OMGosh! I can't believe it!
Two days ago, having finally located the online presence of the folk with whom I used to hang around the USENET group alt.books.deryni, I got caught up on what had been going on since 2003, when I moved and changed internet accounts and lost contact with them.
Among other things, I discovered that CODEX DERYNIANUS, originally a limited numbered hardback edition published in 1998, had been updated and published in trade paperback format in 2005. I immediately went to Amazon.com and ordered it, along with the updated edition of DERYNI RISING. They arrived today, despite my having choses standard shipping. I wasn't expecting to see them until next week! Thanks Amazon!
But what I'm really gobsmacked about is that in the new preface, thanks is given to readers of the original codex who sent in suggestions and commentary on the contents... and I began to read dearly familiar names that I have missed while my real life took precedence over my fannish activities. Dom Aelred, Tony Ahrens, Donna Beard, Robb Belak, Matt Cushing, Felan, Debnor, Sid Gale, Anuj Goel, Celia Grey, Keith Glaeske, Joyce Haslam, Dennis Higbee, Melissa Houle, Roberta Johnson, Kyri, P. Winslowe Lacesso, Donald Lantzke, Anne Leckie, Julie Lim, Lisa E., John McLaughlin, Snuffybear, Pat Nolan (and Thumper too), Artemis OakGrove, Brom O'Berin, A. Leigh Ann Paige, Russ Paris, Lori Perrlt, Martin Pilkington, Andrew Priestley, Irina Rempt, Sianny Schira, Carolyn and Mark Shilts, Steven H. Silver, Julie Stampnitzky, Linda Stuckenschneider-Epstein,Tony Sydor, Julianne Toomey, Tim Underwood, Sara VanLooy, Susan Werner, and Robert A. Woodward....
And among those names I found mine.
I'd forgotten that I'd emailed my thoughts and comments and a couple of minor errata to Katherine Kurtz and Robert Reginald about the CODEX after I'd read through it the first time. :) So it was a real surprise to see my name in the new preface!
As I've begun to catch up on the Deryni forums at www.rhemuthcastle.com I've learned some sad news too. Pat Nolan passed on last year, and just this past May, Susan Werner also went beyond the veil unexpectedly. This is the one thing I hate about aging... having to say farewell to the people who brightened my life with their experience and joy in the same things that I love. But I'm 48 years old now and people who mentored me when I was in my twenties are in their sixties and later now.
It's sobering to think that I am in that position for a few young people now, mentoring them in LOTR fanfic, and that one day they'll get the word that I have crossed the circles of Arda for what lies beyond. But in the meantime, I'm so very glad that over the years I've been able to learn from and appreciate the brilliance of so many stellar people whom I've encountered in my life.
And it's kind of humbling to think that after I'm gone, someone might pick up a copy of CODEX DERYNIANUS and see my name listed there as having contributed to it in a tiny way.
Among other things, I discovered that CODEX DERYNIANUS, originally a limited numbered hardback edition published in 1998, had been updated and published in trade paperback format in 2005. I immediately went to Amazon.com and ordered it, along with the updated edition of DERYNI RISING. They arrived today, despite my having choses standard shipping. I wasn't expecting to see them until next week! Thanks Amazon!
But what I'm really gobsmacked about is that in the new preface, thanks is given to readers of the original codex who sent in suggestions and commentary on the contents... and I began to read dearly familiar names that I have missed while my real life took precedence over my fannish activities. Dom Aelred, Tony Ahrens, Donna Beard, Robb Belak, Matt Cushing, Felan, Debnor, Sid Gale, Anuj Goel, Celia Grey, Keith Glaeske, Joyce Haslam, Dennis Higbee, Melissa Houle, Roberta Johnson, Kyri, P. Winslowe Lacesso, Donald Lantzke, Anne Leckie, Julie Lim, Lisa E., John McLaughlin, Snuffybear, Pat Nolan (and Thumper too), Artemis OakGrove, Brom O'Berin, A. Leigh Ann Paige, Russ Paris, Lori Perrlt, Martin Pilkington, Andrew Priestley, Irina Rempt, Sianny Schira, Carolyn and Mark Shilts, Steven H. Silver, Julie Stampnitzky, Linda Stuckenschneider-Epstein,Tony Sydor, Julianne Toomey, Tim Underwood, Sara VanLooy, Susan Werner, and Robert A. Woodward....
And among those names I found mine.
I'd forgotten that I'd emailed my thoughts and comments and a couple of minor errata to Katherine Kurtz and Robert Reginald about the CODEX after I'd read through it the first time. :) So it was a real surprise to see my name in the new preface!
As I've begun to catch up on the Deryni forums at www.rhemuthcastle.com I've learned some sad news too. Pat Nolan passed on last year, and just this past May, Susan Werner also went beyond the veil unexpectedly. This is the one thing I hate about aging... having to say farewell to the people who brightened my life with their experience and joy in the same things that I love. But I'm 48 years old now and people who mentored me when I was in my twenties are in their sixties and later now.
It's sobering to think that I am in that position for a few young people now, mentoring them in LOTR fanfic, and that one day they'll get the word that I have crossed the circles of Arda for what lies beyond. But in the meantime, I'm so very glad that over the years I've been able to learn from and appreciate the brilliance of so many stellar people whom I've encountered in my life.
And it's kind of humbling to think that after I'm gone, someone might pick up a copy of CODEX DERYNIANUS and see my name listed there as having contributed to it in a tiny way.