Fargo ValleyCon

[Michael Jon Snow]

We are HERE!!! Very excited. I'll try to give good updates.

The weather has been crappy all day. Hopefully it improves tomorrow.

[Tsavong Lah]

I'll be getting in early tomorrow afternoon. I think the drive should take me around 4 hours, or so I hope. Looking forward to my first con and first time meeting George. I might also try to squeeze in some gaming while I'm there, but I'm not counting on it.

[Michael Jon Snow]

The party room is set up. The festivities are about to begin.

Kasteen has done a fantastic job pulling the Westeros party all together. She is doing the BwB proud. I'll post pictures later.

[Michael Jon Snow]

Just got out of the first GRRM panel. It was a panel of 1 person. It was more like a fireside chat.

The subject of the "panel" was on being a professional writer.

The first part of the panel was similar advice to what you would find in the FAQ on the website. Keep your day job. Start with short stories. Get used to rejection. If anyone is interested in more of my notes, PM me.

The second part was about the HBO series. The moderator asked him about how writing screenplays affected his writing prose. And after discussing the differences between prose and screenplay, he admitted that the most frustrating thing about writing screenplays was that his first draft always got the response "Its too long, too complicated, too expensive." He wrote ASOIAF as a reaction to that. He wrote it long and complicated and deliberately to expensive to produce.

But when his books started making the best sellers list, his agent started being approached by hollywood people wanting to buy the options on his series. "They can give me money if they want, but the books are too complicated to make into a movie." He compared GOT to the entire Tolkien trilogy and how impractical it would be to make a movie and do it justice.

TV was problematic for all the reasons that have been talked about. Network sensibilities, Being a slave to ratings (my words, but thats essentially what he described. When he realized that the only way to do it right was as an cable premium channel network, his agent approached HBO and the rest is history.

The rest of the panel was Q&A. I'll try to relate the better parts later.

Back to the chaos.

[Ran]

Thanks. Michael. It's kind of funny to think how the series he created to get away from those constraints had agents and studios licking their chops when it hit #1, and now HBO is given it very serious consideration!

Do let us know what came out of the Q&A. :)

[Tsavong Lah]

Thanks. Michael. It's kind of funny to think how the series he created to get away from those constraints had agents and studios licking their chops when it hit #1, and now HBO is given it very serious consideration!

Do let us know what came out of the Q&A. :)

During the Q&A George was asked about collaborative writing and talked a bit about Hunter's Run. It was notable for him relating how Daniel Abraham was brought on to finish it (most of Gardner Dozois work on it was in the 70s and George's in the 80s). George took him out to lunch and, as he put it yesterday, asked Daniel if he was up for a threeway with two old fat guys.

The reading from DwD is up soon, so hopefully one of us here will be able to post soon on what was read.

I need to second Michael Jon Snow's lauding of the job done by Kasteen on the party room. It was simply amazing. I had a great time meeting him and White Raven, Chataya and Kasteen and of course chatting with George. I hope to meet the other BwBers present before I have to leave late this afternoon.

[Ran]

Oh yeah, guys, if you get a chance, ask him about Jason Momoa. Momoa has been cast as Drogo, according to the actor while he was at a convention in Australia. Indicated he performed a haka war dance as part of his audition, heh.

[Guest Ro_]

SPOILERS!!!

Straight from George's mouth: "Sean Connery has been cast as Hodor."

SPOILER: AGoT

Reading

It was Quinten Martell. I am probably the worst person to do a recap, but I will do the short version: Quentin (Iwill spell it many ways, so I get it right once) is stranded and trying to find a ship to Dany. He has been sent by his father to make her his bride. The party has undergone much trouble and strife and some have died, including the Maester whom was a specialist in the Free cities. They have tried 20, 100 ships and can't find anyone willing to go since Dany closed the fighting pits and slavery isn't allowed - there is no reason to put into port there. Q is very concerned that Tywin's assassins will find Dany before he can get to her and protect her.

