. We WANT to think we'll be done soon, so we sometimes share that with others and may regret it later.
And, then, also in commiseration with George, I can see why he'd need to step away from providing updates. If everything is up in the air and the work is tough, I doubt giving readers the blow by blow on it will help anything. More likely it would complicate the writing and cause further delays.
I can't explain why the fifth book didn't come up when George first thought it would. I can say that the creative process can throw up roadblocks and detours that cause unavoidable delays. Sometimes there's just no way to cut across country.
But that's about all I'll say. I do know George cares about his fans, and I know he wants to give them another book more than anybody. Personally, I'm a reader of his now. I enjoyed all four books and I'm waiting for the next one like everybody else. Except... I'm pretty happy to read it when it's done. There's so much other stuff out there to read. There's plenty to keep me busy in the meantime...
Thanks for the response David. I guess as fans its hard for us to step outside of our fandom and realize that authors are real people sometimes with real families,problems,hobbbies,and passions. That being said, where is The Otherlands David? You promised wed have it by the end of the year and it better be here. Just kidding. I personally hope you never get to know the amount of backlash and pressure that George has.
Travis,
And I'll stick to that promise! You will have it by the end of the year. Hopefully, it'll be ready for you in September and you'll have plenty of time to read it before the year is out...
I don't think GRRM has to apologize to anyone. Like you, David, I'll read the next "Ice and Fire" novel when it comes out, and be happy for it. But in the meantime I don't see any reason to get all that worked up that it's not here yet. And I *love* that series!
I'm with you. I once met a GRRM fan that claimed to have read the entire series twenty times. That's all he reads. Start to finish, and then over and over again. I can't even start to explain how weird that seems to me - and I love the series too.
Although, that said, perhaps this sort of fan really, really does want a little bit of new material to read - hence the love/hate relationship...
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