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Talk To Xanth Creator Piers Anthony
Not only is Piers Anthony one of the world's most popular fantasy authors (his books have been science fiction and fantasy staples for decades) but he has been using Linux and StarOffice 5.2 for the past year. This is your opportunity to ask Piers about either the technical aspects of using Linux and StarOffice to produce fiction or about his upcoming work (new Xanth novels coming soon!) or almost anything else. We'll forward 10 of the highest-moderated questions to Piers tomorrow, and will run his answers (verbatim, as always) as soon as he gets them back to us.
Not that switching over to Linux is, of course, a bad thing, but what I'd like to know from Mr. Anthony is--What made him change to Linux, and how he progressed in switching over? What parts were most difficult?
With larger documents and the importance of formatiting in the publication process, have you had difficulty with publishers and document submission? If so, has your establishment (ie previously published work) allowed you to overcome opposition of the "we-don't-support-that" variety? Or did you find that publishers were open to alternate submission formats? Or were they already using other formats (I know some authors have actually typeset their works themselves, using LaTeX, but I assume they are few and far between).
In short, modern print publishing requires a lot of attention to detail and transmission of large documents electronically--how do you make it work with your chosen set of tools, when publishers probably don't expect authors to be using that paritcular set of tools?
You are a professional writer, not a professional computer nerd. With computer people, we try/run linux because we can. With people that are not full-time computer geeks, if they run linux, it's because something drove them to it, either something they disliked about their previous OS, or something they wanted from linux. Why did you switch?
Nathan Brazil?
I enjoyed many of your books when I was much younger, and I found that they had a fantastic impact on my vocabulary and imagination. However, at around age 14, I started to feel that the newer novels that you were producing (this was in 1990 or so) were much more commerically oriented (I particularly recall that making the Brown Adept a lesbian seemed out of character and gratuitously sexual.) I'm now a much more mature reader, and I generally eschew the fantasy and science fiction genres for their immaturity, prefering works with more developed characters. My question to you is: Where do you feel your work fits into the science fiction/fantasy genre, and more importantly, where does it fit into the greater literary scheme of things?
* mild mannered physics grad student by day *
* daring code hacker by night *
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science is a religion
I must have read at least 20 of your books between 11 and 17, but over time, they seemed to lose their luster. A lot of people I know had a similar fascination, and a similar segue into other reading. Do you believe that your work in fantasy is targetted at the juvenile market? Is that intentional or accidental? Have you had pressure from publishers over the years to try to be 'more mainstream' or perhaps specifically write to the young adult market?
I love that series of books. I always thought that they would make one great (2.5 hour) movie. Now that special effects are both a reality and inexpensive (thanks largely to Linux and computer pricing drops), do you see a movie of this series in the near future?
Click here or here.
How can you keep your current and future work in the Xanth world from becoming commercially-driven drivel? I stopped reading Xanth books when they started to seem forced - written for the fans, written for the publisher, no longer written for yourself. Sure, they were still full of atrocious puns, and some ridiculously funny situations, but the depth seemed lacking. That was in the early 90s. Anything improved? Or am I mistaken, and you're still as engaged as ever, and not a victim (like Frank Herbert) of publishers demanding new books with an established fan base.
"A Spell for Chameleon" was the first book I ever bought with my own money (at age 11 or so). Somehow the early 90s Xanth work didn't stack up for me. It wasn't just that I have grown personally - I re-read "ASfC" just a couple years ago and still enjoyed it. Maybe I'll have to check out the latest opus and see if anything's changed (or if I have...).
I imagine that the publisher has its own ideas about how the printed books should be formatted, but WYSIWYG seems to the dominant paradigm in word processing today. I remember reading (a while back) about (geez, was it wordstar?) some custom macros you had so you could keep comments in-line with the text, but skip over or locate them easily. Do you do something similar now? Do you do some sort of markup for things like chapter-opening quotes, or whatever? (I suppose that means: can you mark a block as some StarOffice style and the publisher will read that and Do The Right Thing w.r.t. to its formatting in the book?)
Do you have a really nice monitor, or do you get hardcopies to do your revisions?
-_Quinn
Reality Maintenance Group, Silver City Construction Co., Ltd.
what's your favorite pun?
The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with someone else when we're uncool. -Crowe
If you were giving advice to a first-time author who wanted to shop around a fantasy manuscript -- and it was vibrant, original, compelling, and entertaining -- what publishers would you recommend? Assume the goal of this author is to be as widely read as possible, and the author is willing to do their part. (Grueling signing tour, visit tons of cons, etc) What publishers would be best at polishing the work and promoting it well?
First, I just wanted to say, "Thank you," for releasing your version of "But What of Earth." The "co-authored" version that they put out was horrible in comparison.
