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*** SPOILER WARNING ***
Questions and Answers from the Writerspace live chat with LynnK on 04.27.05:
Cissy — Welcome everyone to our chat with Lynn Kurland! We're chatting with Lynn tonight about her latest book, DREAMS OF STARDUST. We're on protocol tonight, so if you have questions for Lynn, just type ? and I'll call on you in turn. Lynn, before we go on to Q&A, will you tell us a bit about DREAMS OF STARDUST?
Lynn Kurland — Dreams of Stardust—it's the story of Amanda of Artane (sister of Robin from If I had You) and a new, modern guy, Jake Kilchurn. The usual stuff: time-travel, angst, a little humor here and there.
(Lynn Kurland — Caffey—the covers are really great, I agree. Credit my wonderful editor and the art dept.)
Ol — Tell us about Jake.
Lynn Kurland — Jake, well, considering that people seemed to be of two minds about the whole Nicholas/Amanda thing, I thought that if I wasn't going to put Amanda with Nicholas, the guy who did show up better be pretty darn attractive, and who could resist a guy with jewelry in his pockets!
BadBarb — Lynn, can you tell us more about the storyline? Who does the time travel, Amanda or Jake?
Lynn Kurland — Jake does, and find himself a little out of his depth. It's something I think about a lot—if we were really to go back to the middle ages, we'd be speaking either a little Anglo—Saxon or medieval French, so I thought this time I'd try to throw the guy really into the reality of it all. I think personally I would spend my time saying "huh?" a lot and though Jake did some of that, hopefully it didn't become excessive. Amanda stays in medieval England, though.
mistral — Hi, Lynn ... first of all I realy liked DoS — I would like to know if you plan on writing a book about Nicholas in the next few years? Hope this ain't a spoiler.
Lynn Kurland — Mistral—re Nicholas—well, now that Amanda's out of the picture for him, I will definitely be looking around for someone suitable. (I've had lots of volunteers.)
Isolde — Usually time travels feature a woman going back in time. Why did you select a man to travel back in time?
Lynn Kurland — Isolde (great name, btw), I try not to limit myself to one gender doing the traveling. I've had several books where the guy goes either back or forward, as well as the gals . . .
Jocelin — (Not necessarily DoS—centric) You have almost 20 works published, what keeps you inspired and motivated to come up with these fantastic tales?
Lynn Kurland — Joc—you're very kind . . . I have to admit that when I'm in the middle of a book and pulling my hair out, I usually stumble into the bathroom, give myself a good hard look in the mirror (while admiring the black circles under my eyes where the bags used to be) and ask myself what in the heck I think I'm doing doing this with two little kids . . . but then I start thinking about the characters . . . and they all feel like family and it just seems a shame not to revisit them and see what they're up to.
Tory — Thank you for writing books I can crawl into and be so comfortable there!! This book was so good and involved so many of the other characters I have loved from others. Where does your inspiration for your stories come from?
Lynn Kurland — Tory—the inspiration just sort of comes from the characters. I reread old stories (except ADTT—for some reason I just can't bring myself to reread that one) and once I start thinking about the characters, the plots just sort of show up on their own.
Cathryn — Love all the books Lynn, esp. DoS! Two part question: What are you writing now? Is the novella in the fall a sequel to your last fantasy?
Lynn Kurland — Cathryn—I'm finishing up a novella—and it is related to To Weave A Web of Magic—I don't think it comes out until next Spring unless I'm way out of the loop. I'm starting work on Connor and Victoria's story (characters from My Heart Stood Still), then again, the novella could be out in the Fall—I just found out I have a book coming out at B&N called Another Chance to Love that I didn't even know I wrote! (Just kidding on that—it's something funky in Berkley's scheduling system that B&N picked up.)
spj — I've asked questions before about how you write with small children (I have a 3 y/o myself who loves the computer), I'm an aspiring author...how did you know when you were ready to be published?
