Moderator: sorry for that
Ariel Vered: next time speak about meshiach
GreenBear: lol
Moderator: our host is didi chanoch, editor of the opus press sf&fantasy
series
Moderator: didi lately had issued the game of thrones and the clash of kinks
GreenBear: freudian slip there.... :-)
Didi Chanoch: Clash of KINKS?
delete™: lol
Didi Chanoch: I did NOT!
Moderator: ROFL, a lot of noise in here
GRRM: That was the x-rated version...
Moderator: sorry for that, hope there isn't children around
GreenBear: there are, there are...you're toast :-)
Moderator: and everybody here is asking two questions
Didi Chanoch: I don't care, as long as they BUY the books!
GRRM: Buying the books is good, yes.
Moderator: when is the next book of a song of ice and fire will be published
Seeker: LOL
Private>GreenBear: Perhaps mine should be first, since it's an intro question:It's
the old "didn't read it yet, why should I?"
GRRM: In English or in Hebrew?
Moderator: actually, the books are soled very well here
GRRM: A DANCE WITH DRAGONS should be out in fall, 2002 in English.
Moderator: first in english
Didi Chanoch: Speaking of which, we made the offer to your agent to purchase
rights to ASOS today.
GRRM: Assuming I can finish it on time.
Moderator: then we will nug didi about the translation
GRRM: Glad to hear about ASOS.
Moderator: some general question
Moderator: Most of the participants here have read ASOFAI, but are not that
familiar with your other writing, so can you introduce yourself to our audience,
and tell a bit about your writing and how you began to write
Didi Chanoch: I make know promises regarding schedule. That's a BIG book you
wrote.
Private>GreenBear: i'll ask you question later
GRRM: I have been writing since I was a child. I used to sell monster stories
to the other kids in my projects.
Private>GreenBear: No prob. I leave it to your discretion
Duke Galorin: So it will be published in hebrew somtime around 2011,i guess?
Moderator: didi is just afraid of us, that's all
GRRM: In high school I wrote for comics fanzines.
GRRM: I sold my first professional story in 1971.
GreenBear: You actually sold your stuff to your peers? that's way cool
Moderator: was it sci-fi story?
GRRM: So I worked a long time to become an overnight success.
GRRM: My first pro sale was SF, yes. "The Hero," in GALAXY magazine.
GRRM: I wrote fantasy and horror as well, though.
GRRM: I never made hard and fast distinctions between genres.
Moderator: how did you come up with the idea of a song of ice and fire?
GRRM: The first chapter just came to me one day... actually, when I was writing
a completely different novel.
GRRM: The world and characters got in my blood, and have never let me go.
Moderator: was that the chapter in the forest of the stark family?
Private>Seeker: Q: In SOIAF do you have the major points (including the
end) mapped out in advance or are you making it up as you go along?
Private>GreenBear: Did you have any idea it would develop into such a long
detour from that novel?
GRRM: The chapter where they find the wolf pups.
Moderator: do you have the major points (including the end) mapped out in
advance or are you making it up as you go along?
GRRM: A bit of both. I know the final destination, but not necessarily every
twist and turn in the road that will get me there.
Moderator: Did you have any idea it would develop into such a long detour
from that novel?
Private>delete™: can he elaborate on the roses war connection or other
historics?
**Aya has arrived**
GRRM: Well, I knew it was big... but not quite how big. Initially I visualized
three books of about 800 manuscript pages each. Instead it seems I want writing
six books, and the shortest has been 1100 pages.
Moderator: do you know how it will going to end?
GRRM: Yes
GRRM: But I'm not telling.
Moderator: i so wanted to know if tirion will make it
GRRM: No one is safe in the Seven Kingdoms.
Moderator: it's terrible, you write so great characters, and then you kill
them
Private>GreenBear: What was the novel you were working on when the idea
for ASOFAI hit him? did you ever finish it?
Seeker: Well I guess we will just have to buy the books
Didi Chanoch: Tyrion has GOT to make it. He's the hero! (ok, maybe that's
just my take on it)
Moderator: he is also a great hero, i can't remember any book in which the
hero is crippled
GRRM: Someone once said that the villain is the hero of the other side. The
reverse must be true as well.
Moderator: no! everybody loves tyrion
Private>Aya: who's the moderator?
