Pippin_Took - To send me a question, type /msg Pippin and then your question.

Pippin_Took - Please send your questions only once, and keep in mind that it may take a while to get to yours. It's likely that we won't be able to get to each and every question.

Pippin_Took - If you have any technical questions related to the chat itself, please direct them to Tookish.

Pippin_Took - And now you can begin sending me your questions for Mr. Anthony.

Pippin_Took - desi02 asks: Hi Piers I'm Destiny's mom. Can you tell me when The Dastard will be coming out? I can't wait!

Piers Anthony - The Dastard will come out next OctOgre in hardcover.

Pippin_Took - rosie asks: According to the Hi Piers site, the upcoming Xanth novel The Dastard will feature Surprise Gollum...is she going to be a main character or only a supporting one?

Piers Anthony - Surprisle Golem is there? This is the first i have heard of that.

Piers Anthony - For general information, The Dastard features the three princesses Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm.

Pippin_Took - Gamgee asks: Who do you consider (present company excluded) to be the greatest fantasy author of all time?, and why?

Piers Anthony - Jack Vance' he is one of the best writers the genre has seen.

Pippin_Took - Erin asks: Mr Anthony, Tolkien's writing has influenced many people's writing. Has it influenced yours?

Piers Anthony - That is hard to say. I loved The Hobbit as a child--i read it soon after it was published--but I don't think in influenced my actually style of writing.

Pippin_Took - Brandywine asks: What would you consider to be your favorite book that you have written so far?

Piers Anthony - Tatham Mound.

Pippin_Took - Monika asks: Are you working on more Xanth books? How many do you plan to write?

Piers Anthony - Xanth is an open ended series. It will continue as long as i live, or until readers get tired of it, whichever comes first. next

Piers Anthony - every time i answer a question, someone leaves.

Pippin_Took - sorry Piers, the disconnections are not your fault. That's a common occurrence with the chat

Pippin_Took - Marv_the asks: Piers, are you planning on making more volumes in the Mode series after the release of DoOon?

Piers Anthony - There was an element of humor there. Once i addressed a class, and they asked whether I minded if some folk arrived late, and i said, no, it was when they walked out early it bothered me.

Piers Anthony - Now let me address the next question

Piers Anthony - I think DoOon Mode will finish it; essentially i lost my market for that series.

Pippin_Took - Monika asks: Do you have any advice for hopeful young fantasy writers?

Piers Anthony - My standard advice is to have a working spouse, so you can survive.

Piers Anthony - I wish that were humorous. next

Pippin_Took - Mouth of Sauron asks: What authors do you read?

Piers Anthony - My reading is not for pleasure' i read novels by hopeful writers, or nonfiction for research or my own novels for proofreading.

Pippin_Took - Ember asks: Are any of your Xanth books going to be made into movies?

Piers Anthony - My movie agent thinks Xanth can get a movie offer at any time. He's been thinking that for a decade. So far, no.

Piers Anthony - Then thing is, I don't make the decision; the big studios do.

Pippin_Took - Good Answer!

Pippin_Took - Brandywine asks: Did you always want to be a fantasy writer?

Piers Anthony - I did not realize i wanted to be a writer until college. I had wanted to be an artist, but wasn't good enough.

Piers Anthony - So then :i decided to make words my paints, and became a science fiction writer.

Piers Anthony - Then later i got into fantasy. So no, I did not always know.

Pippin_Took - freakboy asks: What's currently in the works?

Piers Anthony - I am currently writing the ChroMagic series, a huge new fantasy. only one problem; so far no publisher

Pippin_Took - Tski asks: What inspired you to write the Mode series?

Piers Anthony - The Mode series ultimately derives from my experience with suicidal teen age girls' I have heard from a lot of them over the years, and have sympathy for their situation. So i made one the main character, and it went from there.

Pippin_Took - Inferno asks: How has your work been compared to Tolkien's; have the comparisons been fair, in your opinion?

Piers Anthony - I was not aware that my work was ever compared to Tolkein's

Pippin_Took - Mouth of Sauron asks: Do you still keep a computer in your horse pasture?

Piers Anthony - no, we moved to our tree farm, and my office is now in the house.

Piers Anthony - I wonder who Ping Timeout is?

Pippin_Took - it's a function of the server that kicks people off when they lose their connection

Piers Anthony - Just so long as it doesn't kick me off yet.

Pippin_Took - nothing to worry about, though

Pippin_Took - Tookish asks: Which of your characters is closest to your heart and why?

Piers Anthony - Smash ogre may be the closest. This derives from the time i was accused of being an ogre at conventions when i had never even been to a convention. So I made an ogre the hero.

Piers Anthony - That novel became my first best seller, so it stuck.

