A new interview with author J.K. Rowling is online today via PotterCast, Harry Potter newsite Leaky Cauldron's weekly podcast by fans Melissa Anelli, John Noe and Sue Upton. According to Leaky News, which posted a preview of the segment yesterday, "It's a rare, informal, discussion which slides between detailed canon, larger statments about the series and writing, and casual banter."
This interview is part one of two. The second will air next week.
To hear it, sidle on over to the PotterCast site. As it was just posted today, no transcripts of the episode have been made. However, Leaky assures that they are forthcoming.
But I'm not waiting for them. So, now that I've posted this wonderful news, I'm off to go listen to that podcast.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Glossaries
I was browsing Absolute Write, when I noticed a title with something about glossaries in it, and this post came to me. Like magic. Or not really, anyway, Glossaries tend to be pretty popular in fantasy books.
My question is, do you, the reader, enjoy them? Personally, I don't mind them so long as the author doesn't rely on them. That means, I don't want to read a passage that says something like, "And the beautiful heroine stepped on the Zog and left" and then have to go look up in the back of the book what a Zog is, because the author doesn't explain it in the actual story. That's annoying, and it breaks the flow of the book.
However, with really complex stories, I don't mind a glossary I can go back to and check things in, so long as, like I said before, I read it in the book first and then just use the glossary as a reminder later on.
How about everyone else?
Offbeat Quick News
News from the Rest of the Web
No offsite links today, because I'm working on the site layout.
My question is, do you, the reader, enjoy them? Personally, I don't mind them so long as the author doesn't rely on them. That means, I don't want to read a passage that says something like, "And the beautiful heroine stepped on the Zog and left" and then have to go look up in the back of the book what a Zog is, because the author doesn't explain it in the actual story. That's annoying, and it breaks the flow of the book.
However, with really complex stories, I don't mind a glossary I can go back to and check things in, so long as, like I said before, I read it in the book first and then just use the glossary as a reminder later on.
How about everyone else?
Offbeat Quick News
News from the Rest of the Web
No offsite links today, because I'm working on the site layout.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Best Book of the Year: Harry Potter
Newsweek Magazine's Malcom Jones, in a Newsweek Web Exclusive, has chosen fifteen of the best books of 2007. Topping the list is J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.I have to completely agree with this decision, and so, no further comment will be made.
Future Plans
Just thought I'd stop in to announce that Offbeat will be participating in Absolute Write's 2007 December Holiday Flash Fiction Carnival! It was always my intent to, along with news and commentary, give you guys a few short stories and the like to read.
So, look for a New Year's (I've decided on a NY story instead of any other holiday) themed short to be posted here soon.
Other than that, I'd also like to say that I'm entertaining the idea of serializing a novel here on Offbeat, one written specifically for the purpose of being posted here. I'm not sure I'm going to, though. I'll let you know more about that in the future.
So, look for a New Year's (I've decided on a NY story instead of any other holiday) themed short to be posted here soon.
Other than that, I'd also like to say that I'm entertaining the idea of serializing a novel here on Offbeat, one written specifically for the purpose of being posted here. I'm not sure I'm going to, though. I'll let you know more about that in the future.
Wheel of Time To Be Finished by Brandon Sanderson
December 10th, on his official site and livejournal, author Brandon Sanderson posted that he has been asked to finish late author Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Series.
Sanderson states that, "Mr. Jordon left detailed notes, and readers need not fear. The Wheel of Time will continue to turn."
In an interview with Dragonmount, a Wheel of Time community, Sanderson says, "There was only one person who could have written this book the way it was supposed to be written, and he is gone now. I think I'll do a good job (to be honest, I think I'll do a great job) but I can't do the job he would have done."
The full interview with Mr. Sanderson can be read here, on the Dragonmount site.
The official press release states that, "The new novel, A Memory of Light, will be the 12th and final book in the fantasy series which has sold more than 14 million copies in North America and more than 30 million copies worldwide."
Sanderson states that, "Mr. Jordon left detailed notes, and readers need not fear. The Wheel of Time will continue to turn."
In an interview with Dragonmount, a Wheel of Time community, Sanderson says, "There was only one person who could have written this book the way it was supposed to be written, and he is gone now. I think I'll do a good job (to be honest, I think I'll do a great job) but I can't do the job he would have done."
The full interview with Mr. Sanderson can be read here, on the Dragonmount site.
The official press release states that, "The new novel, A Memory of Light, will be the 12th and final book in the fantasy series which has sold more than 14 million copies in North America and more than 30 million copies worldwide."
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