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Frequently Asked Questions
The Goblin Books
Will there be more goblin books?
What about short stories?
The Princess Books
How many
princess books do you plan to write?
Have you done princess short stories,
too?
On Writing
Will you read/critique my
unpublished stuff?
Who is your agent?
Can I query him?
Can I say you referred me?
Miscellaneous
How do you feel about fanfiction?
How can I get review
copies of your books?
The Goblin Books
Will there be more goblin books?
At the moment, I have no immediate plans
for a fourth goblin book. I started writing about Jig back in
2000. Much as I've loved writing
Goblin Quest,
Goblin
Hero, and
Goblin
War, I decided it was time to take a break. In part, it's
because I don't want the series to become stale.
I'm currently contracted to write a new
series which will keep me busy through at least the middle of 2009.
With that said, I do have a
few more ideas for Jig and his fellow goblins. When and if those
ideas transform into a contract, I'll post an update here and on my
blog.
What about short stories?
I've written and sold five goblin short
stories.
- "Goblin Lullaby" was published in
Fantasy Gone Wrong, and introduces Grell and baby Jig.
- "Goblin
Hero" appeared in
Bash
Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy, and tells the story of how
Jig met Smudge. It was later podcast as "Goblin Hunter" at
Clonepod.
- "The Haunting of Jig's Ear" was
published in issue #31 of
Andromeda Spaceways
Inflight Magazine.
- "School Spirit" follows Veka after
the events of
Goblin
Hero, and will
appear in the Wizards of the Coast anthology
Magic in the
Mirrorstone.
- "Mightier than the Sword" is . . .
different. An editor asked me to write a Smudge story.
This is the result, bringing Jig's fire-spider into a 21st century
setting. It will appear in the anthology Gamer Fantastic.
The Princess Books
How many princess books
do you plan to write?
As of February, 2008, DAW
has purchased three princess books: The Stepsister Scheme, The
Mermaid's Madness, and Red Hood's Revenge. I have ideas I'd like to
develop over the course of at least four or five books, assuming these sell well enough for DAW to buy more.
Have you done princess
short stories, too?
I've only done one so far,
but I may write more if ideas and markets present themselves.
On Writing
Will you read/critique
my unpublished stuff?
I'm afraid not. There are two
reasons for this. One is legal -- while the vast majority of new
writers are honest, wonderful people, it only takes a single nitwit to
turn around and start screaming that I stole their ideas, and now
they're going to sue me for a gazillion dollars. The other factor
is time. I have two young children and a full-time job, and I only
have a limited amount of time each week to write, revise, proofread, and
promote my own work. For SF/F writers, I recommend
Critters and/or the
Online Writing Workshop.
Who is your agent?
I'm represented by the
JABberwocky Literary Agency. I signed with JABberwocky in early 2005.
Can I query them?
Like most agencies, JABberwocky has
submission guidelines
for how to query. Check to make sure they represent the kind of
writing you do, and follow the guidelines.
Can I say you referred me?
Nope. Sorry. I'm happy to
talk about my experiences with JABberwocky, but in order to
refer or recommend a writer to my agent, I would need to be very
familiar with that writer's work. Since I'm generally not reading other
peoples' unpublished work, that's not likely to happen.
Miscellaneous
How do you feel about fanfiction?
Conflicted. When I
first started writing, I never dreamed I would get to the point where
people were writing fanfiction about my characters. Yet in the
past month alone, I've had two different writers share their
goblin-inspired fanfiction.
It's very flattering.
I'm thrilled that people enjoy the characters enough to want to create
their own stories. And from a purely selfish perspective, I want
to get all the word-of-mouth I can get.
But--and you knew there
would be a but, right?--my publisher officially discourages fanfiction
and prefers authors to do the same. While I'm not a lawyer, I do
know that part of their concern is with the possibility of a fanfiction
author accusing me of stealing his or her ideas. I don't know the
details, but I'm aware of at least one instance where DAW had to cancel
a book after a dispute along these lines.
As I said, I'm not a lawyer.
I don't know where exactly the line is between fair use and copyright,
and I have no interest in debating it. At this time, I'm choosing
to follow DAW's lead in officially discouraging fanfiction based on my
work. Which means when you e-mail me a link to your goblin
fanfiction, I'll be truly honored, and then I'll politely ask you to
take it down.
How can I get review
copies of your books?
For review copies, please
e-mail my publicist at
berkleynalpublicity@us.penguingroup.com.
Have another question?
E-mail me.
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