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Suite Scarlett
Martin family birthday breakfasts followed a strict tradition. First, there were Belgian waffles, made by Belinda, the beloved Hopewell Hotel cook. These were served up with an array of toppings: chocolate syrup, fresh lemon whipped cream, stewed strawberries, and powdered vanilla sugar. The air should have been thick with wafflely perfume. Instead, there was an acrid, confusing smell, undercut by a light touch of smoke.
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Writer in Residence
Some Clarification
Some Clarifications
1. The contest is now over and the comments turned off. We’re amazed by the quantity and quality of the entries. Wow. We’re putting our heads together and deciding the winners. It is VERY DIFFICULT. We’ll announce them in our final post on Monday 6 August (Australia time).
2. The kind of fantasy Scott was referring to in our last full-fledged post was high or epic fantasy—not science fiction (which is what the Uglies series is) or contemporary fantasy (like Holly Black’s AWESOME trilogy of Tithe, Valiant and Ironside). He meant the stuff set in ye olde Disney-style Europe with kings and queens and dragons and wheat. Like the gazillions of books which are influenced in equal parts by Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons manuals.
Obviously there are many wonderful, inventive, fabulous fantasies set in Europe, such as Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy which we both adore. If you haven’t read it or Holly Black’s books—which are set in the nowadays USA, actually—you MUST! Also Scott’s next trilogy is going to be set at least partly in Europe. So he’s not against European settings. He’s against generic mediaeval European (and almost as generic mediaeval Asian) settings.
Of course, he would really like to see some historical fantasies that think outside the box completely. Where are the sled dogs?! The llamas? The boomerangs? So many cultures, so little time.
In short: setting a book anywhere in time or space is fine—just don’t be lazy about it. Do some research, rather than basing the setting solely on other fantasy books. After all, fantasy is supposed to transport us, right?
3. For those asking what we thought of the final Harry Potter. Scott hasn’t read it. Justine thought it was the best of the series since the third book. (Maybe the epilogue was a bit lame.)
4. There is no shame in not having read or seen certain books or movies and tv shows. There are so many brilliant ones it’s impossible to keep up with them all. (Though we do think that Mike should never show his face in WA again. Not until he’s finished Cloudstreet that is.)
We were a little surprised to see how down on TV some of the commenters were. We both happen to think television is in a golden age right now, with way more extraordinary material than film. It used to be that TV shows were short and fluffy, while movies were long and deep. But frankly, now that some TV shows have realized that arc plot is more important than episodic repitition, movies have become the short form. There simply aren’t any films with the scope of The Sopranos, The Wire, or even Battlestar Galactica.
Maybe this is just because we like writers. From what our acquaintances who work in Hollywood say, television is the writers’ medium these days. It’s the writing staff who are consistent across the episodes and seasons of a TV show, whereas directors come and go. Films tend to be dominated by big actors (who have parts rewritten for them all the time), by the producers with the purse strings, and by the occasional powerful director.
We hope we have made everything clear for youse all!
13 Responses to “Some Clarification”
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Don’t worry Scott. I havent read the harry potters either.
or u know what eles is a good fantasy with a good setting and stuff artemis fowl. if u guys havent ever read it u should!! its is soooo good!
woah first post. thats new. or maybe someone posted before me and their comment is still being moderated (whatever that means). hmm…
I didn’t like the epilogue to HP either but then I went back and reread it. Now I love it. As I love the whole book. Obsessively.
(I’m one of those slightly scary HP fans)
Ummm, I feel foolish, but what’s Coudstreet? And are you guys gonna be having any more contests? Justine, I have only recently started reading your blog, sad, I know, but do you do contests also, because I know I love your books just as much as Scott’s, and my friends know more about you than they do Scott, no matter how often I bring him up, so I’m guessing your more popular?
You guys are soooo cool.
I started reading the first harry potter, and hated it. i have not seen any of the movies or read any of the other books.
i used to hate all types of fantasy and magic, but now I’m getting more into them. i mean, magic or madness is one of my favorite trilogies.
and, hilary, i don’t know any of my friends who read Justine’s stuff, and most read Scotts. i, on the other hand, wish Justine would hurry up and WRITE MORE because i like her writing so much.
my friend blabbed about the epilogue to me (i haven’t read hp6 or hp7 yet) and personally it does seem kinda lame. like compared to the rest of the books it seems to be an odd way to end it. but then again, i haven’t read it the way J.K. Rowling wrote it, so maybe it sounds more un-lame in her words!
and hillary!, so much for “Mail (will not be published),” huh?
lol.
heh heh i don’t read Harry Potter at all. or watch the movies. ^_^
i thuoght comments were turned off?
btw, i think hilary put her email address where it says NAME, that’s why it got published.
i can’t wait to see who won the contest!!!
there’s a great interview with JK where she says what everyone did for a living. Except Neville. Him I want to know.
I don’t really like Harry Potter, I read half of the sixth one and then stopped, it was a little boring. But the seventh one was pretty good.
Scott’s writing another trilogy!! YAY!! I can’t wait to hear about it! And Scott, I know how much you ADORE cats…so, we got a litter and there were two girls and two boys. Guess what their names are. Tally, Shay, David and Zane. SO cute! They are only like 12 days old!
Kadie-Wa
Sorry, to duble post, but, I am trying to read the third harry potter. To me, (no offence to anyone) They just bore me. i don’t know why, but they just don’t catch my eye…especially since my friend told me the whole ending to the last HP book. *sigh*
Kadie-Wa
P.S. Hillary!, did you mean to put your email in there? Don’t worry about it though… I bet no one will do anything about it.
Okay, sorry to TRIPLE post, but when I said no one will do anything about it, I meant I don’t think that anyone will email you or anything. I meant no harm! Okay, no I gotta go before I blab a fourth post in a row!
Kadie-Wa