Bitten by Books
Welcome to Sound Bites today with author Carrie Vaughn and our guest host Sandra Wickham! Enjoy, and leave your questions for Carrie or Sandy in the comments for them to answer! Happy Listening! Stay tuned for more upcoming podcasts from other authors and exciting guests in the coming weeks.
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Learn more about Carrie Vaughn here:
Read Reviews of her work here.
To visit the author’s website go here.
To visit the author’s blog go here.
Newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carrievaughnnews/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/carrie.vaughn
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/445616509
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CONTEST INFO: Open to readers WORLDWIDE!
PRIZE: The last three Kitty books (Kitty Goes to War, Kitty’s Big Trouble, Kitty’s Greatest Hits), signed, along with CD’s of the playlist for each.
The Contest Entry rules have changed so read them carefully
The CONTEST portion of the event runs TWO DAYS until 11:59 pm Central on 3/13/11. Open to readers WORLDWIDE.
These are the ways you can enter to gain points towards winning the prize offered here today. The only one that is mandatory is #1. The rest are optional. The more you do, the more points you gain, the better your odds at winning the prize. Prizes are chosen using the random.org number generator. Making a purchase is NOT mandatory, it is only one way to gain additional points. There are free ways to get points. Remember to add in your RSVP points if you RSVP’d.
1. LEAVE YOUR FIRST NAME AND THE INITIAL OF YOUR LAST NAME AND YOUR COUNTRY in your comment/post so we can give you the proper credit for your entries. Mandatory, if you don’t leave this, your entries will NOT count. It is NOT mandatory to make a purchase to be entered into the contest.
2. Ask the author some questions, please no duplicates. + 1 points PLEASE ASK EACH ONE IN A SEPARATE POST.
3. Spread the word about this contest and HELP OUT Carrie by spreading the word about her book!
Tweet this event: http://www.bittenbybooks.com/?p=51713 + 1 Points (max 3 times a day please not all at the same time) include @bittenbybooks in your tweet.
4. Buy a NEW copy of the author’s book by using the links below
Purchase a print copy of Steel from Amazon by clicking here.
Purchase a Kindle copy of Steel from Amazon by clicking here
Good for 500 + points per book you purchase by using the links above. Email your receipt to the prize Goddess here bittenbybooks.contests @ gmail.com (no spaces).
You can also use the Amazon link HERE to make your purchase of ANY kind of merchandise during the contest. Good for 100 + entries to the contest for EACH item you purchase. NOTE FREE KINDLE BOOKS DO NOT COUNT as a purchase.
5. Author Darynda Jones Interview and $50.00 Amazon Gift Card Contest 3/13 – RSVP Here! http://www.bittenbybooks.com/?p=51643 + 1 point
Mike Carey and Louise Carey Guest Blog and WORLDWIDE Contest 3/14 – RSVP Here! http://www.bittenbybooks.com/?p=51659 + 1 point
6. Tally your own points total +1 point
That’s it!
RULES AND LEGAL DISCLAIMERS
Winner(s) will be contacted via email. You will receive your prize directly from the author. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR FIRST AND THE INITIAL OF YOUR LAST NAME AND COUNTRY as well as a valid email where we can contact you. REMEMBER the more things you do, the more entries, the greater the chances of winning. PLEASE ALLOW THIRTY DAYS to receive your prize BEFORE EMAILING US.
1. Please note, the prize stated IS the prize you will receive, there will be absolutely no substitutions or changes the prize is non-transferable. If you don’t want the prize being offered, please don’t enter the contest. If you ever win an electronic copy of a book, please note that it is ILLEGAL to forward, give away or copy it in anyway once you receive it. Doing so violates copyright. If we find out that it has been done, you will no longer be eligible to win any of our contests.
2. You have THREE days from the day the we contact you to claim your prize by sending your name/mailing address to us at the contact email we provide. Failure to contact us will forfeit your prize. BBB can at that time, choose either to re-award the prize to another entrant or not.
