Glen Cook on Black Company

[CCamfield]

He's obviously a cranky guy, but some of the interview questions were kind of dumb. "Without giving anything away, what can you tell you readers about your Black Company sequence?"?

I'm astonished that he's writing another BC book, because I thought it was all done now, but that's kind of cool.

I liked his point about Dickens and Howard and so on.

 

[Blastin]

eh...I read a few of the other interviews that he has done and none came off like this one. If he thought it was stupid he shouldn't have done it. I would respect a reply of "hey, I looked over the questions you sent me and I really don't think I can participate." Instead he chose to answer snidly.
I have never read any of his books, so I have no reason to cut him any slack. I also don't feel that having worked in a line manufacturing job is a reason for not knowing how to act politly. I know lots of blue coller workers who are articulate and polite.
My basic feeling that if you are someone that has profited from other people enjoying your work you should at least not act like a jerk to those same people. In know Hollywood acts in the exact opposite of that behavior, but I don't think it's an excuse.
He had an oppertunity to get one more person to read his books, and he didn't take it. Not saying I would never read them if I came across them, but after reading that interview I sure as heck won't be going out of my to find any of his books either.

 

[Rackhir]

I also don't feel that having worked in a line manufacturing job is a reason for not knowing how to act politly. I know lots of blue coller workers who are articulate and polite.

My point was that someone who makes their living doing X, is more inclined to pander to the sensibilities of the masses that support them.

You'd never see "Crewman #5, from episode 27 of Galaxy Quest" doing a "Get a life" speech, while Shattner who had plenty of money and other series/roles he made money off of could.

Despite his substantial output of books over the years, being a writer is clearly a hobby for him. It isn't the core of his life.

My basic feeling that if you are someone that has profited from other people enjoying your work you should at least not act like a jerk to those same people. In know Hollywood acts in the exact opposite of that behavior, but I don't think it's an excuse.

You've obviously never had people pestering you constantly over petty things. I spent three years in Japan, where as a moderately tall blond, foreigner out in the country side, I tended to "stand out" a bit. It is amusing for a while being the center of attention like that, but believe me it WILL get on your nerves eventually.

Trust me, anyone who can live the life of even a minor celebrity and still remain gracious and polite to all the idiots you run into, is at least a minor saint.

He had an oppertunity to get one more person to read his books, and he didn't take it. Not saying I would never read them if I came across them, but after reading that interview I sure as heck won't be going out of my to find any of his books either.

Your loss.

 

[Jack7]

Trust me, anyone who can live the life of even a minor celebrity and still remain gracious and polite to all the idiots you run into, is at least a minor saint.

It's not just idiocy most of the time, though on occasion you run into that as well. You just don't always want people to know certain things about you, even such things as how you think about certain problems, or in what way.

It's really none of their business and sometimes it's dangerous, not only to you but potentially to the people around you.
Even when it seems perfectly innocuous.

As a fella who has conducted interviews, and as a fella who has been the point of a few there is always a tension between trying to learn things about a person, and trying to conceal things from a person.

And it doesn't always come off in print that this is what is actually happening. It can often seem like hostility in script, when in person it was more like a psychological wrestling match, or a psychological chess game. I'm not saying this is the case with this interview, I wasn't there. And I'm not really defending anyone, just stating this as general background. You cannot overlook the fact that after you've given a few interviews and written up a few you soon learn that things said out loud can often sound completely different when transcribed in script. If you don't become wary of that fact then you really never learn how interviews really work.

I can say this. There is a certain art to the interview, and picking the right questions or asking your questions in the right way will often elicit a far different response than if the same basic questions were merely formulated differently. I've also never met a single individual who always gave a good interview.

And I'll also say this. I have on occasion lied during interviews, either to avoid a question or to intentionally misdirect people. I've also feigned a particular attitude or posture just to present an air that either made it easier or harder to conduct an interview. I've even hired people to play me to avoid interviews. I'll do it again no doubt. And not feel bad about it at all. Interviews are never more important than what you to discover, don't want to discover, end up disclosing, want to disclose, or want to prevent from disclosing. And there's more than one way to skin that alley-cat so he purrs while you're kuttin.

It's just something you learn over time.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Now almost every book is a whacking great thick tome, and frankly it makes the barrier of entry too high for me. Too big to fit in a pocket for the commute, uncomfortable to hold. They just don't get my reading time any more

They have their places.

Certainly, the Gaunt's Ghosts et al omnibuses (omnibi?) are incredible values. Granted, they aren't good for putting into a coat pocket, but I can only really do that 4 months of the year, so the rest of the year, they go in the backpack.

