Deborah J. Ross's Blog, page 109

Margaret L. Carter and Roy Carter on “A Walk in the Mountains” in REALMS OF DARKOVER

Realms of Darkover®, the newest Darkover anthology, will be released in May 2016. You can pre-order it at Amazon (and it will be available at other outlets soon). Here’s a contributor interview to whet your appetite!

Marion Zimmer Bradley’s beloved world of Darkover encompasses many realms, from glacier-shrouded mountains to arid wastelands, from ancient kingdoms to space-faring empires. Now this all-new anthology welcomes old friends and new fans to explore these landscapes of time and place, history and imagination.

Deborah J. Ross: When and why did you begin writing? (And anything else you’d like to share about yourself and your life.)

Margaret L. Carter: After reading Dracula at the age of twelve and becoming enthralled with vampires, horror, fantasy, and “soft” SF, I started writing fiction at age thirteen because I couldn’t find enough stories of the kind I wanted to read. In the early 1960s, my only sources were the public library and whatever paperbacks I came across in local stores. I especially wanted fiction from the viewpoint of the “monster.” I was writing my own “good guy vampire” stories long before they became popular. I eventually earned degrees in English literature through the PhD level, on the premise that as a college instructor I could get paid for reading books. That plan didn’t quite work out, given the post-1970s slump in the academic job market; I spent most of my working life as a part-time legislative editor for the General Assembly of Maryland.

When Les and I met as teenagers in a church group, he was also writing already, mainly science fiction. Our authorial aspirations drew us together. His father had retired from a career in the Navy and settled in Norfolk, Virginia, where I grew up. After getting married, we attended the College of William and Mary. Les became an officer in the Navy after graduation. His Navy career put his writing on hold for several decades. Upon retirement, he returned to it.


DJR: Tell us about your introduction to Darkover. What about the world or its inhabitants drew you in?

MLC: When we got married and merged our book collections, Les happened to own a copy of The Bloody Sun (the original paperback, of course; this was in the mid-1960s, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth). I was fascinated by the hero’s gradual discovery of the truth about his past (one of my favorite fictional tropes). This novel is an excellent introduction to Darkover because the reader learns the secrets of the world along with the protagonist. I had no idea it was part of a series until I discovered other novels later, beginning (I think) with Heritage Of Hastur. After that we both got into it and read all the books. We collaborated on “Carmen’s Flight,” a story in one of the early Darkover anthologies. Les devised the plot, and I did the writing.

DJR: What inspired your story in Realms of Darkover?

MLC: In trying to come up with a plot premise a bit different from most Darkover stories I’ve read, I thought it would be fun to create something that would draw upon Les’s search-and-rescue experience as a member of the Civil Air Patrol for over fifty years. Naturally, this idea suggested a setting in the mountains near St.-Valentine-of-the-Snows, which allowed us to include our favorite dog breed, St. Bernards. We have owned several of them over the years and currently live with our fifth St. Bernard. In the case of this story, I outlined the plot, and Les wrote the first draft, which I then edited.

DJR: What have you written recently? What lies ahead? (feel free to expound on your recent and forthcoming books!)

MLC: Our most recent collaborative novel is Legacy Of Magic, a stand-alone, previous-generation prequel to our “Wild Sorceress” trilogy, of which Les is the primary author. Most people admire sorcerers and aspire to imitate them, but our heroine, Merina, detests magic because she thinks it ruined her mother’s life. Then Merina’s fiancé announces his ambition to become a healer-mage, and she discovers she has latent magical power of her own. . . . My latest solo work is “Crossing the Border,” an erotic romance-horror crossover novella with Lovecraftian elements. I’m working on a next-generation sequel to one of my older works, From The Dark Places, a horror novel with a romance subplot and some Lovecraftian content. The sequel will fall more into the urban fantasy-paranormal romance category rather than straight horror.

Monday Wisdom From William Penn

Look not out, but within… Remember it is a still voice that speaks to us in this day, and that it is not to be heard in the noises and hurries of the mind; but it is distinctly understood in a retired frame.
~ William Penn, 1644-1718, American Quaker and founder of Pennysylvania

Sneak Peek: Kathryn Jordan's FLICKERS

Katharine Kerr, writing as Kathryn Jordan, has a new book out, available from Amazon.com and the publisher.

