B. Mann Consulting

Update: this was posted live from the reading using a mobile blog client. Much of it is a partial transcript of Guy speaking.

I'm at a reading with Guy Gavriel Kay, which is taking place as part of the Vancouver International Writer's Festival. At the last minute, Susie said she had an extra ticket. It turns out that I love Guy's work: I've read and enjoyed all his books, so I was happy to come along.

Provence was the inspiration for his new book, Ysabel. Guy is explaining that Provence is some place that you literally trip over history. Much of his works deal with different times, and events in the past having an effect on today. So it's fitting that this book is a novel set in modern times.

Guy spoke about the tension in France in 2004 (and today) and how that contributed to the evolution of the novel. Ysabel does still deal with some of the history and magic that Guy is known for: the tension of a Roman world vs. a Celtic world, with conflict reaching back for millenia. Provence was the right backdrop. We don't have records of battles over Antarctica - it is places like the south of France, places of extreme beauty, that have this legacy of conflict.