Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: thoughtful
  • Music: Counting Crows, "Rain King/Thunder Road."

Perfect isn't easy, and I don't want it.

So I've been chatting with various people—now that the first rush of book release crazy is blessedly behind us—about Rosemary and Rue as a book, Toby as a character, and where I think the series is going. This has led to several of my friends confessing, usually while looking slightly sheepish, that Rosemary and Rue is Not A Perfect Book. It is, tragically, Not Without Flaw. And to this I say...

Thank the Great Pumpkin.

You see—bear with me, I swear this is relevant—I'm a Counting Crows fan. Their first album, August and Everything After, was perfect. Maybe not every song, maybe not every lyric, but as an album? Perfect. The sort of album you can listen to over and over again, finding new things, making new discoveries about the way the songs fit together, the stories that the lyrics are telling...perfect. So naturally, when their second album was released (Recovering the Satellites), they got basically panned. Why? Because Recovering the Satellites was a bad album? But it wasn't. It was actually a really good album, with a lot of really good songs. So what was the problem?

The problem was that it wasn't perfect. And once you've been perfect, people are going to start expecting perfection every single time. It's the dilemma of the student who manages straight As on a report card—once may be amazing, but when you bring home that B+ next quarter, there are going to be some pointed questions directed your way.

Now, I do think that a few of the things some people view as flaws will become less flaw-like as the series goes on. At the end of the first episode of Veronica Mars, you don't know who killed Lilly Kane, who raped Veronica, or what happened to her mother, now, do you? I'm absolutely working to make sure every Toby book has a satisfying conclusion all its own, but there are going to be some narrative threads that take a long, long time to be resolved. I'm actually crazy-careful with my timelines, and with making sure that all my guns are on the mantelpiece as soon as they need to be, just so there's no "but wait, there was no six-fingered man in the plot last season."

Yes, I will tell you who killed Lilly Kane.

Yes, I will tell you who raped Veronica.

Yes, I will tell you why every little piece of importance is important. But it's going to take a while. And I will, thankfully, probably never be perfectly perfect in an individual volume...although I, like the Counting Crows, really hope that my album (or series, as the case may be) is close enough to perfect when it's done that the flaws are forgiven.
Tags: contemplation, rosemary and rue, toby daye, writing
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  • 60 comments

spectralbovine

September 25 2009, 17:01:42 UTC 7 years ago

When IM conversations become posts! Or posts are hinted at in IM conversations! Tonight at 11.

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 17:44:17 UTC 7 years ago

You inspired me! I looooooooove you.

vixyish

7 years ago

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spectralbovine

7 years ago

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vixyish

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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spectralbovine

7 years ago

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vixyish

7 years ago

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spectralbovine

7 years ago

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angel_vixen

7 years ago

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mayir

7 years ago

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elucreh

September 25 2009, 17:15:29 UTC 7 years ago

Do you promise that not only will you tell us who raped Veronica, but also that you will never change your mind for no apparent reason half a season later?

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 17:51:44 UTC 7 years ago

I do, in fact, promise that when I hand you the answers, the answers will remain accurate. Although I don't promise that Toby will always be entirely reliable.

catnip13

September 25 2009, 17:29:41 UTC 7 years ago

It's not a perfect book. But I liked it better than I liked Storm Front or Bitten, or Naked in Death for that matter, and those are all series that I love beyond all reason.

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 17:51:53 UTC 7 years ago

I love you, too.

drakemonger

7 years ago

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vixyish

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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adamselzer

September 25 2009, 17:49:47 UTC 7 years ago

Recovering the Satellites is better than AAEA.
There. I said it.

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 17:59:06 UTC 7 years ago

See, I find that some of the songs on Recovering the Satellites are better songs, but taken as an overall album, August and Everything After is essentially flawless.

vixyish

September 25 2009, 17:52:11 UTC 7 years ago

Book 3 is still my favorite so far. I think. Except there's this one scene in book 2 that's one of my all-time favorites ever. But then there's that scene in book 5 that's just like YESSSSSSS...

:)

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 18:00:22 UTC 7 years ago

See, right now, I'm in love with book four. But that's because book four is actually frickin' finished.

I am a simple soul.

wcg

7 years ago

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vixyish

7 years ago

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kyburg

September 25 2009, 18:06:03 UTC 7 years ago

You could be like Melanie Rawn, who did a fantastic first book...and I want to slap senseless at this point. (Yes, we know each other. Not well anymore, it's been nearly twenty years. But we have enough dirt on each other to do a lot of mutual damage.)

Perfect. Bah. Perfect is boooooring.

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 18:26:14 UTC 7 years ago

Perfect is boring, and also eventually becomes impossible to maintain. And then your head explodes.

shantak

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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ericcoleman

September 25 2009, 18:09:06 UTC 7 years ago

Ya know, what do you say about a band that peaked with their very first song on their very first record? All of their following albums have great stuff on them, but they have never matched Round Here ...

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 18:26:51 UTC 7 years ago

The version of "Round Here" blended with "Mary Queen of Arkansas" and "My Private Archipelago" may be the best thing ever.

rysmiel

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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rysmiel

7 years ago

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angel_vixen

September 25 2009, 18:57:55 UTC 7 years ago

Perfect is boring, impossible to maintain, and spawns way too many brainweasels.

That said, "pretty damn awesome" is nice to achieve!