They finally find a captian who will take them there, but his ship reeks of the filty slaves and the captain is very shady. On the way back to their lodgings they encounter sellswords looking for recruits and Q is upset, thinking that every sword they find is one more threatening his bride. The recruiters use some amazingly foul language and mock the party.

They return to the lodgings and (I think) the one they have nicknamed "the big man" says he has an idea to get to dany that doesn't include The Demon Road (the other Valyrian roads are known as The Dragon Roads, but there is something darker about the demon road). He says its not honorable but it will be faster than travelling the Demon Road. The chapter ends.

Questions

1. People in the book - won't comment about Theon, and Arya, Sansa, Jon, Mellisandra, and some more will be in. He also said there is a possibility that some of the chapters will be moved to Winds of Winter since ADWD is getting alarmingly long. There were more Arya chapters, but those along with a few others, have been moved already. Interestingly, the chapter that would have been the last Arya was written when the fourth book was still ADWD and the five year gap was still anticipated.

2. Lots of questions about his writing process, which is odd because George had a writing panel yesterday. *shrug*

3. There is one mystery POV, which will not be revealed early.

The others will be along to do a proper reading cap later - we just checked in and got settled. :)

[Ran]

Thanks, Ro.

SPOILER: ADwD

The Quentyn chapter George read is set in Volantis, BTW, for those wondering. ;) And the chapter title is "The Merchant's Man".

It's interesting that he may shift more of Arya over into the next book. We knew he was moving Sansa's chapter or two, but that seemed about it. Very interesting, really.

A shame that so much was taken up with questions George has already answered the day before. People are strange. I guess maybe not everyone made the writing panel.

[Michael Jon Snow]

Just to clarify:

SPOILER: ADwD

He said that there are 3 Arya chapters written. 2 will be in Dance and 1 in Winds of Winter.

There are also 2 Cercei chapters currently in Dance and a Sansa chapter. (ETA. Correction. The Sansa chapter is done, but is most likely in Winds, not in Dance.)

But he also said that the above might change in final editing.

[Lord Varys]

SPOILER: ADwD

Is that mystery POV supposed to be that POV we are think is most likely Melisandre, or another new POV?

Oh, and TWO CERSEI CHAPTERS fo ADwD?!

That would be great, indeed.

[Ran]

SPOILER: ADwD

I'll echo Lord Varys. Two Cersei chapters is wholly unexpected by me -- I know George hoped to move past AFfC with the end of ADwD, but I hadn't really expected him to devote any time to picking up characters from AFfC beyond Sansa. Interesting.

I'm surprised about the Sansa chapter. Could have sworn he said that he had moved it to The Winds of Winter with his editor's blessings. Perhaps he actually had two Sansa chapters and moved one ... or perhaps they've reconsidered and put it back in? Will have to dig around.

[Werthead]

* considers having to update various posts *

* decides to leave it until we have more data *

Wait, did he confirm then that:

SPOILER: ADWD

Melisandre is a POV and there is yet another mystery POV beyond her? Or that Melisandre is merely in the book as a character, and later on said there is still an unconfirmed POV?

[Michael Jon Snow]

SPOILER: ADWD

No he confirmed Mel as a POV and another POV he wouldn't name.

And I went back and checked. He said that the Sansa chapter was done but moved to Winds, most likely. Thats when he emphasized that this was all subject to editorial change.

I'll go back and correct.

[Jughead of the Round]

SPOILER: ADWD

I imagine most of these questions will be answered with the postings of the other summaries.

What about the chapter led the title to be named the Merchant's Man? I know Quentyn is the Merchant's Man since he is the POV, but how exactly? Is this part of his disguise? I believe in AFFC it was mentioned by Arianne that Q was posing as a merchant in Planky Town.

Was there any mention made of the Golden Company?

Was Quentyn looking to hire the sellswords, or join the sellsword company?

Were there any descriptions about Volantis itself?

