| S.C. Butler May 10, 2008 |
About S.C. Butler
S.C. Butler was born in Cambridge, MA in the middle of the
last century, which really isn't so very long ago. He currently
resides in Brooklyn, NY with no dogs, no cats, and certainly no
shape shifting bears. He is the author of the popular
Stoneways Series:
1. Reiffen's Choice (2006)
2. Queen Ferris (2007)
3. The Magicians' Daughter (2008)
For more information on S.C. Butler, please visit his website at
www.valingstoneways.com.
S.C. Butler was born in Cambridge, MA in the middle of the
last century, which really isn't so very long ago. He currently
resides in Brooklyn, NY with no dogs, no cats, and certainly no
shape shifting bears. He is the author of the popular
Stoneways Series:
1. Reiffen's Choice (2006)
2. Queen Ferris (2007)
3. The Magicians' Daughter (2008)
For more information on S.C. Butler, please visit his website at
www.valingstoneways.com.
Post Meeting Write-up
S.C. "Sam" Butler was a great guest. As Steve points out, he
started out reading an excerpt from Reiffen's Choice, the first
book of the Stoneways Series: Reiffen's Choice (2006),
Queen Ferris (2007), and coming soon, The Magicians'
Daughter (2008). The reading was lively, fun and had us
engrossed and hooked.
After reading, Mr. Butler said he preferred to let us guide the
discussion with our questions. The question poured out and Mr.
Butler was having a lot of fun answering them. We learned he
likes to write to music - punk music being a favorite. He
described writing a "tranquil" scene with the Ramones blasting in
the background! We learned about his influences - Anthony
Trolloppe, Tolkien. He discussed how he never writes with an
outline and why that can be good. Imagine writing an outline
then never going in that direction with the story - he does it a lot.
Mr. Butler had a lively and personable wit that kept things
flowing. We couldn't stop asking questions.
Mike P found out that Mr. Butler is a HUGE Dr. Strange fan.
This led to a great story about a 12-year-old Sam and some
friends realizing some of their comic book heroes worked in New
York City, not far from their Brooklyn homes. Road trip, elevator
ride to offices, blocked by secretary, "want to buy some back
issues", the boys thinking this was surely the greatest offer ever
when out comes Stan Lee! Autographs, happy campers and a
one-of-a-kind autograph. You could envision the 12-year-old and
feel the excitement.
Todd asked about world building and Sam described the world
he had created for his series and the things he does/doesn't
make specific and why. Remi had been to his website and was
hooked on a novella that was an earlier work. This novella was
set in the same world in the Stoneway Series, but came years
after. The science of his worlds was discussed, as was the magic
and research that goes into them. He discussed his characters,
his logic for certain choices (i.e. no religion, no description of the
abyss), his likes and dislikes in current reading material, his early
writing attempts, how he likes the world the Hobbits live in, and
how he really wants to go to Hogwarts - really!
All in all, a fantastic meeting and a wonderful guest. A lot of
laughing, a lot of information, and Mr. Butler happily told us
he'd love for us to do his one of his books at a meeting so he
could come back to discuss it with us. To oblige this request, we
will see if Sam can join us for July's Modern Masters to discuss
Reiffen's Choice.
The diner followed the event where we continued the fun. At
least this time Bill did not bite anyone. Talk ranged from anime
to Iron Man to Todd profusely apologizing - run Todd run.
Thom was pickle eating again. Paul described his college photo
that had him looking like the sociopath next door. Taras
pretended to behave at the head of the table - pretended being
the operative word - lol. Good time. (Ann-Marie)
Let us not forget that it was not just Stan Lee that he got to meet,
but Wally Woods, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby! And he got those
notables to sign a piece of Marvel Corporate stationary!
Seriously, though, SC Butler was amazing and highly animated.
