Tuesday, July 29, 2008

David Louis Edelman: At a Romantic Dead End?

The wonderful Rob H. Bedford interviews Infoquakeand MultiRealauthor David Louis Edelman for SFFWorld today.

In light of old discussions about writing for the opposite gender, I particularly appreciated this bit:

Did you find Jara’s voice more difficult to capture than Natch’s, considering, well, you are a man and Jara is a woman?

Honestly, I feel like I understand Jara better than I understand Natch. He’s somewhat difficult and remote, and he’s not really like me at all. Jara is much easier to relate to. She’s approaching middle age, she’s fed up with her career, she’s sexually unfulfilled, and she’s hit a romantic dead end. I know plenty of people, male and female, who fit those descriptions. So I didn’t worry too much about gender differences. I just tried to make her a well-rounded character.

And this bit made me laugh:

If you could take any pre-existing fictional character and plunk them into the events of the Jump 225 trilogy, who would it be?

Dr. Strange. He’s a guy who hops dimensions all the time. He ought to know how to handle MultiReal.

But you should read it all, right?

9 comments:

David Louis Edelman said...

I just knew some wiseass was going to read that paragraph and say, "Hey! Looks like Dave's middle-aged, fed up with his job, and sexually unfulfilled!" Just didn't think it'd be my own editor...

Lou Anders said...

Your editor is a very wise ass, which is better than a dumb ass.

ces said...

Now that is a good interview!

I finished Infoquake. Now I need to tear myself away from WOW and read Multireal.

I found Jara to be a very believable person, someone that anyone, male or female, could relate to. And I know a few Natch's too. As I type and read this, I'm listening to a French singer, Jacques Brel, singing in French naturally so I can't understand a word, but the song he's singing right now feels like Jara.

Lou Anders said...

Hi Ces. That's my feeling too - if someone is well-rounded, it shouldn't matter if the writer is of the same gender. Kay Kenyon writes a pretty mean male protagonist in her Entire and the Rose series, too. And Joel Shepherd's Cassandra Kresnov rings true for a lot of female readers.

RobB said...

Lou (again) thanks for the link and kind words!

ces, thanks for the kind words also!

ces said...

Read 300 pages of MultiReal yesterday . . .

Lou Anders said...

I wish I read that fast.

ces said...

Finished it yesterday (08.01.08) morning! Gahhhhh!!!

How long before the 3rd book is published??????

I can honestly say that except for the developments in Jara's and Horvil's relationship, I couldn't have predicted any of the other events - except for one that I won't mention cuz it would be a spoiler. And that is wonderful!

Hopefully, Martiniere will do the cover of the 3rd book also. And maybe it will be a hardcover this time? With no pull quotes on the cover?


P.S. Being able to read fast is, I think, a result of going to private schools. Also, when I'm reading, I'm really focused on reading.

Lou Anders said...

Well, book three is being written right now, with a target date of around Dec/Jan for a draft, with some leeway for something important in Dave's life happening around them too. Stephan would certainly do the cover, though we wouldn't do hardcover for the third book in a series. And I'm really excited to read this!