I know this isn't a Linux or StarOffice question, but I'm very curious about who your inspirations were in the Sci-Fi realm. Who are your favorite authors?
There's no place I can be, since I found Serenity.
I've shamelessly stopped reading your books awhile ago, but I've always been fascinated by your commentary on writing, your choice of computers, life with macros, and your insistance on portable computing so that you could write whenever the ideas hit. Have you ever tried, or even switched to a PDA for your remote writings?
My Question: Can you continue to write novels so that nerds can read them without the title causing them to get their asses kicked more than already happens?
T
---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
In high school I read and re-read three series, Xanth, Apprentice Adept and Incarnations of Immortality. In 1988 my first son was born which drew most of my attentions away from your novels. In 1991 my second son and the real world drew me the rest of the way.
I see that there are now 10 more Xanth novels that I do not have. I guess I have some catching up to do!
Your authors notes were for me almost a series of their own. These, combined with your autobiography, "Bio of an Ogre", made me feel like I knew you. And gave new meaning and insight to most of your novels.
Have you ever thought of collecting them together into a book of their own? Sort of a Peirs Anthony self retrospective or 'The Ogre Speaks Through the Ages.'
comment directly in my journal
when starting off creating a new world for your stories, do you concentrate a lot on historical and geographical background, or get right into your main story timelines? basically, what process do you find to be the best when setting the stage for the depth required for epic fantasy?
MORTAR COMBAT!
Also, do you feel you are more productive using Linux and StarOffice?
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
Does your frequent focus on nakedness and panties of your very young female characters indicate an attraction on your part, or is there a good reason for this? (Re: _The Color of Her Panties_ which pictures (among other things) two mostly-naked young women.)
Do you feel this is appropriate for books aimed at 10-14 year olds?
Mr. Anthony,
From your in-story commentary and author's notes, we have a glimmering of your opinion on people who don't pay for books.
What is your opinion of people who borrow the books you've written from libraries. Also, what is your opinion of fan-authors who write fanstories based on your work?
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
Hi Piers,
I've had the chance to enjoy several of your Xanth books over the years. However, I find it disappointing that, like many sci-fi authors, you choose to include lots of "naked women" imagery in your books. This makes your books unappealing to the female side of your audience (including myself), and it makes it hard for me to recommend your books either to younger children or other women who might be interested.
I don't mind sex in books; what I (and a lot of other females) mind is the clear delineation of women as either sexual objects or as somehow "needing" a male to rescue them from various plights. Your earlier books did not have much of this imagery, and indeed the Xanth series seems relatively free of it, but I've noticed that some of your books do draw this conclusion. Unfortunately, the fantasy category seems to have more of this type of book than most other categories.
In a world of fantasy books dominated by male fantasies, what is your suggestion to the relatively few females who do enjoy fantasy and sci-fi books?
As a point of reference, I enjoyed the Phule series by Robert Asprin, as well as The Hitchhiker's Guide and, of course, several of the Xanth books.
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There seems to be a movement within the current publishing industry (that parallels the ones within the movie and record industries) to shut down or hamper the abilities of consumers to, in my opinion, fully appreciate their Fair Use rights. Members of each industry are scared, quite understandably, by the capacity of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks and the Internet in general to allow their works to be shared on an unprecedented scale without compensating the creators of the works or holders of the copyrights on the works (this is usually labeled piracy, although this brings rather silly images to mind I'd prefer to avoid). I understand that this has happened with at least one of your books; another reason why I'd like to eventually ask you a question on the topic. However, I'm concerned that the direction some would like to take. For example, Pat Schroeder of the Association of American Publishers seems comfortable with the idea that public libraries might have to start charging patrons for access to continue offering the same services they do today.
Assuming you don't mind metaphorically throwing a rock into a hornet's nest, what are your thoughts on these matters? Are public libraries (or P2P) a greater harm to society by permitting hundreds of people to get by on the purchase of one book, or are they a boon for offsetting the damage 100-year copyrights do to the public domain (from which we have historically drawn our knowledge and inspiration for art and culture)?
BTW: I love your books.
Mr. Anthony
I was recommended to your novels when I was quite young, and found many of them quite good. I very much enjoyed the Incarnations of Immortality, particularly the first novel of the series. However, I quickly discovered the controversy surrounding your work, and learned why when reading the Bio of a Space Tyrant series. Re-reading the Incarnations drove this point home for me - how do you respond to all the charges of sexism in your work? The female characters in your novels are almost always pathetic damsels, even when in powerful roles like the Incarnations. No matter what they are always drop-dead gorgeous and hopelessly smitten with the male protagonists.
I found the characters in "And Eternity" in particular most ridculous, such as the young prostitute and the heroic pedophile. The writing of the prostitute reads like it was done by someone who had never met a woman, a child, or a person living outside of a country club. It was the 700 Club concept of what a poor prostitute girl on the street must be like - with the pointless sexual fantasy of this little girl lusting after the judge. Half the novel is spent in a sad attempt to justify pedophilia.
