Ask the Authors (Fandemonium)

[Gate Geek]

Just wondering if anyone ahs heard from Ms Sabine bauer recently? Last I saw of her was shortly after the Vancouver Con. just hoping she's OK and busy writing that new SgA novel of hers!!

Oh, and GG, November is my absolute worst month for "day job" travel; I usually end up spending most of it in Oklahoma. One of these days, maybe. Besides, by then Blood Ties will be close to hitting the streets ...

See, you could come to the Con, promote your book (think of the sales!)...and then join us fun loving people in the bar for a drink or two....I think it would be more fun than Oklahoma. Speaking of which, what is in Oklahoma anyways? I have several friends that go there for business.....

[GermanAstra]

Well I recently ordered them from Amazon.de and Amazon.fr respectively, so I should receive them somewhat soon. Of course there's some complications in that I speak neither French nor German...but I'm probably going to type them up then look for online translators

Boy, that will be a lot of hard work! Typing the whole books? Now that I call dedication to the fandom! Just don't say I didn't warn ya

or help from people who speak both German/French and English in order to plead them to translate for me.

I translated some of my fanfictions so I know how much work that is - no way I go into that trouble for a whole book!

If you ask me I think it would be just easier to buy a German/English dictionary and just start reading. That way I learnt all of my English! I just started to read a story and couldn't stop since I wanted to know whether or not Jack would survive. At first I had to look up almost every word, but soon I was able to at least understand the meaning of a sentence, even if I didn't know some words.

I think you soon will have a basic understanding, there are a lot of words that are similar to English ones as well, so you would recognize them. And he used very simple and short sentences, after all. Good luck!

It should be interesting to see just how messed up the novels are in comparison to the more-professional Fandemonium ones. At the very least, they should make my opinion of Ashley McConnell's work improve slightly if they're really that bad.

I've never seen it that way! I have some of her books lying around here, but never got around reading them yet, so I can't compare them right now.

[Elizabeth Christensen]

The novels, comics, DVD Collection magazines, and everything else I treat as secondary canon though...canon unless proven otherwise.

At the first level you have the core source material, the stuff you see on screen. That's cast in stone, and you can't screw around with it - even if the writers on the show do sometimes!
Then there's second level continuity (prose fiction like books and comics, etc), and then third level (background stuff like the RPGs and magazines).

You both are wise and speak truth. That's a better way of stating my general viewpoint. I don't specifically exclude anything off-screen; it's just that on-screen trumps off-screen and is more accessible.

Although I may make an exception for that bio of Cadman that must have come from the DVD magazine. She's meant to be a 35-year-old lieutenant who spent time with the Secret Service (?!) and yet doesn't appear to have gone to college (a requirement for officer commissioning)? The DoD employee in me cries foul.

Oh, and Jaymach: That Stargate Wiki is impressive. Consider it bookmarked for future canon/continuity research.

[Elizabeth Christensen]

Just wondering if anyone ahs heard from Ms Sabine bauer recently? Last I saw of her was shortly after the Vancouver Con. just hoping she's OK and busy writing that new SgA novel of hers!!

Not to worry: she's fine, just neck-deep in her Atlantis manuscript. Sweet of you to inquire -- if I talk to her in the near future, I'll let her know.

See, you could come to the Con, promote your book (think of the sales!)...and then join us fun loving people in the bar for a drink or two....I think it would be more fun than Oklahoma. Speaking of which, what is in Oklahoma anyways? I have several friends that go there for business.....

What's in Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain? For me, it's Tinker Air Force Base, home to the USAF's engine maintenance depot. OKC is a perfectly lovely city with very friendly folks ... but you're right that hanging with you guys at the con would be more fun. Sadly, the number of books I'd have to sell to offset my day-job salary is, well, beyond comprehension.

[Gate Geek]

Not to worry: she's fine, just neck-deep in her Atlantis manuscript. Sweet of you to inquire -- if I talk to her in the near future, I'll let her know.



What's in Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain? For me, it's Tinker Air Force Base, home to the USAF's engine maintenance depot. OKC is a perfectly lovely city with very friendly folks ... but you're right that hanging with you guys at the con would be more fun. Sadly, the number of books I'd have to sell to offset my day-job salary is, well, beyond comprehension.

