Carter Hall explains it all to you

[mrissa]

I have vague intentions of making a website for the Carter Hall stories, and this morning Carter obliged with the following to go on it about the book part. What would have been more useful is a bit more of the book itself, but okay, whatever, we can go from here. Carter sez:

Here's what you need to know about hockey: it takes focus, and speed, and a little pain tolerance. If you've got follow-through and sneakiness, those are good, too.

Here's what you need to know about magic--

You know what? I don't actually know what you need to know about magic. I don't even know what I need to know about magic. You would think that when a guy's roommate was scheduled to be sacrificed to hell by some crazy elf queen, he'd pretty much have a grip on whatever it was he needed to know about magic. But I don't have a clue.

Janet would say that's my natural state and I ought to be used to it by now.

Here's what you need to know about Janet: on the ice or off it, you do not want to mess with her. You know that dude who spoke softly and carried a big stick? With Janet, a big stick would not have helped him. She's a hockey player like the rest of us. She's got her own damn big stick. And with Tam in danger, she is more than ready to use it.

Here's what you need to know about Tam: he's my roommate and my friend Janet's boyfriend, and he may be quiet for a hockey player, but he'll do anything to help somebody in trouble. So now that he's in trouble, we'll do anything to help him. And we might have to.

What you need to know about me? You don't need to know anything about me. I'm just Carter Hall. This wasn't supposed to be my story.

But you know me. I can't keep the gloves on when a fight's starting up.

Janet says I am absolutely not allowed to pull the elf queen's sweater over her head.

I don't always listen to Janet. Even though it's the smart bet.

Comments

[shana.livejournal.com]

I'm hooked. Even though all I know about hockey is that it's played on ice.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Well, the ice is important.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Since I rarely get the opportunity to educate anybody about hockey (because people who know even less than I do are few and far between), I cannot pass this up. Here are three more things about hockey: It involves a small black short cylinder called a "puck", which plays very roughly the same role that a ball does in games like soccer or basketball. The puck is sent skidding around the ice by hitting it with sticks. And the players do this on skates.

There, now you know 4 times as much about hockey as you did before!

[mycroftw.livejournal.com]

"skidding around the ice..." and (which was the final straw for this Canuck's hockey days) flipped up into the air, too. Which isn't much harder than doing it with a spherical thing, I'm told, but I never could seem to do it.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Ditto. I want to read this now.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Same here.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Aww, Carter! I still want to feed him cookies and soup.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

And he would eat them, I promise.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

I <3 CARTER HALL.

[carbonel]

This would make a great back cover blurb.

(I watched the last part of the Black Hawks vs. Sharks game yesterday -- Hawks are going to the Stanley Cup finals, yay! -- and started wondering what sort of run-in Carter Hall would have with Native American magic.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The bit they do have in The True Tale is essentially: Now look, we are already working our asses off to keep the wendigos from eating everybody, and you bring in this crazy elf queen and her minions, who are like the magic equivalent of garlic mustard or purple loosestrife, and you want to make her our problem, too? Deal with it yourselves.

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

I love your storytelling brain.

and Carter Hall.

[miz-hatbox.livejournal.com]

I want to read this book!

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Carter Hall! Carter Hall!

[lotusice.livejournal.com]

Freaking AWESOME.

[dancing-crow.livejournal.com]

I really want to read this too. Even though all I remember of hockey is Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito (who's daughter I went to high school with.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Those are good guys to remember, though.

[writingortyping.livejournal.com]

Though my only connection to hockey is a signed photo of Bobby Orr (Mom did some celebrity golf thing when I was younger) and my only connection to Mris is a Scandinavian resonance and a pair of purple socks, I REALLY want to read this book.

[intrepida.livejournal.com]

I cannot wait til you finish this book :)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh, honey. Neither. Can. I.

[moiread]

You know, I hope that this gets picked up, and that when it does, it gets marketed here in Canada too. Because I'm not sure you could have tried to write a more Canada-friendly book.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Some of the On Spec editors have gone so far as to suggest that I try to sell a Carter Hall short story collection to a Canadian press that specifically says it does not accept short story collection submissions. Which amuses me.

[shweta-narayan.livejournal.com]

I have not been ljing really but elsmi pointed this out to me and SQUEEEEE!
*big happy grin* (Carter, I've missed you!)

[reveritas.livejournal.com]

Count me in as part of the I <3 CARTER HALL fan club!

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I just read this aloud to my roommates, who do not know either Tam Lin or hockey. I tried to explain Tam Lin and confused them quite a lot.

They said it sounded like a good book.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's very useful to know. Thank you.

I'm trying to be careful about not assuming readers know either. I think it should be all right for people who know neither and for people who know both. I hope to have test readers in all four possible categories, although people who know hockey but not Tam Lin might be a hard one. We'll see.