In this interview from a few years ago, author Jasper Fforde, who has a new novel coming next year, talks about writing for the fun of it, even when no one reads or comments on anything you’ve sent them.

Of course, one always thinks ‘wouldn’t it be great to be published?’ But I was always thinking ‘oh, it’d be great to be published but it’s not likely, but I’m having fun, so I’m going to write what I want to write.’ So when I did actually speak to people about my project, they thought it was a pile of rubbish.

Lars is not in Norway at the moment, and if you look closely at this image of Nusfjord, Norway . . . you still won’t see him. Now would be a great time to buy his latest book as a vote in favor of seeing another such book come to press.

Amazon.com’s top sellers in fiction at the moment are Stieg Larsson’s novels–all of them, I think–Jonathan Franzen’s latest called Freedom, and something from unknown author Nicholas Sparks. What? You’ve heard of Sparks? Is he any good? (No offense, Mr. Sparks. May I give your shoes another shine?)

Our friend Kit passed along some news I should have been aware of, and wasn’t. They’re filming a new Conan movie, even as I write. Release is planned for 2011.

The most intriguing fact about the production, it appears to me, is the casting of Jason Momoa (of Stargate Atlantis) as Conan. The implications are notable, since Momoa is a man of mixed race, and Howard’s original conception of his hero was… shall we say, not oriented in that direction.

I’m sure there are some who deny this, but the plain fact, as far as I can see, is that Howard was an unashamed racist. His idea of the Cimmerians, Conan’s tribe, was that they were the pure racial ancestors of the Celts (that’s one reason I never cared much for Arnold in the role. He could have at least worn the black wig they finally stuck on James Earl Jones’ head). Some of his stories involving black tribes include pretty condescending language.

I hasten to add that (in my opinion) pre-World War II racism needs to be judged somewhat differently from the modern kind. Many people in that time considered racism the rational extension of Darwinist science, and a lot of the most respectable people subscribed to race theory. Howard’s belief in the superiority of whites was not remarkable in his day, and very likely had no tinge of personal animosity in it. The Nazis had not yet shown up to show us all, in horribly graphic fashion, where such thinking actually leads.

So this casting involves a basic reinvention of the character from the outset. For all I know, it could work.

Still, I’d like to see somebody do Howard’s Conan someday. Hasn’t happened yet.