Thanks for letting me know about Sabine. Please, send my warm regards to her. She was a hoot in Vancouver.

Well, an AF base...that would be exciting. If you send us a cut out of yourself, we'll prop ya up in the bar during the NJ Con.

[sonny1]

Thanks for letting me know about Sabine. Please, send my warm regards to her. She was a hoot in Vancouver.

Sabine's also being dragged around the wilds of BC with that Drysdale she calls a dog...

[H Louise]

At long last ... Casualties of War is in its final form and heading off to the printers fairly soon, so I'm allowed to give you a peek at the first few pages now. Here's a link to the excerpt. Since it's not technically an "exocerpt" a la Exogenesis, my husband tagged it with the name "cowcerpt." He'll be here all week, folks.
Hope you enjoy!

Can't wait till it comes out! I probably shouldn't have read the cowcerpt coz now I NEED it even more! lol.

Love this part, sooo funny:

Spoiler:

As he spoke, a pair of brightly-patterned boxers slipped out of his laundry pile and glided to the floor, proving once again that this galaxy really was out to get him.

Eyes glittering behind his glasses, Radek peered down at the fabric. “Are those airplanes?”

With reflexes that surprised all three of them, John snatched up the shorts and shoved them into the washer. “Some people have differential equations. I have airplanes. You want to put money on which one girls go for?”

[Gate Geek]

Can't wait till it comes out! I probably shouldn't have read the cowcerpt coz now I NEED it even more! lol.

Love this part, sooo funny:

Spoiler:

As he spoke, a pair of brightly-patterned boxers slipped out of his laundry pile and glided to the floor, proving once again that this galaxy really was out to get him.

Eyes glittering behind his glasses, Radek peered down at the fabric. “Are those airplanes?”

With reflexes that surprised all three of them, John snatched up the shorts and shoved them into the washer. “Some people have differential equations. I have airplanes. You want to put money on which one girls go for?”

I'd go for Shep in the airplane boxers..... oops, wrong thread!

Man, I can't wait to see what other littel goodies we get in this book. Is it September yet?

[Elizabeth Christensen]

I'd go for Shep in the airplane boxers..... oops, wrong thread!

I'll leave that up to the imagination of the thunkers ...

The boxer comment in Chapter 1 might, possibly, have been inspired by a pair of airplane boxers owned by my other half. Not sure what he'd think of me commenting on his underwear in a forum thread, so perhaps it's for the best that he doesn't wander in here ... at least not that I know of.

[sonny1]

This is just an open question for all the author's that post in this thread...

As either fans or authors, do any of you read the other Stargate literature that's available outside of the Fandemonium novels? I ask this purely because other sources also contain vast amounts of information on the Stargate universe (especially the RPG stuff) and so I'd hate to see contradictions between the novels and other sources, like I found with the comics (Phobos in this case).

Also, if not, why not? Is it simply a time thing, a lack of interest, or other reasons?

I’ve read several Fandemonium novels but the show itself is the only primary and indeed, exclusive resource material. I have checked a couple of things, such as spelling, on Gateworld, but sometimes these conflict with SciFi.com, so generally defer to the publisher and MGM. A, ‘do you think character A would respond in this way under these circumstances?’ question, I’ll email one of the other authors.

Why don’t I read other Stargate material? It’s not primary source material, and I don’t want anything influencing a story in my head, one way or the other, other than absolute primary source. At every convention, I’m asked, why don’t I read fan fiction? Some of these people have become quite upset with me because I won't read their fan fiction. I’ve had people give me scripts and ask me to pass them on (they were polite). I won’t touch them for obvious reasons.

The ideas stuffed inside my head are mine and it’s tricky enough inserting them into the Stargate framework based on primary sources without worrying about secondary or other unrelated sources. So, when someone asks me where I get my ideas, I can generally point to a couple of dozen articles in science and geophysics journals with a side helping of Joseph Campbell, Karl Marx (his PhD thesis is amazing) Zecharia Sitchin, John Brunner and Erich von Daniken, a dash of L Ron Hubbard and maybe a little flavouring from the Raelians and newspaper headlines from July 08, 1947.

