Home » Discussion Forums » Blog Post Discussion » The announcement I didn't want to hear either
| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45664 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Wed, 19 October 2011 17:03   |
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The news that you are still writing is the best news we could ever hear as your fans. As loyal fans we will wait however long it takes for you to put out another book. We understand the need to get a paycheck and greatly respect you. We would always rather wait a longer period to read a book we know you put your heart and soul into than one that was rushed to the printing presses to meet a deadline. Thank you also for taking the time to make this announcement to us, I can imagine it might have had you in knots for awhile.
Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it means you decided to look beyond the imperfections.
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45665 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Wed, 19 October 2011 17:27 |
 bonniebythepeak
Messages: 76
Registered: April 2010
Location: Colorado, USA |
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That announcement could have been so much worse. So was it like wrestling with a greased octopus underwater while on a limited oxygen supply? That's what it's like when the story fights me.
Hopefully this can be embraced as the whole crisis/opportunity thing. Door closed, window opened. Every tornadic disaster has a silverish lining. Of sorts.
My best thoughts and wishes to you. Hopefully the story council will get their junk together and let you get on with your business of telling stories.
"All their life... had only been the cover and title page, now at last, they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story." C.S. Lewis
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45671 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Wed, 19 October 2011 21:20 |
judith
Messages: 249
Registered: October 2008
Location: United States |
Senior Member |
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It’s been so gruesome that I’ve had a few of those dark nights of the soul when I wondered if I was, you know, broken somehow, and couldn’t write. These moments were very, very bad.
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That's a very bad place to be. I'm glad you're out of it now.
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Listen: I can’t face PEG right now. Cannot. It needs to relax out of the knots I made of it. I’m going to have to go back to the beginning of PEG II and unpick the strands, thread by thread, and lay them out flat again and try to see what they are this time. I’m going to have to rewrite it ... pretty much as if this last year never happened. (Siiiiiiiiigh.) And first I have to get my breath—and my courage—back. So does poor PEG, I suspect.
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I've been in places like this with my own work -- to a less dramatic degree, but I know what you mean. When you pick it up again with fresh eyes, the end result will be better for the hiatus.
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So, I started this new novel. And it actually went, like a novel should. My first drafts are always fairly painful, but they should accumulate, paragraph after paragraph. Like this one seems to be doing.
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YESSS! Don't tell us about it! Pour the energy into writing it instead!
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Have I mentioned I’m running out of money? I was supposed to turn PEG II in, oh, last month or so. I need to get paid.
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Reality is pesky. I'm against it in this instance. 
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45674 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Wed, 19 October 2011 22:40 |
skating librarian
Messages: 576
Registered: October 2008
Location: Vermont |
Senior Member |
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I trust that however long it takes will be just right.
"Winning a war is like winning an earthquake" Jeanette Rankin
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45678 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Thu, 20 October 2011 00:25 |
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Stardancer
Messages: 186
Registered: April 2011
Location: Florida, USA |
Senior Member |
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MORE MCKINLEY BOOKS!!! SQUEEEEE!!!
Okay, so I did sort of guess that PEG II (EBON) would be late (also the very title makes me happy. I love Ebon). Anyway, I can't bring myself to care. I love every single one of your stories and I don't care how long they take. They're almost shockingly different sometimes, too--BLUE SWORD from DRAGONHAVEN from CHALICE from SUNSHINE from OUTLAWS--but I love that. Each one is fascinating and beautiful.
Like everyone else, I'm just thrilled that there will be more books. And when they do come out, I shall BUY THEM ALL.
/CAPS explosion
ETA: Also, a thought: Originally PEGASUS I and II were going to be the duo you didn't want, which could have potentially possibly hopefully not been followed by the trilogy you didn't want...so if this is the trilogy, does that mean you've escaped the duo?
[Updated on: Thu, 20 October 2011 00:27]
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45688 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Thu, 20 October 2011 10:51 |
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shalea
Messages: 785
Registered: October 2008
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina, ... |
Senior Member |
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I've been sort of mulling over how best to put my feelings on this...
I love* pound cake. My sister makes, quite possibly, the best pound cake in the world. She doesn't do it often (which is probably good for all of our waistlines) because pound cake takes a surprising amount of time to do right**. But I don't just buy pound cake from the grocery store because it's just not the same thing at all.
We'll happily wait for your pound cake, Robin, and what you've basically told us is that we get THREE pound cakes to look forward to.
Although I hate that you've had to go through the emotional turmoil you've described to get there, I have a hard time viewing this as anything but good news. (Though all this talk of pound cake makes me think maybe I need to give my sister a call...)
* If you assume "love" to mean "adore, covet, WANT, WANT, WANT, etc."
** LOTS of mixing, long baking time, enough cooling time that it doesn't just fall to pieces rather than allowing itself to be sliced up -- though sometimes, admittedly, if it's not been made for a special occasion we skip that last step.
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45690 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Thu, 20 October 2011 11:01 |
sixpence
Messages: 49
Registered: August 2009 |
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What would be upsetting to read is that you had just discovered that you had an overwhelming calling to sell shoelaces on the street corner!
More books of any kind - yeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sixpence
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45697 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Thu, 20 October 2011 14:35 |
libby.gorman
Messages: 72
Registered: June 2009
Location: Durham, NC |
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Whoa. That sounds like a whole lot of stress. I'm happy you figured out why Pegasus was giving you such a hard time!
And we find out that we have to wait a little while, but get 3 books instead of 1 on the way? That's great!
Best wishes with the super-fast new novel!