Flickers turns its lens on California’s glamorous silent film era, as Victorian civilities are swept away by a bold new century.

Here's a delicious tantalizer for your enjoyment:

The female lead in FLICKERS, Violet Winters, is the daughter of a very rich man, a California “robber baron”, during the early years of the Twentieth Century.  She’s her father’s princess. She can have anything she wants, except Jack Sutter, the working class man she truly loves.  In 1913, her family pressures her into marrying the social-climbing Maury Rediston, and as the time for the wedding draws near, members of both families come to join the couple-to-be at Sueño, the Winters’ family estate in Southern California. Some of those family members have troubles of their own . . .

In the afternoon, Violet was sitting out in the shady part of the terrace with Gertie and Jane, gossiping while they drank lemonade. The drowsy warm sun came through the eucalyptus trees and sparkled on the crystal pitcher and glasses of the outside service, that sat on the bentwood ebony serving-cart. From her chair, Violet could see the hills, golden in the sun, and the dark gash of Barranca Grande. While Gertie told a long and pointless story about shopping in downtown San Francisco, Violet found her mind drifting to Jack and his kisses.ASo anyway,@ Gertie finished up. AMama got the gold one, and Mrs. Hearst just loved it, so it was all right.@  She paused, glancing up. AOh, here's Maury, Vi.@Maury walked onto the terrace with a young man strolling after him. The family resemblence was so strong that Violet recognized him as Maury's younger brother, but he was the handsomest man she had ever seen, as different from Maury as a peacock from a hawk. He had dark eyes, wide and deep-set under thick lashes, a soft, sensual mouth, almost feminine, but redeemed by a strong, chiseled jaw. His clothes were beautifully cut, a white flannel suit with a dove-gray vest and tie, and a perfect straw boater, tipped back at just the right angle on his dark hair. Gertie and Jane stared so rudely that Violet feared they=d start giggling.AI'd like you to meet my brother,@Maury said. AFrazier Rediston.@AFrazier?@  The brother gave them all a sunny smile. ADon't let old Maury be his usual stiff-necked self. Call me Tip. Everybody does.@Before Maury could retort, Tip strolled over to Violet's chair. He caught her offered hand, shook it, then leaned down and kissed her soundly on the cheek.AHow do you do, sister of mine?@Tip said, grinning. AIt's bully to finally meet you. You should you should see the mushy letters old Maury's been writing me.@ATip,@ Maury snapped. AWill you--@AShut up, yes I know.@  Tip turned and gave him a lazy smile. AJust family feeling.@Violet rose, too flustered to say a word. AYou live up to the letters by the way,@Tip said.Jane giggled, then stuffed the side of her hand into her mouth to keep the giggles in. Tip made her and Gertie a formal bow.ACharmed, I'm sure,@ Tip said. AEven if Maury's been too rude to introduce us.@Maury opened his mouth, shut it, then cleared his throat loudly. Violet had the feeling that she had walked into the second act of a very long play. So this is my brother-in-law, she thought, oh my lord!#ATrust my brother to draw all the aces,@Tip said.AAnd just what do you mean by that?@Maury said.AWell, she's good-looking as well as rich. Who could ask for anything more?@Maury pointedly returned to his lunch and began to cut a lamb chop into pieces. Tip gave him a good-natured smile, which went unnoticed, and wondered how long it would take Maury to forgive him that scene on the terrace. They were sitting in the dining-room of the Santa Luisa Union Club, where Maury was a prominent member. A lunch time murmur filled the dark, wood-panelled room as important men talked about business in quiet voices. Waiters in white coats moved through the linen shrouded tables and refilled water glasses from crystal pitchers. Tip and Maury's table stood next to a diamond-paned window with a view of a garden.  Hedges defined squares of ranunculas, and little paths led to an ornamental fountain exactly in the middle of the plot. Since this was, after all, a men's club, the fountain featured the statue of an undraped nymph, who looked both startled and embarrassed to be standing in a pool of mossy water.AWhat time is Mother's train due in?@Tip said.ASoon.@  Maury put his fork down. AAt two-oh-five.@AIt'll be bully to see her. Swell of Vi to put her up at the old plantation, huh?@AVery thoughtful, yes. Good god, Tip, your language these days.@            “Yeah, what's wrong with it?@AFor starters, I wish you wouldn't say yeah all the time. It's so vulgar. Yes is a perfectly good word.@AOh boy.@  Tip rolled his eyes heavenward. AAnd aren't we moving up in the old world?  Dad never should have sent you to Harvard, Maury. You've never been the same since.@AJust shut up.@  Maury took his watch out of his vest- pocket and flipped open the case. AWell, we've got time for coffee.@ABully. I mean, how splendid.@Maury scowled, then turned away to signal the waiter. The young waiter, dark-haired and dark-eyed, walked over with an easy, professional grace. While Maury was ordering the coffee, Tip found himself studying the waiter. He  made himself look away and stared out the window until the waiter was gone.AGhastly fountain, isn't it?@ Maury said. AI'm trying to persuade the steering committee to bring Tom Sutter in to do  that garden over.@AWho?@ AThe man who landscaped Sueño. I told you about him.@AOh yeah.@  Tip vaguely remembered. ABully.@AThe grounds out at Sueño really need some attention. Josiah doesn't really give a damn about them as long as they look expensive.@ALucky old Maury -- a wife with a view.@AWill you shut up?@Tip arranged an expression that he hoped was properly servile. The waiter came back with a coffee service on a silver tray. This time, when Tip glanced his way, the waiter caught the glance and smiled, the barest flicker of interest, hastily suppressed. Tip went cold all over and forced himself to pay attention to Maury.ADoing something about the ornamental hedges,@Maury was saying. AThose straight rows are too old-fashioned.@
AYeah?@ Tip wondered which hedges he meant. AFascinating.@

