Hi! Je suis tres heureux de pouvoir m'exprimer sur ce forum francais.J'ai vecu et me suis marie en France.Je suis francophile mais ma langue d'ecriture est l'anglais (langue maternelle). Soyez indulgent avec mon francais!
Mon roman fantastique 'Tales of The Pahleen:Blue Fire Burning' a ete publie en mars et commence a etre connu dans le monde anglo-saxon.
Les critiques literaires, jusque maintenant sont tres bonnes. Ceci represente, pour tout ecrivain, une grande joie surtout quand un roman comme 'Blue Fire Burning' a pris 4 ans de travail acharne.
Ma plus grande joie serait qu'il soit aussi connu en France, mon pays d'adoption et que ceux d'entre-vous qui l'ai lu me le fasse savoir SVP?
Venez me rejoindre ou pour discuter de Blue Fire Burning ou pour partager vos gouts en literature sur Facebook ou Twitter.
Je recherche egalement des critiques literaires francais qui acceptent les livres en langue anglaise.Si vous en connaissez, n'hesitez pas a me contacter! Thank you very much. All the best to France and to all the members of this forum. Hobb

Voici un passage du livre et l'entrevue avec 1st Author.

Excerpt:
(From Part Two Chapter XV)

‘Friar...Look!’

Eclaros joined him on the edge. Together, they watched as the swirling, dirty white sprout of mist Tahn had first seen grew a foetal head and four stunted limbs. Soon, another spectral body appeared, then – as the phenomenon increased in both mass and speed of rotation – another was conjured and another, until they were too numerous and too mobile to count. Ere long, the churning snake broadened its belt and became a whirlpool. The spectres were now full-grown and Tahn and Eclaros could begin to make out shrivelled, blackened faces on them, although the rapidity of their coming and going made them somewhat blurry to the eye. The phantoms’ legs were unmoving – seemingly bound as with mummies – but their frantically clawing arms and hands were more than ample evidence as to the suffering rendered them by the howling purgatory they were trapped in. All of a sudden, the whirlpool slowed and the blood in both men ran cold. From amongst the glut of imprisoned souls, there was one whose tortured face they knew well.

Myra – or rather what had once been her – had not forgotten the Friar either. Keeping her hollow, red-rimmed eyes fixed on his, she began ‘swimming’ against the pull in order to hold position in front of him.

Tahn looked at Eclaros. Eclaros grasped his medallion. This prompted Myra’s spiritual remains to spring at him, wailing and screeching. The Friar – whiter than a sheet – jumped backwards and fell onto his behind.

‘Myra’ stuck out her charred features as far as she could and yelled: ‘Damn your pious hide!’

On the last syllable, her ‘elastic’ ran out and she was sucked – screaming her displeasure – back into the seething mass of wretches in the pit.

THE INTERVIEW:

Why did you write this book?
Five years ago, I had an idea for a story about things that touch us all on this planet of ours – important things mirrored graphically by images we’re now seeing almost every day on our TV screens. At that time, I felt mankind had lost its way and, more importantly, was in danger of losing its collective soul. In the so-called ‘developed world’ caring for the environment had sunk lower than a snake’s belly in the minds of people and all that seemed to matter to anyone was acquisition and idle leisure pursuits. Concern for Earth’s ‘ticking clock’ or the ecological ‘meltdown’ that would surely follow was something everybody thought better pushed under the carpet because nothing could be done anyway. Things had gone too far, so why not pick up a fiddle while Rome carried on burning? Waste of time doing anything else – right?

‘Blue Fire Burning’ took root and became my way of squaring up to this apathy. The Pahleen, Hahmi, the Palleyites et al were my standard bearers as I waged war on Nocturnia, Kilcarnis and the other parasites who hold us back and try to blind us to the truth.

How did you come up with the title?
Palaynil, which is a magical Pahleen substance, collided with longing and hope....et voila!

How did you choose your genre?
I chose fantasy because I wanted to escape. I needed distance to be able to think more clearly. Also, you can say a lot without treading on people’s toes!

What inspired you to be a writer?
I just love English; love playing and experimenting with words. This led me into teaching and then journalism. These professions, in turn, nourished my passion and polished my skills.

Are you writing another book?
In my head, I’m playing around with several ideas but I haven’t chosen which path to follow for Book Two yet.

Why did you call your world Wadjamaat?
I taught English in Cairo for three blissful years, during which time I roamed around Egypt’s tombs and temples as often as I could. The pull was irresistible. Wadjamaat is a fusion of the ‘Wadjet’ – cobra symbol of sovereignty and protection - and ‘Ma’at’, goddess of truth, order, and justice. Ma’at was created when chaos was brought into balance. Between them, the cobra and the goddess sum up what the Pahleen are all about, so I don’t think I could have thought of a more appropriate name. Sounds good, too!