Libby
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45713 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Thu, 20 October 2011 22:38 |
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Jeanine
Messages: 55
Registered: October 2008
Location: Florida |
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I don't post very often but it really seems as if you might appreciate a little reassurance. So, let me add my own "There, there. It's ok." to the chorus along with a virtual pat on the back. Life happens and we miss deadlines sometimes. (I miss lots of them!) Just try to be be like Douglas Adams and enjoy the whooshing sound as they pass by.
BTW, I write for a living too so I can feel your pain. I've had my own moments where I slowly and painfully come to the realization that something is not harmonizing and I should just bite the bullet and start over from scratch. There's always that period of denial where I say, "No, no! I can make this work! I don't want to start all over again. Waaahhh!" But, even though starting over will take more time, the writing is always better for it in the long run.
Do what you need to do. And good luck. And don't worry so much about what the rest of us might think! Besides I'm surprised you were worried about our reaction. It seems like you have a nice bunch here. I haven't seen one negative comment yet.
And, I'm sending the very best vibes to Peter for his good health. THAT, and your mental sanity(!) are what's really important!
[Case of Green and Blacks on way Federal Express]
[Updated on: Thu, 20 October 2011 22:39]
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45716 is a reply to message #45714 ] |
Fri, 21 October 2011 02:15 |
bonniebythepeak
Messages: 76
Registered: April 2010
Location: Colorado, USA |
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Hmm. Perhaps it's time for more Robin McKinley books as Christmas presents for my friends. I know they don't all have all of them....
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What a great idea, danceswithpahis! I wonder if we could really set this thing up properly. I've got a niece who needs to own Beauty and The Blue Sword. What do you think?
"All their life... had only been the cover and title page, now at last, they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story." C.S. Lewis
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45717 is a reply to message #45619 ] |
Fri, 21 October 2011 02:46 |
Kim A
Messages: 117
Registered: August 2009
Location: Vancouver, Canada |
Senior Member |
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Christmas presents, yes. Plus, my copy of Beauty is being held together by green tape, and I lent Blue Sword out a while ago and haven't gotten it back. And I can kill two birds with one stone and go support my local independent bookstore!
It was the only lullaby she would ever sing, and it was sung in Hell. --Laini Taylor
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45720 is a reply to message #45715 ] |
Fri, 21 October 2011 09:25 |
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L.R.K.
Messages: 1090
Registered: October 2008
Location: Sweden |
Senior Member |
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| danceswithpahis wrote on Fri, 21 October 2011 08:11 |
| EMoon wrote on Tue, 18 October 2011 23:41 |
If I can get past the huge spiky misbegotten boulder of a stumbling block that my book has put in my way the last week, I'll try to help by writing some more guest posts for the blog. (It wants to be bigger. Lots bigger. It says there's a lot more Story in here and I should unpack it all. I can't. Both my publishers were very firm that I have to finish in the next two books. Of course, both those editors are now gone, and I don't have new editors yet, but the chances in this market of cajoling these unknown persons to let me add another couple of volumes is...below 0.00001%.)
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I'm sorry to hear that. I've been loving the series a lot so far, and wish/hope that the market will behave in such a way as to allow the story to be told all the way through however it needs to come out. Either way, though, we'll still be excited to get to read it.
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Reminds me a little of what happened to Babylon 5 - it looked as if it was going to be axed after the fourth season, so JMS crammed as much story as he could into seasson four, to give fans closure, while leaving a little in case of a possible fifth season. And then there was a fifth season.
EMoon - I hope you get your "fifth season" too - maybe your new editors will be charming understanding people willing to take a chance - "Hope is all we have." 
Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean, like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45729 is a reply to message #45666 ] |
Fri, 21 October 2011 11:20 |
bonniebythepeak
Messages: 76
Registered: April 2010
Location: Colorado, USA |
Member |
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I've wrestled with a large octopus for real - and trust me, they don't need grease!
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Really?? What was it like? And um... why?
"All their life... had only been the cover and title page, now at last, they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story." C.S. Lewis
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| Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either [message #45762 is a reply to message #45729 ] |
Sat, 22 October 2011 17:54 |
Audrey Falconer
Messages: 78
Registered: October 2008
Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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| bonniebythepeak wrote on Sat, 22 October 2011 02:20 |
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I've wrestled with a large octopus for real - and trust me, they don't need grease!
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Really?? What was it like? And um... why?
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It's amazing, actually. The octopus is very strong and muscular, but has a very delicate, sensuous touch with its suckers and the tips of the tentacles.
Why? I was leading an educational trip and was attempting to pull the octopus a little out of the water so everyone could see it clearly. The octopus co-operated for a little while and then spotted a large lobster, at which point it slithered out of my grip and went after it. The lobster saw it and leapt out of the water from rockpool to rockpool, with the octopus slithering rapidly after it, through air and all. That lobster was *flying* through the air in its desperate and futile attempt to escape!
I've had a second encounter where an octopus caught me. I was standing in water to mid-calf, in seagrass, and the octopus wrapped himself around my foot, folded my sock over and undid my shoelace. He explored my foot very delicately and I didn't realise until later what he had done! Alas, I made preparations to photograph him but he took off just before I was ready so I didn't get a good picture.
I later found out that that particular octopus was rather notorious - a few weeks earlier a woman had been swimming in the same rock pool and came out screaming hysterically with the octopus wrapped around her neck!
The octopus had a body about the size of a basketball (well, a little smaller), with arms about a metre long and as thick as my wrist near the body. I don't think I would have wanted to wear him as a scarf, either - he probably weighed 10 kilos or so.
Octopuses do regularly catch marine biologists, but most of them (biologists) panic and run away, rather than just leave the octopus alone. When I was grabbed I shouted to everyone, "I've got a gorgeous big octopus!". Alas, others don't take that view.
Audrey
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Re: The announcement I didn't want to hear either
