Voyager Book Club, Tuesday December 16

Author: Jennifer Fallon

Book: The Chaos Crystal

[Open Chat]: Jenny Fallon has entered at 7:55 pm
[Taelian] 7:55 pm: ooooooooooooooh
[Elehzya] 7:55 pm: *drum roll*
[Taelian] 7:56 pm: *unrolls red carpet*
[CJ] 7:56 pm: *fans self*
[Jenny Fallon] 7:56 pm: Oh... am I early... I'll come back later if you like:)
[Aaron] 7:56 pm: Hi Jen.
[Taelian] 7:56 pm: Welcome Jenny :-)
[kez] 7:56 pm: hey hey
[sian] 7:56 pm: Hi!
[Jenny Fallon] 7:56 pm: Hello all
[Elehzya] 7:56 pm: Hail!
[Aaron] 7:56 pm: How are you this afternoon?
[Taelian] 7:57 pm: We have a couple of people here who are willing to brave spoilers, just FYI
[Jenny Fallon] 7:57 pm: Just a word of caution, I'm not on a terribly fast connection so I may not be able to keep up. I am also the worst typist in the solar system:)
[Jenny Fallon] 7:57 pm: OK then... ask away
[Aaron] 7:57 pm: I would have thought typing out all those books would've gotten your typing skills into good shape.
[Jenny Fallon] 7:58 pm: No... just practiced being really bad
[Aaron] 7:58 pm: Heh... Makes sense.
[Taelian] 7:59 pm: But your manuscripts are pretty clean when you hand them in, aren't they?
[Jenny Fallon] 7:59 pm: Yes... but I cheat... I am the Queen of Autocorrect and half a dozen people have read it before I hand it in
[Elehzya] 8:00 pm: hahaha!
[Taelian] 8:00 pm: I am going to throw in a question to get the ball or wossname rolling: The crasii - please explain, where did you come up with the idea, and why did you stick to lizards, felines, canines in the main? Also :( I didn't want them all destroyed!
[Jenny Fallon] 8:03 pm: It was all part of my evil plan to claim 6 years of my daughters university education in veterinary science as a tax dodge:) Seriously, though, we frequently anthropomophise animals, and it just seemed like a bit of fun to do it in reverse. I awlays wanted a sex scene betwenn a human and a feline that would have been very messy, but there was never a place in the story where it would logically fit. As for the destruction... well, I planned that from the getgo too. Muwahahaha
[Jenny Fallon] 8:03 pm: I kept to three or 4 species becasue otherwise I would have spent all day explaining the creatures and slowing down the story
[Aaron] 8:03 pm: Mmm. Bestiality. You have a beautifully sick mind.
[Taelian] 8:04 pm: lol
[Elehzya] 8:04 pm: I like them personally. I've read other books where half animal half humans act all human, where yours keep some of their animalness :P
[kez] 8:04 pm: i think the crassi should have been destroyed becasuse they were seen as an abomination by the original immortals, they were the ones really controlling what was going on...
[Jenny Fallon] 8:04 pm: It was more the logistics of it, rather than the titilation that fascinated me:)
[Taelian] 8:04 pm: I think I'm sorta glad that scene didn't materialise - with any of them - I was quite afraid of Boots!
[Aaron] 8:04 pm: Sure, sure. :P
[Jenny Fallon] 8:05 pm: Hhehehe... she was one of my favourites. Chikita was meant to have a much bigger role, too, but it never really worked out that way
[Elehzya] 8:06 pm: It was so sad when Boot and Warlock found out about their pups. I was wondering if they'd leave them on a mountainside or something Spartan-style
[kez] 8:06 pm: speaking of favourites who were they and why
[Taelian] 8:06 pm: Yes, I liked that they kept their animalness too - poor Warlock, though, I kept wishing he'd give Boots a good bite on her backside and choose someone else
[kez] 8:06 pm: ...everyone
[sian] 8:06 pm: I loved Boots
[Jenny Fallon] 8:06 pm: Actually, it was the vet daughter who thought up that nasty little twist about the pups. She's more evil than me.
[Taelian] 8:06 pm: Definitely Cayal for me - I love a character who doesn't repent. He stuck to his guns the whole way through and didn't give a #$%^&* about anyone except Arkady, and then it was only a small damn.
[Jenny Fallon] 8:07 pm: My fave character... Cayal. And Lukys.
[Taelian] 8:07 pm: Oooh the chat changed my word into squiggle swear symbols
[Taelian] 8:07 pm: Why Lukys? And were either of them based on anyone in real life?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:07 pm: Neat:)
[sian] 8:08 pm: Lukys is brilliant. I had a soft spot for kinta too
[Elehzya] 8:08 pm: I had a thing for Declan :P childhood sweethearts, his whole fight between his tide lord self and his human morals
[kez] 8:08 pm: nah lukys had this intelligent evil side and if you werent on his side you werent on anyones
[Aaron] 8:08 pm: I think Lukys was the stand-out character for me.
[Jenny Fallon] 8:08 pm: No, they're not. I wish I knew such fascinating people! Mostly they live inside my head.
[kez] 8:09 pm: i think my favourites were declan and cayal they were great together!!!