Didi Chanoch: What other side? There's quite a few sides in the series? :-)
GRRM: Not counting his family...
Private>Aya: amber
Private>Aya: Oh... just wanted to know :-)
Moderator: but that is what makes him so great
GRRM: Have the readers here in the chat room read only the first two books,
or have some of you read ASOS as well?
Moderator: some read sos also
Moderator: couldn't wait for didi
GRRM: In that one, you get different looks as some characters that may change
your minds about them.
Moderator: i think that a lot of ppl are able to love someone that has been
rejected by his family
Private>Seeker: One thing I found hard (and very joyful! ) to take was
the fact that tyrion went from such a LOYEL member of the family to - well
killing the family ! I can understand running away but the killing?
Moderator: it touches some nerve
Didi Chanoch: Oh yeah. Jaime is now one of my favorite characters (I don't
think that's a spoiler - just getting his POV was enough, not anything that
he did)
Moderator: One thing I found hard (and very joyful! ) to take was the fact
that tyrion went from such a LOYAL member of the family to - well killing
the family ! I can understand running away but the killing?
Didi Chanoch: Moderator - please no SPOILERS. Some people have not read the
book.
GRRM: Well, he was pretty much on the brink, and they pushed him over.
GreenBear: hear hear
GRRM: Yes, avoiding spoilers would be good.
delete™: hear what?
Moderator: sorry, forget that
GRRM: That was why I asked about ASOS?
Seeker: sorry about that...
GRRM: Let me ask... are the Hebrew editions able to contain all of material
in the originals. They seem so much slimmer. Is that a function of the language?
GreenBear: As a translator - yes
Didi Chanoch: It is a function of the language. They contain everything
GreenBear: A hebrew text translated from English is generally 20% shorter
delete™: supposedly...
GRRM: Very interesting. Some of my translations grow longer instead of shorter,
and need to be published in multiple volumes.
Didi Chanoch: And they're not that much slimmer. We did publish ACOK in two
volumes, after all.
GRRM: Did you? I am not sure I saw both volumes. Did they have different covers?
Moderator: no, it's the same cover
**Seeker has left (timed out)**
Didi Chanoch: NEarly identical covers. Only difference is I and II
GRRM: I will have to look more closely at my copies.
Didi Chanoch: Can you tell us a little bit about your influences? I know you're
a big Vance fan.
GRRM: Yes, Jack Vance is great. I read all his books the moment they come
out.
GRRM: I can't write like he does, however. No one can.
GRRM: Tolkien was also an influence. As he is on all modern fantasists.
**Seeker has arrived**
GRRM: But I wanted my series to be considerably more realistic in tone. Grittier,
if you will.
Moderator: but your books are so different from tolkien's
Moderator: it seems that ASOFAI is a dark and pessimistic series and is constantly
getting darker
GRRM: In that sense, it is closer to historical fiction than to most fantasy.
Private>delete™: re my q?
Private>GreenBear: So you agree with Hobbes's biew? short, nasty and brutish?
Didi Chanoch: It seems a lot of fantasy is moving in that direction - Kay's
work and Gentle' Ash are two major examples.
GRRM: Actually, I think there is considerable darkness in LORD OF THE RINGS,
but it is a different kind of darkness.
GRRM: The ending of LOTR is bittersweet at best, for instance.
Moderator: a lust for power, insest, brute force - it is MUCH darker
GreenBear: more...sterile...less stench of sweat and blood
Private>delete™: in a minute
GRRM: The sweat and blood are part of the "grittier" feel I was going for.
Private>delete™: no, i ment, if you could forget it, not ask, or something.
GRRM: It seems to me that when you write about war you need to show the horror
of it, as well as the bravery and bright banners.
Moderator: it had been told that you have influenced by the wars of roses
in england
Private>delete™: i've asked, it's good q
GRRM: Yes, I drew on a lot of real history. The Wars of the Roses, the Hundred
Years War, the Albigensian Crusade... and the Crusades themselves. I have
always been fascinated by those. One day I would like to visit your part of
the world, and see some of the old Crusader castles. Krak des Chevaliers and
such...
Moderator: Krak is in syria, but we have some nice cassles
Didi Chanoch: We hope to be able to bring you over for a non-cyber chat one
day.
GRRM: That would be great.
Moderator: but everybody is shouting here "no!!!!!"