I loved it when he was talking about the over-abundance of Elves
in fantasy, and that the Dwarves always just seem to be there but
not doing much other than hoarding gold. The idea of Dwarves
as scientists and inventors has been done before, but not to the
depth that Sam seems to have taken, and I was intrigued by the
concept of the upside down cities suspended over the abyss and
the dirigibles that the dwarves were using as transport.
Another nifty idea is the character of the shape-shifting bear god
(Redburr). He is a bear based subconsciously on Falstaff from
Henry IV. How cool is that?
I also want to say that the reading was really great. Sam has a
great voice and the scene was definitely dark and powerful. I am
looking forward to reading this one. (Todd)
The guest speaker of this past Saturday's meeting of the Science
Fiction Society of Northern New Jersey
(www.sfsnnj.com/index.html) was S C Butler, author of a
current fantasy series from TOR. Besides citing authors as diverse
as Tolkien and Heinlein as early influences and/or reading
favorites, Mr.. Butler also discussed loving reading Edgar Rice
Burroughs, especially the first three volumes of the Tarzan and
Mars series. (Bill)
We started the Whispers From Beyond segment of the show
at around 7:30 when I (Steve Spinosa) read a scene from the
Return of The Jedi novelization by James Kahn illustrating this
month's theme of Rebellions & Revolutionaries (this is the scene
where the rebel alliance maps out its final attack plan against the
Empire/Death Star). Chris Hasselkus read an excerpt from
Watership Down, and Master Todd read a trial scene from the
novel Crossover. Todd finished by 8:00 p.m. promptly, and then I
introduced "Sam" Butler, who started by reading an excerpt
from his novel Reiffen's Choice (which is the first of his series).
He talked about Reiffen's story being the overarching theme of
the book series (two are already published, with the third coming
out in the fall, if all goes well). He also discussed the many ideas
he had for stories that failed (A western with baseball players! A
science fiction/rock 'n' roll story with accompanying music &
lyrics!!!) before hitting upon this magical fantasy trilogy idea.
Remy asked about the
novella on his website which was written before the trilogy but
actually is set afterwards, and Sam suggested that folks not read
it until after the third book comes out, but then changed his
mind. He also discussed his influences (including classic literature,
J.R.R. Tolkien, and Dr. Strange (Steve Ditko's classic Marvel comic's
character). It was a very entertaining meeting that wrapped up by
9:45,after which some, but not all the folks in the group went to
the diner (Jim & I didn't due to allergies). On Friday Face The
Fiction Part II will convene at the GSP Borders with our special
guest Mystery author E.J. Rand. See y'all then! (Steve)
S.C. "Sam" Butler was a great guest. As Steve points out, he
started out reading an excerpt from Reiffen's Choice, the first
book of the Stoneways Series: Reiffen's Choice (2006),
Queen Ferris (2007), and coming soon, The Magicians'
Daughter (2008). The reading was lively, fun and had us
engrossed and hooked.
After reading, Mr. Butler said he preferred to let us guide the
discussion with our questions. The question poured out and Mr.
Butler was having a lot of fun answering them. We learned he
likes to write to music - punk music being a favorite. He
described writing a "tranquil" scene with the Ramones blasting in
the background! We learned about his influences - Anthony
Trolloppe, Tolkien. He discussed how he never writes with an
outline and why that can be good. Imagine writing an outline
then never going in that direction with the story - he does it a lot.
Mr. Butler had a lively and personable wit that kept things
flowing. We couldn't stop asking questions.
Mike P found out that Mr. Butler is a HUGE Dr. Strange fan.
This led to a great story about a 12-year-old Sam and some
friends realizing some of their comic book heroes worked in New
York City, not far from their Brooklyn homes. Road trip, elevator
ride to offices, blocked by secretary, "want to buy some back
issues", the boys thinking this was surely the greatest offer ever
when out comes Stan Lee! Autographs, happy campers and a
one-of-a-kind autograph. You could envision the 12-year-old and
feel the excitement.
