Pork Chop Express | Karavansara

27 June 2015
by Davide Mana 4 Comments

Lady Luck

Luck be a lady tonight
Luck let a gentleman see
Just how nice a dame you can be
I know the way you’ve treated other guys you’ve been with
Luck be a lady with me

I was roaming the web, the other night – too hot to sleep – and I chanced on a list, one of those lists that sometimes appear on blogs (I’m pretty positive I did something similar, too), about what you need to be a successful writer.
A successful writer’s list of essentials, if you will.

About one third of the way down, after inspiration and humility and don’t giving a damn about it all, the author of the list mentioned Luck as an indispensable trait for the successful writer.
And I’m not sure about that, really.

Now, it maybe comes from having been involved in statistical analysis for many years, but you see, I have a certain view of Luck.
Let me explain. Continue reading →

24 June 2015
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

Non-native speaker authors on the English market – a few myths

A few days ago I took part in a discussion about non-native speakers of English publishing in the English-language market.

Being one myself, the topic was quite interesting to me.
I heard opinions and ideas from a number of colleagues – from authors that are making a living on the English and have been for years (such as my friend Andrea Sfiligoi of Ganesha Games) to Italian-language bestselling author/publishers that have weighed pros and cons and decided to stay clear of the English market (such as my friend Alessandro Girola) to people that are still observing and making plans.

As I was listening, I collected a series of myths that in my opinion are widely circulated and accepted, but deserve some deeper consideration, based on my limited experience.

Here they go… Continue reading →

8 June 2015
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

More Italian Style

Talking about Italian style in imaginative fiction, last week I was part of a debate about what makes Italian genre fiction Italian.
Me and the other authors currently published by Acheron Books were asked to propose a four points guideline, a best practices hit list.

An interesting challenge.
Being the sort of contrary guy I am, I started by pointing out that I do not believe there’s a set of Italian guidelines that differ drastically from, say, Chinese guidelines, Indian guidelines or Canadian guidelines.
What the reader is ultimately interested in is a good story, and good stories do not follow provincial guidelines.

This said, where I to single out four points that, as an Italian, I strive to keep in mind when writing, well, here’s the list, somewhat expanded to explain each point as best as I can… Continue reading →

28 May 2015
by Davide Mana 4 Comments

Italian style

Many years ago I met a guy that was an excellent comic artist, in a sort of “classical” Japanese manga style.
And I mean, he was really good.
So one day he picked up his portfolio, bought a ticket to Tokyo, and did the tour of the comic publishers there, showing his stuff around.
And the Japanese publishers were absolutely impressed.
There was just a little glitch – they had buildings full of people doing exactly that kind of artwork.
“This is very good,” they said, “but can’t you do something… Italian? Like I dunno, Pratt, or Toppi, or Crepax…”

I thought about this story last week, when the usual “Italians should write Italian stories in Italian” popped up on the web, as it usually happens once every two or three months.

I am in a pretty awkward situation. Continue reading →

20 May 2015
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

On the writer’s need for a garish Rippingtons T-shirt

Last week someone I hardly know added me to a facebook group dedicated to I can’t remember what heavy metal band.
The rationale – I read (and write) fantasy, therefore I am obviously a heavy metal fan.

Sorry no.
I do have rather varied musical tastes (or lack thereof)… just two nights back I discovered Kazakh pop music, for instance¹.
But I do not listen to a certain genre because I read/write a certain genre, or vice-versa.
And if subscribing me to any group without asking is the sort of aggressive, bounder’s act that’s granted to make me get out of said group just for the pleasure of being contrarian, this bit about heavy metal is really getting on my nerves.
Not to the point of losing any sleep, but… Continue reading →

19 May 2015
by Davide Mana 5 Comments

It’s fantasy, I can do as I please

We call’em hillocks hereabouts

Yesterday I had a brief but highly instructive discussion with the author of a book set in the mountains of Devonshire. Here, in a city of chalets crowded around a Medieval castle, the local sheriff and his deputy have to investigate a series of mysterious murders.

Now the thing that caused some perplexity is, of course, that the highest peak in Devon is about 600 meters high (not exactly a mountain, especially for us that live in the shade of the Alps), chalets are very scarce in the area, and law enforcement in Devon is handled by the Devon & Cornwall Police, not by a rather American-sounding Sheriff’s Office.

When these observations were vented, the reaction of the author was – “this is a fantasy novel, I can do what I please”.

I beg to differ. Continue reading →

2 April 2015
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Slapdash & Sorcery

I’m back online for good, and to celebrate I’m doing three related posts on my three blogs.
The first post is already up on GreyWorld, the next is going up later, in Italian, on strategie evolutive.
Let’s say I’m doing a blog tour of my own blogs.

And I mentioned the late Sir Terry Pratchett, on GreyWorld.
I love Pratchett’s Discworld novels – I loved them ever since I read about Pratchett in Michael Moorcock‘s Wizardry and Wild Romance, and decided to check this new writer out.
And if it’s true that the Italian versions of The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic were seriously unfunny due to some translation problems, as soon as I started reading Terry Pratchett in English, it was a cartload of laughs.
But not only that.
Which leads to the true topic of this post. Continue reading →