AngelVixen :-)

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 22:37:52 UTC 7 years ago

Absolutely true.

ladymondegreen

September 25 2009, 20:29:43 UTC 7 years ago

Every even subtly negative review I've seen of R&R has indicated that while they found nits to pick, they're sure as heck picking up the next one when it comes out. Maybe even pre-ordering.

When even your detractors are supporting your artistic endeavors, who needs to be perfect?

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 22:38:08 UTC 7 years ago

I never asked to be perfect, just not to be lynched.

kyril

7 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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Sorry, off topic

shantak

September 25 2009, 20:50:37 UTC 7 years ago

but I saw this headline and thought of you:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090925/BREAKING/90925031?source=rss_breaking

"Fanged frog that eats birds and 162 other new species found in Mekong"

Re: Sorry, off topic

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 22:38:26 UTC 7 years ago

I...

I...

I WANT ONE OF THOSE.

Re: Sorry, off topic

shantak

7 years ago

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Re: Sorry, off topic

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

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dornbeast

September 25 2009, 21:01:19 UTC 7 years ago

Rosemary and Rue isn't perfect, no. I didn't get a feel for Toby as a private investigator, as much as I got a feeling that she's getting slapped around, beaten up, shot, and stabbed until the truth starts showing up in spite of everything being done to keep it covered up.

As a mystery, I don't think Rosemary and Rue is very good. But you've created a great place to visit, populated with interesting people, and a whole lot of things hinted at (I only noticed one so far, but the fact that I noticed one implies a lot that I didn't spot) as plot points to pick up later.

seanan_mcguire

September 25 2009, 22:39:00 UTC 7 years ago

Toby doesn't have time to investigate much, given the slapping, beating, shooting, and stabbing. But thank you for avoiding spoilers in my journal.

graesea

September 25 2009, 22:09:04 UTC 7 years ago

Congratulations on the success of your first book - I picked it up by chance at a Barnes and Noble. It was a great read, the characters are interesting with a great deal of depth.

Bless you for having a detailed time line. You benefit, I (the reader) benefit and everyone is happier than a vegan with a fresh, politically correct cupcake!

Seriously, the "urban fantasy" genre or whatever title best fits, has gone down the flush. It's not unique to this genre or any other that rises in popularity; still it's sad to see some of the offal on the bookshelves.

Good luck to the future - you are at the top of my authors to buy list.

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2009, 15:27:19 UTC 7 years ago

Thank you, very much! It's always awesome when people who found the book effectively by accident show up. :) My timeline goes three thousand years back, if that's detailed enough? And I promise to stick with it until it torques me off (which it hasn't done yet).

Thank you again, and I really hope you enjoy A Local Habitation.

shveta_thakrar

September 25 2009, 23:55:59 UTC 7 years ago

I liked this post. :)

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2009, 15:28:01 UTC 7 years ago

Thank you!

alexwearspants

September 26 2009, 01:05:21 UTC 7 years ago

I agree with you totally on both Counting Crows and straight-A students.

Also somewhat off topic, I always find it interesting when people describe perfection as boring. I suppose it comes from assuming that something that is perfect will display that quality to everyone, from which it follows that perfection can be mistakenly associated with non-controversy. /musing

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2009, 15:28:50 UTC 7 years ago

I'm not bored by perfection, I'm daunted. Because it really does seem that everyone will measure you against it, forever, no matter what else you do. I'd rather have my perfect book be the one that comes out right before I die in a freak locust incident.

rhoda_rants

September 26 2009, 04:31:31 UTC 7 years ago

All I can say is that I hope that, once I'm published, my friends will be ready and willing to tell me my book's not perfect right to my face.

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2009, 15:29:40 UTC 7 years ago

Oh, trust me, they will be. Sometimes loudly in bookstores while you stand there with this mortified expression like "oh God I want to die."

mihai_lado

September 26 2009, 17:03:58 UTC 7 years ago

As a murder mystery, it was weak, leaving me with some puzzled questions I cannot discuss here. More time was spent establishing the world than establishing the plot. There were too many pages of "let's injure Toby."

About now you must think I hate you. Nope. I bought this book entirely on the basis of you being the person who wrote "Oh Michelle" and "The Black Death." You have a gift for interesting language (I giggled to find out her middle name), and the worldbuilding is topnotch. I loaned my copy to two other people, then gave it to my brother because he has lived within walking distance of two of the locales in the book. I'll be buying the next one, and expect to see improvement as you work more with the novel form.

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2009, 20:03:23 UTC 7 years ago

I do not feel hated! And honestly, while I'm happy to have you email me with any questions, many of them will be answered with "I like komodo dragons, did you know that they're venomous?", as a great many things are being answered in volumes to come. The Veronica Mars comparison was intentional—there's a very long-term "let's find out who killed Lilly Kane" going on here.

I really do think I've only improved within the novel form, and I hope you'll enjoy A Local Habitation. I just turned in my page proofs yesterday. I'm kind of in love with it right now.

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seanan_mcguire

September 29 2009, 14:35:05 UTC 7 years ago

Very welcome! And yeah. I'd rather come close to perfect a hundred times than hit it once. Unless I only get one shot ever, in which case, bring on the perfect score.

allaboutm_e

September 28 2009, 16:14:02 UTC 7 years ago

Nice analogy. :)

seanan_mcguire

September 29 2009, 14:35:37 UTC 7 years ago

I should send you my Shakespearean Veronica Mars sometime. "The Tragedy of Lillian Kane, Princess of Neptune."

allaboutm_e

7 years ago

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