P.C. Hodgell

and here we go




... and here we go ...

_God_Stalk_e_Baen 

(Book plate for the Beardsley Morte d'Arthur, used for e-Baen GOD STALK)


Celtic_This is my first shot at a website, much less an on-line journal.  It feels very strange.  Mind you, I already keep several diaries.  The first and longest running are a series of black bound notebooks, 13 so far, started back in high school (I think).  They probably make dismal reading as I tend to write in them when I'm upset.  That's always my first impulse:  to grab a pen and start writing.  I took my black book with me when I sat at my father's death bed and later when I sat with my mother's dead body.  Reading those entries brings back everything.  I don't revisit them often.

dragon_break

Then there are the writing diaries.  I used to keep these in notebooks but now they're computer files.  Some authors call them their "bibles."  That's where I keep track of my story ideas and details, also my research notes.  The file on the Ivanhoe sequel is at least 100,000 words by itself.

And of course there are scraps of paper floating all over the house, often chased by cats.

So now I start a new "diary," and I'm not sure what to say.  Suggestions?

green_man_bar

 

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Re: and here we go

(Score: 1)
by Moril on May 10, 2008 - 11:43 PM
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I didn't realize that I had been keeping something of a diary all though high school because it took the form of letters to friends who lived rather far away, which somehow allowed me to write more personal things to them, but at the same time kept the tone fairly light. It was kind of nice to be able to write stories of my day, wild and mundane, and have someone read them. It also helped me develop more of a voice in my writing style, because I would add a little to each letter almost every day, even if I only sent them once every 2 weeks or so. Also, hyperbole and selective editing allowed me to make my life seem far more exciting than it actually was, which is always cheering :D

Sweet Trinity!!!

(Score: 1)
by Patrick on May 20, 2008 - 07:16 AM
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Hi...um... I'm not sure I feel comfortable calling you by your first name as we're strangers, so, Ms. Hodgell, it's my absolute pleasure to find you SOMEWHERE on the internet!!! I've been a devoted reader of your Kencyrath stories since I was twelve and I'm now 26, and ever since I've been old enough to type, I've searced for your official website and here it is! Not QUITE a website, but at least it provides us with a way to hear from you directly. Well, my only suggestion for the website would to add a little more decor (color, design, wallpaper) to liven up the place. Granted, you've only just moved in:), so it's understandable. Anyways, I'm so excited and I promise I won't bug... again. Good luck, ciao!

Re: and here we go

(Score: 1)
by Estara on May 24, 2008 - 08:31 PM
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Hello Jame's progenitor,

I'm so happy to see you have your own presence on the web after only catching sight of your elusive self via fansites and information from publishers since I came across Chronicles of the Kencyrath in the 80ies (to be fair it was the amazing cover that got me, but I stayed for the story).

I am so sorry to read that the Meisha Merlin money didn't get to you, since I bought all their editions (I tried to get a Hypatia edition in at Forbidden Planet in London in the 80s and at a bookshop in Santa Monica in 1997 on my one Californian trip, but I never got anywhere). I'll check out the Baen editions too.

Suggestions on what you could write... personally I have found that the blogging impetus comes and goes, but there are quite a lot of writers on LiveJournal that seem to find all kinds of things to write about. I'll link you to my favourites, maybe that could be a sounding board?

Elilzabeth Bear: http://matociquala.livejournal.com/
Elizabeth Wein: http://eegatland.livejournal.com/
Tamora Pierce's personal LJ: http://tammy212.livejournal.com/
Michelle Sagara West: http://msagara.livejournal.com/

LJ is easy to make into a reading journal via the Friends page, but other blogs can also easily be checked via RSS feeds. I'm sure PostNuke has that feature somewhere, too - I blog with Wordpress, though, so I have no idea how to set that up.

However long it takes I'd like you to know that you'll always be able to sell me any Jame book you write. Lots of success with your further writing!

Banal Babble

(Score: 1)
by arid_zephyr on May 26, 2008 - 02:22 AM
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Dear Ms.Hodgell,

All my comments seem banal at best, but I guess I write because you should know there are many voices out there and that it should not be too lonely.

When I was an undergrad I was handed Godstalk, a battered and tattered paperback edition, by the coordinator of a tutoring center where I worked. He told me I could keep it, but if I did not like it, I should return it, for copies are hard to find. Ever since I have been a fan.

I do sort of owe you an apology for I thought Jame suffered from a creator who cared less for her than she deserved. I somehow assumed that it was by your choice you went the way of academia and that Jame was just some idle pastime or perhaps too painful and difficult to keep breathing.

I do know I use writing as an occasional vent or distraction from everyday life and look upon it as a relief. Now my writing is embarassingly bad, so I would never think of trying to do it as a real job, but I wonder how I would feel if I did. If you are looking for topics to address, I wonder how the act of writing may have changed for you now that deadlines loom, compared to how it must have been for all those years when deadlines did not lurk.

I babble. I will stop babbling.

Re: and here we go

(Score: 1)
by kerrdelune on Jun 06, 2008 - 10:10 AM
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I'm a journal lover myelf, and there are several shelves/drawers of the things here - they range from books discovered in bargain chops to Moleskines given as gifts over the years. I can never stop myself from collecting new blanks when encountering them on sale - there is something soothing and therapeutic about pen, ink and paper.

Pat, I purchased my first Jame novel within a week or two of it being published years ago, and I now have all of the books in hardcover, go back and read them again regularly. If Baen reissue them in hardcover, I shall purchase those versions too.