3. The prize stated IS the prize you will receive, there will be no substitutions, trades or changes. No exceptions. Please do not ask. If for some reason you do not wish to claim your prize, please let me know as soon as possible. Bitten by Books has the option to re-award it or not.
4. Contest is open to readers in the USA except where noted above. The prizes are almost ALWAYS shipped directly from the publisher/author unless otherwise noted.
5. Bitten by Books is in NO way responsible for the prizes being offered in any of the contests. If for some reason a contributor does not honor their prize, there is nothing we can or will do about it. We are not worried that this will happen, but we want to be very clear that WE are not offering these prizes, the contributor is and it is their responsibility to fulfill their prize obligations not Bitten by Books.
6. These rules are subject to change or be modified without prior written notice.
7. Contest is void where prohibited.
8. By entering this contest you are agreeing to our terms of entry
Hey! I’m Amanda S from a small town in Georgia, USA. I love your Kitty series but yet I haven’t been able to read your other series.
My question is is it easy to keep series story lines separate?
RSVP +25
RSVP for carey +1
RSVP for jones +1
tally +1
Question +1
total 29
Hi Amanda!
It actually is pretty easy to keep them separate, because each book has its own set of characters, its own tone and sensibility. It’s like putting on different costumes, or playing in a different playground. When I’m working on a particular story, I’m in that playground.
Hi Carrie - I loved STEEL and Voices Of Dragons. I haven’t read the Kitty series yet.
My question is: Is there going to be a follow up to Voices Of Dragon and if so when do you expect its release? +1
Tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/Jovial_1/status/179287778004185088 +1
Author Darynda Jones Interview and $50.00 Amazon Gift Card Contest 3/13
Hi Viki!
My answer to this is complicated and unsatisfying. I’d very much like there to be a follow up — but I haven’t written it yet. I’ve got it outlined, a few chapters started, and ready to go. But I’m afraid it’s going to be awhile. I’m sorry!
Thank you for reading the YA books!
Jennifer A. Arkansas, USA
Love the Kitty books.
I was wondering if you pick your music list (which is always great) before you start writing or while you are writing?
And if the music influences the story line?
Hi Jennifer,
I choose the playlists as I’m writing. I listen to music as I write, and it really is just songs that come up that seem to speak to me and the story. I’ll also hear songs on the radio as I’m driving and thinking about the story, or I’ll hear something at random that makes me think of whatever book I’m working on. (I’ve been getting good recommendations from NPR lately.)
The songs don’t influence the story — it’s the story picking the songs.
I’m glad you like the series!
Amanda S USA, again. I loved the podcast interview. I especially loved the part when you were talking about voice of a writer. Do you feel this is something that can be found by practice, and I don’t mean for publication just personal pride in your ability?
Total 30
Hi Amanda,
It absolutely can be found with practice. In fact, I think that’s one of the only ways it can be found, and why most writers talk about all their unpublished work — they were learning. In hindsight, I also think Kitty taught me a lot about voice, because she has such a strong one!
I think practice helps us live inside the story as much as we can, and that’s where the confidence in a strong voice comes from.
Hi Carrie!
I have loved the Kitty series, and am re-reading them right now. I recently read “Voices of Dragons”, and LOVED it too! I just got in “Discord’s Apple”, and look forward to starting it.
When will the next book about Dragons come out?
I have tweeted about the book/giveaway!
5. Author Darynda Jones Interview and $50.00 Amazon Gift Card Contest 3/13
Hi Muzette,
Thanks for reading! As for the next Dragons book, I’m afraid it isn’t written yet. So it may be awhile, but I am thinking about it.
Hi, Carrie!
Debbie W from the USA here. I sent my RSVP yesterday.
Don’t know if there is a technical problem with the MP3 but it kept stopping with about 4 minutes left to play. I really enjoyed what I heard!
My questions: Can you tell us what short stories will be coming out later this year? If we only have 1 Kitty book to look forward to, we’ll need to get our “fix” of your writings somehow! Do you know yet when the book AFTER Kitty Steals the Show will be out & if there’s a title yet?
