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Jan 10, 2013 -- 5:34AM, dadocollin wrote:

Yes!  Finally the Goldpiece baby photo!  I should let you know that my wife is pregnant with a baby girl due in June, so be prepared for another book-wielding baby.

Oh, and Havilar is totally my favorite too... 

Congrats on the baby Dado!  That's really exciting. 

I don't know if I can still call my little girl a "baby" though.  She tears around the house, has a mind of her own, and gets put in "time out" several times a day.  She'll be two next month and I'm beginning to understand the term "terrible twos." 

Jan 9, 2013 -- 11:58AM, Iluvrien wrote:

I also wondered about Tam and Brin and their... well, human-ness... especially in the face of that fact that the primary protagonists Farideh, Havilar, Mehen, Lorcan and so on are most certainly not! Species/Race always interests me in books. Especially in Speculative or Fantasy fiction where there is the added possibility of seeing, to (mis)quote Terry Pratchett, "Black and white ganging up on green"! Finishing Rich Baker's first to Last Mythal books underscores this for me. How many of Araevin's or Ilsevele's actions are explained in the narrative by simple phrases such as "as sun elves..." or "...because they were ar Tel'Quessir".

Similarly, when you are writing for Farideh et al. how aware of you of their species? For example, is Farideh a Tiefling character (in that her actions are always informed by her inherent nature)? Or is she a character (that acts as she does) that just happens to be a Tiefling? The same goes for Havi, Mehen, Lorcan and so on...

... too many questions yet?

BIG question (fun question!)

1. Brin ended up in Brimstone Angels specifically to be a human viewpoint. I felt pretty sure I could get you to identify with Farideh and Havilar and Mehen given the chance, but Brin provided a fallback viewpoint as well as a sympathetic way to show how most humans do see tieflings, and what they take for granted there.

2. I know not everyone agrees with me on this, but in general, I'm not a fan of the "racial personality" characterization, for characters that aren't monsters. I look at the vast array of human populations and see so much variation that I can't really swallow the notion that, for example, all tieflings are x because they're born that way. I do love considering cultural pressures and conflicting viewpoints though--like having a human think "oh that's because they're an elf' when you also know from that elf's perspective that, no, they're like that because their mom was really big on manners, or something. 

To that extent I think about how Farideh's appearance has affected her interactions throughout her life, and had a cumulative affect on her. I also think about how Mehen's culture and upbringing would have informed his child-rearing techniques (e.g. dragonborn clans are very big on filial piety,  think that would make Mehen really loathe to let his daughters go off on their own without really compelling reasons...at least so far). 

Lorcan and Sairche are slightly different. I still wouldn't call them "monsters" and so I don't feel okay about painting them with too broad a brush. But their half-sisters? Their mother? Monsters--I think it's reasonable to say that devils are evil and erinyes are violent and even if there's some nuance to the individuals, those things are just true down to their bones. 

Lorcan and Sairche though are only half devil, so I feel like they have that "monstrousness" but they don't always obey it. They're more complex and literally more human. And I think--partly because they have both been viewpoint characters--you can see that the realites of surviving in the hierarchy of the Nine Hells, the culture they've grown up and lived in, impacts their actions as much if not more than any genetic component.

I guess I find "nurture" way more interesting and fluid to write about than "nature."

Jan 9, 2013 -- 1:44PM, dadocollin wrote:

When they announced the Sundering, before they said the author's names during the big reveal, a friend and I were immediately speculating who the authors would be.  Salvatore and Greenwood were obvious inclusions.  Kemp and Byers are proven best sellers.  (I've been waiting for years for Paul Kemp's next Realms novel. He completely missed 4th edition!) Especially with the inclusion of Troy Denning, it really appeared they were going known quantities + old school, which made sense because a lot of D&D Next is focused on bringing back the flock. I don't want to start a debate about who should/shouldn't have been included, so I'm not going to name names about who I thought would be the sixth author, but I too was surprised to see Erin Evans in the lineup.

I say that not to humble you in any way, but the opposite.  It's a huge compliment to you that they chose to let you come to the table with these heavy hitters.  Even if someone makes the argument: "They were going to pick a female author for at least one of the books to avoid gender complaints," there were other more well known females connected to the Realms for much longer.   You are probably the envy of a large number of newer and older Realms authors.  I mean, this series is almost guranteed to be a string of hardcover best sellers (if War of the Spider Queen is any indication).  My guess is that Wizards sat down and tried to think of who would write the best six books, and after the obvious inclusions that will sell on name recognition alone, your name rose to the top.  You should almost feel even better in a way because Mr. Salvatore & company (and don't get me wrong, I love Bob's books) were picked in some part because their names alone sell copies.  There are people I know who read Salvatore, for example, and don't read anything else from Wizards or even care about D&D.  They picked you based on the quality of your writing.  You're the rising star!  (No pressure...)

