[Akdor 1154]

IMO, I think you should have
Spoiler for The Gift/Naming:

left Dernhil alive


but then perhaps kill him off in the last book or something...

I really think Maerad and Cadvan should stay just friends.

Spoiler for Riddle:

And Cadvan's already 'died' once - you really don't need to put us through that again. I personally think the outcome of this (Maerad being alone when she's imprisoned by the Winterking, and her own personal development) could have been acomplished in a better way - I hate 'dead, but then magically back to life' plot points - they're probably even more common than real deaths. Maybe Cadvan could have gone with Maerad about half the way back from the wise man up in the Arctic, then Maerad gets kidnapped by those savages (I forget the name)


EDIT: Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so picky, that's just the way it came out. :o
The Riddle is fine, it'll take a lot worse than that to drag it down to Deltora Quest 2 (or whatver) ;)

EDIT 2 after reading the rest of the thread:
I think Maerad should see Cadvan as a father figure, not husband. And if Cadvan doesn't approve of his own feelings for Maerad, Maerad saying 'no' would pretty much sort things out then, without too much of an argument - I don't know if I even want Maerad to get hooked up with someone - it just doesn't suit her. Maybe she could live the rest of her life in mourning for Dernhil... but this might be a little too cruel, I mean, it's not like she's been through enough, is it? ;)

[Gemini]

Maerad being alone when she's imprisoned by the Winterking, and her own personal development)

I think Maerad should see Cadvan as a father figure, not husband. And if Cadvan doesn't approve of his own feelings for Maerad, Maerad saying 'no' would pretty much sort things out then, without too much of an argument - I don't know if I even want Maerad to get hooked up with someone - it just doesn't suit her. Maybe she could live the rest of her life in mourning for Dernhil... but this might be a little too cruel, I mean, it's not like she's been through enough, is it? ;)
Yeah, at times i think he's more like a father figure for Maerad than anything else. Most likely i'm thinking this b/c it seems the most obvious route for their relationship to take, b/c in reality that's already happening between them example, Maerad says when Cadvan 'dies' that they loved each other, this is obviously a 'father-daughter' relationship . It's also a natural progression ,considering that Maerad has never b4 really know a strong male figure that she can aspire to.

It would be to mean to leave her wallowing in spinsterhood forever :D , then again that could just be my romantic cliched self, screaming in my brain that every female protag simply has to have a love interest :rolleyes: . Spoiler for Gift I think you gave the game away (about Derhil dying) by saying "mouring for Dernhil"... but anyhoo :D
Spoiler for Riddle i was also thinking the other day, again, about the seperation between them. It was nessesary b/c, along with other aforementioned reasons, b/c Maerad and Cadven, both being fairly strong willed, stubborn people, are continualy butting heads. That seperation gave them both a much needed rest from each other.
Sometime the whole "oh no he's dead.. wait, he's magicaly alive agian!" thing can be corny, but this time i didn't mind it (mostly b/c i was positive he wasn't dead and i kept expecting Cadvan to pop up wherever Maerad was) I also convined myself that he would save her from the Jussacks (Having guessed this plot evolution already from the 'Jussacks' chapter title) and even came up with a little senario for this ocurance, which was acutaly sort of similar to how it did turn out
Well, i've probably tired you out then :D , must go watch 'Survivor' anyways *Ducks rotten fruit and readers taunts of "oh my god! you watch that CR@P!"*

BTW, the name your looking for is Inka-Reb.

[alison]

No worries, Akdor: being picky is a reader's privilege. ;)

I can tell you though, that having rewritten The Gift five times, I'm not doing it again! I'll just have to plot better in the next story I write, after I've finished the Pellinor books. Whenever that is.

I somehow doubt whether Maerad would end up being a spinster - but that doesn't mean that she would be on her own, either. Those Bards are pretty independent women, and they like to have to fun. There would be worse things than living the intellectual life in Il Arunen or Gent, I expect...

[alison]

do think though that you need an outside source to edit your work because you can become too attached to your characters etc and that can effect your editting. what do you think?


It took me about ten years to learn how to edit my own work (I worked for a long time with a very stern poetry editor, who taught me a lot - mainly about cutting :) ). It's a really important skill for a writer to learn, and probably the most difficult. And even so, an outside eye is a real help. What they save you is time - it can take a long time before you can get a distant perspective on your own work, say, a year or so: but someone else with a good eye can help you see how to improve a text straight away. I really depend on having a good editor (and I like the collaboration - which in the best circumstances, is what it is). But a friend you trust can be just as important. The most useful thing is honest feedback.

On the other hand, in the end it's your story, and only you can write it: you have to trust your own gut feelings and go with those. Even if your editor disagrees! So it's all a matter of balance, as is everything ...

[Eámanë]

yep alison it was all merewen's fault!! :p
But the books are addictive and I don't really blame her
Anyhoo I'm likin the start of the crow sounds good!!

[Siobhan]

yep alison it was all merewen's fault!! :p
But the books are addictive and I don't really blame her
Anyhoo I'm likin the start of the crow sounds good!!

I agree the books are addictive I've read them both 4 times, which is a world record for me cos normally I can't even finish a book

[IndyB]

I agree, these books are soooo addictive, i just keep reading them i think i'm up to about 15 times on the first one. Every time i read them i pick up something new that i hadn't seen the first time. The first time i read the second book, i got a little confused at the start because i couldn't get my head around the fact that they were still on the boat, i kept thinking they were still in Norloch. When it came to the third or fourth time i read it i got the picture, ;) Btw. Thanks alison for posting thoes 4 chapters from the crow on your website. Do you think there'll be much change in the final copy? I think it's alright the way it is. :)

[alison]

Thanks alison for posting thoes 4 chapters from the crow on your website. Do you think there'll be much change in the final copy?

Thanks IndyB - I doubt there will be any major changes, my editor's seen them and approved them. But I would be very surprised if there were no changes at all! Just tiny things, I expect, to improve the writing. I have a bit of writing to do later - basically an extra chapter and threading through another important storyline that faded out in the intensity of writing the first draft.

[Tari]

But a friend you trust can be just as important. The most useful thing is honest feedback.

Thanks Alison. i usually cant edit my own work simply bcoz i get too attached to my own characters and small details not to mention my grammar is terrible so i usually get my friend to edit for me and she does a pretty good job and she knows my style and stuff like that and is completely honest with me and it's great to hav her there to help out. ( Luv ya Jordz!!!)

~ Tari

[Akdor 1154]

I worked for a long time with a very stern poetry editor, who taught me a lot - mainly about cutting

Woah... editing books must be so much easier than poetry - you don't have to keep with form or rhyme or anything.

But like I said, the Riddle is only like 0.0001% from being perfect - the only reason I think that way is because The Gift set the standard so high! :D