The Gradual Interview

[Romeo]

No worries - lots of people thought the same thing when the other SD died.

[drew]

Good one, Drew!

Drew (drew): Hi Steven. I've used the search function, and it appears that this question(s) has not been asked yet.
I asked on Kevenswatch once, but never really got an answer their, so I though I'd try it on you.

These questions are about the term *Bestseller*.
What constitutes a bestseller? Is it total sales? or sales in a specific time period?
Which of your books have been Bestsellers?

Thank you.


The term "bestseller" refers to *speed* of sales: sales in a specific time period. A book that sells 300,000 copies in one month is a major bestseller, even if it never sells another copy after that. A book that sells 1,000,000 copies in a year, and continues to sell for 20 years, can easily *not* be a bestseller.

(Of course, there are sub-categories of "bestsellers". A book can easily stay at the top of the sf/f genre bestseller lists for months without ever appearing on the NY Times Bestseller List.)

Leaving genre lists aside, only two of my books have ever been hardcover "bestsellers": "The One Tree" and "White Gold Wielder". The five "Covenant" books after LFB were all paperback bestsellers. BUT. After nearly 30 years, every book I've ever published is currently in print. I'll take that over bestseller-dom any day.

(06/30/2006)

Thanks for noticing...I liked his answer.

[matrixman]

Yes, good one, drew! I had not thought about what the term "bestseller" really meant.

White Gold Wielder was the only hardcover Covenant book I bought at publication time, having read the previous books in the months just before. So it was a lucky bit of timing for me that I didn't have to wait long for the conclusion to the 2nd Chronicles. I remember feeling pretty darn excited seeing WGW in the bookstore all those years ago in the winter of '83. The book was proudly displayed in one of those large cardboard contraptions they use to promote "big ticket" releases. (Ah, yes, back when SRD's name actually meant "big sales" to book retailers.)

[dlbpharmd]

Michael from Santa Fe: This may be obvious, but does the title "Shall Pass Utterly" come from the lines in "Lord Kevin's Lament" where it states that "beauty and truth shall *NOT* pass utterly from the Earth"? And if so, I must say, "I have a bad feeling about this"...

The actual line (from "Lord Kevin's Lament" in TIW) is "did You intend/that beauty and truth should pass utterly from the/Earth?" And yes, that's where I got the title for Covenant 9.

And that gives you "a bad feeling"? In a *Covenant* book? <grin> Oh, dear.

(07/06/2006)

[drew]

Michael from Santa Fe stikes again!!!

[Menolly]

David Wiles: Dear Steve; In Andelain people encounter their dead.
Is it only for people who have a message from their dead? If I recall correctly, Covenant was in Andelain with Atiarian when the attack occured on the Wraiths during their dance at the Celebraton of Spring and there was no encounters for either him or Atiarian.
Also, is it possible to take a Caesure back before they were actually created.
Your stories are always a well met Waymeet to me regaurdless of the many times I have read them.
Sincerly, David Wiles

When Covenant entered Andelain with Atiaran, the Law of Death had not yet been broken: hence no Dead. TWL implies that "ordinary" people who enter Andelain do meet their Dead. However, the story reserves such encounters for the primary characters. (Note that in WGW the First and Pitchwife do not meet their Dead--since, apart from Honninscrave, their personal dead did not die in the Land.)

If caesures could not be taken back before they were actually created, Linden would never have been able to retrieve the Staff of Law.

(07/08/2006)

So, Linden's fears of meeting her dead are unfounded?

[jwaneeta]

So, Linden's fears of meeting her dead are unfounded?

I think so? Like Linden, I expected her to run into the parentals, and the Kevin reveal was a nice twist. Whoever you are, whatever your point of origin, you can only meet the Land's Dead in Andelain, since the it's the only place the Laws have been broken.

As for regular Land folk -- extras, so to speak -- Hollian spoke of four brave Stowndowners who braved Andelain. Two failed to return, and the others came back mad. Presumably it was was seeing their own Dead that sent them round the bend.

The Forestal's voice took on a rumble like the threat of thunder. "Thus it is that men and women find madness in Andelain."

[Loredoctor]

*cries* SRD is not a Lovecraft fan:

Tom: Greetings, sir! I'm a representative of a younger generation of your readers, and I've got about six of my 16-18 year old friends into all your works over the last couple of years. I've had the pleasure of reading your books both as a child, unable perhaps to grasp many of the complexities and yet able to be whisked away with ease into your rich immersive worlds, and after having matured ((to an extent, at least ), able to appreciate more of the ideas hiding under the surface. Allow me to be the sixty thousandth person to thank you for some of the most beautiful and inspiring reads I've experienced.