Pippin_Took - lol, very nice

Pippin_Took - Monika asks: Are you working on any non-book related projects, such as games?

Piers Anthony - I am not working on any non book projects, unless you count my participation in the Princess Rose

Piers Anthony - the Princess Rose TV that may be shown later this year, based on my experience with Jenny elf.

Piers Anthony - It's not a very close parallel, though

Pippin_Took - I loved "On A Pale Horse" -- what inspired you to write this series?

Piers Anthony - That one was because of my personal (mild) depression. i think about death a lot, so decided to do something with it.

Pippin_Took - Inferno asks: How long does an idea for a story take you to develop before you feel capable of writing it out?

Piers Anthony - I can write a story any any time after thinking of it. But I'm usually busy with something else, so i summarize it and file it until convenient.

Pippin_Took - Mouth of Sauron asks: Have you ever gotten to the point where you considered writing "a chore"?

Piers Anthony - No, writing is never a chore for me. i am a writaholic.

Pippin_Took - EE asks: What is a typical writing day like for you?

Piers Anthony - Unfortunately, there is no typical writing day; things keep getting in the way. ideally i start in at 9 and work until 8 PM, with time for fur things like lunch and mail.

Pippin_Took - Calisuri asks: You mentioned you read the hobbit. Are there any characters in particular that you related with. That stick out in you mind as having a lasting effect on you as a person?

Piers Anthony - About the only characters i remember, about 50 years later, and gollum and bilbo. I liked the riddle game they had, though i think that was eliminated in a later edition.

Pippin_Took - Marisol asks: This is Marisol from Torrance. Piers could you tell us what is the plot of Iron Maiden, the last novel of the Bio of a Space Tyrant series?

Piers Anthony - Iron Maiden's plot is the same as that of the first five novels, only from Spirit's view, with details of her life that were omitted from the prior series.

Pippin_Took - jincey asks: Do you rewrite and rewrite over and over? What is your editing process like and how many folks have input into this process?

Piers Anthony - I write a first draft, then do an editing draft, but i will revise and rewrite an time it seems needed. once it is done, I leave it alone and go on to the next.

Pippin_Took - freakboy asks: read Robert Asprin's Myth series? he says xanth is what put light fantasy on the map, and i remember an author's note when you said he was a major player. care to comment?

Piers Anthony - Yes, Asprin is the other writer do used egregious puns. I haven't read much of his series, just enough to pick up on its nature. i don't read for pleasure.

Pippin_Took - Lord_Jos asks: Do you think when the Lord of the Rings movies come out, there will be a large demand for fantasy movies, and movie makers might flock to you and your books?

Piers Anthony - I hope so. But moviemakers seem not to have much common sense.

Pippin_Took - Belgarin asks: Are you going to take the time to go see the Lord of the Rings movie in December?

Piers Anthony - I'll try to. I have a movie-freak daughter who will insist, for one thing.

Pippin_Took - freakboy asks: Which of your books do you think would best translate to film, or which would you most like to see adapted to film?

Piers Anthony - Tatham Mound, my historical novel about the american indians. I think that would make a great film, and I'd live to see it happen.

Pippin_Took - freakboy asks: Tiffycha and ember ask: How is the girl after whom you modeled Jenny Elf doing nowadays?

Piers Anthony - Jenny remains paralyzed but still hopes to attend college. i don't have a lot of news of her.

Pippin_Took - Ellindar asks: I'd like to know if you knew at the beginning of "A Spell for Chameleon", what you were going to have for Bink's special magic power?

Piers Anthony - I write that novel a quarter century ago and don't remember whether i figured that aspect out early.

Pippin_Took - Gamgee asks: Have you considered doing an online novel?

Piers Anthony - If I can't sell ChroMagic I might try doing something like that. or do you mean a multi-participants novel? That a different thing, and i don't have that in mind.

Pippin_Took - Calisuri asks: You mentioned earlier that you starting writing after attempting to be an artist. What kind of art were you practicing and do you believe that your artistic background influence or helped to develop your writing?

Piers Anthony - I painted, mainly in oil. I see my scenes as i write them, so i think my artistic practice does help. apparently many readers do see the scenes as I see them.

Pippin_Took - bogart asks: what world in the Apprentice Adept series did you like the most, phase or proton

Piers Anthony - I liked both worlds. This goes back to personal life: i like some things of the city and some of the country, so tried to combine them there, figuratively.

Pippin_Took - Strider asks: Mr Anthony, if you hadn't become a writer, would you still be painting, or would you be pursuing something else?

Piers Anthony - I would be pursuing something else, because I could never have made a living painting.

Pippin_Took - EE asks: What was the inspiration for your novels Macroscope and Ox?