Robin Wayne Bailey on “Sea of Dreams” in REALMS OF DARKOVER

Realms of Darkover®, the newest Darkover anthology, will be released in May 2016. You can pre-order it at Amazon (and it will be available at other outlets soon). Here’s a contributor interview to whet your appetite!

Marion Zimmer Bradley’s beloved world of Darkover encompasses many realms, from glacier-shrouded mountains to arid wastelands, from ancient kingdoms to space-faring empires. Now this all-new anthology welcomes old friends and new fans to explore these landscapes of time and place, history and imagination.

Robin Wayne Bailey is the author of numerous novels, including the Dragonkin trilogy and the Frost series, as well as Shadowdance and the Fritz Leiber-inspired Swords Against The Shadowland.  His short fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies with numerous appearances in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword And Sorceress series and Deborah J. Ross's Lace And Blade volumes. Some of his stories have been collected in two volumes, Turn Left To Tomorrow and The Fantastikon, from Yard Dog Books.  He's a former two-term president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and a founder of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.  He's the co-editor, along with Bryan Thomas Schmidt, of Little Green Men - Attack!
Deborah J. Ross: When and why did you begin writing?Robin Wayne Bailey: It's a cliche for writer to answer this with "When I was a child," but that's pretty much true in my case. I remember writing a poem in third grade -- call it a Hiawatha pastiche, although I wouldn't learn the word "pastiche" for years -- but it impressed the teacher. She made me read it to the class, then to the principal who made me read it before a school assembly, then at a PTA. Then my parents made me read to to relatives. It got to be embarrassing but, on the other hand, I realized, "Hey, an easy road to attention!" So I kept at it with lots of stories and poems.  I started my first novel in what was once called Junior High School, writing a spy novel mostly during study halls.  About sixty pages into it, I turned my back briefly, and somebody stole my work.  In a crazy, utterly dysfunctional family of wildly talented, but self-destructive people, writing became my way of standing out.  Note, I did not say, "staying sane."
DJR: Tell us about your introduction to Darkover. What about the world or its inhabitants drew you in?RWB: Toward the end of high school, already a compulsive science fiction reader, I discovered a book called Darkover Landfall. The idea of a shipload of colonists going off-course and becoming lost to the rest of humanity and having to create their own culture wasn't exactly new to me, but Bradley's handling of it fascinated. I read four or five more Darkover novels after that, but must admit that I eventually drifted away from the series.  But that early paperback edition of Darkover Landfall, now signed by Marion, still resides in an honored spot on my bookshelves.
DJR: What do you see as the future of Darkover? Is there another story you would particularly like to write?RWB: This is a tough question. I'm totally delighted that Darkover has been revitalized with new anthologies and new novels from Deborah J. Ross.  It's a unique world and a unique creation. But I don't want to see it locked in amber, static and unchanging.  Marion, herself, wrote of Darkover as a dynamic place that over its history underwent sweeping social changes. Personally, I want to see more of that dynamism.  The Comyn need to fall; their rigid control of matrix crystals and the attendant technology needs to end. The laran abilities need to spread among the general population, and Darkover needs to begin playing a more dominant and perhaps dangerous role in the Federation/Empire. Yes, this would bring a certain cultural chaos and lots of uncertainty, but stories arise from that chaos and uncertainty.
DJR: What inspired your story in Realms of Darkover?RWB: The concept I just described has actually been the quiet force behind each of my Darkover stories.  In "The Ridenow Nightmare," I told of the appearance of an unborn child whose laran powers may dwarf anything ever seen among the Comyn and the protective parents who refuse to cooperate with the Towers. Here, in this child, is a potential serious threat to the "natural order" on Darkover.  In my second story, "Renegades of Darkover," I introduce the Cieloslibertat, which may be a rebel movement - or an idea in the mind of a mad man - to bring an end to the Comyn.  Now, in "Sea of Dreams," I've introduced a seedy, criminal underground that operates and thrives on its own terms and who largely regard the Comyn as irrelevant to the lives of ordinary Darkovan lives. If I continue to write stories about Darkover, I'm likely to keep exploring this concept of Darkover as a rougher, tougher and increasingly less structured society, a place full of simmering discontent just waiting to explode.