Now then, I'll try to ask a couple of things which haven't been asked before:

1. Lovecraft once said that "Any great and lasting book must be ambiguous. It is a mirror that makes the reader's features known, but the author must seem to be unaware of the significance of his work." Got any thoughts on this, and if you have the time, on his writings in general?

Thanks in advance for any replies you may give.




1) Lovecraft's work doesn't appeal to me. As to the sentences you quote: in my opinion (and this is just my opinion), there is less to them than meets the eye. If "Any great and lasting book must be ambiguous," then I guess we'll have to forget a lot of Shakespeare. Ambiguity is only one of many possible creative tools/goals. It has no inherent value: its importance depends upon the skill, intelligence, purposes, and talent of the writer who deploys it. And that second sentence: what does that even *mean*? I grant you that the best writers don't go around trumpeting the "significance" of their work. That kind of ego is almost always a symptom of mediocrity. The best writers concentrate on the story at hand: they let "significance" take care of itself. (They also let story-as-mirror take care of itself.) But that is not at all the same thing as "must seem to be unaware of the significance". One of the qualities that I treasure in great books is that the authors know what they're doing: the authors as well as the stories have a clear sense of purpose.

[Warmark]

Isnt there a line from CC along the lines of '' Your friend would raise grim shades here''
Which implies Linden would see her dead.

[dlbpharmd]

If you take that line strictly from TWL, then yes - it would seem that Caer-Caveral is referring to Linden's personal dead. However, after WGW it is more likely that the Forestal was referring to Kevin. After all, how would it have been possible for Linden's dead to appear in the Land?

(Edited for spelling.)

[Sunbaneglasses]

If you take that live strictly from TWL, then yes - it would seem that Caer-Caveral is referring to Linden's personal dead. However, after WGW it is more likely that the Forestal was referring to Kevin. AFter all, how would it have been possible for Linden's dead to appear in the Land?

Or is it possible that with the introduction of the time travel aspect.........?Hmmm Shades from the Lands past?

[matrixman]

Interesting point, SBG. After all, SRD had the Last Chronicles planned in his mind when he was writing the Second, so the "grim shades" line might be a hint of what you say...or not.

[danlo]

Does Linden have any dead in the Land? Heer may be her only one-but can his shade travel over seas?

[wayfriend]

I wonder if Stephen is making a none-too-subtle comment on people who write questions in the GI.

Matt Fensome: ...

Finally - if you could send a question to Conrad or Faulkner or Henry James or Mervyn Peake's 'gradual interview', what would you ask any or all of them? ;)

• As for Questions For Famous (Dead) Writers: I don't have any. (I think I've said this before.) Everything I want to know is contained within their work. All I have to do is find it.
  
  (07/16/2006)

[aliantha]

I don't think so, WF. He's said more than once that he enjoys answering the questions (except maybe for the ones about the Creator...) and that he even gets something out of the GI himself.

[wayfriend]

I don't think so, WF. He's said more than once that he enjoys answering the questions (except maybe for the ones about the Creator...) and that he even gets something out of the GI himself.

I don't think the two positions are mutually exlusive.

[aliantha]

Agreed. But in that case, why have a GI at all? His publisher required him to set up a website, and that requirement may or may not have included something along the lines of, "Make sure you provide a way for your fans to get in contact with you." But if it did, hey, SRD *is* a Watch member; the Watch itself could fulfill the letter of the requirement.

I'm sure there are some (dumb) questions that he skips, wishing the questioner would've used his/her brain before posting the question. That's human nature. But I think if he thought it was pointless, in general, to ask authors questions, there wouldn't be a GI at all.

[Menolly]

Bob: Mr. Donaldson, thanks for the awesome series. I cannot wait to read Fatal Revenant .

I have a question that has bothered me, and I havent seen an answer in the GI, so I apologize if I have missed it in the TC series or the GI:

When someone is summoned to the land, they stay until the summoner is killed; this seems to be Law, except for Hile Troy. He was summoned by Atarian Trell-Mate , but she died during the summoning. Shouldn't he have likewise been called back to his balcony ledge to die in the apartment fire?


I've always operated under the assumption that Troy died in his fire *before* Atiaran died in hers. Certainly "The Last Chronicles" is predicated on that assumption.

(07/22/2006)

A spoiler that's not hidden in the GI?

[wayfriend]

Runes spoilers are not as avidly hidden as they once were, that's for sure.

[Trapper]

Does Linden have any dead in the Land? Heer may be her only one-but can his shade travel over seas?

She was worried about her parents. Kind of like if Covenant had killed Joan rather than simply divorcing her. Or rather been divorced by her.