More Questions from an L.E. Modesitt Fan

[Gilvar]

"a Glass" is a hour?

[Hunter B]

"a Glass" is a hour?

Good question, but I thought a glass was closer to 45 minutes. Then again I could be very wrong and you very right.

[Ron Lambert]

Depends on how big they made their hour-glasses. Um, would that be glass-glasses?

[Ron Lambert]

Mr. Modesitt, perhaps you have answered this before, but I could not find it on a search--why do you measure time in "eight-days" instead of weeks?

[RecluceMage]

Hey, I know the answer to this one...

The Romans used an eight-day work week until the seven-day week was introduced somewhere between 19 BC and 14 AD. You can see other roman influences in his books if you know what to look for.

[lmodesitt]

Also, as Isaac Asimov pointed out years ago... you can have a far more regular calendar with an eight-day-week.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Kagnok]

Not really a question, just another "thank you" to Modesitt...

A bunch of storms passed over us this wekend, and my house doesn't have the greatest drainage. So here I was in the wind and rain trying to check the drains & gutters.

I felt very much like Nylan in Fall of Angels. (headache and all!)

[Olmy Ap Sennon]

Also, as Isaac Asimov pointed out years ago... you can have a far more regular calendar with an eight-day-week.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Hmm, that mean they had a 3-day weekend?

[lmodesitt]

I have to confess that my memory was faulty. I checked my references, and Isaac didn't propose an eight-day week. I just thought he did. He proposed a great number of calendar reforms, but I couldn't find any reference to an eight-day week.

However, since Isaac did work every single day of the week, I doubt that he would have approved of a three-day weekend.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Olmy Ap Sennon]

Well, at any rate, I love the idea. I have not come across a reference like this ever, so I enjoy your use of it no matter who came up with it (I had thought you just threw a spin on the 'ol 7 day week) .

[ironwill96]

Still not sure who proposed the 8-day week, but here is some interesting information about when it was used:

----------------------------

The Romans used an eight-day cycle for their civil organisation with a market or Nundinae every eight days. This internundium was indicated on calendars by the letters A to H. And there were complicated rules about what could or could not be done on certain days. The Fasti were days when the banks and courts were open and business could be done. But the Nundinae were market days - Nefasti - when the courts were closed. Other days were set aside for religious festivals and some days were designated when public meetings could be held.

The seven day week with Sunday as its Holy Day was introduced by the Roman emperor Constantine as part of the Christian reforms in 321AD

----------------------------
So the eight-day week existed before Julius Ceasar proposed his calendar reforms (which happened during 46 B.C. - the year of extra days to switch to the new calendar system).

Nathan

[RecluceMage]

OK, I knew the Romans had an eight-day work week, but I didn't know who first had it. Here's what I have found out so far (if you even care at all):

The ancient Egyptians had a ten-day week, with three weeks to each month.

The seven-day cycle makes its earliest appearance in Babylonian documents of the 7th century BCE. It is not quite yet the week as we know it, however. (Babylonian astronomy is the basis for later greco-Roman astronomy)

The Greeks were a confusing people whose calendar changed from province to province. No help is coming from them any time soon.

For the complete web page on all types of historical calendars (and where I found this information) http://www.polysyllabic.com/CalHist.html

That folks is all I have found. Anyone else know anything? What other authors have an eight-day cycle in their books?

[Ron Lambert]

The rationalists of the French Revolution tried to bring a decimal week to the world. From 1793 until 1805, a week in France had ten days. This was finally abandoned because too many people were "burning out," and reportedly even horses were dropping in the streets. Apparently we all need a rest day more often than once every ten days.

I believe the old Soviet Union once experimented with a five-day week, but it was discarded.

[RecluceMage]

You know, I had always wondered about the different measuring systems that he comes up with, and I've come to figure most of them out as I grew up. Kay was an easy one, as I entered the military and we started using Kilometers, or "k". We had 1k, 2k, etc. The glass idea came a bit later, guess I sometimes just need it all spelled out for me. However, the eight-day was never a mystery, as I started reading the Recluce books in High School, the same time I was taking Latin and learning about the Roman culture.