Thanks for telling such great stories!
Debbie
Hi Debbie,
Rachel will have to check on the podcast…it ran ok for me.
I have a bunch of stories coming out, fortunately! Here we go:
“Harry and Marlowe and the Talisman of the Cult of Egil” just came out in Lightspeed.
“Now Purple with Loves Wound” just came out in Brave New Love, edited by Paula Guran.
“Don Quixote” will be out this month in an anthology called Armored, edited by John Joseph Adams.
“The Arcane Art of Misdirection” is a Kitty-world story featuring Odysseus Grant, and will be in Hex Appeal, edited by PN Elrod.
“Harry and Marlowe Meet the Founder of the Aetherian Revolution” will be out in the Mad Scientists Guide to World Domination, also edited by John Joseph Adams.
“Raisa Stepanova” will be out in Dangerous Women, edited by George R.R. Martin and Garner Dozois.
Whew! That should do it for the next year or so.
The next novel after Kitty Steals the Show should be out in 2013, and I think it’s going to be called Kitty Rocks the House.
Amanda S USA again, have you ever had a story that itches your brain and you had to write it out?
Total 31
Usually, that’s how most of them get written! I wouldn’t have become a writer if that didn’t happen to me _all the freaking time_.
Debbie W / USA here again with another question. I’m getting ready to read your Harry & Marlowe story in Lightspeed. Will there be other steampunk world stories or (hopefully) will this become a series?
Thanks!
I’m seeing a series of stories about Harry and Marlowe that might become a novel someday. Too many other projects going to think about it right now! But the next one out is “Harry and Marlowe Meet the Founder of the Aetherian Revolution,” in a John Joseph Adams anthology called The Mad Scientists Guide to World Domination.
MARY P
AUSTRALIA
Do you find some books much easier to write than others?
+ 25 RSVP
+1 question
+1 Tally
TOTAL: 27
Hi Mary!
Funny you should ask that just now! I’m currently working on a Kitty book (the one after the next two due out), and it’s going very quickly. I don’t want to say it’s easy, though, because I know at the revision stage I’ll have to take the whole thing apart and put it back together again, and that’t always daunting.
Each book has its own problems and challenges. On all of them, it’s really just a matter of putting in the time to make them as good as I can.
Question +1 point
When do you next plan to come to Murder by the Book in Houston?
Darynda Jones RSVP +1 point
Careys RSVP +1 point
RSVP +25 points
Tally own points +1 point
Total to date +xxx points
Amy T.
U.S.A.
Total +29 points to date
Amy T.
U.S.A.
Hi Amy,
That one’s not on my list currently, I’m afraid. It never hurts to put in a request at the store, that they can pass on to my publicist for when they set up the next book tour.
Hi there! I have read Kitty up thru 6, and I have Steel and Voice of Dragons in my TBR pile. I’ve really enjoyed the audiobooks, did you have any say over the narrator? Marguerite Gavin does an excellent job!!
Joani S from USA
rsvp’d
rsvp’d for Jones
rsvp’d for Carey
tally points=29
BTW, the podcast for me was hard to hear. I could hear Sandra pretty well, but Carrie’s replies were sometimes lost, and I had the volume all the way up!
Hi Joani,
I’m glad you like the audiobooks! No, I didn’t have a say over the narrator. The first time I heard the books was the first time everybody else did, too! But I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
The Kitty series has been one of my favorites and I just started “The Dead Man’s Hand”. I just love to have three or four books in a series to read back to back. Do you find it harder or easier to do a short story as opposed to a full length novel?
+25 RSVP #30
+1 https://twitter.com/#!/alterlisa/status/179354285006520320
+1 Author Darynda Jones Interview and $50.00 Amazon Gift Card Contest #60
+1 Mike Carey and Louise Carey Guest Blog and WORLDWIDE Contest 3/14
+1 question
+1 tally= 30
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for reading! A short story takes less time, obviously, so it’s easier on that level. That said, short pieces are always a little nerve wracking because there’s no margin for error. The plot has to be tight, there can’t be a wasted word. I end up agonizing over them.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
Planner or pantzer?