Most of my reading probably sounds a bit nerdy, but I tend to scour my university’s databases when some subject or other happens to tweak my interest, so I can read the primary source material and expand out from there based on its references. I’d say 99.9% of my reading is non-fiction. I’ve just read a brilliant PhD thesis on the extinction of megafauna in Australia, and I’m currently re-reading Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, which my daughter describes as the funniest book she’s ever read (I agree). In fiction, I've just read Jennifer Fallon’s Immortal Prince series. The first book in the series is a best seller just about everywhere, the next one’s coming out in October (it’s an amazing read, BTW, and I predict it will do even better than the first ). Like many writers, we’ll read each other’s work and comment before it goes to edit. I have about five novels in a first or second draft stage I need to read also on my desktop, and I’m 70K into writing my next novel.

So, the long answer is, I don’t read other Stargate material because (a) I don’t want to be influenced by anything other than primary source material, and, (b) I have such an eclectic interest in so many other things.

[Alipeeps]

Oooooh I *adore* Bill Bryson's books! There are passages of his books that make me literally cry with laughter every time I read them, regardless of how many times I read them! (My favourite being the bit in Notes from a Big Country where he described the thrills of owning a garbage disposal and the concomitant dangers of unclogging said garbage disposal, risking it springing to life and "abruptly coverting my arm from a useful grasping tool into a dibber".

Or words to that effect. He has such an awesome way with words!

[GermanAstra]

At every convention, I’m asked, why don’t I read fan fiction? Some of these people have become quite upset with me because I won't read their fan fiction. I’ve had people give me scripts and ask me to pass them on (they were polite). I won’t touch them for obvious reasons.

But it isn't actually forbidden to do so? I'm asking since I know that the authors of the series are forbidden to read any fanfiction. Apparently they fear that someone would accuse them of stealing their idea and want to avoid that.

I somehow can't picture anybody doing this succesfully. It's a common fact that there is only a small ammount of good stories that just get retold differently. It's just not possible to know everything that already happened in a different series or anywhere at some fanfiction site. Let's not even start about all the similarities between "Stargate" and "Star Trek".

I actually could point out a story by one of my friends that also had breeding farms in it and so uses the same idea like "Alliances", still these are two completely different stories. It's always about what someone makes out of it.

I also know that two of my friends once wrote a story about the same theme at the same time withouth ever having talked about it before to each other.

Maybe it's different for a professional author and I can understand your reasons for not wanting to be influenced at all, but I somehow would feel sad knowing that someone like Sabine or Karen or Suzanne who used to be fanfiction authors themselves now suddenly would not be allowed to read the stories by their friends any longer.

Because there IS very good stuff out there.

I certainly wouldn't mind if I'm responsible for someone's head start to spinning. In the end, nobody can tell whether an influence came from the last movie you watched or something your mother said. Suddenly an idea is popping in your head and you just start writing.

(I once let Jack say “Damn, damn, damn!” and only after my friend asked whether I had watched “My Fair Lady” recently I recognized where that came from. I just thought it sounded cool at the time )

[sonny1]

But it isn't actually forbidden to do so? I'm asking since I know that the authors of the series are forbidden to read any fanfiction. Apparently they fear that someone would accuse them of stealing their idea and want to avoid that.

My reply was on behalf of myself, not other authors or the show's writers.

I have enough story ideas stuffed in my head to last until about 2054, and the list keeps growing. I like to keep those ideas 'clean'. As I said, inserting them into the Stargate framework without secondary and non-canon elements is work enough for me. That's the way my brain works; please don't assume it applies to all authors equally.

[JMSwallow]

...have now been approved by MGM.

Pop over to my blog Here to learn more (and bring a lead vest).

[gilthoniel]

Totally agree. Anything that has been there has been canon… as it should be.

Well your canon may include O'Neill internally rhapsodising about the moon shining on Carter's hair but nothing I've ever seen on the screen suggests anything of the sort. It does tend to induce my gag reflex however...

In any case, I'll be buying the Barque of Heaven, thanks to Ms Wood's kind assurances but from previous answers the James Swallow title is definitely not on the shopping list. So I guess this thread is useful after all.