[Jenny Fallon] 8:09 pm: Declan wasn't in the MS I first submitted to the publisher
[Elehzya] 8:09 pm: :O *le gasp*
[Taelian] 8:09 pm: Yes, I must admit, when reading some parts I wondered how they could stay sane after living so long - how could it be possible
[Aaron] 8:09 pm: Jenny: So what now. You've completed another series. What's on the drawing board next?
(I'm not sure if you covered this in the blog)
[Jenny Fallon] 8:11 pm: My nickname for Declan in Mr Perky. He was added as a compromise becasue the editors didn;t think people would relate to a manic depressive hero and I refused to make Cayal more "upbeat". I invented Declan soley for the purpose of adding some snappy oneliners. #$%^&* thing took over the books:)
[kez] 8:12 pm: ok, i have one, who was it in the end...arkady or elyssa...i have convinced myself its both but...
[Elehzya] 8:12 pm: oh I was hoping for arkady....but we all know how eviiiil her writer is :P
[Taelian] 8:12 pm: well he's very attractive *I* think :D, I couldn't decide if I wanted Declan or Cayal to get their paws on Arkady ... you certainly can't tell he wasn't in it from the start! Did you have to rewrite whole thing to add him in? He's a hugely important character to the whole,.
[Taelian] 8:13 pm: Well she said her name was Arkady ... Elyssa definitely wouldn't have
[Taelian] 8:13 pm: She probably would have grabbed that poor guy and ensured she was going to have a pain free lurrrve making for the rest of her life
[kez] 8:13 pm: yea but there was that internal struggle suggestion that one of them was trying get through
[kez] 8:13 pm: ...and i think arkady did
[Taelian] 8:15 pm: True .. so maybe she had Elyssa yelling in her head ... I felt sorry for Oritha, although she wasn't the most intelligent brick in the wall ... still
[Jenny Fallon] 8:15 pm: Aha.... I'm not telly you who made it through. I might want to write a sequel some day. As for the rewrite, I sort of hijacked another character and beefed him up. It wasn't a complete makeover, but it was close.
[ozmoz] 8:15 pm: I recall some time back on the publishers forum, a 'competiton' - how to kill an immortal or such. A number of the solutions involved removal of the 'magic' source that made them immortal in the first place. While this became dangerously close to the solution another author, in retrospect, everyone was really dealing with very very difficult to bump off type of character. At what stage did you decide that immortal really should mean... immortal?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:15 pm: Only took me a couple of weeks. But I hadn't written the following books, so that was OK. His inclusion seriously messed with the plot, however, and I had a nightmare job to bring the stroy back to the ending from where it headed off to once twe had an eternal trinagle, rather than an eternal couple
[Taelian] 8:16 pm: I can't imagine anything more nightmarish than an eternal couple - so Coryna and Lukys ... made me shudder a bit at the end!
[Jenny Fallon] 8:17 pm: That's why i wrote the series, to write something where immortal really meant immortal, not "immortal right up until you die". That caused me problems too, when the publishers realised I meant it
[sian] 8:17 pm: Do you have any plans on what you're writing next?
[Aaron] 8:17 pm: That has always bothered me. How immortals seem to die an awful lot.
[ozmoz] 8:18 pm: ... and yet, they are aging ;) soooo how immortal are they really ?
[kez] 8:18 pm: why did you bring arkadys dad in just to kill him again (before the world ended), i thought Jaxyn could have been pretty inventive if her dad wasnt there, he was a pretty sinister character
[Taelian] 8:19 pm: I'd like to know why Jaxyn didn't get to die a horrific gobi worm-aided death as he richly deserved
[Jenny Fallon] 8:19 pm: I'm working on a novella for a HC anthology, a story for an iconic Disney character that I can't reveal until I get the approval back for the synopsis, I'm co-writing a YA book, I know what my next series will be, although I refuse to commit it to paper until I've worked out all the wrinkles and I had a great idea for another series yestderay. Curses. Oh, and they cannot die. My immortals are immortal
[Jenny Fallon] 8:20 pm: Jaxyn didn't die becasue he's immortal. :)
[Aaron] 8:20 pm: Good to hear that immortals are immortals....
[Taelian] 8:21 pm: :-) does that mean that all the immortals who didn't make it through are floating somewhere unconscious like Arkady was ... or maybe lurking on earth?
[Aaron] 8:21 pm: A few years ago, I would have scoffed about writing a book on a disney character. But Kingdom hearts has enlightened me. :)
[Open Chat]: Lee1205 has entered at 8:21 pm
[kez] 8:22 pm: sounds like it!
[Taelian] 8:22 pm: I really, really wanted Jaxyn to suffer as much as was immortally possible.
[Jenny Fallon] 8:22 pm: It wasn't my idea to bring Arkady's dad in. It was supposed to be the guy who molested her as a child, but my agent and HC didn;t like where that was taking the story. They suggested her father. Caused me problems, trying to find a way to be rif of him. He was a real nuisance, actually... hehehe
[Jenny Fallon] 8:23 pm: This is a seriously cool character. Not a cartoon one.
[Jenny Fallon] 8:24 pm: As for where are the immortals... see previous comment about writing a sequel some day... hahahahaha
[Lee1205] 8:24 pm: So when do you think you might have time to write a sequel?