DO you follow a “formula” when you write? DO you outline your ideas, write in a specific order
I actually talk about this in the podcast! I do a little of both — I always start with an outline, I usually know what the ending’s going to be. But I don’t always have all the details, and I make a lot of discoveries as I’m writing.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
What was the first moment you knew you had to write?
+1 question total=33
I’ve been writing my whole life. Creative writing assignments in school were always my favorite. In the eighth grade, after getting one of these awesome assignments and seeing how everyone else in the class was complaining, I realized that not everyone likes to write. This was a big shock to me. I liked to write, I was pretty good at it — from then on, that’s what I wanted to do.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
What is your favorite thing about the writing experience and why?
+1 question total=34
I really like that moment when the plot comes together, when I realize that all the pieces really do fit. I also like writing a really great scene that I know is going to get a reaction out of people.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
You woke up this morning and realized you had been reincarnated as a pair of shoes.
Describe yourself.
+1 question total=35
Um…that would kind of suck! Getting walked on all day, or left in the closet, like most of my shoes…
Lisa R smalltown, USA
Who do you see playing Kitty on the big screen?
+1 question total=36
I keep changing my mind on this, as time goes on. I like to time travel, so Renee Zellwenger circa 1999 or Kristen Bell circa 2005. I’m not really up on actresses who are the right age who have enough spunk for it right now.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
Any mytical or paranormal creatures that you have a story brewing in the back of your mind, you’d like to write about?
+1 question total=37
Not really any that I haven’t already written about. I mostly look for what the story needs, and find the myths/legends to fit the kind of story I want to tell. I have some more historical werewolf stories brewing, and also a selkie story.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
YOU are a paranormal character, what is your super power?
+1 question total=38
I get asked this sort of thing quite often and I never know what to answer. One of the reasons I write about the supernatural and superpowers is so I can control the rather unpleasant consequences of both, and not have to deal with them in the real world, you know?
Lisa R smalltown, USA
If you could choose only one time period and place to live, when and where would you live and why?
+1 question total=39
I have a great fondness for late Elizabethan England, if for no other reason than I could go to the theater and watch Shakespeare in first run.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
If a fairy godmother told you your life could be like a favorite book for 24 hours, which book would you pick and why?
+1 https://twitter.com/#!/alterlisa/status/179358822513647617
+1 question total=41
I’d want to go to Robin McKinley’s Damar. Preferably during a nice celebratory festival and not during one of the wars with the northern demons.
Hi Carrie,
Frances G. from Puerto Rico
I just remembered this event right now… just got back from uni.
Kitty happens to be my nickname, by the way.
Though I haven’t really read the series or any of your books, I am really curious. I hope I can get a hold of them some time soon.
Question (1 pt):
How do you pick names for your characters (as in, does the name influence how the character will be like)?
Hi Frances!
I sometimes think my method of picking names is really haphazard. I’ve been known to search and replace, changing names after I’ve already written the book. I’m mostly looking for something that sounds right for the character. If the character has some historical link, I look for an appropriate name for the time and place. I use a baby name book for inspiration sometimes.
Hi Carrie!
Firstly, I have to say that absoutely love your books!
And I absolutely love the podcasts! It gives such a rich interview.
I think it is hilarious that there’s always alcohol. I suppose that could have added to the richness of the interview.
So many questions, and after listening, ones that I didn’t expect to ask!
Okay I have to know, what exactly kept happening with the stuffed wolf?
Thanks!
Rae M. , USA
RSVP’d +25
RSVP for Mike Crey and Louise Carey +1
RSVP for Darynda Jones +1
Ask Question +1
Tally Points +1
Total = 29
Hi Rae! Thanks for reading the books!