Piers Anthony - again, these novels were a long time ago' Macroscrope was publishid in 1969. as i dimry recall, it just kept growing froh a humble beginning.

Pippin_Took - Gamgee asks: have you written, or considered writing a book more geared towards children?

Piers Anthony - I have been asked that recently. Once I had such a book in mind, and had a publisher interested, and told my agent to proceed--and nevwer heard back again. Since thin i have made it in adult writing, and am satisfied there.

Pippin_Took - Gamgee asks: have you written, or considered writing a book more geared towards children?

Piers Anthony - I have been asked that recently. Once I had such a book in mind, and had a publisher interested, and told my agent to proceed--and nevwer heard back again. Since thin i have made it in adult writing, and am satisfied there.

Pippin_Took - Smash_Ogre asks: I thought I read that the Xanth series would end after #27, a trilogy cubed.

Piers Anthony - No, Xanth is open ended. Originally it was supposed to be one novel, then three, then nine. it just kept going.

Piers Anthony - What you may be thinking of is that 27 novels will complet the first trilogy: 3 cubed.

Pippin_Took - Erin asks: Mr Anthony, when you fit an idea from a reader into a Xanth novel, does it replace your original plan for that scene or do you wait to fit those ideas only into unfinished scenes?

Piers Anthony - The ideas from readors are added to the general story i am working out, though sometimes they do become the story, as in Yon Ill Wind.

Pippin_Took - Guest123 asks: Have you gained an appreciation for the blues since collaborating on The Gutbucket Quest?

Piers Anthony - I gained an intelle8tual appreciation for the blues, but not an esthetic one. that is, i don't list to them, but can appreciate their worth.

Pippin_Took - PolarisS asks: What about the comic series for On a Pale Horse? I understand the final #6 was never completed and wondered if you had any plans to do comics for any of the other books.

Piers Anthony - I have had back luck with comic publishers; none has ever completed a novel. They seem to go out of business. i hope that is not a reflection on my work.

Pippin_Took - rosie asks: How did you and Julie Brady first meet, and when did you decide to do a collaboration with her?

Piers Anthony - Julie sent a letter and picture' I answered, and a correspondence got established. i wanted to help her, and at one point interceded to save her life. later i learned about her lucid dreaming, and inquired. So it sort of built up over the years.

Pippin_Took - Jacomus asks: Mr Anthony, your Xanth series has has a huge impact in the fantasy genre I am curious on how you feel about your writings becoming so popular?

Piers Anthony - I did not know when Xanth started that it would become so popular, and neither did the editor. It just seem to happen of its own accord. i never expected to become as successful as that made me.

Piers Anthony - Oh, i didn't answer how I feel about it. i like being popular, and hate becoming unpopular.

Pippin_Took - Kasey through Marisol asks: What was it like collaborating with Mercedes Lackey? Any different than working with a new writer?

Piers Anthony - There was a differcence, but i don't care to discuss it. i will not collaborate with her again.

Pippin_Took - nazfyratu asks: You published 'But What of Earth' as a sort of comment on the whole writing/publishing process. Was it as much of an 'in-your-face' gesture to that bevy of editors as it seemed? And how was it received by the publishing world after you released it? Were you persona non grata for a while?

Piers Anthony - Yes, a writer seldom gets to get back an editors who savage his novel, leaving him to face the blame for the resulting bad writing. There does not seem to have been much reaction by other to the revised edition--at least they did not write to me.

Pippin_Took - Belgarin asks: In retrospect, do you like The Incarnations of Immortality as much as say, Xanth?

Piers Anthony - I think my other series are superion to Xanth in concept and writing, but not in reader impact. Maybe i was cut out to be a lower class writer.

Pippin_Took - EE asks: Can you name some novels of yours that were "savaged" by editors?

Piers Anthony - But What of Earth? was the premier example. Mute is another' I hope to republish that restored.

Piers Anthony - Often it is little things, like cutting out a whole chapter of Crewel Lye, almost over novel suffered some damaged in the early days, before i got more power as a writer.

Pippin_Took - ok, how about one last question and then we'll wrap it up?

Piers Anthony - Lokuzt asks: First of all, Greetings from Mexico Mr. Anthony! Well, here's my question: Is demon X(A/N)th the god (in the mundane way of speaking) of the land of Xanth? If so, how come he is so close to his people; is Nimby in a way an image of our mundane Christ?

Piers Anthony - Xanth has no religion significance. that's why it has demons and no reference to God.

Pippin_Took - ok, if you like we can open up the room to questions from the guests if you wish

Piers Anthony - Xanth has no religion significance. that's why it has demons and no reference to God.

Pippin_Took - On behalf of TheOneRing.net, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Anthony for joining us for the chat this evening.