DJR: What have you written recently? What lies ahead?RWB: For now, I plan to continue writing short stories. I enjoy writing novels, but I just feel that I'm taking a break from them. I enjoy the versatility of the short story, the chance to explore a far wider variety of themes and styles.  I've got a hard science fiction story called "Tombaugh Station" just out in November in Mission: Tomorrow, edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt from Baen Books, as well as a more lyrical fantasy piece called "The Sea Witches" in Sword & Sorceress 30.  There are other stories coming out recently or over the next handful of months, each very different. And I'm putting the finishing touches on Little Green Men - Attack! an anthology of humorous science fiction I'm editing with Bryan Thomas Schmidt for Baen Books. And of course, a novel is in the queue. Several novels, in fact.  But everything in its own time

Monday Wisdom From Harriet Beecher Stowe

When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you...never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

Wishing you fortitude for whatever you are struggling with this week.

Revision -- A Path to Better Writing or an Excuse to Never Finish?

“What's new?” I asked my friend, a young(er) writer.

“I finished my book!” she said radiating both relief and excitement.

“Finished, how? Finished, as in rough draft? Revision? Ready to send to your critique group?”

“This is like the eighth revision,” she said. “My group has seen it, in whole or part, many times.” She rolled her eyes. “I was at the point where the only thing to fix were nits, so it was clear that I needed to send it out.”

Although my friend has yet to sell a novel, she has several quite respectable short fiction sales to her credit. More than that, she has acquired an understanding of when revision is helpful and when it is detrimental. In our subsequent discussion, she pointed out that she is a “pantser” (“writing by the seat of your pants”) rather than a planner. With time, she has become better at planning out a writing project, but she still likes the spontaneity of letting the story unfold in unexpected and delightful directions. Hence the need for multiple revisions.

I was like this when I began writing. I had no idea that people outlined stories. When a fellow writer told me that she outlined each scene on a 3 x 5 card before she actually started writing the story, I didn't know what to think. I would just start writing with no idea where the story was going to take me. As a consequence, my stories were riddled with plot holes, inconsistencies, and dead ends.

I had to learn to revise as a matter of survival. I don’t mean tidying up grammar and punctuation. I mean taking apart large portions of the story, writing new text, rearranging other portions, and so forth, until the final version bore little resemblance to my rough draft. Computers have made this much easier than having to retype the whole thing!

Because I often have difficulty discerning the proper point at which to begin a story, in my early years I often had to either add one or more chapters or throw them out. Once I had to discard the first 150 pages of text. It was a good thing that I took to heart the advice to kill my darlings, or I would never have been able to do that and the story might have ended up in a trunk instead of a bookstore shelf.
As I wrote, and later sold, short story after short story and then several novels, my revision process became abbreviated. I learned the literary equivalent of looking before I leaped. I developed my own methods of writing down the structure of a work, either in progress or yet to be started. I say writing down rather than outlining because many of my early techniques involved sketches, maps, diagrams, and flow charts. Later I used text as well, although writing down the contents of each chapter before I have written it has never appealed to me. It takes the fun out of discovering what happens next.