How do you balance family life with writing a novel?
Ideally, you keep the two things separate. In the daytime, you sneak off during windows of opportunity when your wife and kids are otherwise engaged, and you burn the midnight oil while they’re sleeping. Ideally, that’s what you do. However, inspiration has no respect for this rule book and an author will never ignore inspiration, so when it comes calling ‘out of hours’, promises to mend bicycles or cook lasagnes are swiftly forgotten and he/she heads for the solitude of the ‘writing burrow’. Fortunately, I have a very forgiving family.

Title: Tales of The Pahleen: Blue Fire Burning (Children's/Young Adult fantasy adventure)

Merci de votre aide. Je ne suis pas tres au fait de la technologie et les Forums internets ont encore beaucoup de secrets pour moi.
J'avais en effet remarque que les utilisateurs du forum venaient de tous les pays francophones.
Cordialement,
Best regards,
Hobb

Merci de votre message.
Je serais en effet tres heureux de pouvoir envoyer une copie de mon livre a une personne qui desirerait lire un roman fantastique. Personnellement, je prefere un livre 'paperback' mais je pourrais aussi envoyer un dossier 'pdf' si necessaire. Partager un univers que j'ai cree avec les lecteurs est tres stimulant et j'accorde de l'importance a tous les commentaires sinceres que l'on m'envoie.
Quand j'ai ecrit 'Blue Fire Burning', je n'ai pas pense le localiser dans une tranche speciale de lecteurs (quant a l'age) et, d'apres les lecteurs qui m'ont deja donne du 'feedback', le livre peut etre apprecie par un grand publique. En fait, quand j'en fait la description, je dis qu'il peut surtout etre apprecie par les jeunes adultes mais que les enfants (des 13 ans) peuvent egalement en trouver du plaisir et que les adultes plus mures ne s'ennuieront pas non plus. Ce n'est pas de la vanite de dire que c'est un livre pour toute la famille.
Il faut preciser que ce fait, qui semble maintenant etre un atout a aussi ete un point epineux, c'est le moins que l'on puisse dire! Les librairies (en Angleterre et j'imagine que c'est le cas dans la plupart des pays!) veulent absolument 'categoriser' un livre: mais Mr.Whittons..pour quel tranche d'age avez-vous ecrit ce roman fantastique? Ma reponse: pour tous ceux qui sauront partager le reve et l'aventure! Faut-il avoir 20 ans pour rever? Faut-il avoir 16 ans pour aimer le fantastique? je ne pense pas!
D'autres ecrivains vous diront la meme chose, l'inspiration vient et on ecrit dans son style.
Je me refusais de changer mon style pour creer quelque chose d'artificiel qui se serait vendu comme de la 'fastfood' literaire. Malheureusement, dans le monde de l'edition, c'est maintenant souvent le cas; un livre est vu comme un 'business'. On vend les livres comme on vend des legumes ou des chaussettes. 'Buy one get one free'..
Les gens ont tendance a penser: je veux 'une affaire'! je ne veux pas payer ce livre trop cher. Cette attitude, malheureusement tue la creativite et la qualite litteraire.
Les gens sont prets a depenser £10 au pub en une soiree (sinon plus!) mais ils hesiteraient a depenser cela pour un roman qui a pris des annees de la conception a la naissance; pourquoi?
Voila dont mes pensees a ce sujet. Je serais vraiment heureux de les partager avec les membres de ce forum.
Et pour en revenir a la critique; j'espere pourvoir trouver une ame soeur 'a kindred spirit' qui serait interessee par 'Blue Fire Burning'.
Apologies for the spelling and grammar! French is a tough language.
All the best,
Cordialement,
Hobb

Recompense litteraire pour 'Blue Fire Burning'



Une annonce un peu tardive pour notre communaute francophone: Tales of the Pahleen: Blue Fire Burning a gagne le prix du livre fantastique pour jeunes adultes(Septembre,2011)avec FantasyBookReview.co.uk (Young Adult Book Of The Month Award, September 2011)
Egalement:
Le site officiel de Hobb Whittons a ete lance le 19 Octobre au soir!
Je vous invite a le visiter et a laisser un message sur le 'message board' de Ricochy: un des personnages du livre (mon petit polisson et Pahleen)

Sarah Dawes (illustratrice de Cambridge)a vraiment capture l'esprit du roman. Je l'en remercie.
Je serais tres heureux de recevoir des dessins de mes lecteurs pour la gallerie 'Fan Pix' qui va ouvrir bientot. Permission des parents necessaire pour les moins de 16 ans.

All the best, bonne continuation,
Hobb :-))
Young Adult Book Of The Month Award, September 2011Tales of the Pahleen: Blue Fire Burning