I started reading a book just now and one of the characters has a similar dialect and accent to myself (doesn't pronounce their Hs and uses 'proper' instead of 'very') and since it's not something I see often, it surprised me!

So, to pose my questions. Do you like when dialects and accents are included within books? Do you struggle adjusting to it?

Do you guys have any recommendations for books where this is depicted well? I'd love to add them to my TBR 😖.

I personally really love it but I think sometimes I'm wary because I'm unsure if this depiction is actually accurate of real life. But, overall, I'm always interested to learn these regional terms because it's so cool to see how different communities utilise language 😻.

We've sold rights in Germany, Spain, Poland and Russia. Not France, yet, but we're working on it, says Brett. But nobody sells well in France. If the French like you, then you're doing something wrong.

As a French person, I'm taking offense. Jokes aside, is that true? Is there data showing an international/US American writer succeeding in France but not everywhere else or the contrary?

Some authors prefer to stay completely out of the spotlight, others do the occasional tour or book signing when promoting a new release, and some maintain a strong social media presence with frequent interviews and public appearances. For instance, M.L. Wang comes to mind as someone with a very low online profile. On the other end of the spectrum, you have Brandon Sanderson and perhaps R.F. Kuang, who are both much more publicly known and active. Donna Tartt, I’d say, sits somewhere in between, though she doesn’t publish nearly as often as the others.

My question is: do you have any thoughts or preferences when it comes to this?

Personally, I’ve watched quite a few of Brandon Sanderson’s videos and R.F. Kuang’s interviews. I’ve read their well-written wikipedia pages and seen the "about me" sections on their websites. Lately, though, I’ve started to wonder if I shouldn't have done that, because I feel like I can’t seem to separate the author from the story when read their books, like I can feel their presence right by my shoulder.

For example, while reading Katabasis, I sometimes catch myself thinking, "right, the author is in academia, she’s a historian, has a PhD, studied at Oxford." And when I read Sanderson, I can’t help but picture him or recall moments from his videos, like there would be a scene comes up involving father–son relationships, and my mind goes to "yeah, the author has a son, I know that", or there would be a scene that explore religious patterns (which happens a lot in his books), I would start to think about mormonism.

It’s not something that ruins my reading experience. After about hundred pages into the story, those intrusive thoughts mostly fade away. But still, it’s made me wonder if knowing so much about an author can get in the way of immersing yourself in their work.

What do you think? Am I the only one who feels this way?

We've sold rights in Germany, Spain, Poland and Russia. Not France, yet, but we're working on it, says Brett. But nobody sells well in France. If the French like you, then you're doing something wrong.

As a French person, I'm taking offense. Jokes aside, is that true? Is there data showing an international/US American writer succeeding in France but not everywhere else or the contrary?

I struggle with this a lot 😅, especially after reading a good book very quickly.

I always grapple with wanting to occupy my mind with a book again, but also wanting to let the book I finished roll around in my head a bit.

It almost feels like a betrayal to move on so fast, or maybe i’m scared that the next one I pick up won’t be as good.

But at the same time, if i wait too long i’ll fall into a slump and won’t pick up a book again for a while.

I guess what i’m asking is how do you all deal with a book hangover?