Here you go. The second Stay reading (about 11 minutes). This is the one where Aud contemplates Geordie Karp in the restaurant, breaks into his loft, and then goes totally beserk. I always really feel for her at this point; she’s barely hanging on. (On the other hand, I have zero sympathy for Karp.) Enjoy.
http://www.nicolagriffith.com/audio/player.swf
Also, over at Gemæcca, my research blog, I ask a question about anachronisms in historical fiction. If you have an opinion, I’d love to hear it–here or there.
Oh, thanks for blogging! Tonight I am just surfing around until I can convince my body to sleep again. I am extremely happy that I found your site. I will check out the reading this weekend.Since you said you like to know how people find your work…here goes:My girlfriend bought me a Kindle, which I love. A couple of weeks ago I searched for “lesbian fiction” in the amazon Kindle store and was browsing around. Noticed that your Aud books got very nice reader reviews, so I downloaded the first one. Loved it! I read them all and I am hoping that there will be more Aud in the future.
About anachronisms: the only one I really hate is a character saying “okay” before we said okay. I would not quibble over Wolf’s Bane for a poisonous plant. It sounds sufficiently old and poisonous! The only author I can think of who wrote historical novels without anachronisms is Mary Renault, and she was a pre-eminent classics scholar. We’re lucky she decided to write those novels, just like we’re lucky you decided to write Hild. I am a common reader, and as long as you don’t have Hild say okay, I can forgive you almost anything.
tfirma, you’re welcome. Thanks for telling me about your Kindle search. I’ve been wondering how that will impact my numbers. Electronic sales are already a significant percentage of my backlist sales (for example, on my last royalty statement for <>Ammonite<>, about 20% was ebooks).
barbara, okay, no okays :)FYI, Mary Renault (real name Mary Callans) was a nurse, not a Classics scholar. Her degree was in English. But you don’t need to have studied history to write good fiction about it. You just need to be a good writer, and to love making stuff up…
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I have always wondered about WHO the woman is on the cover of The Blue Place? In your readings, as in the novel, I cannot help but see her as Aud. Is there a particular someone that you would want to see as Aud if she went to film?As for historical fiction…I enjoy reading Steven Pressfield’s novels of Roman warfare, with my favorite, Last of the Amazons.I am currently reading Ravens of Avalon. What say ye of that series?If Wolf Bane similiar to Deadly Nightshade?If I stumble across something that is blatantly anachronistic but does not take me from my “Blue Place” of reading, I simply move on. :)
<>Linda,<> regarding the cover, you can have a look at this post: < HREF="http://asknicola.blogspot.com/2008/04/god-of-room.html" REL="nofollow">“god of the room”<>.It doesn’t say which actress would Nicola want to cast as Aud. But it’s a good starting point until God-of-the-Blog returns with answers.
linda, nope, aconite and deadly nightshade are pretty different toxins–I have stuff to say about it that might make a fun post, if you’ll give me permission to use your question as an Ask Nicola Q. Let me know. As for the Avalon series–well, I didn’t know it was a series until now. I read <>Mists of Avalon<> when it came out and, though I managed to get to the end, I didn’t think it worth a re-read. As for Aud and film, oof, I’ve talked about that so many times I think it’s best if you do a search on my website.karina, god of the blog appreciates you filling in for a while. I’ll be gone for the rest of the day, now, too…
Children are defenseless, especially with those they love. They forgive abuse over and over. Anyone who abuses children deserves to be killed, even though I don’t believe in the death penalty. Thanks for the reading. It’s vicarious punishment to a child abuser that I don’t get to do in person.
Nicola, please more info on the Deadly Nightshade , Wolf Bane, toxins. I’m not sure about the “needing permission” to blog on the subject. But please blog on…As for the cover of The Blue Place…I followed Karina’s link and was offended at the comment from the “Aud could be me and I her” guy. It smacked, to me, as being a bit sexist and I am being lenient. I simply did not like the tone of the overall comment.Odd that I DO see the model as Aud but to each their own personal interpretation. How did it come to be that this particular model and photo were chosen if she were an ill fit for Aud? Was not the reader to assume that the model WAS “representative ” of the character, Aud? And I do underscore “representative”.I know we have had the cover art discussion but I just need to ask again was there not author control over what was to be used, and if so, why what this photo chosen?As for the Ravens of Avalon, it’s a bit “draggy” but still holding my attention. I tried reading Goodkind’s Phantom and could not continue for being bogged down in the first two chapters. For me, as a reader, if you don’t “have me” almost from the get-go ,I will not finish the book. Not always, but most of the time I’m done. Your novels not only “get me” but do so with an unrelenting iron grip. :)
linda, we’ll have to agree to differ on the tone of Jim’s < HREF="http://asknicola.blogspot.com/2008/04/god-of-room.html" REL="nofollow">question<>. To me it was perfectly reasonable. This is my reading: Jim is a big smart man, and assumed only big smart people feel in charge of the room, like him, like Aud. And what was my experience that I, as a not-big person, could feel that, too? Or was it just an act of the imagination?I didn’t feel the least offended.No, I have no power over my book covers. I give input. The publisher generally ignores it. End of story.