Private>gargar!: can you ask him someting?
Didi Chanoch: They want you to finish the series before sparing any time for
trips...
delete™: then who would do the writnig
GRRM: Yes, I guess the old Crusader kingdoms are now divided amongst five
or six different countries. Egypt all the way up to Turkey.
Moderator: however, if you ever get here we are prepating some bottles of
good whiskey
GreenBear: one can write while traveling...
Private>gargar!: send me your q
GRRM: Whiskey is good. And I was always fond of that Israeli liquor, the chocolate/orange
one...
GreenBear: Sabra! I'm with you there
Private>gargar!: it's kind of stupid mybe, but what do it think of harry
potter!
GRRM: Alas, other writers can write whilse traveling, but not me.
Moderator: sabra. but we are preparing sinle malt 15 years old
Moderator: 18 years
GRRM: sounds great
Moderator: everybody will hate me for that
GRRM: I thought one had to go to Scotland for single malt.
GreenBear: Plus, we do have the finest crusader remains of all....in Acre
GRRM: What country is Kerak in?
GreenBear: Syria
GRRM: No, not Krak, Kerak. Is that Syria too?
Moderator: but acre is great, and we also have some other castles
Moderator: kerak is in syria
GreenBear: I believe so...or Lebanon
GRRM: And the Horns of Hattin?
GreenBear: That's here
Didi Chanoch: That's here
GRRM: Is the battlefield memorialized in any way?
GreenBear: Have you seen the BBC series "Crusades" with Michael Palin? (I
believe)
GreenBear: Not very, but any tour guide will be most familiar with the details
Moderator: there isn't any memorial there, but it has a great view over the
battlefield
GRRM: Yes, I've seen the Palin series.
Moderator: there is also a important tomb of a great druz prophet
GreenBear: You can see exactly how Saladin was able to force the Crusader
forces into the wheat field, if they wanted to reach water
GRRM: There's so much history there that I suppose you bump into it every
time you turn around. More history than anywhere else in the world, in a way.
Moderator: actually, everywhere you go in israel there is some historical
monument. can't miss it
GRRM: Well, I hope I will get over one day to see it all.
GRRM: Research, you know...
Private>Seeker: One thing I have wondered about - the dragons. considering
the fact that they are babies and will probebly be that way for decades at
least - how will be able to take a part in the wars and such?
Didi Chanoch: Of course, of course....
GRRM: Any more questions?
Moderator: indeed so, and if you ever need a guide of some translations of
arabic text - there is someone here that will be glad to provide it
Moderator: yes
Moderator: about, ASOFAI
GreenBear: Which reminds me of a fantasy novel situated here
GreenBear: Tower of the Kings Daughter - have you read?
GRRM: No, afraid not.
Moderator: do we ever get to know the answers for the questions left open-ended
in the first three books?
GRRM: But I have read much historical fiction about the Crusades.
Moderator: because we REALLY want to know who is jon's mother
GRRM: Most of the questions will be answered by the end, yes.
GRRM: Some may be answered subtly, however.
Moderator: but not all?
Moderator: oh, so we will have to debate that then!
GRRM: Well, "all" is a big word... my fans are always asking new questions.
GRRM: Jon's history will be revealed, yes.
Didi Chanoch: Leaves more fodder for some of the amazing fan sites you have
out there.
Moderator: because we really want to know! we loose sleep thinking about those
questions!
GRRM: I lose sleep trying to think of answers.
GreenBear: readers don't lose sleep - they gain dreams
Seeker: if you hear of an insomnia appesemic in Israel youll know why
Moderator: LOL. when you've began writing this series, did you know how long
and complicated it will become
Private>delete™: already ans. i think
GRRM: I would rather keep you awake than put you to sleep.
**Ariel Vered has left (timed out)**
Moderator: why are the names rob and lyanna appears several times in your
writing?
Private>Seeker: One thing I have wondered about - the dragons. considering
the fact that they are babies and will probebly be that way for decades at
least - how will be able to take a part in the wars and such?
GRRM: But I am all in favor of dreaming.
GRRM: Hmmmm.... the chat seems to have stalled.
GreenBear: test?
Moderator: can you see us?
GreenBear: seems ok
Seeker: One thing I have wondered about - the dragons. considering the fact
that they are babies and will probebly be that way for decades at least -
how will be able to take a part in the wars and such?
