Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series, joins us to talk about dragons, fan fiction, and copyright law. Dave and John discuss dragons in books, games, and film.
Introduction
0:00 Introduction by Tor.com
0:38 Dave and John introduce the show
Interview: Naomi Novik
03:14 Interview begins
03:28 Being raised on Polish fairy tales, and some of Naomi’s favorite books as a kid
04:40 Naomi’s experience studying English at Brown University
05:58 Why Naomi wanted to be Lois Lane
07:07 Fanfiction in context: what it’s good for and what it’s not
10:14 Programming for Neverwinter Nights, and what it taught her about writing fiction
14:09 Current favorite video games: Dragon Age: Origins and Oblivion
15:05 The process of writing her first book and getting it published
17:20 On living with another writer
18:27 Temeraire series optioned by Peter Jackson
20:27 Temeraire is sometimes referred to as “Master and Commander with dragons”—what Naomi thought of Master and Commander and the comparison
22:07 Naomi’s approach to research: writers, listen up! Some resources: Military Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars; Nelson’s Navy; Life in the Georgian City; Every Man Will Do His Duty
24:09 Travel experiences during research: elephants, horns, and Ethiopian dragons
27:06 The process of creating a dragon
28:22 The Organization for Transformative Works, Naomi’s work as an advocate for fan fiction, and the Archive of Our Own project
33:00 The myth of originality
33:33 Some problems with current Copyright law and the DMCA
36:01 How to support the OTW
36:14 Upcoming projects: Tongues of Servants, due out in July; an appearance at San Diego Comicon; new manga Liberty Vocational
37:25 End of interview
Dave and John talk about dragons
37:25 Here Be Dragons: Dave and John discuss the Strange Horizons article on ancient maps, and the real dragons. Also apparently John is extremely virulent
39:53 Dave Kirtley: Dragon Slayer
40:31 Tolkien’s Smaug, and the challenge of figuring out how to kill him
41:25 The now-customary King’s Quest segment, and taking a dragon down via missile
42:27 D&D’s Dragonlance, and Dave asks you to please get off his lawn again. (Behold the horror of CGA graphics, if you dare!)
44:24 Dragon Warrior
44:48 John discusses Neverwinter Nights and fan-created modules
45:58 More D&D: Pool of Radiance, and Curse of the Azure Bonds
48:36 The problem with dragons in video games
50:27 Loom from Lucas Arts
51:55 What does a Brass Dragon breathe? John undergoes the D&D Dragon Color test
55:10 The existing canon of Hollywood dragon films, and the mixed messages we get from the film How to Train Your Dragon
01:10:02 The future of dragon films, including George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire coming soon from HBO
01:11:56 The Wings of Fire anthology from Night Shade Books
01:13:09 Dave’s dragon story “Blood of Virgins” (also available on Escape Pod)
01:14:02 Other unusual treatments of dragons: Michael Stackpole’s At the Queen’s Command; A Time for Dragons: A Phillipine Anthology of Draconic Fiction; The Dragon and the Stars
01:16:39 Show wrap-up
Next week: Eric Garcia, author of Repo Men
Thanks for listening!
John Joseph Adams (www.johnjosephadams.com) is an anthologist, a writer, and a geek. He is the editor of the anthologies By Blood We Live, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Living Dead (a World Fantasy Award finalist), Seeds of Change, and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. He is currently assembling several other anthologies, including Brave New Worlds, The Living Dead 2, The Mad Scientistís Guide to World Domination, and The Way of the Wizard. He worked for more than eight years as an editor at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and is currently the fiction editor of Lightspeed Magazine, which launches in June 2010.
David Barr Kirtley (www.davidbarrkirtley.com) is a writer living in New York who has been called “one of the newest and freshest voices in sf.” His short fiction appears in magazines such as Realms of Fantasy and Weird Tales, and in anthologies such as The Living Dead, New Voices in Science Fiction, and Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition.
Show notes compiled by podtern Christie Yant. Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