[Taelian] 8:24 pm: Ahah and seizing on that comment ... If you did write a sequel ... :D would you focus on Arkady and Declan and Cayal again, or move to other characters? Or is that classified info? (I don't want to be told and then killed!)
[Jenny Fallon] 8:25 pm: Not until after the series is fully released in the US. That puts it at 2011 at the earliest
[kez] 8:25 pm: wow, so how much leeway do you have on a plot line like that...it is your story after all. i think we could have handle that guy inthe series
[Jenny Fallon] 8:25 pm: I'll worry about who it's about in 2011:)
[Taelian] 8:26 pm: Doh!
[sian] 8:26 pm: Who's a character or two you really wanted to include more but couldn't?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:28 pm: It's not about leeway, it's about what works. sometimes we disagree. sometimes I'm right, sometimes the editors are. You just have to learn to sort the good advice from the bad. The l;ast chapter, for instance was at the suggestion of the US editor, and when she suggested it I couldn;t believe I hadn't thought of it before. It rounded out the story and bought Cayal the full circle from the very begiining and we needed that. It's very give and take and involves lots of discussion and tantrums
[Taelian] 8:30 pm: So editors from both countries get to review the manuscript and come to you with feedback?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:31 pm: Lukys, believe it or not. ANd for the record, Coryna wasn't in the first draft either. She came about becasue my plan to have immortals that can't die wasn't sitting so well and I had to find a way to kill them, after all the trouble I went to, to prove they couldn't be killed.
[Lee1205] 8:31 pm: Jenny, you write such multi-layered characters. Where does your inspiration come for them, particularly wonderful characters like Cayal, Lukys & Jaxon?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:31 pm: Yep. And here's the thing, when two editors from two different publishers are telling you the same thing, you are a first class dimwit it you don't listen:)
[kez] 8:32 pm: fair enough. i think im jsut hooked on the idea of the story being changed. to me arkady's dad seemed a little pointless ( in the nicest way possible :) )
[Jenny Fallon] 8:32 pm: I get my inspiration from everything. That makes everything tax deductible... hehehe
[Jenny Fallon] 8:32 pm: He was pointless. That's why he died.
[Jenny Fallon] 8:33 pm: I wrote my whole masters thesis on the changes that happened with this series, Kez
[Elehzya] 8:33 pm: Yes - when is that being published? I'd buy it :P
[Taelian] 8:34 pm: I was quite surprised at the turn around at the start of TCC, the dialogue between Stellan and Arkady's father shed all sort of light. How were you going to work it if it had been the guy who abused Arkady?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:34 pm: It's being marked as we speak. At the pace QUT moves, probably after I write the Tide Lords sequel in 2011...hahaha
[Elehzya] 8:34 pm: lol
[Jenny Fallon] 8:35 pm: That chapter wouldn't have been there. It was there because I had to plug up a giant big plot hole created by bringin her father back
[Taelian] 8:36 pm: Was there any reaosn you made Coryna a rat of all creatures?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:37 pm: I just wanted something different. And something not easily distinghuishable from other memberof the same species. Cayal had to believe the rat was dead. A dog or cat tends to be easier to tell from another dog or cat
[Elehzya] 8:38 pm: Lukys would have looked too amusing with a cat on his shoulders all the time :P
[Open Chat]: Lauren has left at 8:39 pm
[Taelian] 8:39 pm: A question from Glenda Larke in your blog - what's been the reception to the ending? And what do you think of that!
[Jenny Fallon] 8:39 pm: Yeah, that was the other thing.. rats can get around pretty easily. And if I'd given him a parrot he would have needed an eye patch and a wooden leg. A bird and it would have ripping of ladyhawke
[Jenny Fallon] 8:41 pm: So far so good. Only heard from one person who didn't like it. That means every likes it or all the others are just ignoring me
[Lee1205] 8:41 pm: Gotta go. Been great reading all your answers. Hope to see you an your next appears at Supanova next year!! You are going to Supanova next year aren't you?? Please :)
[Jenny Fallon] 8:42 pm: I plan to:) Come by and say hello!
[Open Chat]: daffy has entered at 8:42 pm
[Open Chat]: Lee1205 has left at 8:42 pm
[Elehzya] 8:42 pm: oh what about natcon in adelaide?
[CJ] 8:42 pm: I'm very exited about supernova!
[Aaron] 8:42 pm: Does supernova come to melbourne?
[Taelian] 8:42 pm: And will you be at WorldCon 2010? :)
[Jenny Fallon] 8:42 pm: Is nat con in Adle?
[CJ] 8:43 pm: Indeed Supernova comes to Melbourne!
[Elehzya] 8:43 pm: next year it is (i'mg going there for my partner's job for a few months)
[CJ] 8:43 pm: I believe the dates are on the website
[Taelian] 8:43 pm: it sure does - and Perth and Sydney too - Jenny was their special guest author star woman this year
[Aaron] 8:43 pm: yay
[Open Chat]: amya has entered at 8:43 pm
[Open Chat]: lolli has entered at 8:43 pm
[Open Chat]: Shaanti has entered at 8:43 pm
[Jenny Fallon] 8:44 pm: This will sound terrible, but it's the first I've heard about Natcon. I did hear something about worldcon, though.