Outlining, in whatever form, reduced the number of drafts, but did not eliminate the need for revision. I often joke that whatever I think a story is about before I start writing it, I'm wrong. No matter how fully developed an idea seems while it is still in my mind, I always find new aspects and connections that I did not know existed. Over time, my process of revision has changed from major reconstruction to deepening connections. Sometimes it feels as if I am Michelangelo, chipping away at that block of marble to reveal the statue that is already inside.

Revision, as indicated in the title of this piece, can also be an excuse not send a story out into the world, where it may be rejected. It is all too easy for a fearful or insecure writer to keep polishing until there is no life left in the story. As long as he can say, “I'm still working on it,” he doesn't risk the possibility of being told by an agent, editor, or critique group that this story does not work. We have all heard of novice writers who spend years, sometimes decades, on a single book. While it is true that some stories take a long time to coalesce, that's not what I'm talking about. I had to write about a dozen books (depending on how you count them) before one was finally solid enough to be to make a publishable novel. And that one, I revised four times before I submitted it to an editor. While previous attempts contained many intriguing concepts and even some respectable prose, I was not yet sufficiently experienced to bring them together in a cohesive way. This is why I almost never tried to revise them many years later. The central core of these attempt unsuccessful novels reflected who I was as a writer at that time. As I matured, I was able to tackle more ambitious themes, more complex characters, more challenging points of view, and so forth.

Occasionally, a story would present itself in those early years before I was skillful enough to do it justice.These drafts and fragments have become a treasure trove into which I dip from time to time. I am able to view my earlier attempts with a more critical eye and to extract what can be salvaged and reworked, often in a new framework, to the standards of my current ability. I should add that these older nuggets face fierce competition from the new ideas that present themselves to me on a daily basis. Like most writers I know, I am not lacking in ideas. To the contrary, I have so many that I must pick and choose which ones will yield the most rewarding results. I doubt I will ever come to the end of my queue of ideas story ideas. The challenge is, as it has always been, to prioritize.

Revision has taught me how to take a story, prune and discard elements that don't work, and flesh out elements the take the work in a deeper, richer direction. At the same time, it has given me a better sense of what stories are worth the energy and time. When I was a beginning writer, every story was the greatest thing I had ever written. This was absolutely true. I was improving all the time, so each story was indeed the best I had written to date. Decades later, however, I have written my share of flops, experiments that did not pan out, and just plain awful writing, not to mention ideas that seemed brilliant at the time but which history has proved wrong. So now when I consider potential projects, I keep in mind that some will succeed better than others. I never want to stay completely in the realm of safe, proven writing strategies, and I’m much more likely to dig into a story that challenges me.

My current process is that once I finish a first draft, I take another pass through it while the way the story has come together at the end is still fresh in my mind. Then I set it aside and distract myself by working on something else. Early in my career, I wrapped the typed manuscript in plastic and put it in the freezer “to cool off.” Computers and experience have eliminated the necessity, but not the humor. Then I’ll do another pass, usually a fairly substantial one. At this point, the story is ready for someone else to see it, usually a trusted reader and then my editor.

Everyone has a different way of revising. Just as it is a joy to some (me) and agony to others, so we approach this re-envisioning as individuals. We have different “signals” that tell us we are about to outrun our inner guides, or our workshop mates are reduced to pointing out typos instead of errors of substance. I find it endlessly fascinating to “talk shop” with other writers, even if I come away grateful that I get to do things my way...and they get to do things theirs. As long as it works, the details don’t matter.

As a dear friend who is also a fantastic writer said, “The only draft that matters is the one on the editor’s desk.”



So however you get there, shove that story out the door and dive into the next — better -- one!

Barb Caffrey On Writing Fiona n'ha Gorsali…and Her Family, in REALMS OF DARKOVER

Realms of Darkover®, the newest Darkover anthology, will be released in May 2016. You can pre-order it at Amazon (and it will be available at other outlets soon). Here’s a contributor interview to whet your appetite!