We did the interview in Sandra’s hotel room in Reno at last year’s Worldcon. Diana Rowland was there, on the bed, which is also where Sandra’s stuffed wolf was. I’m not actually sure _what_ was going on, except that Sandra was afraid Diana was making suggestive gestures with it…
Well, Diana was sitting behind me on the bed, where I couldn’t see her and kept giggling…she said she was doing rude things with the wolf (poor little guy) but I didn’t actually SEE what she was doing. So, it’s a mystery to all of us but Diana!
Lisa R smalltown, USA
Just listen to the Sounds Bites and it was awesome! Though I’ve only read the Kitty books, I do have your others. After listening to Sound Bites, definitely pulling these out. I assumed they were first books in new series and was holding them. But as they are stand alones, I can go a head and read them.
What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year?
+1 question total=42
I gotta say, I’m with everyone else, really looking forward to The Avengers. That caliber of acting in an ensemble superhero movie, directed by Joss Whedon? Wow. I can’t wait.
Okay I always find it so neat and weird when authors saythey write out of order. You said that you have to know the end of a book before you really delve into it.
So do you have to end up constantly going back and forth between the beginning and the middle or is that once you get going you pretty much know the major issues of the story and you can just jump around? (I hope that made sense)
Question +1
New total = 30
It’s more a matter of, if I get stuck, I’ll jump forward to the next scene that I know. Sometimes, it’s all the way at the end. When I finally figure out the messy middle, I usually have to make changes in the first half so that it all fits. So I don’t really jump around at random, it’s more like an oil painting where I’m always looking at the whole picture and adding/changing what I need to make it work.
Whoo, I made it. Yes? got through the most of the Kitty books, love them all. Keep it up and I’ll keep reading
Thanks!
When you write the short stories, do they pop up while you write the novels and they become a side story that you want to flush out? Or do you go out to specifically write the short stories?
For instance did you always know what was happening to Cormac in jail in between Kitty’s visits or did you create the story afterwards?
Question +1
New Total = 31
They don’t usually just “pop up.” I usually have a specific idea or story I want to deal with that doesn’t fit in the novels, or I want to have a clearer idea of what’s going on outside Kitty’s point of view. I always knew what happened to Cormac, and I wrote the novella so I’d have a clear idea of that in my mind. Just like I wrote “Looking After Family” to have a better idea of Cormac and Ben’s childhoods. It’s fleshing out holes that I already know are there, if that makes sense.
Hi Carrie and Sandy
Carrie I love and own all of your books. I am currently trapped in the land of dial up, at the corner of Old Hardware Way and Bang Your Head Against the Desk Drive. So I am unable to hear the cast, too bad I am sure it is wonderful.
I only have one question today and it is for anyone to answer…
Have you ever lost(permanently or temporarily) the use of your index finger on your dominate hand? How long until you became used to not using it?
Odd questions, I know, but it has been one of those days.
Hi Koren,
Nope — I’ve been lucky, and not had a lot of health/physical issues. Hands are fine.
Hi, this is Donna P from Texas, USA. I was wondering how you manage to come up with your storylines?
Hi Donna,
That’s such a big question, and the first answer I can think of is, I just do. I know that’s not satisfying. I usually start with an idea or an image. For Kitty Goes to War, I really wanted to write about werewolf soldiers and war veterans. Starting with that idea, the story grows out of asking questions: Who are these soldiers? How does Kitty meet them? What challenges do they face? What if they have PTSD? How does that work with their lycanthropy? (Answer, not well.) And so on, until I figure out the problem, and how they get out of it.
It’s the same for pretty much all my books. I wanted to have Kitty testify before the Senate in Kitty Goes to Washington because I thought it would be funny, and the book grew out of figuring out how she gets to D.C., what she does once she’s there, what kind of people she meets, and what kind of problems ensue.
contest stuff…
1.KOREN C USA
2.asked +1
5.rsvp’d for Darynda’s event +1
rsvp’d for Mike and Louise +1
6.tally own points +1
total 4
This may sound like a strange question, but it always weirds me out to hear my own voice recorded.
