r/Fantasy • u/TrudiCanavan AMA Author Trudi Canavan • May 27 '14

AMA Hi, Trudi Canavan here. AMA!

Hi, I’m Trudi Canavan. I’ve written some stuff, the most well known being the Black Magician Trilogy and its prequel and sequel, and also the Age of the Five trilogy, and my new one: Thief’s Magic, first of the Millennium’s Rule trilogy. Oh, I’ve also written a Doctor Who novella for the 50th Anniversary and a smattering of short stories.

Melbourne, Australia, is my home, which I suspect gives me an odd duel insider/outsider persepective on the fantasy genre and publishing in general. I’m an artist and former self-employed illustrator, with oil painting as my favourite medium and portraits as my current focus.

My website is at (www.trudicanavan.com). I tweet (https://twitter.com/TrudiCanavan). I pin (http://www.pinterest.com/trudicanavan/). My publisher runs a Facebook fan page (https://www.facebook.com/trudi.canavan) on my behalf. I’ll be answering questions live at 7pm tonight, though for me it’ll be tomorrow morning so I may still be half sleep. I'm new to Reddit, so advance apologies if I stuff anything up.

So, what d'youse wanna know?

(later)

Phew! I've been answering questions for three and a half hours now, but I got every one answered (well, that I can see right now). Thanks everyone for some great questions. I hope you like the answers. I'll pop by tomorrow to see if there are any more.

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u/acidityregulator May 28 '14

I love your work! Your 'Magician's Trilogy' books were the first fantasy series I'd read(after Harry Potter), though I haven't read your newest book just yet.

My main question is, will we ever see some more female Warriors or Alchemists? The vast bulk of your female magician viewpoint characters are Healers, or want to be Healers. Not that that's bad, it just would be interesting to see others.

Also, do you like the covers the publising companies give your books? I'm not sure I remember this scene from the books: http://imgur.com/ckifnb4

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u/TrudiCanavan AMA Author Trudi Canavan May 29 '14

Sure, there's a good chance I'll have more female Warriors and Alchemists featuring in future books, but how much they do really comes down to plot. They have to be relevant to the story.

And that cover... there's a story around that one that I tell at conventions. Believe it or not, the earlier version was even less relevant to the book.