I'd heard he was working on some more BC books, which seemed a tad odd, but then again, it could work out.

Brad

 

[Blastin]

You've obviously never had people pestering you constantly over petty things. I spent three years in Japan, where as a moderately tall blond, foreigner out in the country side, I tended to "stand out" a bit. It is amusing for a while being the center of attention like that, but believe me it WILL get on your nerves eventually.

Trust me, anyone who can live the life of even a minor celebrity and still remain gracious and polite to all the idiots you run into, is at least a minor saint.

In my line of work, I have been "pestered" by people in public when I would have rather not have been. I deal with it. And I am FAR from a minor saint.
My point, which I stated in my other post (and you didn't quote), was that it was an e-mailed interview. If he didn't want to do it, didn't like the questions, or felt it was pestering him, all he had to do was decline. It wasn't like he was being rude to some dude interrupting his dinner for an autograph. Instead he made a choice to reply to someone who obviously admires him, in a way that I felt was demeaning. YMMV.
as for it being my loss....I'm sure I'm gonna sleep just fine

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I spent three years in Japan, where as a moderately tall blond, foreigner out in the country side, I tended to "stand out" a bit.

As a kid, I spent 3 years in Stuttgart, Germany in the mid-1970s- my Dad was in the Army.

I'm black. I had a serious afro.

Almost every time we went off the base, some little old woman would pat me on the head, saying "So weich und nett, wie ein Schaf" ("So nice and soft, like a sheep.")

It did NOT help that "sheephead" was one of the nicknames of a character on Welcome Back Kotter.

IOW, I can relate.

 

[Rackhir]

In my line of work, I have been "pestered" by people in public when I would have rather not have been. I deal with it. And I am FAR from a minor saint.
My point, which I stated in my other post (and you didn't quote), was that it was an e-mailed interview. If he didn't want to do it, didn't like the questions, or felt it was pestering him, all he had to do was decline. It wasn't like he was being rude to some dude interrupting his dinner for an autograph. Instead he made a choice to reply to someone who obviously admires him, in a way that I felt was demeaning. YMMV.

The key phrase being "IN MY LINE OF WORK". As I pointed out in the section you didn't quote, it's a lot easier and there's a much stronger incentive to humor people, IF your living depends on it.

Glen Cook's does not and hasn't.

How tolerant are you when some one starts bothering you outside of your line of work?

When I was working retail, I was able to be polite to lots of idiots, but I really enjoyed it when I got to rip into one of those sorts of jerks who was hassling an employee at another store, when I wasn't working retail.

as for it being my loss....I'm sure I'm gonna sleep just fine

Didn't think it would bother you in the least, but it's still your loss.

As a kid, I spent 3 years in Stuttgart, Germany in the mid-1970s- my Dad was in the Army.

I'm black. I had a serious afro.

Almost every time we went off the base, some little old woman would pat me on the head, saying "So weich und nett, wie ein Schaf" ("So nice and soft, like a sheep.")

It did NOT help that "sheephead" was one of the nicknames of a character on Welcome Back Kotter.

IOW, I can relate.

Yeah, it's never really pleasant sticking out like that.

I still have fantasies about chasing japanese tourists around in the US, pointing at them and shouting "Gaijin DA!" (Lit. "It's a foreigner". More accurately translated as "Look at the freak").

I always found it vaguely odd when ever I was in Tokyo, because there were enough foreigners around that I didn't really stand out.

 

[grimslade]

Why the internet occasionally is a bad thing

BIAS ALERT: I have a problem with lazy journalism and the minute you use the term interview you should hold yourself to a higher standard than a form letter.

First off, this was not an interview, it is a questionnaire. An interview is a dialogue with follow up, and Pat doesn't do dialogue. He has a form list of questions that he changes the author's name and the title of their latest release. I have no problem with the practice, as a first step to get to finer tuned probing questions, but it tends to lead to book-blurb and press release answers which are freely available at the publishers website when used alone. Looking at other 'interviews' that were lauded as great in the comments, seem like reformatted publishers releases.

Secondly, I get the impression GC is not thrilled with an omnibus edition being released when the original books are still in print. Makes sense, omnibus means less royalties to him ( 1 book vs. 3). So doing an interview on the release of an omnibus was probably not a good idea on his part. I think GC came into the process with a sour taste in his mouth and the questions could only further exacerbate him. He should have demurred.

I enjoyed GC ripping apart the questionnaire even if it was not the most professional thing to do.