Jan 9, 2013 -- 5:19PM, Iluvrien wrote:

I had come to a similar conclusion and so I was thinking about what it might be in Erin's writing that stands out, for me at least.

To be honest I think it is the freshness of the characterization. So far only three authors have managed to haul me across the time-jump into the stark realities of the 4E Realms: Ed Greenwood (well...duh), Erin and Erik Scott de Bie (Depths of Madness and Downshadow were both superb).

I read Ed's work because while it is replete with the loss of so many good friends (Queen Fee how we miss you, and mother Laspeera, Mreen, Laeral, Dove, Syluné, Amlaruil... etc) it still holds a spark of the wry whimsy that I used to feel characterised much of the Realms.

Erik and Erin's work is different. It grabs you and keeps you in the moment with new characters and personalities that I was immediately intrigued by (though you might not actually like them at first... Foxy and Farideh I am looking at you) almost in spite of where or when they are.

Today I began to wonder if it is not the need to pepper the lineup with this sense of freshness, the here-and-now, that might have lead to Wizards' rightful recognition of Erin's (obvious and formidable) talent to stop some us being bogged down in the here-and-then during the events of the (second) Sundering (Secundering?).

Jan 9, 2013 -- 5:40PM, Gemini_Maxwell wrote:

I believe I let out an audible "WOOOO!" when I first saw/heard your name as part of the Sundering.  If I remember correctly, this wasn't too long after we had finished the first book in the Book Club.  I very much agree with Dado's comment about how the first Brimstone Angels would have been a spectacular book to introduce someone into the 4th Edition Realms, and I'm really excited to see Farideh & Co. deal with the latest Realms-shaking event.

Thanks, you guys. It is really an honor--when they asked me I had to reread the email a few times to be sure I was really getting it. 

I have to say I was really nervous about the reveal. I'm by far the newest author, the only woman, and also the only one who's only written for 4E FR. I was pretty ready for some disappointed fans to say some "internet-only" kind of things. But I really haven't heard any of that. So while it's the source of my most humbling experience, it's also the one that said "okay, you really are a Realms author now."

 

> Lorcan and Sairche are slightly different. I still wouldn't call them "monsters"
Interesting.

I would definitely call Sairche a "Monster"--with a capital M AND scare quotes and everything! I mean she is evil, nightmare stuff in every single way...

And I would likely call Lorcan a monster as well. Not just in the Hannibal Lector way, but in the literature way. He has helped the good guys, but only to advance his own schemes.

I think you are thinking more in terms of crunch game mechanics--NPC's have personality and Monsters are for killing, type thing...One thing I love about reading D&D Novels is that they provide great ways to challange this thinking at the game table.

For example, erinyes are no longer simple dice rolling challanges but they have well informed witty banter. One of the primary reasons I am in this book club is to steal that kind of stuff...the oppurtunity to stock piling backstories, setting details, and personalities that I can spring on my players is fantastic & if the players have read the book we have a meaningful shared experience...gaming gold.

In any event, back to the topic of monsters and literature--if I were to list ten monsters for literature I would have:

1. Arioch
2. Alzabo
3. Frankenstein
4. Kalessin
5. Balrog
6. Jabberwock
7. Dracula
8. Kraken
9. It
10. Cthulhu

Jan 11, 2013 -- 9:33AM, ErinMEvans wrote:

 

Jan 9, 2013 -- 10:58PM, lordsknight1585 wrote:

Not gonna lie (sorry Erin) But while I like Fari as a character much more then I did when I began reading, she is still not my favorite character...I sort-of see her as my unofficial road to more Havi every half a chapter. >.>;;

Okay, I'm super curious: What is it you didn't like about Farideh at first?

Oh dear. Ok, its not that I "didn't like" Farideh, its just that at first she did not seem to be a very strong character...Im not explaining this well at all. I guess the best way for me to explain it is that I did not feel she was strong enough to do things on her own. Like the pact for example, I now cannot see a better way for you to have done it, but in the beginning it had this damsel-in-distress vibe I see too much in fantasy, being that she was the lonely clumsy girl who swooned for a big strong fox. BUT that was just at FIRST. I mean half-way through she got seperated and she was literally all alone without Havi or Mehen to fall back on and I gained a lot more respect for her character at that point, and I do really like her alot now. (Just not as much as Havi )