DUNE 7 BLOG

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Life, the Universe, and Everything

Each year, Brigham Young University gives a science fiction symposium called "Life, the Universe, and Everything." I had first been invited as a guest in 1993, where I appeared with Barbara Hambly and Orson Scott Card. Rebecca and I returned in 1999, and this year we were asked back as guests of honor. We always have a good time at LTUE, and we definitely wanted to return. Even though we had back-breaking deadlines, when both of us wanted to hole up in our offices and finish editing, we had agreed to appear more than a year ago, so we packed up the suitcases and laptops and headed off to the airport on February 15.

Wednesday night, after arriving, we had a dinner at a private house where we met the members of the symposium committee and had a large home-cooked meal, then went to BYU for an opening reception to meet other authors and attendees. Next morning (after being taken to one of the few Starbucks in Provo, Utah) we started our work early. My first panel was at 9:00 AM, about beginnings in fiction, then at 11:00 Rebecca had an hour-long Q&A session. At noon my panel was "The Cost of Technology." After lunch at a campus cafeteria (where one of the enthusiastic attendees told me how ten years ago I had answered a fan letter she'd written!), I had an hour off before my 2:00 panel about Storytelling vs Good Writing, then at 3:00 was "Why Does Science Fiction Have Such a Bad Reputation," with both Rebecca and me. Later in the afternoon I taped an interview for a radio show, then went to dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant with other writers, before rushing back to BYU where Rebecca and I were on a live radio show -- and then finally we got back to our room for some much-needed sleep.

Fortunately, the LTUE Guest Liaison Heather Monson and Panel Track Coordinator Charlene Harmon knew about our crunch writing deadlines. I worked furiously on completing "surgery" on HUNTERS, while Rebecca was doing a rewrite on our YA fantasy, CRYSTAL DOORS: OCEAN REALM. Heather and Charlie set up a "Sanctuary" for us, an empty classroom with covered windows and even a guard stationed at the door, where we could hide in between panels and get some writing done. We ducked in there every chance we could get.

While preparing for the seventh edit of HUNTERS, I had jotted down a page full of specific tweaks and changes that needed to be done. Tightening up this chapter, pumping the emotion in that scene, changing this character's motivations and reactions, adding a small new thread throughout the novel. Every spare moment, I would work on one chapter at a time, completing fix after fix, and checking off the item on my list. It's the type of editing I can do in small spurts, if I have an hour-long break between appearances. Throughout the Symposium, I alternated my time on stage with time holed up in the room.

On Friday, Rebecca started at 10:00 AM with a panel on "Why do we like villains?" (while I stayed in the hotel room for an extra two hours of early morning editing). At noon, the BYU Humanities department sponsored a large lecture for the two of us as part of their "Readers Series" held in a main library. There, we were introduced by our good friend, New York Times bestselling author Dave Wolverton, and I gave a brief talk, then read the first chapter of SLAN HUNTER. (I had originally planned to read the first chapter of HUNTERS OF DUNE, but when I considered the derogatory term by which the Honored Matres are often referred, I decided it might not be appropriate for Brigham Young University!) Rebecca talked about writing fiction for young adults, and then we all went to lunch with members of the English Department faculty. Rebecca then gave a panel at 2:00 on "Writing for Children," then at 4:00 we both presented a two-hour extensive seminar on the realities of the publishing business, "Things I wish some pro had told me when I was starting out." The room was packed, and we could easily have gone longer than the two hours, but at the end of the time slot, the room was invaded by a full contingent of fans in amazingly professional Star Wars costumes, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, stormtroopers, bike troopers, Jango Fett, Jedi Knights, even an Imperial guard. As a complete surprise to me, these were members of the 501st Fan Legion, an impressive national Star Wars fan organization, which presented me with a special plaque and inducted both me and Rebecca as Honorary Members.

Friday night, after we finally managed to extricate ourselves from the busy symposium, our writer friend Ken Rand, along with Dave Wolverton and his wife Mary, took us to a well-known microbrewery in Salt Lake City. (LTUE had arranged this opportunity from the very beginning, even promising an official LDS-qualified designated driver!) The drive was long, we were tired, the brewery restaurant was packed on a Friday night, but to me the beer was delicious and so was the food.

As part of the Symposium, Rebecca and I had an official driver and helper, April Randall, who was in charge of shuttling us wherever we needed to go (including our out-of-the-way trips to the Starbucks, since coffee is not available on the BYU campus). She also took Rebecca to a grocery store on the first morning, so we could get some bottled water, soda, and yogurt for breakfast. We jokingly told April that her title should be "helpful stalker."

Saturday morning we started out with an autograph session sponsored by the University Bookstore, and then I gave my main address, "Understanding Alien Cultures -- for Mormons," in which I described my many visits to Utah and -- using skills as a science fiction writer to convey strange civilizations -- I good-naturedly talked about some of the unusual customs in the state. The room was filled to capacity, and the BYU audience enjoyed it greatly. I managed to sneak in and out of the Sanctuary to do a bit more editing before my 3:00 panel on adapting books to TV and movies, while Rebecca was in another room talking about "Writing for Young Adults." Rebecca had two more panels in a row, "The Harry Potter Effect" and "No Longer Stuck in the Medieval" while I hid out for more editing, then I ended the conference with a 6:00 panel on "Structure in Fiction," before we all went off to a large pot-luck banquet in a nearby Mormon church (which served, among other things, spam!).

We were certainly exhausted by the time we got back to the room. Next morning our ride to the Salt Lake City airport arrived exactly on time -- and, best of all, on the flight back to Denver I succeeded in finishing all of the surgery on Draft 7 of HUNTERS OF DUNE. Then on Monday morning I began my blitz, start-to-finish, for Draft 8. . . .

--KJA