I often wonder how can a man with a family of women understand so little about them, continually adding Barbie doll after Barbie doll to his stories?
So my question is this: How do you explain the anachronistic objectification of women in your novels?
What kinds of things typically get your creativity moving, and how do they push you towards a given "type" of series... In essence, what would tickle you to create 'Mode', rather than expand on 'Xanth' or 'Ogre'?
I suspect that one of these choices is incorrect. Correct.
In note that you also say: So, what don't you like so far? What do you want us to improve? Are there any author-specific tools that you miss from Microsoft?
Cheers,
crush
I'm not sure anyone on /. is old enough to remember, but Piers Anthony used to write rather lofty science fiction. Perhaps the most polished of the pre-Xanth phase was the Orn-Omnivore-0X trilogy but there were many other notable works (Macroscope, Var the Stick, etc.). He also had a wacky story in Again, Dangerous Visions--imagine a barn full of women being milked. (Got milk?) At one point he would have been considered a "serious" science fiction writer.
Early Piers Anthony used to be very difficult to find, but nowadays it is being regurgitated in significant quantities at used bookstores.
My question is: What prompted Piers to mostly stop writing Heinlein-esque SF and take up fantasy instead? It has to be more than "just the money" because fantasy wasn't the dominant genre in the late 1970s, and even successful SF/Fantasy writers don't really do it for the money anyway.
What is your view on the future in ebooks? What has been done so far (like Stephen King's attempt) could be qualified as either a success or failure, depending on your view.
Do you favor a closed, centrally driven system (keeping the publisher/distributer chain much like it is now) or something more like each author being able to make his own manuscript and hang his own "publisher" shingle? I suppose as a person with a highly developed creativity skill <g>, you couldn't have something completely different in mind, could you?
Mr. Anthony,
As someone who has named both of his cats, all seven of his computers, and one of his cars after characters from Incarnations of Immortality, I would like to know why you haven't chosen to return to their mythos.
Consider the fact you have done so with many of your other mythos'! (Bio of a space tyrant, Apprentice Adept, etc.)
Further, with Incarnations, there are a world of possibilities left. Chance, hate, love, hope, all the minor incarnations you mentioned in books previously (I would really like to see hope)..
Your writing weaves a world that one can live in, and while Xanth is nice, I deeply prefer a world where death is kind, and evil is human and flawed.
It helped me through the pain of losing my mother to serious illness, and has been my favorite fantasy world since.
I read in one of your author's note that the story of the original characters from IoI was "complete" and that you didnt see a need to continue their stories, and I can agree with that.
That doesn't stop new characters in the same mythos from being created. Whether set before, during or after the events of IoI, there is definitely room to weave plenty of stories.
Any chance of seeing some more of them?
GPL'd web-based tradewars themed space game
Finally, the guy I've been looking for!! How the hell should I set up X so that when I su, I can run X programs as root?
The evaluation of an action as 'practical' . . . depends on what it is that one wishes to practice.
I remember in the afterword of one of your books from the early 1980's, you discussed the research you put into choosing your first computer. At the time the choices for consumers were basically Apple II, CP/M, or MS-DOS.
How many generations of computers have you used since then? What system were you using just before you switched? Were you still using CP/M?
Ive noticed over the last 10 years or so, that the number of obvious typographical errors in the novels I read has been on the increase.
Mostly, the problem is the use of the wrong word, or the omission of part of a sentence, rather than misspelling words
Is there something about the process that's changed, or is this the result of over-dependence on computers to "spell check" manuscripts? Does anybody actually read the final MS before printing the books, or is that just not done.
This is something that's been bothering me for a while, and I figured that since you're in the publishing business, you might have some insight.
-Mark
Piers, A Spell for Chameleon and the Source of Magic are two of the best sci-fi books I'd read up to that point.
In your copeous Author's Notes, you mention how you wrote these books with adults in mind, and were surprised to find that the Young Adult market was where you were selling most of your copies.
I'm curious why, upon learning this, you started pandering to that market? Each successive Xanth book became more pun-laden and slapstick, even when it got in the way of the actual story. Despite saying in nearly every Authors Note that you wouldn't accept any more reader-submitted puns, you go ahead and do it anyway, taking loose soap-operaesque plotlines and filling them with frivolous wordplay to tie them together.
Granted, the series seems to do okay, considering that you keep adding to it, but I wonder why you abandoned the style and quality of writing that won you the Nebula Award, in favor of Xanth installments like "Color of her Panties," irritating those readers who loved the Piers who wrote quality work?