[Taelian] 8:44 pm: Welcome everyone who just walked in
[Elehzya] 8:44 pm: I think Karen Miller is going to Natcon - you should come ;);)
[Jenny Fallon] 8:44 pm: Hi y'all!
[Open Chat]: Victory has entered at 8:44 pm
[Taelian] 8:44 pm: NatCon is Conjecture 2009 right?
[amya] 8:44 pm: hi
[Elehzya] 8:45 pm: yeah - the website hasn't been updated, but it has been said that it'll be in adelaide
[Taelian] 8:45 pm: Please shoot any questions you'd like to Jenny - we've just been discussing the Tide Lords series and which characters we like and what Jenny is working on next
[Victory] 8:46 pm: So Jenny, are you working on another series / story ?
[amya] 8:47 pm: sorry to change the subject, and i hope this isn't something you have already covered, but Jenny at the end of the Chaos Crystal is it Elyssa or Arkady?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:47 pm: I'll go if I'm invited. The logistics of travelling to a con from Alice Springs (no discount fares, one flight a day, etc) means at a minimum it costs $2000 for a weekend. I made a decision some years ago to only attend cons where I can offset that cost, otherwise I would go broke very quickly. Sorry, but unless I'm invited or happen to be in town, I'm not likely to be there.
[Jenny Fallon] 8:48 pm: I'll paste in my earlier answer about what comes next - I'm working on a novella for a HC anthology, a story for an iconic Disney character that I can't reveal until I get the approval back for the synopsis, I'm co-writing a YA book, I know what my next series will be, although I refuse to commit it to paper until I've worked out all the wrinkles and I had a great idea for another series yestderay. Curses.
[CJ] 8:48 pm: I'd like to know if someone is going to save the transcript of this Q and A so I might read through it all properly, at a later date? XD
[Elehzya] 8:49 pm: Taelian is saving it, CJ :)
[Jenny Fallon] 8:49 pm: hahahaha... I'm refusing to say... I might want to write a sequel...
[CJ] 8:49 pm: *beams*
[amya] 8:49 pm: damn, thought you'ld say that...
[Jenny Fallon] 8:49 pm: Muwahahahaha
[Taelian] 8:49 pm: :) and I will put it up somewhere on Voyager Online and add a link to the blog (which is at http://voyageronline.wordpress.com)
[Taelian] 8:50 pm: Jenny, do you have a least favourite character in the series?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:50 pm: Declan... love him and hate him :)
[kez] 8:50 pm: if you could kill one of the immortals who would it have been?
[Open Chat]: celia has entered at 8:50 pm
[Taelian] 8:51 pm: Pls say Jaxyn! Is there any chance of you writing a short extra chapter in which Jaxyn suffers?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:51 pm: Hmmmm .... none of them. The whole point was to wrtie about immortals who truly couldn't die. I was quite happy for all of them to keep chugging along
[Open Chat]: Annadusa has entered at 8:52 pm
[Jenny Fallon] 8:52 pm: Hmmm... nope. I like Jaxyn. Completely ammoral characters are always fun to write:)
[kez] 8:52 pm: hhm guess that question does go against everything you have been saying
[Taelian] 8:53 pm: Aw but he was SO nasty
[Jenny Fallon] 8:53 pm: but he was fuuuun
[Open Chat]: glenda larke has entered at 8:53 pm
[amya] 8:53 pm: so does that mean the rest of them are floating round in space waiting to descend on us? that could be your sequel :)
[Jenny Fallon] 8:54 pm: hahahaha... wouldn't you like to know...
[Taelian] 8:54 pm: hopefully they're as unconscious as Arkady was!
[Taelian] 8:54 pm: Welcome Glenda!
[Victory] 8:54 pm: Chanting "Sequel" "Sequel" "Sequel" "Sequel"
[glenda larke] 8:54 pm: hi all - sorry i am late.
[Elehzya->Taelian] 8:54 pm: nice turnout! According to the sign up on my website, Annadusa is Kim Falconer
[glenda larke] 8:54 pm: Jenny - I want to know if you have got any flak because of the ending?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:54 pm: But logically, the answer to that would be yes, if Arkady didn't die, then none of the others would have died to. Hi Glenda
[Jenny Fallon] 8:55 pm: No... everyone seems to really like it.
[glenda larke] 8:55 pm: great
[Jenny Fallon] 8:55 pm: Except B in Qld
[Taelian] 8:55 pm: What did she say about it?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:55 pm: "It left me cold"
[Elehzya] 8:55 pm: she said it left her "cold"
[Taelian] 8:56 pm: hmmm, I wonder which part - one thing I rather liked about the ending was that it was quite comprehensive
[Jenny Fallon] 8:56 pm: Maybe I could promote is as an green alternative to airconditioning in the tropics...heheheh
[glenda larke] 8:56 pm: I would love to hear the conversation between Arkady and the 2 men when they get around to chatting...
[Taelian] 8:56 pm: And left no doubt as to the fate of Amyrantha and its inhabitants
[kez] 8:56 pm: lol
[glenda larke] 8:57 pm: not often an author kills off all her characters bar a handful
[Jenny Fallon] 8:57 pm: Me too... but I can't even think about a sequel series until the US release is done with at that's 2011
[Taelian] 8:57 pm: lol, it would only work for one in a million though
[Taelian] 8:57 pm: But you didn't weep over your destroyed world, did you O Evil Author?