Private>Didi Chanoch: is it O.K?
Didi Chanoch: Well, if it's not decades, there's about five years between
book 3 and book 4...
Private>Didi Chanoch: do you know if martin is still there?
Seeker: yeah but dragon are supposed to live centuries so i'm guessing they
age slower...
Private>Didi Chanoch: He is, but he's having tech difficulties.
Private>GRRM: Nothing is appearing to my screen after Seeker's comment
about the insomnia epidemic. I have sent several messages, but they don't
show up.
Private>GreenBear: for last question: any tips for aspiring writers?
GRRM: Is this still working? Hello? Hello?
delete™: these are not d&d dragons.
Moderator: we can see you now
GreenBear: we see you fine
Private>GRRM: it seem to be o.k. now
Didi Chanoch: We can see you. Hope it works better now.
Private>GRRM: we can see you, but you can exit and re-enter if you're having
troubles with it. sorry
Private>Didi Chanoch: He's having difficulties and asked me to email him
if we're still here. I just did that.
Moderator: can we
Private>Didi Chanoch: ok.i've send him a privat message
Didi Chanoch: Please wait everybody. Our guest is having some tech difficulties...
GRRM: Ah, that's better. I hit "Refresh" and all the new posts appeared.
Moderator: great
Aya: what a clever chat room :)
Moderator: i'll reaturn some questions
Moderator: the names "rob" and "lyanna" appears several times in your writing
GRRM: The dragons... yes, they will grow some between books three and four.
GRRM: And the children will grow up a little as well.
GRRM: Those were two of the big reasons for the hiatus.
**gilad1 has left (timed out)**
Moderator: it seem that children in the series takes really heavy responsibilities,
they fight, they get married, they have sex, and they are only teenageres
delete™: like real; life in mid ages?
GRRM: Yes and no... the whole concept of "teenager" is a modern invention.
In ancient and medieval terms, there were children and there were adults,
and the transition to adulthood came at a much younger age.
GRRM: Of course, the lifespans were much shorter as well.
Moderator: and you make it even shorter in your books
**gilad has arrived**
Private>GRRM: can you see us or you're having problems with the connection
again?
Private>Didi Chanoch: what happening?
Private>GreenBear: I refreshed and lost all prior messages :-(. Are we
frozen?
delete™: more tech dificulties?
Private>Didi Chanoch: I *think* he's waiting for the next Q...
Private>Seeker: you've stated that you want magic in your books to be a
wild thing not rules and forms but instinct - and yet it seens that they way
things are heading is in the direction of a "orderly" magic -
Aya: maybe. GRRM has a sad emoticon
GRRM: Seems to be working. Waiting for questions.
Private>Seeker: have you changed your mind on the subject?
GRRM: Ah... I changed the emoticon when my system stalled.
Moderator: ou've stated that you want magic in your books to be a wild thing
not rules and forms but instinct - and yet it seens that they way things are
heading is in the direction of a "orderly" magic
Moderator: have you changed your mind on the subject?
GRRM: You think so? Things are certainly heading toward =more= magic, but
I don't know that it will ever be orderly.
Didi Chanoch: Has there been any talk of perhaps making a movie or a TV series?
Considering your experience in TV, and the series popularity, it seems like
something that could definitely work.
GRRM: I am trying to handle magic in some of the ways Tolkien did. LOTR has
a great deal of magic, but seldom on stage, and seldom explained.
**z has arrived**
Moderator: it seems that in the series there is no concept of reward and punishment,
was that intended?
GRRM: Hmmmm... can you amplify?
Didi Chanoch: Moderator: I have to disagree with that statement.
Private>Seeker: Will there be POV full time magic user charechter? i think
we all know whom i'm talking about... :)
delete™: the good guy gets the girl kind of thing
delete™: ?
Moderator: bad guys get the girl and the throne, good guys get there head
cut off
GRRM: Even fantasy needs to be honest at its core. And the good guy does not
always get the girl.
GRRM: Also, remember, we are only halfway through the story.
GreenBear: I haven't read ASOFAI, but it seems that you are a pretty big believer
in the hobbesian "Short, nasty and brutish" view of life - at least in the
middle ages.
Moderator: meanwhile, it is also very hard to distinct between the good guys
and the bad
GRRM: Life has good and bad both, in the Middle Ages and now.