Does that happen with you, are you used to it, or is this me being weird? (Feel free to say it’s me being weird!)
Thanks!
Rae M., USA
Questiion +1
Final Total (Unless I think of more questions) = 32
I guess I’m kind of used to it, I’ve done it so much now. I did a lot of theater in high school and that got me used to “performing,” I suppose you’d call it.
Hi Carrie
* Do you have any of your books in a e-book set? because I need lots of them and for a good price.+1
* I Spread the news on twitter and here is the link https://twitter.com/#!/sasluvbooks/status/179412432207347713 +1
* I RSVPed to be here with Carrie +25
* I RSVPed for Darynda Jones +1
* I Tallyed my Points +1=29
* Stacey S USA
sasluvbooks at yahoo dot com
Hi Stacey,
I’m afraid the e-books aren’t bundled. That would be up to the publisher to do.
Hi,
If you could be a character in a book, what book would that be?
Thanks!
Dovile P., Lithuania
___
+25 RSVPed for this event
+1 for the question
+2 RSVPed for Darynda Jones and the Careys events
+1 tally
Total: 29
Hi Dovile,
If I could be a character in any book… I know I mentioned Robin McKinley’s Damar books — The Blue Sword and the Hero and the Crown — earlier. I love the world, and would love to visit that world.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
Do you prefer reading a book on an e-reader or print? Why?
+1 https://twitter.com/#!/alterlisa/status/179572577793097729
+1 question total=44
I actually still like print, if for no other reason than I don’t have to worry about batteries running out.
But I’ve taken to bringing an e-reader when I travel, just to keep from having to carry around the weight.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
What is your favorite thing about the writing experience and why?
+1 https://twitter.com/#!/alterlisa/status/179583702135869440
+1 question total=46
You asked this before, at #17! See answer there…
Where did you go to college?
RSVP for RSVPed to be here with Carrie RSVPed for Darynda Jones
I love the Kitty books and read them as soon as they come out it seems.
Lisa D. USA
Total points 5
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for reading! I went to undergrad at Occidental College in Los Angeles (same place President Obama when for his first two years, but I was there a decade later.)
I got my masters degree in English Lit at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Lisa R smalltown, USA
In your wildest dreams, which author would you love to co-author a book with?
+1 https://twitter.com/#!/alterlisa/status/179603214944051200
+1 question total=48
Hmm, I’d have to think about that. Someone I got along with really well, I think! I’ve never really collaborated before, and find the concept a bit daunting.
Where would you like to be in 25 years?
Writing more Kitty books for me would be nice!!
Bought Steel for my Kindle.
Lisa D. USA
Total points = 506
In 25 years: alive, healthy, happy, and still writing. The rest are details.
Hi Carrie,
Great to see you here at BBB.
As far as I recall, you’ve not worked on a comic book (at least, one that has been published), unlike the main character in DISCHORD’S APPLE. Would you like to work on a comic? (Related question below!)
+ 25 RSVP
+2 questions
+1 tweet
+1 Tally
Total: +29!
Hi Alana!
It’s on the long list of things I’d like to work on someday, but I don’t have any projects at the moment.
Related question: What story of yours do you think would best adapt to the comic book format?
Ideally, I suppose it ought to be After the Golden Age, which is about comic book superheroes. Full circle!
Hi, Carrie! I was so excited when you were nominated for the Hugo last year. I’m sure it won’t be your last nomination!
I see that you’ve put your love of fencing to good use. I know that you also have an interest in medieval Europe. Any plans to work that interest into your stories?
I’ve fallen behind on reading your books. This is a great reason to catch up!
Sharon D from the USA
+25 RSVP
+500 Purchased Steel
+800 Purchased 8 other items from Amazon (including Discord’s Apple and Voices of Dragons, btw)
+1 Tally
+1 Question
Total 1327
Hi Sharon! Thanks!
No plans to work in medieval Europe yet. Most of the projects I’m working on are contemporary or alternate world fantasy.
testing