[Jenny Fallon] 8:58 pm: That was the argument with the editor that I won. THey weren't too thrilled about it either in the beginning.
[Victory] 8:58 pm: Glad you won. I really liked the ending
[Elehzya] 8:58 pm: they didn't want it destroyed?!
[Jenny Fallon] 8:58 pm: No, of course I didn;t weep. I built just so I could blow it up. Doesn't every one do that?
[Taelian] 8:58 pm: lol, let's ask other authors. Glenda, do you do that? ^ ^
[glenda larke] 8:59 pm: can you imagine - you wake up in a technological world with everyone speaking a foreign tongue and later u fuind out the guys who could have spoken to you and explained what happened, didn't do so right away
[glenda larke] 8:59 pm: I/m not as brave as jenny
[Taelian] 8:59 pm: Yes, and that they are both still locked into the same snarking at each other pattern they ever were! Poor Arkady. Maybe she should hook up with Brad Pitt instead
[glenda larke] 9:00 pm: I think Arkady would have had some very ripe things to say to them both
[Jenny Fallon] 9:00 pm: They wanted immortals who could die, humans who could kill them, a perky upbeat hero (even if he was suicidal) and a happy ending. We compromised. I got to blow up a planet. I am happy
[Jenny Fallon] 9:00 pm: Arkady can't have Brad Pitt. He's mine
[Elehzya] 9:01 pm: Well obviously it's been a success. Every bestseller list I look at, you're on top!
[glenda larke] 9:01 pm: he's got too many kids
[Taelian] 9:01 pm: I really love that though - that throughout the books you have the Cabal of the Tarot, who have no idea one of their members is a guy they've sworn to kill, the Crasii battling to save themselves from the Immortals (the Scards anyway) with this hidden city, and then BAM!
[Taelian] 9:01 pm: But I thought you had guy from Farscape! Sounds like you need a harem!
[glenda larke] 9:02 pm: Ok, so how do we stop them blowing us up??
[Jenny Fallon] 9:02 pm: Got knocked off Dymocks today by Stephanie Meyer. Oh well... as for the kids... I've had 50 foster kids. And no nannies. I can deal with the kids
[Annadusa] 9:03 pm: can I ask Jenny, how far into the manuscript were you when editors were questioning the ending? Was the story already down? (sorry if this has been discussed....I'm late....)
[Jenny Fallon] 9:03 pm: If you read the book vry closely, all the symptoms of the rising Tide are thing that are happening here on earth as part of global warming. If you pay attention, there's a very subversive environmental message in there
[glenda larke] 9:03 pm: yes I want to know that too (having the same editors...)
[glenda larke] 9:03 pm: yep, i noticed
[glenda larke] 9:04 pm: loved the Yucatan Peninsular bit
[Annadusa] 9:04 pm: I might have same editors too :)
[Taelian] 9:04 pm: Ditto - although I wasn't certain of the second coming aka Cayal at first ^ ^
[glenda larke] 9:04 pm: Annadusa? Who are you?
[Jenny Fallon] 9:04 pm: I had written the first book and completed it. I laid it all out in the synopsis when we sold the series, but I don't think it really siunk in until the took delivery of the first book
[Taelian] 9:05 pm: Kim?
[Annadusa] 9:05 pm: oh I've gone shy...Kim,...Kim Falconer...I just used my usual name...
[glenda larke] 9:05 pm: LOL, Jenny!
[glenda larke] 9:05 pm: Hi Kim!
[Elehzya] 9:05 pm: Hello Kim!
[glenda larke] 9:05 pm: I always did think synopses were a waste of time...
[Taelian] 9:06 pm: Welcome Kim! (Kim's book comes out in stores tomorrow, very exciting! The Spell of Rosette)
[Elehzya] 9:06 pm: To make up for her shyness, Kim's new book is coming out in Jan next year I think, the Spell of Rosette
[Annadusa] 9:06 pm: Hi everyone!!!
[glenda larke] 9:06 pm: Welcome to the madness of HC Voyager
[Elehzya] 9:06 pm: pfft listen to taelian, she's always right :P
[Taelian] 9:06 pm: Lol the official pub date is 1 Jan but it'll start getting on shelves tomorrow.
[Annadusa] 9:07 pm: Thanks guys....I'm pretty excited...but Jenny I'm so curious...did you change the ending after editorial comments? or?
[Annadusa] 9:07 pm: I feel very welcome, thank you
[Taelian] 9:07 pm: So Jenny, they (being we actually) bought the book based on your original synopsis and THEN said 'hang on ... '? !
[Open Chat]: Stormy has entered at 9:08 pm
[Jenny Fallon] 9:08 pm: I've slaved over that wretched thing. 14 pages of excrucitating detail for a 4 books series and I sent the first book in and they said "what the????" I got exactly the ending I wanted. It was the getting there that took a rather tortured path.
[glenda larke] 9:08 pm: I've always wondered if they really read the synopses, because my books are always different and no one ever says anything
[Taelian] 9:08 pm: So in this case it isn't the journey that matters ^ ^ - except it's a riproaring fab one
[glenda larke] 9:08 pm: I am glad you dug your heels in
[glenda larke] 9:09 pm: it was worth it
[Open Chat]: Kathleen. has entered at 9:09 pm
[Shaanti] 9:09 pm: So Jenny, you are a foster mum, a mum, grandmum and also work at the local radio, do computer training etc. Plus you are an active blogger. How on earth do you get time to write? Do you have good locks on your study doors?
