Ask Naomi

"Ask Naomi" is a feature that was added to the Temeraire Website as a part of the redevelopment. Announced on April 20 2011, fans of the Temeraire series were encouraged to send questions to Naomi Novik, and at the end of the month she would answer five of these questions.

## 2011

### April

Published May 5th.

* Bethany writes: Is there any talk at your publishers about issuing a second omnibus of Empire, Ivory, and Tongues? I know it wouldn’t be ‘soon’ because Tongues of Serpents came out very recently! Congratulates on the itty bitty baby!
* Naomi Novik responds: Thank you! Itty bitty baby is now tipping the scales at 16 lbs and I have a hard time lifting her anymore!

And yes, Del Rey does plan to do an omnibus of books 4-6 (and then 7-9) in the US, but the timeframe is still up in the air — possibly for the holiday season in 2011? But don’t quote me on that!

* Anonymous: I know that Peter Jackson is busy making The Hobbit right now, but could you give us any more information on whether he plans to make Temeraire into a movie yet?
* Naomi Novik responds: All I can tell you is I am indeed very hopeful we will one day see Temeraire in action! You can read more about Peter’s thoughts about how he might do Temeraire in this interview by Quint of Ain’t It Cool News.

(And in the meantime, omg, Martin Freeman as Bilbo! Smaug! Thorin! I AM SO EXCITED.)

* Michelle D. Keyes writes: Do you see an end at some point for the Temeraire series? Do you have any plans to start another series at some point in the future?
* Naomi Novik responds: Yes, the Temeraire series will end with book 9, as yet untitled, which will bring the Napoleonic Wars to a close. There may be more adventures in the Temeraire universe from me after that, but if so I think they will be set in different eras and/or places.

I hope to continue my manga series Liberty Vocational with Yishan Li (the first volume, Will Supervillains Be On The Final? came out on April 26!), and I have a couple of different other projects in the works as well, including a YA trilogy inspired by The Secret Garden, and another super-secret one not yet ready for even that much to be revealed. :D

* Lars Petrick writes: Will Temeraire come back to China and his “dragongirlfriend” and get an egg with her?
* Naomi Novik reponds: Temeraire certainly will return to China someday, but over the exact dates and his progenitive future allow me for the moment to draw a discreet veil. ;)

* Daniel Govar writes: Have you considered adapting the Temeraire series to graphic novels? As a comic creator I listen to the series while I work and am constantly thinking “This would make an amazing GN.”
* Naomi Novik responds: The graphic novelization rights were part of the movie deal, as it happens, but I would love to see a Temeraire graphic novel and I very much hope we both do, some day!

### May, June & July (Summer Edition)

Published August 16th.

* Jacob writes: How did you come up with all of the dragon breeds for the novels?
* Naomi Novik responds: I like to use other animal species as inspiration — many of the dragon breeds are inspired by butterflies or birds, for instance the black swallowtail inspired the look of the Imperial and Celestial dragons.

The names of the breeds sometimes come from the corresponding animal, and sometimes there’s a really perfect historical match that I steal like the Pou de Ciel (”Flea of the Sky”), which was the name of one of the first French aircraft.

* Shawn L. writes: Can your fans expect to see any sort of nod to Temeraire in Liberty Vocational, such as one of the characters reading the novels or something to that effect?
* Naomi Novik responds: Heee, I will totally nab that idea for the next volume of Liberty Vocational.

* Olivia C. writes: In Throne of Jade, a species called Xenica is briefly mentioned. Will we be hearing or seeing anymore of this breed?
* Naomi Novik responds: Possibly! I don’t have any particular details in mind of the breed yet, though, so it’s up in the air.

* Kalie C. writes: Will you post a preview/excerpt from Crucible of Gold? And if so, when?
* Naomi Novik responds: The prologue is up on my website now!

* Sam C. writes: What does the process of publishing/releasing a book entail? (I saw in a recent update of yours that you had sent off a draft, but I wonder where in the process of releasing the book that is.)
* Naomi Novik responds: I think the process varies a lot from writer to writer, and mine is changing a bit given the new baby. This time I charged through a first draft doing less revising along the way so I could get a draft done and relieve both my own and my editor’s anxiety. But I then spent a bunch more time in the revisions stage. But broadly, the process looks like this for me:

• steady march to first draft
• revisions to final draft after editorial/beta comments come back
• copyedit stage where I always make a pile of additional changes much to everyone’s annoyance
• proofreading stage where I am not really allowed to make significant (that is, page-number-altering) changes, and therefore I generally only pretend to look over the galleys, because otherwise I inevitably want to do more rewriting.
And then after that some sort of mystical ritual is performed and obeisances made to the clanking metal altar of the printing press and books appear in a fragrant cloud of brimstone and myrrh. Well, as far as I know, anyway.