Marion Zimmer Bradley’s beloved world of Darkover encompasses many realms, from glacier-shrouded mountains to arid wastelands, from ancient kingdoms to space-faring empires. Now this all-new anthology welcomes old friends and new fans to explore these landscapes of time and place, history and imagination.

When Deborah J. Ross, esteemed editor of Realms Of Darkover, asked me a few interview questions, I asked her a question in return: "Could I write my answers in conversational style instead?" She told me to go for it, thus, here I am.

I'm thrilled to talk about my character Fiona n'ha Gorsali. She's the most powerful judge Darkover has ever had, and was introduced briefly by Marion Zimmer Bradley herself in The Shattered Chain. MZB introduced Fiona as a judge on the powerful Courts of Arbitration, and gave a brief description—tall, thin, grey-haired, and well-dressed.

When I sat down to write a story for Stars Of Darkover, I decided early on that I wanted to find out more about Fiona. What had happened to put her on the Courts of Arbitration in the first place? So I wrote "At the Crossroads," that showed how Fiona was able to forge a consensus with highborn, lowborn, and Terranan included. Surely something that unusual would warrant that remarkable individual being placed on the Courts of Arbitration, Renunciate or no…and so it transpired.

Then, when Gifts Of Darkover came around, I decided to write about Fiona's parents in "A Problem of Punishment." I knew her mother's name was Gorsali, and that she was a Renunciate; I figured that Fiona's father must've been a judge before her. But who was this man, Dominic macAnndra? As he hazily introduced himself, I found a man of courage and conviction—and also a man who fell in love at first sight, during a conflict, with his eventual freemate (wife), Gorsali.

So, thus far, I'd written about Fiona as a capable, full-fledged adult, and I'd written about her parents. What was left to write about?

Simple: I figured I'd write about her unusual childhood, next.

That's how the story included in the forthcoming Realms Of Darkover, "Fiona, Court Clerk in Training," came to be. In this story, Fiona is only thirteen, and wants to become a judge more than anything. But the first step in becoming a judge on Darkover is to become a court clerk, and she needs access to scholarly records held at Nevarsin before she can take the test. (And obviously, that test can't be administered by her father, the local circuit court judge, either.) So what's to do?

Obviously, keeping Fiona from her heart's desire wasn't in the cards. But making it too easy wouldn't make any sense, either. On Darkover, it's very unusual to have a girl interested in any career outside the Guild House, and being a judge doesn't normally factor into the equation. Besides, even though everyone in the Nevarsin Guild House knows Fiona is destined to come there someday, no one's quite sure if Fiona can become a judge or not.

Still, Fiona is a remarkable young lady. She's studious, extremely intelligent, stubborn, but also a dutiful daughter who wants more than anything to please her beloved father—and not to get on her mother's nerves in the process. If anyone can do it, she can…but how could I do this and remain faithful to Darkover canon?

What I decided on was this: the head of the Nevarsin Guild House, Kestra n'ha Piedra—whom we met during the second story, "A Problem of Punishment"—would be involved in the decision-making process. And that another family, cousins of Dominic's that Fiona's never met before, would come to visit…also another judge, who can test Fiona for the court clerk's position.

So, that's why I wrote "Fiona, Court Clerk in Training." I had fun with the story, and I enjoyed meeting Fiona as a spunky thirteen-year-old.

As to what else I have going on at the moment? Well, A Little Elfy In Big Trouble came out in late November of 2015…it's the second novel of the Elfy duology, and my second novel overall. I have a sequel planned going under the name "An Elfy Abroad"—actually, it's going to be a trilogy—but I don't know when it'll be coming out. (Late 2017, perhaps. Or maybe even into 2018.)

As for what lies ahead? I hope I'll get a chance to write another story for the next Darkovan anthology, of course! I even have a subject all lined up…Fiona on what amounts to a judicial internship, far away from her family, at the ripe old age of twenty or so.

But as far as non-Darkovan pursuits, what I'm trying to finish now is my transgender fantasy-romance Changing Faces, which is due out later in 2016. Providing I can wrestle that story into submission, I'll next take up a prequel story in my late husband Michael's alternate history/fantasy universe, "The Quest for Columba." And I have a couple of military science fiction stories rattling around in my head, too, set in my husband's Atlantean Union universe…along with two other potential novels and one other novella. (Though my stories tend to grow like weeds, once I prune them back, they usually make some sort of logical sense. At least, such is the hope.)