[Taelian] 9:10 pm: Absolutely. And I had no idea whatsoever that ending was coming - did anyone anticipate it at all? I don't think it would be possible to guess it was coming!
[Jenny Fallon] 9:10 pm: The only change to the ending came about when the US editor suggested the last chapter. I was happy to do that, because the story arc was about Cayal and his desire to die becasue he cared about nothing. By the end he cared enough to foil lukys's plans to destroy another world. All characters need to go through a transition or you don't have a story. It rounded it out perfectly
[Elehzya] 9:10 pm: LoL I tried convincing an alpha reader to give the ending away and she refused - and it's a #$%^&* good thing. There was no way I saw that coming!
[daffy] 9:10 pm: hi don't know if anyone has asked ya yet but just wondering could both elyssa and arkady souls be in the body, otherwise how did arkady surive if she was mortal?
[glenda larke] 9:10 pm: I did consider early on if this was the same world as earth exists in...but then decided, Nah, she wouldn't do that...
[Annadusa] 9:11 pm: That's what the reviews are saying, Taelian--fantastic ending and you don't see it coming!
[Jenny Fallon] 9:12 pm: Actually, I have a full time job at the moment, too. I don;'t sleep much:) And I don;t live in a city. I spend no tuime at all trapped in traffic or commuting
[Taelian] 9:12 pm: I was awestruck when I got to it - just couldn't believe it yet loved it at the same time. It made it close to home all of a sudden (in a freaky I hope they aren't really out there about to put an end to Earth way)
[kez] 9:12 pm: yea ,the ending is pretty mindblowing...*tips hat to jenny*
[Jenny Fallon] 9:13 pm: I set about wanting to write a story about several thing... immortal who couldn't die, the reason there is an asteroid belt out there and how it came to be, and a grand love story that spanned eternity. Got two out of three. Sort of
[Taelian] 9:13 pm: I also liked that you mentioned that Declan also went through a phase of wanting to die - was good to know. I would have loved to have heard more about the Tide Lords earlier years on earth :)
[Jenny Fallon] 9:14 pm: Ah... that's my supperanuation fund...hahahahaha
[glenda larke] 9:14 pm: So are the other immortals really dead - or just floating about in space sort of asleep? I think someone must have asked this before
[Jenny Fallon] 9:14 pm: What do you think?
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[amya] 9:14 pm: yeah, me too. Cayal as Jesus?!? Awesome
[Jenny Fallon] 9:15 pm: You know... I wondered how many people would get that. Seems everyone did
[glenda larke] 9:15 pm: immortals ar immortals...but I think they can be as good as dead
[Jenny Fallon] 9:15 pm: I had Kentravyon as Hitler at one point, but took it out. The editors thought that was a little too much
[glenda larke] 9:15 pm: Knowing you, I was looking for it, Jenny...
[Taelian] 9:15 pm: I reckon at least a couple of them have sneaked their way onto earth and someone will get a nasty surprise at some point. But then I think they mentioned at the end they couldn't sense any other immortals on the Tide. I'd like to know how Arkady feels about the eternal life stretching before her ...
[amya] 9:16 pm: i think you set it up with Lukys saying thats what he would do
[Annadusa] 9:16 pm: Hitler is still a sensitive topic...in some settings
[Jenny Fallon] 9:16 pm: Soon as she gets over the whole weightless thing:)
[celia] 9:16 pm: Was Arkady conscious at all during her time on the asteroid
[Jenny Fallon] 9:16 pm: It's all back there in the early books if you look for it
[Taelian] 9:16 pm: ahaha that's going to hurt
[celia] 9:17 pm: Or was yesterday to her back on amyrantha?
[glenda larke] 9:17 pm: arkady is going to be one furious lady ...
[Jenny Fallon] 9:17 pm: Hmmm... don't know. Probably not. I think, given Ketnravyon was able to be frozen, being stuck inspace would have the same effect
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[Taelian] 9:18 pm: True, and she was disorientated when they rescued her, which suggests she wasn't awake the whole time or she'd probably be either crazy (mad) or furious!
[glenda larke] 9:18 pm: so there are quite a few frozen immortals drofting around up there...
[Jenny Fallon] 9:18 pm: I have a question for you guys. How long into the ending diod you realise they wee on earth and amyrantha was destroyed?
[glenda larke] 9:18 pm: immediately
[Taelian] 9:19 pm: same here pretty much - not so much with Amyrantha being destroyed until Stellan died
[amya] 9:19 pm: at "rolex"
[Jenny Fallon] 9:19 pm: I figured the sunglasses Declan was wearing sort of gave it away:)
[celia] 9:19 pm: immeadiately, as I pretty much assumed amyrantha was a goner
[Taelian] 9:20 pm: And the Rolex
[Jenny Fallon] 9:20 pm: I'm glad I made him rich. I like tall cute and rich
[glenda larke] 9:20 pm: Nah, "wearing a suit"
[Taelian] 9:21 pm: no wonder you like Brad then
[Annadusa] 9:21 pm: I think everyone likes tall, cute and rich...don't they :)
[glenda larke] 9:21 pm: well, I got the cute...