Sadly, the decline of Xanth (around books 3 through 5 and on) can also be seen in most of your other series, including Incarnations of Immortality (after Being a Green Mother), and the brilliantly begun Apprentice Adept series (after the first trilogy).
Is the changeover to Linux and StarOffice responsible for this change in tone and direction?
Kevin Fox
Hello Mr. Anthony. As a young adult, I devoured nearly all your novels, with my particular favorites including the Adept series, Incarnations, Bio of a *, and the first eight or ten Xanth titles. It's fair to say that a large part of my psyche and probably my vocabularly are attributable to you.
Recently I reprised On a Pale Horse with my girlfriend and I discovered to my discomfort that it dealt very explicitly with underage sex in a way that sexualized young girls in particular. Although the novel retained many charming qualities for me, I began to consider the female underage sexuality in the other books of that series, especially one of the later books (Of Eternity?) in which an underage girl uses a protracted stay in Purgatory in order to be able to have legal sex with a much older priest. Significantly, she is only 18 "by law". Physically and mentally she is 16 when she has sex with the priest. We are supposed to have any moral questiones calmed by this.
As I recalled more of your works, I noticed a recurring theme of young girls being exploited in sexual ways. The opening of Bio of a Space Tyrant describes the protagonist's shame and arousal as his young sister is raped. Later in the series, I hazily recall a wealthy character who kept pre-pubescent girls for sex, then released them for service when they matured. The character was depicted in a very sympathetic light - he was just misunderstood.
Finally, long ago I read a hardback book by you which attributed to you membership in a social organization dedicated to protecting girls against paedophilia.
As a fan an admirer, but also as someone who is disquieted by the influence you may have had upon my young sexuality, I would like to know candidly whether you are attracted to underage women. Naturally I am in no way implying that you would ever act upon such an urge, but the writing you have given us is very close to an act in itself, considering your very broad and impressionable audience.
Thanks.
-konstant
Yes! We are all individuals! I'm not!
This sounds horribly flame-bait. .. let me clarify. I read a lot of your books. (proof is at my book tracker - under read books.) 'On a Pale Horse' was one of the first Fantasy books of note that I read - and still one of my favorites to date. [I always recommend it to friends, which explains why not only have I bought several copies, but I do not have it in my book tracker as a result.]
.. especially when your are well known in the sci-fi/fantasy world as a a 'creative' guy.
.. when does an author find that enough is enough ?
.. get pushed to the side. And books like 'Gollum in the Gears' [sorry , NOT a personal favorite of mine.] get catapulted to the top of the best seller list just beacuse it has the name Xanth on it ?
But before I elaborate
I have noticed , over the course of time, that your writing became more 'pulp' and less 'inventive'.
Its hard to be creative full steam, especially when you have a family to raise - and I'm sure
Robert Asprin once said something to the effect of "Writing the story was fine, but after 6 books the cute idea I had to put a meaningful/funny quote in the beginning of each chapter really became the stumbling block." Is this a similar event for you ?
Lets face is Xanth was certainly a money-cow for you. And the first four or five books were unique and interesting - My REAL question is
Do you ever regret that the Xanth series has overshadowed other deeper or more interesting works ? [Bio of a Space Tyrant for example.]
Where is the balance of satisfying your fans desire for more of the same hinge with the fear of cheapening/overdoing your story ?
Why do books like 'FireFly' or 'Macroscope' both great ideas - and brilliant books
Does this actually affect your writing style / choice / income in any way? Does it discourage you to write less mainstream work ?
--Ne auderis delere orbem rigidum meum, non erravi pernicose!
I must confess that I only knew of your Xanth and Adept books prior to going to the Piers Anthony website linked here on /. I had no idea you'd written so many books (126 by my rough count). The earlist publication date I saw was 1956, which means you've been writing for approx. 45 years.
How are you able to churn out almost three books a year?
When you're writing a series, how many of the books in the series do you outline prior to writing the first word of the first book?
Did you have a number of books (27 & counting) planned for the Xanth series when you wrote 'A Spell for Chameleon'?
Why has the Xanth series continued?
Not many people are aware that you attended Goddard, a very unusual institution of higher learning in Vermont. For those of you who don't know, the college was famous for its radical politics in the 60s, after Piers attended. No tests, no grades, student-designed courses which were called "group studies" and led by "facilitators."
When I attended Goddard in the late 80s it was still a hotbed of radical politics, but also a strong proponent of critical thinking. Not a place where orthodox opinions hold unexamined sway. Although my politics have changed, I attribute my flexibility, independence and career success in part to this college experience.
Do you believe your educational background has played a significant part in your success? If so, how? Would you recommend any changes to traditional educational techniques? Lastly, in line with the interests of the slashdot crowd, you're one of only a few authors to embrace linux as a desktop OS. Would you draw a link between using this "alternative os" and the "alternative" years in college?
My cat can eat a whole watermelon