Jump to content

Super Duper SoCal BWB


Guest Pah Muadd'H

Recommended Posts

:D

Hey! It was cool meeting everyone. For those of you who could not come, it sounds like his pre-questions stuff was the same as the other signing report. Although my favorite joke was Martin describing Agincourt:

"Some people say it was 6,000 Englishmen beating 5,000 Frenchmen, and other people say it was 100,000 Frenchmen losing to two Englishmen and a dog."

Anyway, the questions were pretty typical stuff, I don't think we got any new insights for So Spake Martin.

Dinner was also nice... aside from the GETTING LOST THING... because of the BAD DIRECTIONS THING... not pointing any fingers here...

:P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found this on Usenet, and after discussing it with BH a bit, I thought I'd ask for more comments from those who were at the signing. I'd point to Google Groups for it, but it seems it hasn't made it in (even though the responses have -- possibly it's set NoArchive):

And too, it (poster's cutting in front of people to get his books signed) was all a bit of passive aggresiveness at the disappointing

_Feast_. I was glad to see his contrition over the great delay, but

horrified to see him preening on about debuting on the NY Times

Bestseller list come Monday. I think Martin is suprised at his own

success and the work itself is not so important to him any more.

After talking for a long time about matters important to him (but

frankly, not to me) consisting of his early days and bad con

experiences, he began to take questions. Interestingly a delegate from

Elio was there with fully 12 questions. Martin spoke a little about

Elio, and seemed a bit embarrased by his great attention. I personally

felt it was feigned. He took one question, and it was "When did Robert

decide to take the throne?" There was a collective shaking of heads and

face-in-the hand. (And if I have to explain why that happened then you

wouldn't understand anyway).

After being asked about how he writes, he mentioned that his writing

style is organic, unplanned, although he does have an ending in mind

for the "Song". Indeed the whole project began as a chapter sprung

fully formed while working on another project (the chapter where the

Stark children discover the wolves). It's planned to go for 7 books,

but he left the distinct impressioin it could and, based on past

performance, probably will be longer. (There are also economic reasons

for him to continue the series, a point that is not lost on a man who

said at his signing he would prefer that people not lend his books to

their friends but rather have them buy new copies.)

I had a few questions, most of them rather pointed and antagonistic,

and limited myself to one and something nicer: What is the overarching

conflict, and when will it develop further? He was evasive and said

that the title should tell me something.... He alluded to the fact that

this is a story about good vs. evil but that he eschews the dark lord

vs. heroes trope and wants that conflict to be expressed internally in

his characters. Now, that's fine but where's the beef? is a question

that applies equally to _Feast_ and to the series as a whole, and I got

the distinct impression that Martin simply doesn't know. (He didn't

keep eye contact and shifted around a lot answering this one.)

I'm particularly interested on confirmation or disagreement with the suppositions he makes regarding GRRM (the bit about economic reasons and the bit at the end about GRRM not keeping eye contact, for example). As you can guess, this is a person who didn't care for AFfC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my! I just came to say I was very happy to finally meet you all and I had a great time, both at the signing and at the dinner. Then, I saw Ran's post. :huh:

It's as if I went to a different signing than this guy. He expresses a lot of opinions, but I can honestly say I disagree with almost all of them. Basicaly, whenever he starts with "I got the impression.." or "it seemed like..", I went "Huh? When did that happen?" Specifically:

It's planned to go for 7 books, but he left the distinct impressioin it could and, based on past

performance, probably will be longer.

This wording here is a bit ambigious. The "distinct impression about it could be longer" is true. Martin basicaly repeated what he always said "This is the plan now, but I have changed plans before, so I'm giving you a promise." He said it will be seven books. He made some jokes about how he started with 3, then 4, then 6, etc. He also made a joke about how ADWD seems to be the book he can't write and it keeps getting pushed back and if something else comes before it once more, he would scream.

But if the "distinct impression" he got is also about "it will probably" be more that seven books, that's not true. I don't think he said anything that can be interpreted that way. (If anything, he talked about how seven is a really good number for this series.)

There are also economic reasons for him to continue the series, a point that is not lost on a man who said at his signing he would prefer that people not lend his books to

their friends but rather have them buy new copies.

Is he talking about this signing, or is this some comment from before? Because I heard no such thing from him today. There's always a possibility that I missed something, but I doubt it. The only issue of lending books came out when he was talking about how this series became a bestseller due to word-of-mouth. He was talking about how passionate his fans are, how they always get others into the series, how he always sees people at signings, getting many books signed for their friends, coworkers, etc. He was very appreciative of that, and asked for a round of applause from the crowd for the fans. He didn't say anything about lending vs. buying, he was just very happy about the fact that people make a lot of effort to get other people to read the series. I have no idea where the "Buy, don't lend" stuff comes from.

I got the distinct impression that Martin simply doesn't know. (He didn't keep eye contact and shifted around a lot answering this one.)

I don't know what to say to this one. Martin specifically stated that he knows the end of the story. He did say that he is like a gardener as oppossed to an architect and he doesn't come up with an exact blueprint of the story before he sits down to write. But he knows where he is going. He gave a nice example actually: He said, it's like he's driving to NY, so he knows where he's going and he knows the main freeways he should take. But he doesn't plan every stop he is suppossed to make on the road. Maybe he lingers a bit in some town, prefers one route over another (or sometimes hitchhiker kidnaps him, takes him into the woods, but he gets rid of him and turns back to his route), etc. So, how do you get the impression that he doesn't know the overarching conflict in the series, I have no idea.