[glenda larke] 9:21 pm: and its too late to look for tall and rich
[Kathleen.] 9:21 pm: I figured as soon as I read Rolex. I just stopeed for a second, stared at the page to make sure I had read right, then shook my head and continued. And I'm quite fond of tall, cute and rich as well, haha.
[Annadusa] 9:21 pm: lol one out of 3 can be wonderful !
[amya] 9:21 pm: suspicious at suit but there was room for that to be suit of armour being fantasy and all. rolex was the clincher for me
[Taelian] 9:22 pm: ranked by importance I think you got the good bit, Glenda
[Jenny Fallon] 9:22 pm: Which gets us back to why these characters aren't based on anybody I know. I do know one guy who's cut and rich, but he's 5'2"
[glenda larke] 9:22 pm: "wrought-iron bench" was another
[glenda larke] 9:22 pm: sounded so, um, earth
[Taelian] 9:22 pm: poor lad, that must be a bit distressful sometimes, eg. when standing on the train at armpit level (I should know)
[Jenny Fallon] 9:23 pm: It's actually geographically correct, too, their walk from the Seine to the Hilton. God bless Google Earth
[Taelian] 9:23 pm: Or 'ilto' rather ^ ^ I liked the seediness of the future world
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[Jenny Fallon] 9:24 pm: Like I said, there's a very subversive environmental message in there
[glenda larke] 9:24 pm: I imagine that the final book won't sell well overseas - everyone will have bought it online from Oz
[glenda larke] 9:25 pm: you will probably be the only author whose final book sales outstrips the earlier ones
[Annadusa] 9:25 pm: That's an interesting thought...does that happen?
[Jenny Fallon] 9:25 pm: Not really... the postage is a killer. I know galaxy sell a lot, but in the general scheme of things it's a drop in the ocean
[amya] 9:25 pm: maralyce was quite different in this book. were you always intending that? I liked her short temperedness in the previous books
[Annadusa] 9:25 pm: I mean, with the dollar the postage might be too bad...?
[celia] 9:26 pm: I think being around Lukys altered how Maralyce acted, we'd never seen them together before
[Taelian] 9:26 pm: the series has been sold to Germany too - so at least they will wait for Books 4 to reach their shores :)
[Jenny Fallon] 9:27 pm: Maralyce had to change with the story. She was snappy when there seemed no hope of restory Coryna. She lightened up a bit when it looked like Lukys might succeed
[glenda larke] 9:28 pm: I've had people buying the English book 2 after readign the French book 1
[glenda larke] 9:30 pm: I've gotta go and pick up husband - Jenny thanks for writing a wonderful series. Kim, hope to meet you in person sometime and you have to stop being shy. It's all about marketing! :). Taelian thanks for organising this...
[Jenny Fallon] 9:31 pm: Bye GLenda
[Taelian] 9:31 pm: Thanks for coming along, Glenda, was lovely to see you!
[Annadusa] 9:31 pm: Thanks Glenda! I hope to meet you soon too!
[glenda larke] 9:31 pm: bye!
[CJ] 9:39 pm: I actually read demon Child in the US hard covers which were very intersting....not quite what I imagined R'Shiel and Tarja to look like.
[Taelian] 9:39 pm: Same, also, I have a complete mental if I spill things on a HB, whereas I like to trash my PBs a little in the name of enthusiastic reading
[amya] 9:39 pm: i buy paperbacks...my 18 month old thinks all hb are designed to be weapons
[Elehzya] 9:40 pm: LoL taelian! I have to be nice to paperbacks I get to review :P
[Jenny Fallon] 9:40 pm: You know, the US covers of the Hythrun series are the closest to how I imagined the characters. I love Paul Youll. The first cover I saw of The Immortal Prince, Arakdy looked like one of the hookers out of Priates of the Carribean
[Annadusa] 9:40 pm: Do you have to give them back, Elehzya?
[Elehzya] 9:40 pm: Nope, but I pass them onto other reviewers
[CJ] 9:41 pm: And I'm not sure how many of you have seen the U.S hardcover to Wolfblade, but I swear they just added some blonde highlights to a Viggo Mortenson picture and slapped that on the front. ^_^
[kez] 9:41 pm: whats the deal with the covers. i remember reading not long ago a blog about the authors imput in them.
[Taelian] 9:41 pm: that's lovely of you ElehzyA
[Annadusa] 9:41 pm: lol on the Island to Tortuga?
[Jenny Fallon] 9:41 pm: And Cayal was wearing chiffon knickerbokers... I kid you not
[Taelian] 9:41 pm: LOL
[Taelian] 9:41 pm: I can imagine how he'd love those
[Elehzya] 9:41 pm: HAH!
[Taelian] 9:41 pm: Not
[sian] 9:41 pm: haha!
[Elehzya] 9:41 pm: sexy.....><
[kez] 9:42 pm: ...didnt traci hardings husband design her covers for her first series??
[Jenny Fallon] 9:42 pm: I nearly had a coronary!.