Didi Chanoch: Well, some are clearly bad, some are clearly good, most are
gray.
GRRM: The best stories encompass both joy and sorrow, grief and triumph.
GRRM: And yes, I believe in grey characters. Most people are grey.
GRRM: The bad guys aren't always ugly fellows dressed in black.
GRRM: Sometimes the good guys are dressed in black... as in my Night's Watch.
Didi Chanoch: Yes, well, at least one *appears* to be dressed in red
Moderator: but jaime was the ultimate evil
GRRM: Melisandre thinks she's the hero of the story.
Moderator: and in SOS we are begging to seee his POV
gargar!: what do you think of harry potter?
Didi Chanoch: That's why I added the "appears". She certainly sees herself
as good.
GRRM: I have only read the first HP book, but I enjoyed it.
Moderator: what are the origins of the connection between the starks and the
marewolves?
Private>Didi Chanoch: how much time do we have left?
GRRM: Marewolves? Direwolves, you mean? Well, that's part of that magic...
it's more than a natural relationship, certainly.
Private>Didi Chanoch: I asked GRRM, waiting for reply.
GRRM: Well, I should be getting back to work soon... another ten minutes?
Moderator: yes, thanx
Moderator: which is your favorite character?
Seeker: About the more magic point - will we be seeing a full time magic using
POV ( we all know whom I mean :) ) and if so how will that effect your view
on the magic?
GRRM: Yes... and to the effect, well, we shall see...
z: I was just discussing "A Song for Lya" (Hugo award winner) with Didi, why
have you (if at all) stopped writing SciFi?
GRRM: I haven't stopped writing SF. It's just that right now I still have
three enormous fantasy novels to finish, and there's no time for anything
else.
Private>Didi Chanoch: i'll beging to conclude in 4 min or do you waant
to do so?
Didi Chanoch: And we certainly appreciate the fact that you're concentrating
on them. We want closure.
Private>Didi Chanoch: you do it. Thanls
Moderator: we REALLY want closure!!!
Private>Didi Chanoch: thanks
GRRM: Yes, some fans have already written to ask who will finish the series
if I should die untimely. To which my response is, "If I die untimely, you're
all out of luck!"
Moderator: and i also liked the story in "legends", will we see more of Duncan?
GRRM: Yes, I want to write several more Dunk & Egg stories, if I can find
time.
Private>z: Sorry for not asking permission. I just saw other ppl. asking
so I thought u could do that. Sorry anyhow.
Didi Chanoch: The Legends story was actually a huge boost for the Game here
in Israel. The book wasn't getting much attention before the anthology.
Moderator: so we have something to look for
Moderator: and everybody hear want to ask you to always wear worm close, and
drive carefully, and beware of wolves
GRRM: Was LEGENDS published in Hebrew?
Didi Chanoch: Now, in Israel's small fantasy market, it one of the most beloved
series.
Didi Chanoch: Yes.
Didi Chanoch: By Opus.
GRRM: Say, can you send me some copies of that for my files?
Didi Chanoch: Sure. Just email me your address.
GRRM: I like to have all my editions.
Moderator: shall i conclude?
GRRM: Anyone have a final question or two?
Private>Didi Chanoch: Yes.
Didi Chanoch: Maybe we can take the time to shill your Seven Kingdoms T-shirts?
:-)
Moderator: if not, i'll thank our guest for great chat, and that he dedicated
his time for us,
GreenBear: Any tips for aspurung writers?
Moderator: we hope that we will seen your next book soon
GRRM: Yes, we can shill the shirts. They are available through my website
at www.georgerrmartin.com
Didi Chanoch: Thanks, GRRM. It was great to have you here.
Moderator: and also some new editions of the old one
GRRM: Aspiring writers -- read all you can and write every day.
GreenBear: Thanks!
GRRM: Thanks for having me. Some day I hope to visit in person, drink that
Sabra and single malt, and visit Kerak and the Horns of Hattin.
Moderator: and those bottles are waiting for you
GRRM: Till then, keep reading.
GRRM: goodbye
GRRM: enjoy your convention
Moderator: goodbye and thanx again
Aya: Bye!!
**Duke Galorin has left (timed out)**
Didi Chanoch: Goodbye and thanks again.
**GRRM has left (quit)**