The questions I can't answer and promises I can't keep.: seanan

The questions I can't answer and promises I can't keep.

I've had a few people emailing me recently, asking questions I can't answer, over and over again. Not "what is the solution to the Riemann Hypothesis?", which is a question I can't answer because I'm not a math genius. Questions like "How long has Tybalt been in love with Toby? Why isn't he courting her?" and "Who are Quentin's parents?" Questions that relate to my books, but are not about things that have yet happened in my books, or about the background of the world. I can explain Cait Sidhe biology until the cows come home. I cannot, at this time, tell you who Amandine's mother is.

And this is a problem for me.

I like answering mail. I'm incredibly slow about it, because I have a thousand other things I need to be doing at the same time, and a message that just says "thanks for writing books" but isn't from a teenager or asking questions may just be smiled at and tucked into my files. At the same time, these questions make me dread opening my inbox.

How do I say "no" without coming off as an arrogant bitch? How do I explain that these are questions I can't answer, because it isn't fair to all the readers who didn't ask me? And most of all, how do I explain that I can't answer because I don't want to lie to you?

Things change. As far as I'm concerned, if something isn't in a book that you can buy on the shelf, it isn't set in stone. I mean that literally: while there have been very, very few last-minute changes, there have been at least two instances where the ARC came out, I did my ceremonial "I will now read the ARC to see how it feels as a book," and have then called my publisher in tears, begging that something be fixed. Even the ARCs can change. If you had asked me who the important characters in the Toby series were going to be before the first book came out, my list would not have included Quentin, Raj, April, Walther, Etienne, or Danny. Danny actually didn't exist until after Rosemary and Rue had been purchased by DAW.

If I say "oh, don't worry, X is happening in book Y," there's a good chance I'm wrong. The original villain of One Salt Sea isn't in the book. At all. The original first chapter of An Artificial Night didn't even make it to my publisher. And those are just the examples I can give that don't come with associated spoilers.

It's really difficult. I have a lot of trouble navigating these questions, and no matter what I say, I wind up feeling like I'm being mean. I'm not, really. I just don't want to spoil any surprises, and I definitely don't want to tell any accidental lies. So please, don't ask those questions. I can't answer them, and it makes me want to cry when they just keep coming.

Bah. Writing is hard.

wmilliken

January 13 2012, 01:25:18 UTC 5 years ago

New comment

Just tell them it's all Heisenberg's fault -- the wavefunction hasn't collapsed yet, and they'll need to observe the result (okay, this really means buy your next, or +Nth book, but what's a little shameless self-promotion, especially when obscured by layers of verbiage+quantum physics?).

My wife (archangelbeth here) is line editor for an RPG game that even has stuff that is *never* going to be explained or defined. She had to coin a phrase (okay, sorta stolen from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) about CDaU: Canon Doubt and Uncertainty, which the community mostly accepted as an explanation for things.

seanan_mcguire

February 7 2012, 18:12:10 UTC 5 years ago

Oh, that's LOVELY.

gemdol

January 13 2012, 01:49:53 UTC 5 years ago

I'm glad I don't have your dilemma, but for what it's worth:

I hate spoilers. As much as I want answers to questions sometimes and as much as I sometimes wonder what the background to something (or someone) is, that's one reason I keep reading. To get those answers in the books, not beforehand.

But...I can also be of the, "But you said x, y, and z and that is not what happened in the book" variety, so honestly, I can understand not saying anything at all too. Sometimes you don't know the answer any more than we the readers do and I for one would rather wait until it is in the book, on the shelf, and I've read it, and then I'll consider it canon and nitpick the details.

Spoilers are no fun. Reading the book and getting the answers that way is.

February 9 2012, 16:16:20 UTC 5 years ago

Agreed.

idancewithlife

January 13 2012, 03:09:45 UTC 5 years ago

I'm wondering if it's possible to give TMI to random fan questions. I would guess they often aren't asking about your writing process with those questions, but only hoping for answers to their deepest "gotta knows." Maybe something a little less complex would work (at least the first time): "Thanks for contacting me. I deeply appreciate your interest in my books. However, I have a firm policy of never discussing as of yet unpublished character developments or plot twists. Since I also don't like loose ends, there's a very good chance I'll say more about these questions in future books, and hope you'll find the wait for answers worthwhile!"

February 7 2012, 18:11:50 UTC 5 years ago

Good one!

drcpunk

January 13 2012, 06:08:35 UTC 5 years ago

Just keep saying no. It's the right thing to do.

And thank you for not releasing the undead hordes on the world.

February 1 2012, 19:34:07 UTC 5 years ago

You're welcome.

artofcheatery

January 13 2012, 19:56:01 UTC 5 years ago Edited: January 13 2012, 19:56:22 UTC

If they don't realize who you've hinted at Quentin's parents being, they need to reread the books. You do a lot of open ended foreshadowing. After the line in Late Eclipses where Toby thinks that her heritage explains a lot, I reread the first three. The hints are there, if you can spot them.
-X

February 1 2012, 19:33:44 UTC 5 years ago

I am very precise with my hinting, because I want everything to make sense when I'm done.

It's reassuring when people confirm that it's working so far.

art_of_idiom

January 14 2012, 00:37:37 UTC 5 years ago

I'm not sure what to do with this so I think I will leave it here. Looks like Mira Grant can predict the future!

http://www.mlo-online.com/news_reader.aspx?id=2947

February 16 2012, 16:11:54 UTC 5 years ago

Yay!

We're all gonna die!

dornbeast

January 14 2012, 03:59:03 UTC 5 years ago

Ah, yes. What was referred to in another forum as "having the patience of a crack-addicted rabid weasel."

January 16 2012, 04:11:59 UTC 5 years ago

Heh.

soundingsea

January 14 2012, 13:18:50 UTC 5 years ago

Wait, so people write to authors and insist on being given spoilers? There's nothing arrogant or bitchy in saying, "Hey, I don't want to spoil people! So please keep reading and see!"

January 16 2012, 04:11:46 UTC 5 years ago

Yes, some people do.

And then get VERY SHIRTY when they don't get their way.

liddle_oldman

January 14 2012, 19:22:55 UTC 5 years ago

And I don't want to know the answers at all! That is, if something will spoil a later story (He's dead the whole time. Gandalf comes back), feel free not to mention it.

Just because you tell us stories, doesn't mean you have to lay out all the dossiers at once. :)

January 16 2012, 04:11:22 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you. :)

kyra_neko_rei

January 15 2012, 07:39:36 UTC 5 years ago

"I'm electing not to provide those answers at this time."

January 16 2012, 04:11:07 UTC 5 years ago

That would definitely get me the "bitchy" from some people, sadly, since it implies that a) I know all the answers, and b) I'm withholding them for no apparent reason.