After the excitement of naming the newsletter and the Fionavar artwork scoop, we're back to a more sedate pace... but with a ton of new stuff and tidbits to share with you. GGK was one of the panellists at the Eoscon online convention last week, which I announced in the news section of the site. If any of you popped along, you'd have had the chance to hear him discuss fantasy and history with other authors, and ask some questions. I'll see what I can do about getting the transcripts of the chats onto the site. That's for the future, but as for now, there is some great new stuff on the site that's been added over the past couple of weeks, so I'll tell you about it here...

What's New on Bright Weavings
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Know what they are? Neither did I. Although you probably know a few examples of them; indeed, you've probably created some without even knowing it! Confused? Well, GGK allays all confusion in a new essay on the site, that first appeared in Canada's National Post. He says that he's a happier man for discovering mondegreens, and I'm sure you'll feel the same way...

> On Creating Covers

Our resident artist is back, this time with an essay of his own, that shares with us his experiences of creating book covers, and specifically, of creating the covers for The Fionavar Tapestry. Not only that, but we also have a selection of early sketches of the different covers, which Martin also discusses. He explains some of the ideas and concepts he worked on, and how much input GGK had in the process. He also describes some of the technical differences between the paintings and their execution. It's a fascinating and fun read...

> Reader Art

I recently put up our second piece of art on the site that was submitted by a reader. Sara Silvestris' portrait of Galadan of the Andain with two of his wolves is very beautifully done. To my eye, she has certainly achieved something of the character of Galadan with the expression in his eyes. She explains why it was Galadan in particular who she was inspired to draw: "Galadan is, and will always remain, my favourite character in Fionavar's Tapestry. He's such an enigmatic character, wonderfully multi-faceted and ever smooth. One of the best villains there ever was... Though I know a fictional character is difficult to draw since everyone's mental image of them varies so much, I decided to go ahead and draw Galadan as I picture him." See her portrait of Galadan now:

Tidbits
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Recently, GGK sent me two reviews; one of Tigana and one of Arbonne, which had been translated for us from Czech by his Czech translator. I'm going to refine the English a bit and then put them on the site. I mention this as a cunning ploy to smoothly switch to discussing foreign language links and material. There are a few pieces on the site in different languages - there's an interview in French, given in Quebec, and some links out to foreign language reviews and essays. Even though I know the vast majority of the people here can't read them, I am constantly looking for non-English links, because of something GGK asked for when I started discussing the creation of this website with him. He wanted the site to 'showcase' the art and thinking of as many people as possible, and he expressed a hope that it might not be exclusively 'English-centred.' So if anyone has any relevant links to foreign language material, or anything else they think belongs in the links section, do send them in.

And while on the subject of foreign languages, GGK mentioned something very interesting to me that I thought I'd share... he's just been contacted by his very conscientious Polish translator, Agnieszka Silwanowicz, asking permission to make two small amendments in her version of the Mosaic ... seems 'Jad' in Polish means 'venom' so she wants to change it to 'Dzad' (with a dot above the 'z') which is how they write words like 'jihad' and 'jam'. And the word 'Batiara' evokes 'batiar' which is apparently an insulting term directed at citizens of the city of Lvov, so she's coming up with a close alternative for that.

A nice little tidbit for me - I got an email this week telling me that Bright Weavings has been chosen as an Open Directory 'Cool Site'! For those who don't know, Open Directory (http://www.dmoz.org) is a volunteer run index of the web, with thousands of volunteer editors who choose an area of their expertise, and run that category on the index, deciding what sites get included and searching out good sites to add. It's kind of like Yahoo, but run by volunteers. It's a great index, and it is used by quite a number of search engines as their index - including Google, Netscape and others. As Open Directory says, 'humans do it better.' So I'm very pleased to have won an award from them, and I'll be including my little 'award logo' on the side of every page.

In the Forums
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There's a constant stream of activity going on in the forums, but for this newsletter I thought I'd bring your attention to three things; one serious, one fun, and one question...

> Concepts of Good vs Evil

This thread was started by Thunderchild's question: "which character in any of GGK's books would not in today's society be sitting in jail?" (Deborah answers: Alais?) He was looking at the line in The Lions of Al-Rassan: 'A good man raised his sword and a good man died'. A dramatic way to start a very interesting discussion about concepts of good and evil, art and destruction within different cultures. A few interesting points made:

Thunderchild:
"In real terms was either Ammar or Rodrigo 'good'? In fact if you look further at GGK's books the question holds for all the characters. Another point would be the marrying of art in his books with horrifying violence. The art (be it music, verse or mosaic) is often only a very thin facade over incredibly violent cultures, and is it this intrinsic value that we love about his works? Is art our escape as a society from the truth of what we are?"

Katherine Journeay:
"I also think the implication is that times of upheaval *may* call for a change to the prevalent views of what is acceptable morality and behavior. Killing someone is understood to be an amoral act in almost all societies, but there are exceptions to that absolute rule. Members of the military are allowed to when under orders... everyone is allowed to if they are acting in self defense... it is usually understandable if you are protecting your home or the people you love. Think about how many more exceptions to that rule can be made when your country is in a time of war, or oppression. In these cases I think a good man can take up a sword and do what is necessary for the time, provided that he himself can live with his actions. Kay shows us that Alvar can not, but that Ammar can. Each man makes choices that are acceptable given the time and the society in which he finds himself, and neither choice is inherently good or evil."

Thunderchild starts the discussion saying that the morality is very unambiguous in Fionavar, so he is discussing the other books. But it is in Fionavar, I think, where someone talks with sadness, of the sins that good men do. Arthur's history of course is the pre-eminent example of this, but we see the idea in Matt's leaving of the dwarves, and in Kim's renunciation of the Warstone after it forces her to do too many morally ambiguous (or wrong things) for the sake of good. Good and evil are never black and white, and GGK shows us that time and again, in a way we can relate to. Anyway, enough of my musings, which I should be putting on the forum itself, not here - if you want to read the rest of the posts, or contribute your own thoughts, go for it:

> Books I hope GGK does NOT write

This thread was started by Jaquandor, with, as he puts it, 'Letterman style mockery.' Some examples of titles put forward by various posters:

"Star Trek: Picard In Fionavar"
"Sailing to Omaha" (in which a mosaicist travels to Nebraska)
"The Aviary of Fionavar"
"Harlequin Adventures: Her Loins Quiver"
"Parasitic Fauna of Fionavar"
"Public Restrooms of Winnipeg: An Illustrated Guide"
"Calysian Calasthenics - fully illustrated"
"Ouch! That's Hot!: A Kid's Guide to Making Sarantine Fire."
"Why I'll Never Write Again: An Autobiography"

Even GGK got roped into this one, leaving a few very amusing anecdotes about title misspellings and more (and no, the last example was not given by him, not to worry). To see all the examples, read GGK's post, or leave some examples of your own, go to:

> Ending of Lions of Al-Rassan ... Help!

This plea for help was left in the forums very recently, by Carolyn. She writes:

"Lions" ends with a very specific mention of three wine glasses left behind by the characters. It seems to me that there is some monumental significance to these glasses, but I can't figure it out! I'm sure it's something simple, and I am just being obtuse, but it's one of those things that nags at you."

Seems to me this is a very good thread just waiting to get started, so if anyone wants to offer suggestions, you can do so here:

And that's it from me for now! In the next few weeks I'll be adding some new hotbars to the site, as well as a fabulous song inspired by The Lions of Al-Rassan, an FAQ of most frequently asked questions about GGK's books, and more.

Until next time,

Deborah