Last night, Suvudu readers had a chance to take part in a one-hour moderated chat with Terry Brooks, author of the Shannara and Magic Kingdom of Landover series, and Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon and the Inheritence series, and toss questions at them.

The chat itself was alright, but I was disappointed to only have one of my questions chosen (apparently they weren’t as compelling as “Terry and Chrisopher, what are your favorite snacks for when you are writting?” or “will the last eragon book have more pages than the other 3?”). My question that did get through the moderators:

Me – Terry: As an established writer, what kind of advice do you have for a young writer like Christopher when it comes to handling the criticism that’s inherent in having a career in a creative art?

Paolini – Great question.

Brooks – I would tell Christopher that everything changes as you grow, and be prepared to abandon everything you thought you knew at some point. You have to learn flexibility. You also have to remember that this is fun before anything or it isn’t worth it. Also, you have to listen to your instincts.

Paolini – I’ll do my best to keep that in mind.

It would have been nice to see the readers challenge the authors a bit more, dig a bit deeper with their questions, but I suppose that’s the charm of these chats: it allows regular readers (meaning: not jaded, asshole bloggers like me) to get a chance to pick the brains of these authors. In any case, Paolini and Brooks had good chemistry and it was a fun way to kill an hour, especially for fans of either author.

Discussion
  • Shawn October 15, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    To be honest, there weren’t that many great questions, Aidan. Most of them were from obvious young adults asking, “When is the next Paolini book coming out?” or “Will you tell us the title of the next Inheritance book?” or “Will you be writing more books after the fourth one is finished?” It’s the Paolini age group in all their young glory.

    I think Terry and I will be doing a separate chat in early December. I bet there will be a great deal better questions in that one. :)