* José G. writes: Dear Naomi: I’m a Temeraire SPANISH fan, and I ask you to implore/beg that: Can your agent contacts with the publisher of Spain because we’re waiting for long years to can read the fourth, fifth and sixth books of the Temeraire saga. Thanks for your time, and best wishes!
* Naomi Novik responds: Alas, I have no direct contact with my foreign publishers, for the most part, since Random House handles my foreign rights (and do an amazing job with them)! But I have asked my agent to check up on where things are in Spain and will update when I know.

* Susan A. writes: Did you think of the French meaning of temeraire when choosing his name?

Naomi Novik responds: Indirectly — of course that’s the meaning the French had in mind when they named their ship Temeraire, and the ship is the immediate inspiration of the name (largely because of the Turner painting, which has long been a favorite of mine).

* Hanna L. writes: Will the end of the war in the series be much like the real one?
* Naomi Novik responds: No comment.

* Lukas S. writes: Is there a chance that someone could create an official forum for the Temeraire series? It would be great for fans of the books to have a place to talk about it.
* Naomi Novik responds: I don’t know! What do you think, Shawn?

* Hanna L. writes: Would you consider writing novels or shortstories about the Temeraire universe, but in a different time period?
* Naomi Novik responds: I already will be doing so for the short story collection I’m doing for Subterranean Press to go along with the winning pieces from the fanart contest! I’m very excited to do so.

* Rebecca. writes: Bit of a silly question, but it keeps puzzling me! Do the dragons shed their skins?
* Naomi Novik responds: Nope, other than (I am making this up as I type so I reserve the right to change it in canon \*g\*) the same way we shed our skin, with scales falling off as they get dried out and cracked and old, with new replacements growing in.

* Anonymous writes: Have you ever given any thought to the origins of dragons in the Temeraire universe? Like whether the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs never hit and dragons evolved as a result, or some other explanation.
* Naomi Novik responds: I have, and it’s possible that some of those thoughts may make their way into book 8. \*smiles in mysterious fashion\*

* Dan S. writes: Will we ever be able to read the full versions of Edward Howe’s works?
* Naomi Novik responds: Only if some really enterprising fanfic writer provides!

* Anonymous writes: Do you think dragons ever existed for real?
* Naomi Novik responds: Alas, no. But I hope they will someday! Screw flying cars, I am totally holding out for a mechanical dragon. (Or a genetically engineered one. I am not picky!)

## 2012

### March

Published April 17th.

* Sean DeVoe writes: If you were going to write in another era in the Temeraire universe, what era would you use?
* Naomi Novik responds: I’ve written a Temeraire-universe story set in Rome (“Vici”, published in The Dragon Book), which was a lot of fun, and I’m going to be writing a bunch set in other eras and nations for the fanart book! I’m possibly most looking forward to the colonial-era Boston one. :D

* Barnaby Williams writes: Since the Spanish failed to conquer the Incans, did they also fail to conquer the Aztecs and Maya? How much of Central and South America (and the Antilles Islands) remains free of Spanish rule (I know it’s mentioned in Tongues of Serpents that Chile exists…)?
* Naomi Novik responds: No, in the Temeraire universe, the Inca are the only Central/South American nation that successfully resisted conquest, because of the human society’s close relationship with dragons, who essentially held down the fort and resisted occupation even while the human population was being decimated by disease and highly vulnerable.

* Cassandra writes: After finishing Crucible of Gold (which was amazing), Granby’s situation seemed to underscore the loneliness of Lawrence. Is there a mate of some sort in his future?
* Naomi Novik responds: No comment. :D But I do hope we’ll see Jane Roland again.

* Ann Marie Rost writes: I’ve just finished Crucible of Gold – and so the obvious question is – when will the next book be published?
* Naomi Novik reponds: As quick as I can finish writing it! The publication date won’t be set until after I turn it in, but hopefully Spring or Summer 2013.

* Jamahl Reynolds writes: I am concerned with the “first” egg Temeraire had with Felicita. Am I supposed to be under the impression the egg was a dud because the stories constantly eluded me to believe this egg never existed. Will the “First child” of Temeraire make an appearance sometime in the series?
* Naomi Novik responds: Alas, no, Temeraire and Felicita did not actually succeed in producing an egg despite the best intentions and a very sincere effort by both parties! The attempts to get an egg sired by him during his stay in the breeding grounds were also ineffective.

## External Links

* Naomi - April
* Naomi - Summer Edition