The Cascade Effect

Things haven’t really slowed down for me since Launch Week, which is a good thing, but the result of this has been that I’ve been a little slack on blogging. Sorry, folks! But here’s what’s going on this week, for example:

  • The copyedit of book 2, The Broken Kingdoms, is due on Friday. But…
  • …since I’m traveling to ICFA on Thursday, I actually need to get it done by then. Except…
  • …since I have to work on Wednesday, and am doing a reading as part of the KGB Fantastic Fiction reading series that night, followed by our usual Chinese group dinner afterward, I really need to get it done by then…
  • …which means I actually need to finish the copyedit today.

So, not much blogging from me this week.

All that said, the past week/weekend has been fantastic. My writing group’s retreat helped put me in just the right mental space to tackle all the stuff that’s going on, so I’m not feeling overwhelmed, just very very busy. I got some very good news about a certain prestigious writers’ workshop that I’m going to be in — more on that later. And on Saturday I got to be on the radio! I was the guest of the week on Jim Freund’s long-running and famous (infamous?) “Hour of the Wolf” broadcast, on WBAI 99.5. You can listen to a stream of the show here (scroll down or search in-page for “Hour of the Wolf” for March 13th) — but note that it will be taken down at the end of the week, so hurry! Note also that there’s about 20 minutes of music at the beginning — it’s great old school ragtime jazz, listen to it — and then the talking starts.

So, back to work for me. In the meantime, here’s a candid photo of the Altered Fluid gang on the last day of our retreat. I love this photo because it’s so perfect for us — we’re all so clearly headed in our own directions, but we’re doing it together. As the photo’s taker, Paul Berger, quipped: “spontaneously symmetrical, yet still incoherent”. Yeah, that’s us in a nutshell.

Altered Fluid members at 2010 writing retreat.

11 thoughts on “The Cascade Effect”

  1. More cascade — I mentioned your great novel to a senior editor at Bertelsmann over the weekend and he said he’d get his staff to check it out. So you might hear of some interest in a German translation …. And the book market was up 2 percent in Germany in 2009 despite the financial crisis.

  2. Hi Jeanine,

    That’s great to hear! But the German translation rights to the first book of the trilogy have already sold to Blanvalet; they’re releasing it as “Die Erbin der Welt”. I believe it came out in February over there.

  3. Super. Let me see if I can get in German as well. One of these days I hope to meet you and get you to sign these books!

  4. *laugh* You know, knowing full well that the second book is in near-final form and it’s still going to be another eight months (assuming the Amazon release date is accurate) before I see it…that doesn’t help make the wait any easier. On the upside, book 2’s release date makes for much better timing to allow me to give it as a Christmas gift to friends, whereas book 1 hit right AFTER Christmas and several friend/family birthdays.

    That said, I’m very glad to hear how well things have been going since release day — it’s been the good sort of crazy, from the sound of it. I’ve been busy jaunting around Europe for work, but my reviews for Amazon and Goodreads will be coming before too much longer.

  5. Hi Ms. Jemisin,

    Really enjoyed the novel, looking forward to the next.

    I’ve done some scriptwriting, and I see your literary agency does development deals. Your book makes a fabulous one-line pitch to potential (and short-attention spanned) producers. It’s probably occurred to you, but it’s too wonderful not to be sure:

    “A love triangle between a mortal woman and two gods.”

    Whoof. That hook is close to perfect; gives me chills. I could mess around with a synopsis and treatment too, if you’d like. It’d be fun.

    All the best,

    Marlon McAvoy

  6. Since we shared the airport shuttle this morning I read and deeply enjoyed The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I look forward to devouring the rest of the series as it becomes available.

    Be well
    ~ David

  7. Woo hoo!!!

    I just saw that it’s on hold backorder at my library. I love hearing/seeing stuff like this. :)

  8. Hi Marlon,

    It’s not really a love triangle, though — I think you’ll see that as the trilogy progresses, but the shape of it is already visible in book 1. The Three are a menage-a-trois, a poly marriage, whatever you want to call ’em. Isn’t a love triangle essentially a binary relationship that’s just having some problems?

    That said, the book has already been looked at by a film rights agent for pitching possibilities, to no avail. Doesn’t mean nothing can happen, but does mean it’ll have to come from a different direction. (i.e., any filmmakers out there who are interested are welcome to approach us.)

    Thanks, though!

  9. Hey, there! Glad you liked it! (Wow, you’re fast. O.o)

    BTW, is there any way we can see Nalo’s ICFA speech before 9 months? By that time I’m likely to have forgotten ICFA ever occurred, knowing my memory. -_-

  10. Yes, it was obviously not a pure love triangle. Plus the sole woman and mortal isn’t even the triangle’s apex! You dare contrive a romantic structure more complex than TWILIGHT? The horror.

    And you’re saying what we call love triangles are actually “jealousy” triangles? I’d never thought of it that way. With human beings obviously even worse at loving triangles than we are at pair-bonding. So…does the human element of your divine love story prove to be its weakest link? Rhetorical question, don’t answer! I’ll wait for the books.

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