Reader Discussion Topics, Introduction

The following is the introduction for a three-part set of questions-and-answers presented to me by Jane Friedman as part of trying to present the book The Man from Rock Bottom to reader groups. I'm sharing them here on this blog because, well, I tried to put a lot of thought and effort into the answers. Also because I think that the information shared went beyond what was found in just the book itself.

I spend a great deal of time building up the worlds that I eventually use, either in roleplaying games or in writing (or frequently both), but no matter what genre I use to try and convey a story making use of the world in question, there are always aspects of the world that never come up; they're just left ready in the wings for if I have a need for them, but eventually never find their way onto the stage of the page.

Stuff like this picture of Gret, by Astanael, which never made its way into the book; while I think this is a genuinely awesome image, I wanted Gret's capability in combat to remain a surprise to the reader for as long as possible, so I went with the cuter image you can find in the book instead.

This is how I teach as well, and also how I write academically, preparing a genuinely vast amount of material off to the side, where it's probably never going to make an appearance. But if I ever need it, it's there for the grabbing!

Before I start into the questions Jane Friedman provided, followed by my answers, I did want to talk about how I got to meet Jane Friedman in the first place. That's what this introduction post is going to be all about.

Actually, we've never met in the real world, and I'm rather doubtful we ever will; being a private sort of person by nature, heavily prone to introversion, this doesn't really bother me beyond a mild sense of melancholy. Jane Friedman first emailed me, making use of my listed information on GoodReads, specifically for the book review for my first (and presently only published) novel, because she wanted to ask me about some of my views on the development of ideas as writing elements. My first reaction was cautious and mildly hostile, since I'd been recently bombarded with a number of advertisements from persons eager to take advantage of a new author, including a disastrous encounter with a marketing group whose behavior was frankly criminal. Jane Friedman, however, being a patient soul, persisted, and our conversation progressed from there.

Thing is, it was all a case of mistaken identity.

"Johnson" is a ridiculously common surname, and I know it. Last I did a check on the numbers, it was the third most common family name in the United States, though I don't really feel like checking again for fear of losing just a little bit more of my sense of originality. Now, I'm very much not the most famous of modern-day Johnsons who also happen to be authors. I'm not even the most famous of Steve Johnsons that happen to be authors. That title, to the best of my present knowledge, belongs to Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From. Which I think is a really good book (naturally someone gave it to me as a Christmas present when they realized I was also an aspiring author), though this linked YouTube video does a decent enough job summarizing its contents.

Naturally, Jane Friedman would want to discuss idea formation with one of the extant experts on the subject! Who wouldn't? Instead, however, she got...well, me. I figured this out after the second or third back-and-forth email (after I'd realized she wasn't just another authorial predator) and informed her of the error. To Friedman's credit, she continued the conversation anyway and has been a great help developing my book into use by reading groups.

Just a short and (I think) funny story about how small the world can be. The posts to come will be quite a bit longer, though, so I suggest you brace yourself for the inevitable wordsplosion. Though I hope it will be fun all the same.