Any other insights into Q's character? Is he more like his dad or the Red Viper? What about the company he keeps? According to AFFC, Q is travelling with Cletus Yronwood (has a lazy eye and is randy), Maester Kedry (master of tongues and who is now dead), and three Yronwood knights.

Thanks ahead of time. Sorry for the onslaught of questions, but I'm a spoiler nut.

I've been speculating on the new mystery POV. Since the POV doesn't show up until later in the book, it could possibly be a character seen in AFFC... what are some other candidates? Either north, south, or overseas? I know Loras Tyrell and the Hound were ruled out earlier on, but they could have been ruled in by now.

[Guest Ro_]

Post party, the informatin is fresh, but the subject is intoxicated.

SPOILER: AGoT

Ned dies!

Q is not dour, but he is very SOLmmme (gd, i am drunk, will fix this when i get hme, sber (and my key is fucked, beer i suspect)) Q is 18, but is nt prne t laughter or jests. He is dedicated t following his duty.

The title cmes frm their ruse - they are pretending t be wine merchants - they all take a turn being the master, and others the servants.

The glden cmpany was mentined as being knwn far and wide to have broken their contract. Other than that, nothing else.

Q was walking by the companies, not intent on joining or recruiting - they were trying to recruit him and his mates.

I am so bad with names - no idea who died and lived - I just am not familiar enough with them to remember their names. I am so sorry. There should be better recaps coming later tomorrow. The net connection here is horrid and I am the only one with a comp - they were all posting from net phones, bless them.

Q is honorable as hell, and a more solmn man than should be expected from a youth his age. He sounds very driven and determined and like he is forty.

One tidbet that floats to the top of my boooze addled brain - George was talking about casting and was commenting on how hard it was to determine who would be special or needed to advance the movie plotline, esp in the first season and esp since the series isn't done yet. He said that Q could or could not be important to the story and since he(George) was a gardener more than an achrictect* it was hard for him to state the importance of a char to the movie line. He also said that if one would try to ajust AFFC and ADWD, the way he wrote the books would negate some combinations - for example Arianne's chaps and Q's - the surprise would be lost if one would read Q's chaps before A's.

***At the time, I took that to mean George has not set Q's role in concrete as of yet. I mean, totally see my sig - if Dany has 3 dragons (or two if the green? is going rogue) she can have husbands/consorts as she wishes. Refesh me - if R+L=J is true, would J be Dany's uncle? cousin? Half sibling?

*George said that some authors are architects, and plan everything in advance before writing, and some are gardeners, who plant a seed, water it with their blood and nuture and shape the blossam that comes out. He says mose authors are half and half, but he is 90% gardener, which is why this book and AFFC is going so hard for him. He writes, shapes, rewrites, has to check what the other chars say, then rewrite again. OFC I think his way is quite the way to go since he has done so well so far.

Yeah, and he compared this to LOTR, which I never thought of in this aspect, but it totally makes sense - at the beginning of both series the peeps were in one place (winterfell or the shire) then they went from a hand to fingers, branching out as each char did what it needed, and the really fucking hard part is getting them to branch back together - thats where the hard plotting lies and thats why Tolkien went from one book to three - moving chars back takes TIME.

George also said that AFFC and ADWD are happening consecutively, but ADWD keeps going past the end of AFFC. No, he wouldn't say where the divergence happened.

Ran, I asked your question about our beloved horselord and George said no comment as of yet. He did give me a WTF look, then I was like...but its a Ran question!! I admire your sources. :D

Oh god, i will clean this up, but George also mentioned how he knew he was totally not going to be able to do the story in 3 books because time wouldn't flow from chap to chap. For example, he spoke of poor ded ned - he killed the traitor, then in the next chap Cat comes to him in the godwood and its been like five minutes since Ned is still cleaning his sword. He said thats where the five year gap really started to fall apart. He couldn't move things along timewise without fucking up the plot. And he spoke of the impossibility of the fabled five year gap, but if you don't know about that yet, you shouldn't be reading this.