Lynn Kurland — SPJ—the cheeky answer is "I knew I was ready when they bought the book." The long answer is, I sold before I had children so I had the vaguest hints of a system down before I had to try to balance writing, family, and life. The only thing I can say that stays constant is the amount of change. Just when I think I have my system down, the kids change life patterns and I'm back to trying to figure out when the best time of day to write is . . . I think you just do the best you can to keep things in balance, always have a pen and a notebook handy for those moments when you can jot down ideas, and find teenagers desperate enough for money to clean your bathrooms. That's my system and I'm sticking with it—for now!
Ol — Why didn't you give Nicholas to Amanda if people were expecting it?
Lynn Kurland — Ol—for the first time in my life, I caved to peer pressure. Too many people either posted or emailed me saying "Amanda and Nicholas? Eeeuuuu!"
Tory — How do you keep all your stories straight? What kind of elaborate chart do you use?
Lynn Kurland — Tory, there would be those who argue that I don't keep them straight! (And, well, I won't admit to any addledness, but there might be a continuity error or two). I try to reread books that might pertain to what I'm working on and do my best to keep the details straight in my head with a few notes here and there. I need a better system, but I don't think I have a wall big enough for it!
BacTGirl — If you haven't revisited some one your older books, like ADTT, how do you remember all the little details you use to spice up the newer stories? Tory kind of took my question...
Lynn Kurland — BacTGirl, well if you really want all the specifics, I pull out the old books and dog-ear the pages that I think might be useful—not very efficient, and growing less so with each book. I'm thinking about a better system . . .
Ol — Since you do time travel where would you like to travel to and why?
Lynn Kurland — Ol—I think it would be a toss-up between Elizabethan England and the Laura Ingalls Wilder frontier . . . Not the middle ages—I know too much about the food and sanitation problems there!
Linda H — Lynn, can you give us any tidbits about Thad?
Lynn Kurland — Linda—Thad is a man of mystery and if it makes anyone feel better, I think he uses a "wife" as a front to drive off the hordes of women who would be trailing after him at all hours, ruining his special ops gigs. We may see more of him later . . .
Linda H — I'm thinking maybe he is a man of the past, already in the future, and that's why he didn't say much when Jake talked to him.
Lynn Kurland — Linda . . . one never knows about these strong, silent types——
mindymcg — Lynn, on the back cover of DOS it says you live in the Pacific Northwest. I'm in Oregon, may I ask what state you live in?
Lynn Kurland — Mindy—I like to leave Pacific Northwest as the extent of any revelations about my whereabouts here in cyberspace—have two little kids and I do get weird emails and phone calls now and then, so I'll leave it at that—no offense . . .
spj — I loved My Heart Stood Still (I think mine did during the whole reading), I have been eagerly waiting for Victoria/Connor — what has taken so long? (Not to be complaining, but I keep hoping the next book will be it.)
Lynn Kurland — spj—Well, actually, I was planning to take a year off and try to catch up with my kids (which turned into a fantasy novella and a moved—up deadline for DoS), so for awhile there, all bets were off on that one. I had intended to write Victoria's story before Amanda's, but I think Vic & Connor needed more percolation and Amanda and Jake were getting antsy. I am working on the beginnings of Connor & Victoria's story now.
BacTGirl — Your attention to character development and dialogue is better than anyone else. Did you take any courses that helped you eliminate all the fluff or is this just part of your natural talent?
Lynn Kurland — BacTGirl—Thank you, you're way too nice! I was a voice major in college and I think having to do lots of singing in foreign languages and being forced to portray so much of a character in just one song (at a time) was a great help in learning to create characters . . . . I don't know how good I am at it, but that's my background and I did have great directors . . . I think a theater class (or even checking some books out of the library on character development for actors) is helpful.
Ol — What are you working on next?
Lynn Kurland — Ol—Connor and Victoria's story (they are characters from My Heart Stood still).
Tory — When will the geneology chart be updated on your web site? I love that thing!
Lynn Kurland — Tory—Not sure about that—will work on that soon . . . it's going to get to be too big for the back of my books soon . . . maybe it will become two pages.
Linda H — Do you have a release date for your next book?
Lynn Kurland — Linda—sometime Spring of 2006—I'm thinking May, but that may change . . .
Lynn Kurland — Have a great evening everyone!
Cissy — Thanks again, Lynn.
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Nothing was changed except for a spellcheck. ;)
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