[Elehzya] 9:42 pm: Yup, kez :)
[Annadusa] 9:42 pm: Viggo is quite blonde so it probably was him :)
[Jenny Fallon] 9:43 pm: We told the artist he'd just escaped from prison. I'm not sure I'd want to be in a prsion where the uniform is chiffon knickerbockers
[kez] 9:43 pm: lol
[Taelian] 9:43 pm: Dear all, I must head off and consume some food. I will leave myself logged in so I can save chat afterwards. Thank you all for coming, thanks Jenny for being so fascinating, and thanks Elehzya for hosting the chatroom at her fab website (which you should all have a look at if you haven't already).And please stay as loing as you'd like to chat.
[Elehzya] 9:43 pm: Did you go as nuts as with the whole palm tree/oak tree ordeal?
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[Aaron] 9:44 pm: I really liked the original covers for demon child and second sons. Whatever happened to that artist?
[Annadusa] 9:44 pm: Thank you Taelian! Have a lovely dins
[Jenny Fallon] 9:44 pm: AH yes... the dreaded palm trees... they were on the cover of the design I approved and and disappeared by the time the book cam out becasue they didn't look "fantasy" enough
[Elehzya] 9:45 pm: Night Taelian :)
[Jenny Fallon] 9:45 pm: She's still around. The problem with those covers is that they didn't reproduce very well in catalogues
[Annadusa] 9:45 pm: Palm trees not fantasy enough?
[Taelian] 9:45 pm: Thanks Annadusa - I am officially gone as of pressing the enter button now! Night Elehzya!
[Jenny Fallon] 9:46 pm: Apparetnly not. Had the same argument with The Gods of Amyrantha cover when I tried to get a camel on there
[CJ] 9:46 pm: I concur about the cover art for second sons!
[Stormy] 9:47 pm: i like all the cover art that how i choose which books to read vain i know
[Elehzya] 9:47 pm: It's okay stormy, I'm like that too :P
[Jenny Fallon] 9:47 pm: My fave covers are all the hot chicks and totally unrelated fortune tellers, unicorns, leather bikinis and pole dancers on the Russian covers
[Aaron] 9:47 pm: In that line. How similar was your vision of Tia and Dirk compared to the cover art?
[Annadusa] 9:47 pm: No camel? We must have some preconceived ideas about how fantasy ‘should’ look but that can be limiting, for the artist at least.
[amya] 9:48 pm: the russian covers are hilarious
[Elehzya] 9:48 pm: I preferred this artist over that for Second Sons, I must say
[Annadusa] 9:48 pm: I laughed so much about the pole dancer blog...that's just crazy!
[Annadusa] 9:49 pm: Because pole dancers say 'epic fantasy'....???
[Jenny Fallon] 9:49 pm: Tia and Dirk... pretty close. As for preconceived ideas... I think the icicle on the cover of the last book is meant to be the Chaos Crystal, which should answer your question about whether all artist read the book before doing the cover.
[Annadusa] 9:51 pm: lol yes, question answered! I had a little trouble when it came to Rosette's sword (which the artist had her holding up side down...) it took a bit of dialog to get them turnd around!
[Elehzya] 9:51 pm: roflmao!
[Jenny Fallon] 9:53 pm: You should have heard me when the draft came in with Lukys in a suit of armour! Not only is there not a single suit of armour in the whole series, but he is the equivalent of Antartctica! Who wears armour in the ice. You'd freeze solid in minutes.... I believe my first reaction was, the cover is very pretty... and I'll never be able to hold my head up in a worldbuilding class again as long as I live...LOL
[Annadusa] 9:55 pm: lol...You got changes though....but yes, armour? What page was that on?
[Jenny Fallon] 9:55 pm: So, fellas... it's been fun, but I have to have dinner. We should do this again soon
[Stormy] 9:56 pm: great work keep it up
[amya] 9:56 pm: thanks Jenny
[Annadusa] 9:56 pm: I looked at it and said....'No wonder the temple cat’s ears are so short...she lopped them off trying to get the thing out of her scabbard....' Seriously wrong swords...and I send images for ref
[Elehzya] 9:56 pm: Thanks Jenny!
[kez] 9:56 pm: hahah
[kez] 9:56 pm: thanks jenny
[Annadusa] 9:56 pm: Thank you Jenny and everyone. It's been great to chat to you all!
[kez] 9:56 pm: its been great!
[Elehzya] 9:57 pm: Ohhh poor Drayco!
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[Jenny Fallon] 9:57 pm: I'll have a word to Taelian and see if we can do another one soon. ... Kim... you get used to it after a while. Once you get chiffon kickerbockers, everything else sort of pales....
[Annadusa] 9:57 pm: Well his ears are fine. Thank goodness it was art and not life!
[CJ] 9:58 pm: Thankyou Jenny. Poor Julia!
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[Elehzya] 9:58 pm: Well my site is always open to you all :P
[Annadusa] 9:58 pm: lol I can't imagine what kind of prison the artist was thinking of....
[Jenny Fallon] 9:58 pm: I've had a blast. Thanks so much for dropping by. And for being such loyal readers. Without you, I wouldn;t eat.
[Annadusa] 9:59 pm: Without you, Jenny, we wouldn't have the wonderful stories!!!!
[sian] 9:59 pm: Thanks Jenny :)
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[Jenny Fallon] 9:59 pm: We'll get together again soon, I promise:)
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