Oh, we also had a really fun spirited discussion about the I won't read your fucking manuscript article. George had the wise and reasoned opinion that its not a good idea to discuss your stuff too in depth on the nets with your fans.

OMG, did we have fun. This was far and away a great con. Thanks everyonE!!

**Please correct and add vowels as needed, if needed before I become less booze addled :P. I am off to die of alcholololol poisoning now. :lol:

[Ran]

Thanks for the report, Ro. Just to update on the Jason Momoa thing, HBO has now officially confirmed it to Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, so you can let George know he can relax about it. ;)

[Kasteen1979]

It is 5a.m. and I think I was hit by a truck when I wasn't looking...*grins*

WOW! What an experience. This is my first con, and it is hard not to feel like I've been spoiled for all other cons! My favorite author my first time out of the gate...dinner, great panels, hosted a BwB party room, and so much time with GRRM. I am completely amazed at how generous GRRM is with his time. Having Jim Ludwig from Dark Sword Miniatures in attendance was a nice bonus as well.

Thank you so very much to all the great BwB members on hand. The room support (donations, ice, beer, cleaning, conversation, strong-arming) and general encouragement were very appreciated by this first-timer. Special thanks to Michael and Raven for helping decorate, Ro for all the great advice, Chataya for kickass hostessing skills.

Now to focus on getting knighted in Chicago...

[Tsavong Lah]

I finally have an internet connection outside of my phone (which was unable to highlight the spoiler text so it was a little hard to jump in not knowing what anyone else had contributed).

SPOILER: A few observations

To be clear about Melisandre, I believe George said there was one chapter with her, so she isn't a major POV like we used to get.

Also, Davos has, I believe he said, 3 chapters.

Quentyn seems like kind of a dreamy, awkward guy. Whenever he thinks of Dany, in his mind she is always "the most beautiful woman in the world". And he even thinks at one point how she will need him because she needs Dorne, but she will not love him, and he seems distraught by this. He is not a man who has had much of any success with the ladies aside from a kiss from one of a landed knight's twin daughters.

A few things about Volantis. The harbor is huge and is said to be able to swallow all the islands of Braavos within it, and Quentyn doesn't doubt that after seeing it (although he has never seen Braavos). Secondly, a common mode of transportation in the city is small carts (with a specific name I don't recall) that were pulled by miniature elephants.

As mentioned, the Maester (Kedry), and two of the guards that were sent with Quentyn were killed when the ship they were being transported on was beset by pirates. Quentyn reflects that not only was this a great tragedy for them, but that the loss of Kedry was most acute because he had spent half his life studying the languages and cultures of the free cities and the slave cities. So the difficulty of their task, which was already high, was just made more so.

I think everyone else has covered about what I can remember. It was difficult for me because it's been a while since my last reread, so in the reading something would jog my memory and I'd start thinking about it and lose focus on the actual reading for a few moments.

[Krafus]

SPOILER: ADWD

Did Martin actually say that Dance is getting "alarmingly long"? Earlier this month, he'd apparently just passed the 1,100 MS pages mark, which means he's still got no fewer than 400 MS pages left before he reaches Storm size. On that occasion, Martin also mentioned that he hoped to bring the book in a shorter length than Storm, but at the time I interpreted that statement as theoretical, not a firm goal that must be reached at all costs. Why is he so worried?

Granted, he's still got the Meereenese knot to deal with and perhaps a number of other chapters that still need to be written/completed, but I'd hate to think that he has to deal with some arbitrary limit (imposed either by himself or his publishers) that will keep the book from being Storm-size or nearly so. After waiting so long, I for one want a Storm-sized book, if this gives some publishers headaches, too bad. The hardcover edition of Storm is proof that it can be done. I'd hate to think we could be deprived of new material just because Dance is not allowed to go beyond, say, a 1,200, or 1,300 MS pages mark. To say nothing of the problems it could cause for the last two books if they are also afflicted with some arbitrary limit.