February 23-27: Christopher Moore

[Donald]

Hello Chris,

Wanted to say that i can always look to you to make my day better.  I loved Lamb tons, but I am really partial to A Dirty Job - I love that one soooo much!! What will your next book be about, if you can say??  Love your work and hope to see you in person one day so I can shake your hand and say "Brilliant Mate"!

[Bethanne]

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Amanda_Gomez wrote:

Lamb is the first Christoper Moore book I read.  I have to admit I pick up Lamb because of the cover, but the minute I starting reading it I knew I would have to read everything Mr. Moore writes.  I only have 2 more books to read and I have read them all.  I loved Fool.  I anoyed my husband a lot by running to him every time I came across something funny.  It drove my two boys (ages 8 and 9) nuts that I couldn't tell them what I was laughing so hard about.   I don't want to use love too much, but I loved they way Pocket's past/childhood was told in the book.  Well done!  I can't wait to read the next book. 

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Amanda_Gomez, good to see you here -- and I agree with you about Pocket's past and childhood. I kept wanting to read little snippets out loud to my husband, too! Moore is so cheeky; nothing is sacred, yet everything has his sweetly human sympathy. I hope he does another Shakespearean novel! 

[Bethanne]

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Donald wrote:

Hello Chris,

Wanted to say that i can always look to you to make my day better.  I loved Lamb tons, but I am really partial to A Dirty Job - I love that one soooo much!! What will your next book be about, if you can say??  Love your work and hope to see you in person one day so I can shake your hand and say "Brilliant Mate"!

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Yes, Chris -- tell us more about your next book, she said cajolingly.

[amrudolph]

Hi Christopher,

I just started Act IV this morning. I am really enjoying it. I love the way you use language in the book. The structure of the speech is archaic, but still filled with lovely vulgarities. How did you begin to think about writing that way? Did you find it more or less challenging than modern dialogue?

I also appreciate the other Shakespeare lines peppered in.

ARudolph

[LoveMonterey]

I picked up A Dirty Job at the book store and fell down laughing at the first chapter.  I bought it, finished it that night, and then bought everything else on the bookstore shelf.  I've read them, and loved them, all. 

My question, then:  Most authors stick with one generic subject (romance, vampires, vampire romance, horror, sluts in expensive dresses. . .  you get the picture), but you're all over the place.  How do you decide which of the random thoughts flying about your brain will get top billing in your next book? 

[Raven_Lunatic]

Really random question- is there any reason for the parallels between Tuck and Hamlet in Island of the Sequined Love Nun? Or did you just throw that in for giggles?

Message Edited by Raven_Lunatic on 02-26-2009 08:46 PM

[Raven_Lunatic]

Also, don't pay attention to the critics dissing the squirrel people in A Dirty Job. Those people don't know what they're talking about.

[earp30wyatt]

Can anybody help me to convince Christopher to come do a booksigning in St. Louis? I'd love to bring my whole stack of books for him to sign. I've got all my friends reading him now! So, Chris, how about it????? Gary

[Bethanne]

Hi everyone, and Happy Friday! Just want to remind you to get your last questions and comments in for Christopher Moore, since his time with us is nearly finished. 

Chris, thank you so much for "Fool"-ing around with us here at Center Stage; I know that there are lots of readers out there who are still looking forward to reading your latest.

Bethanne 

[Amanda_Gomez]

Oh yes, Please, Oh please tells us about the next book

[christophermoor]

Just for giggles.

[christophermoor]

It's really what I'm interested in at the time, or something that I think might be difficult (and I'm interested in). I never wanted to write the same book over and over. By trying new stuff, it keeps the job interesting (and challenging).

[christophermoor]

It's really what I'm interested in at the time, or something that I think might be difficult (and I'm interested in). I never wanted to write the same book over and over. By trying new stuff, it keeps the job interesting (and challenging).

[christophermoor]

Actually, I wrote the dialog by ear. That is, I sort of immersed myself in British TV shows, audio performances of Shakespeare, and reading Shakespeare and more contemporary British authors who write in coloquial language. Then I could sort of think and write in a Brit idiom. It was like learning to play music by ear, rather than learning the notes. I had tried writing the book in iambic pentameter for a bit, but the mathmatics of the language sort of killed the organic nature of the characters. I'm just not cut out for that, at least not this far into my career, when I actually have deadlines and such for my books. It would have taken about twelve years to write if I'd constructed the language mathmatically. 

[christophermoor]

My next one is Bite Me: A Love Story. It's the third in the San Francisco vampire saga, and it begins with the city being menaced by the huge, shaved, vampire cat named Chet.

[christophermoor]

I'd read them in order, which is:

Practical Demonkeeping
Coyote Blue
Bloodsucking Fiends
The Island of the Sequined Love Nun
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Lamb
Fluke
The Stupidest Angel
A Dirty Job
You Suck: A Love Story

and 

FOOL

[christophermoor]

You're welcome. Sorry if I missed any questions. I had a pretty full travel schedule while we were doing this.

Thanks all. 

Best,

Chris