Ask the Authors (Fandemonium)

[Elizabeth Christensen]

SQUEE!!! A baby!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
And you're reading Mirror Mirror??? So not fair!!! I'm dying to get my hands on a copy. August isn't coming soon enough.

Thanks much! Needless to say, we're pretty excited. The little guy's room already has airplanes on the walls.

As for my reading material, that's one of the best perks of the job ... I just finished MM -- which ought to tell you something about how motivated I was to see what happened next. To borrow a little NFL referee-speak: after review, the ruling on the field stands. MM is fantastic. Things you'd never think of, things that would be all but impossible (in six different ways) to capture on screen -- and an imaginative dose of whump that'll have certain whumpers squeeing for weeks.

Nope, not me; although Ronon does get to the chance to do some asskickery in my SGA novel Halcyon...

Best wishes to the mum-to-be!

Aha -- 'tis true, there is sublime asskickery there (and thanks!) ... But it looks like Jaymach's got my back -- knew I could count on one of you to sort out my iffy memory regarding the mag stories. Much appreciated.

[A Wraith Named Bob]

Nope, not me; although Ronon does get to the chance to do some asskickery in my SGA novel Halcyon...

Best wishes to the mum-to-be!

Hello Mr. Swallow, or... um James. I love Halcyon. Its my favorite (sorry to the other authors ) of all the SGA books I've read (which is all but The Chosen). I also read your novel The Flight of the Eisenstein from Warhammer 40K. I loved that too.

Keep up the awesome work and I love your battle scenes!

[A Wraith Named Bob]

Reply roundup ...
and also there's the small matter of the baby that's due to arrive in September

Congrats!!!

[gater62]

Reply roundup ...

(snipped)

I wish I could, Steve, truly -- that would make a cool trip even cooler. Unfortunately I've got two reasons to stay stateside: my day job has some milestone-worthy flights coming up that week, and also there's the small matter of the baby that's due to arrive in September (which is part of my reason for missing out on Comic-Con as well) ... I'm not in the best shape for a transatlantic trip in an economy-class airline seat these days.

Wow! Congratulations!!!

[Alipeeps]

As for my reading material, that's one of the best perks of the job ... I just finished MM -- which ought to tell you something about how motivated I was to see what happened next. To borrow a little NFL referee-speak: after review, the ruling on the field stands. MM is fantastic. Things you'd never think of, things that would be all but impossible (in six different ways) to capture on screen -- and an imaginative dose of whump that'll have certain whumpers squeeing for weeks.

Certain whumpers? Shep whumpers by chance? *crosses fingers, toes and eyes*

P.S. Congrats on the impending arrival!

[Gate Geek]

Thanks much! Needless to say, we're pretty excited. The little guy's room already has airplanes on the walls.

As for my reading material, that's one of the best perks of the job ... I just finished MM -- which ought to tell you something about how motivated I was to see what happened next. To borrow a little NFL referee-speak: after review, the ruling on the field stands. MM is fantastic. Things you'd never think of, things that would be all but impossible (in six different ways) to capture on screen -- and an imaginative dose of whump that'll have certain whumpers squeeing for weeks.

Aha -- 'tis true, there is sublime asskickery there (and thanks!) ... But it looks like Jaymach's got my back -- knew I could count on one of you to sort out my iffy memory regarding the mag stories. Much appreciated.

Airplanes on the wall? Sounds just like my son's room. He's got a B-52 and a couple of F-18s painted on the wall (Courtesy of grandpa). Then some AF pixs he picked up at EAA a couple of years ago.

Certain whumpers? Shep whumpers by chance? *crosses fingers, toes and eyes*

P.S. Congrats on the impending arrival!

I'm thinking so.

Really, what other type of whump is there?

[JMSwallow]

Hello Mr. Swallow, or... um James. I love Halcyon. Its my favorite (sorry to the other authors ) of all the SGA books I've read (which is all but The Chosen). I also read your novel The Flight of the Eisenstein from Warhammer 40K. I loved that too.
Keep up the awesome work and I love your battle scenes!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the book. I'm returning to Atlantis with my next SGA novel, Nightfall, which will naturally feature a bit of fighty stuff and things blowing up...

[Alipeeps]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the book. I'm returning to Atlantis with my next SGA novel, Nightfall, which will naturally feature a bit of fighty stuff and things blowing up...

Oooooh sounds intruiging! What's the projected timescale on that one then?

[Elite Anubis Guard]

And who's the main character focus on?

[A Wraith Named Bob]

Just got a question:

I know some of the authors came from writing other novels and some did not, but I'd like to know how all you Stargate authors got into writing stories for the Stargate universe in the first place. How did you all do it?

Thanks in advance!

[JMSwallow]

Re: Nightfall...

Oooooh sounds intruiging! What's the projected timescale on that one then?

Amazon says it'll be out in November.

And who's the main character focus on?

I try not to focus on just one character - Stargate's an ensemble show, after all - but that said Teyla gets some spotlight time along with Sheppard, McKay and Ronon. As it's a fourth season story, Keller and Carter are also along for the ride.

Just got a question:
I know some of the authors came from writing other novels and some did not, but I'd like to know how all you Stargate authors got into writing stories for the Stargate universe in the first place. How did you all do it?

Long story short, I asked Fandemonium if they would like me to write a book for them. They said yes.

[Alipeeps]

Amazon says it'll be out in November.

Oooh goody! *bounces* For once I'll be able to answer straight away when my mum asks me what I want for my birthday!

[StevenSavile]

My story is rather similar to Jim's. I'd just gone through a jag of watching 7 Seasons of SG-1 back to back as work displacement therapy (I'd just delivered the Primeval novel against the toughest deadline of my life - 5 weeks start to finish including one full rewrite and editorial input from Titan - we didn't have a choice, we needed to hit when the show was on, and that meant a certain on shelf date. Various delays in the commissioning and approval process meant it was a mad rush and I didn't sleep for 4 days at a time trying to get something down... so yeah, I wasn't in the mood to work for a while, hence the tv...) when Sally Malcolm mentioned that Fandy were looking for new blood. I dropped her a mail, we hit it off completely (I love both Sally and Tom) and started chatting. I had this idea that I wanted to tell something big, because I've not done proper SF before, I've done time travel and dinosaurs and all that side, but not what I'd call Space Opera, and I figure it's the only time I will do this kind of thing (I don't like to do the same thing twice very often, it is all about stretching yourself and not falling into patterns of comfort) so I'd really like to do something akin to a season of the show rather than an episode... of course Sally thought I was mad, but fell in love with the idea, which we then had to get by MGM heh...

So it was a case of good fortune, knocking on the door at the right time and having an idea they loved.

[gater62]

Do you authors chat about ideas you are working on for the SG novels-to keep continuity? Do your novels have impact on anything someone else might be writing?

[StevenSavile]

Can't speak for the other guys but I worked very closely with Sally on the outline, to the point that she actually found certain work-arounds for plot issues so they didn't jar with other things... As line editor she's the only person outside of MGM's approval person, who knows exactly what is going on in each and every novel, so her input is vital.

I know when Jim and I occasionally get together for a Games Day, or a signing or whatever, we've had a habit of chatting into the early hours of the morning about stories, but we've never had the change to sit and talk about Stargate yet... but that's a yet. I suspect it'll happen.