[ironwill96]

I figured I would post this question in the topic I started, since it seems to be a good one for asking questions in!

What has been your overall experience with editors and the editing process Mr. Modesitt? When you first started as an author, did the editors make you cut out portions of your book to get it the right "length" and maybe even suggest creative changes? Do they still do some of that or since you are so established are they more willing to trust your work as it stands when you send it to them?

Generally as far as spelling and grammar your editors seem to do a top notch job as I find very few mistakes that slipped past them (and you) and made it into the book. But I always wonder how much of the book we are not seeing because of creative differences in opinion etc.

I apologize in advance if this question has been asked elsewhere in this forum and I missed it somehow.

Thanks,
Nathan

[lmodesitt]

For the most part, my experience with editors has been good, but then I've had the same main editor for more than 20 years. My very first book --The Fires of Paratime was "too long" for Timescape, and I was asked to cut 20,000 words. I cut 16,000, and said I couldn't cut any more, and they agreed. I wasn't totally happy with having to make the cuts, and when I finally got the rights back, and Tor wanted to republish it, I put most of what was cut back in, and it was published as The Timegod. Other than that, I've never been asked to make "major" cuts. Tor did request some re-writing to turn The Forever Hero from two books into three because they felt that two books would be too costly [prices go up a lot after a certain length].

My editors have been very good at suggesting changes to improve what I had in mind, but not trying to change the thrust of a book.

In my case, there's very little that the editors suggest be cut . It's more likely that readers will see some addftional material for a fuller explanation or more detailed action.

I'm told by the editors that I submit "very clean" manuscripts.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[ironwill96]

Thanks for the quick reply. I had always wondered how much say author's had in the editing process. I've heard stories where authors get really fed up with mainstream publishers because the editors want to "change" the story too much for their tastes.

Nathan

[lmodesitt]

The question of whether an editor is "interfering" or just trying to improve a book is one that can be very subjective, depending on author and editor. All readers know about authors who could be improved by better editing... but sometimes, that's not really the case, but a subjective call by a reader who doesn't like certain things. For example, I've been accused of having too many "meal" scenes. Other writers have been accused of having nothing but battles -- or not enough battles, or the wrong kind of battles.

Other times, it's pretty clear that more editing would have helped, and editors have horror stories about certain well-known authors who -- as they got more popular -- refused to accept editorial suggestions.

And, as in all matters, there are good editors and not so good editors. I've been fortunate to have good ones.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Ravenseye]

Other times, it's pretty clear that more editing would have helped, and editors have horror stories about certain well-known authors who -- as they got more popular -- refused to accept editorial suggestions.

*cough*Jordan*cough*

[lmodesitt]

I've been told by very reputable sources that Robert Jordan has been heavily edited and continues to be so edited.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Silver_Phoenix]

In 'The Colors of Chaos" one of the traders mentions "The Days of Fire". Does this refer to the landing of the Rationalists and the founding of Cyad, and if so, can we expect to see this book at some time in the future?

[lmodesitt]

I honestly can't say what Recluce book will come after Ordermaster [out next January in the USA in hardcover], or when such a book might appear.

That's at least three books away, or perhaps four.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[torybear]

I know that I have said this before but I cannot begin to express how happy it makes me to hear you talking in the scope of three or four more books and then more after that. Thank you again for writing and for participating in this forum.

[lmodesitt]

I appreciate the sentiment... but I'm not working on all those at once. I only write a single book at a time, but the production process after I finish the manuscript takes about a year. So Scepters is just about to be printed. Flash is in the final stages of production; the ARCs were just printed. Ordermaster is in the last stages of editorial review. The next book after that will be Alector's Choice -- another Corean Chronicles book. After that will be a stand-alone SF novel.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Ravenseye]

I've been told by very reputable sources that Robert Jordan has been heavily edited and continues to be so edited.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

I stand corrected. I don't really have anything against Jordan, either, I was just joking as his books tend to have a lot of rather unnecessary elements in my opinion. One can only read about Nynaeve tugging on her braid so many times before it get's a tad silly.