Comments about eye contact, shifting around etc...That's just paranoid stuff. Obviously I cannot say "No, he did make eye contact!" or "He kept still and didn't move at all", because like normal people, I wasn't paying attention to every little move he makes. All I know is I haven't noticed anything unusual in the way he answered that question. Maybe that guy payed to much attention since it's his question and he's trying to pick clues from everything Martin says and does. Obviously, he went overboard and saw things that weren't there. For me, it was just another question and Martin handled it in the same manner that he handled all the others

p.s. I realize there is some personal stuff as well, but maybe Ran doesn't want this thread to be about people's opinion about him, so I'll not comment on those.

p.s.2. David, nice that you started posting. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a hell of a nice time. We got four books signed and my wife told him that we read AFFC aloud to each other on our honeymoon. He asked if we paused for the sex scenes, my wife responded with "Yes, to reenact them". That seemed to put a twinkle in his eye :P GRRM was engaging,funny and accessible - plus he signed for over 250 fans! I think just about everyone who attended came away happy and excited about what they heard from him and impressed with him as a person.

As far as when did Robert declare for the throne, GRRM said it was right around or just after (my impression was just after from his inflection, etc) the Battle of the Trident. He further elaborated that Robert was far and away the logical choice because his family had several Targaryen connections - apparently more than just the drop of blood from a few centuries back alluded to in previous books. Essentially he said that if, after Rhaegar's death, you weren't going to put Viserys or an as-yet unborn Dany on the throne (I don't think he mentioned Aegon), Robert was the only logical choice.

As far as the "overall theme" question, what GRRM did with his eyes was closer to rolling them than averting them. He pointed out that the series was called "A Song of Ice and Fire", that there was meaning to it, but that he liked his titles to carry several meanings and for all of us to ponder it ourselves. Really, he just didn't want to hand the "plot" or "moral" (if you can call it that) to us on a silver platter and too bad if that made the questioner pissy. Really, I think it rather small-minded of readers to seek for a model of how a story should go, or what arc it should follow or what neat, Campbellian categories the hero should fit into. A poor and rather ignorant way to judge a work literature, really.

GRRM is clearly proud of his success as well he should be. I'm married to a successful artist and you know what? Artists work a lot harder than 9-5ers and success is uncertain. They've got to have a hell of a lot more drive,imagination,fortitude and yes, ego, than any cubicle farmer to succeed. So he graciously informs and thanks us, the fans, about reaching a new pinnacle of success, then asks for us to applaud ourselves? Puh-leaze- anyone who sees the ill in this is being devoured by the green monster of envy. Especially considering he had just finished telling us several (self-deprecatingly humorous) tales of how much less successful he's been in the past. negative four fans? Outdrawn by Clifford the Big Red Dog 500-10? He's much humbler than most other artists of his stature I've seen or met.

Besides, he was asked, twice, if he knew how the series ends and he stated that indeed, he does know precisely how it ends. It may just take a few thousand more pages to get there. That, and whacking a hitchhiker or two over the head to escape back to the main route :P

Oh, and Dorne is happy to let other people think they can raise many more troops than they really can. In truth though, it's a hot desert land and they just don't have that many men. How many exactly? He didn't say. He did contrast it with the Reach though, which he said was the richest & most populous area, which allows the lords there to support more troops and gather together more peasants for wars. Because you need a big gang of peasants.

Anybody go to the Gen-Con event?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:lol:

Wow...that's the most hostile post I have seen for a while, full of inneunedo and supposition. He didn't just not like aFfC but seems to have grievances with the whole series, the author and with various other people.

After talking for a long time about matters important to him (but frankly, not to me)

Wow...poor guy. :P Ah well, I hope he didn't have to travel too far to see such an ordeal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:lol:

Wow...that's the most hostile post I have seen for a while, full of inneunedo and supposition. He didn't just not like aFfC but seems to have grievances with the whole series, the author and with various other people.

Wow...poor guy. :P Ah well, I hope he didn't have to travel too far to see such an ordeal.

Maybe GRRM's publicist wasn't informed beforehand who exactly the world revolves around?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think its obvious that the guy who posted that hasnt had the opportunity to hang out with George and really get to know what a great guy he is. As far as the head shaking and hand to face gestures, that's funny because I didnt see any as I looked around the room.

I guess it goes to show if people come in their as bad apples, that's all they're going to see.

YW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

**waves at Padraig**

Hey Pad! Yep, I'm bummed to have missed the signing. An indicator of how my life has changed is the fact that I haven't even read the new book yet. If I didn't have the kid, I would have already read it twice. Ah well, I'll be at Worldcon for sure. Can't wait to see you there!

GRRM signed for 250 people! Whoa. Times have changed. Success couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Despite what that reviewer said. It is interesting to hear differing points of view. But, IIRC, GRRM has always said that he knows how the series ends.

Sounds like everyone had a great time. Please share more details for those of us who couldn't make it. :)

Aegon - your wife rules! :rofl:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

**waves at Padraig**

Hey Pad! Yep, I'm bummed to have missed the signing. An indicator of how my life has changed is the fact that I haven't even read the new book yet. If I didn't have the kid, I would have already read it twice. Ah well, I'll be at Worldcon for sure. Can't wait to see you there!

GRRM signed for 250 people! Whoa. Times have changed. Success couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Despite what that reviewer said. It is interesting to hear differing points of view. But, IIRC, GRRM has always said that he knows how the series ends.

Sounds like everyone had a great time. Please share more details for those of us who couldn't make it. :)

Aegon - your wife rules! :rofl:

Indeed. We missed you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe GRRM's publicist wasn't informed beforehand who exactly the world revolves around?

Exactly Aegon. They should have ensured GRRM talked about approved topics. :P

Good post earlier also. :) The idea that it was wrong for him to be proud of getting to number 1 in the bestseller list. :rolleyes:

Wow Telisiane...no time to read. :o Although, at least you don't have to start waiting for the next book like the rest of us. And yup, LAcon...woohoo. We expect baby pics. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...