Todd asked about world building and Sam described the world
he had created for his series and the things he does/doesn't
make specific and why. Remi had been to his website and was
hooked on a novella that was an earlier work. This novella was
set in the same world in the Stoneway Series, but came years
after. The science of his worlds was discussed, as was the magic
and research that goes into them. He discussed his characters,
his logic for certain choices (i.e. no religion, no description of the
abyss), his likes and dislikes in current reading material, his early
writing attempts, how he likes the world the Hobbits live in, and
how he really wants to go to Hogwarts - really!
All in all, a fantastic meeting and a wonderful guest. A lot of
laughing, a lot of information, and Mr. Butler happily told us
he'd love for us to do his one of his books at a meeting so he
could come back to discuss it with us. To oblige this request, we
will see if Sam can join us for July's Modern Masters to discuss
Reiffen's Choice.
The diner followed the event where we continued the fun. At
least this time Bill did not bite anyone. Talk ranged from anime
to Iron Man to Todd profusely apologizing - run Todd run.
Thom was pickle eating again. Paul described his college photo
that had him looking like the sociopath next door. Taras
pretended to behave at the head of the table - pretended being
the operative word - lol. Good time. (Ann-Marie)
Let us not forget that it was not just Stan Lee that he got to meet,
but Wally Woods, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby! And he got those
notables to sign a piece of Marvel Corporate stationary!
Seriously, though, SC Butler was amazing and highly animated.
I loved it when he was talking about the over-abundance of Elves
in fantasy, and that the Dwarves always just seem to be there but
not doing much other than hoarding gold. The idea of Dwarves
as scientists and inventors has been done before, but not to the
depth that Sam seems to have taken, and I was intrigued by the
concept of the upside down cities suspended over the abyss and
the dirigibles that the dwarves were using as transport.
Another nifty idea is the character of the shape-shifting bear god
(Redburr). He is a bear based subconsciously on Falstaff from
Henry IV. How cool is that?
I also want to say that the reading was really great. Sam has a
great voice and the scene was definitely dark and powerful. I am
looking forward to reading this one. (Todd)
The guest speaker of this past Saturday's meeting of the Science
Fiction Society of Northern New Jersey
(www.sfsnnj.com/index.html) was S C Butler, author of a
current fantasy series from TOR. Besides citing authors as diverse
as Tolkien and Heinlein as early influences and/or reading
favorites, Mr.. Butler also discussed loving reading Edgar Rice
Burroughs, especially the first three volumes of the Tarzan and
Mars series. (Bill)
We started the Whispers From Beyond segment of the show
at around 7:30 when I (Steve Spinosa) read a scene from the
Return of The Jedi novelization by James Kahn illustrating this
month's theme of Rebellions & Revolutionaries (this is the scene
where the rebel alliance maps out its final attack plan against the
Empire/Death Star). Chris Hasselkus read an excerpt from
Watership Down, and Master Todd read a trial scene from the
novel Crossover. Todd finished by 8:00 p.m. promptly, and then I
introduced "Sam" Butler, who started by reading an excerpt
from his novel Reiffen's Choice (which is the first of his series).
He talked about Reiffen's story being the overarching theme of
the book series (two are already published, with the third coming
out in the fall, if all goes well). He also discussed the many ideas
he had for stories that failed (A western with baseball players! A
science fiction/rock 'n' roll story with accompanying music &
lyrics!!!) before hitting upon this magical fantasy trilogy idea.
Remy asked about the
novella on his website which was written before the trilogy but
actually is set afterwards, and Sam suggested that folks not read
it until after the third book comes out, but then changed his
mind. He also discussed his influences (including classic literature,
J.R.R. Tolkien, and Dr. Strange (Steve Ditko's classic Marvel comic's
character). It was a very entertaining meeting that wrapped up by
9:45,after which some, but not all the folks in the group went to
the diner (Jim & I didn't due to allergies). On Friday Face The
Fiction Part II will convene at the GSP Borders with our special
guest Mystery author E.J. Rand. See y'all then! (Steve)
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