The last question Ms. Ross asked is this: "What is the future of Darkover?"

Personally, I think the future of Darkover is extremely bright. MZB left behind a huge, sprawling canvas to work with, and there's so much left to explore that it boggles the mind. Ms. Ross herself has added greatly to the oeuvre, which is why it's such a blast working with her as an editor…all I can say is, "Long live Darkover!"

Monday Wisdom From Martha Washington

The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not our circumstances.

Marella Sands on “Impossible Things” in REALMS OF DARKOVER

Realms of Darkover®, the newest Darkover anthology, will be released in May 2016. You can pre-order it at Amazon (and it will be available at other outlets soon). Here’s a contributor interview to whet your appetite!

Marion Zimmer Bradley’s beloved world of Darkover encompasses many realms, from glacier-shrouded mountains to arid wastelands, from ancient kingdoms to space-faring empires. Now this all-new anthology welcomes old friends and new fans to explore these landscapes of time and place, history and imagination.

Marella Sands says she was born in a yurt on a windswept plain in Outer Mongolia (thereby preparing her to write stories set in the Hellers), but one especially frigid winter convinced her to move somewhere she could enjoy central heating. These days, she spends her time teaching, traveling, and enjoying life with her husband and pets. She has recently become a fan of cricket and is in giddy anticipation of the next T20 World Cup, which will be held in India in 2016. Besides writing stories for Darkover anthologies, she has three books out from Word Posse, the most recent of which was Restless Bones, an anthology of dark fantasy and horror.
Deborah J. Ross: When and why did you begin writing? Marella Sands: I was always writing things. Even when I was in trouble as a little kid, I'd write my mother notes about why I was angry and slip them under the door. Writing was always the most natural way for me to express myself. Reading was also something I took to quite early on. My mother said she never tried to teach me to read; it was just always something I seemed driven to do. It took me until I was 22 to realize that someone might actually pay me to write, and that the things I'd been doing during my down-time might be worth something (they weren't, actually). It took several more years and a lot of horrible manuscripts before I managed to acquire enough skill at storytelling to start selling my work.
DJR:  Tell us about your introduction to Darkover. What about the world or its
inhabitants drew you in? MS: I think my dad had a used copy of Hawkmistress, and after he read it, I did. I loved it. From there, I read all the Darkover novels I could get my hands on, but I was always a little disappointed that the Ages of Chaos seemed to be ignored.
DJR: What do you see as the future of Darkover? Is there another story you
would particularly like to write? MS: I want to know more about the first Tower Leepers! Even by the events in Stormqueen!, the Towers have been around long enough to have established protocols and rules. Lake Hali is already full of not-clouds, and bonedust and clingfire, though difficult to create, are common enough. But who established the rules? Who invented bonedust? Who decided where to build the Towers? How were they built? Ask me to write another story and that's probably where I'll go.
DJR: What inspired your story in Realms of Darkover? MS: I have at least one friend who *hates* origin stories, but I love them. I always want to know how things get started; in fact, I've said I'd love to be a fly on the wall of the committee meeting where everyone agreed that killing people at age 21 in "Logan's Run" was a fantastic idea. (I know that in the movie, the age was 30, but it was 21 in the book.) Who proposed that? Who snapped their fingers and said "THAT's the key component we were missing in our utopia - slaughtering 21-year-olds!" For Darkover, I've always wanted to know more about the breeding programs, the building of the Towers, the development of bonedust, etc. For "Impossible Tasks," I felt that, even if Saint Valentine started a monastery, there was no reason the project couldn't have been interrupted for a generation or two during the Ages of Chaos. And as for the rumor that there was a cave somewhere above the monastery where a body lay that was presumed to be the saint himself, well, sometimes those kinds of things get a little messy if you know the real history. So, whose body is really in that cave? What person or persons got the project up and running again? What were their lives like? What brought them to Nevarsin? Here was my chance to find out.
DJR:  What have you written recently? What lies ahead? MS: My most recent release was "Restless Bones," an anthology of horror and dark fantasy stories. I've always liked reading that type of story but hadn't delved into writing much of it. But this year, it seemed I had a lot of stories to tell that were pretty dark. I don't know why that is; my life is going pretty good right now. Maybe that's the key, though - I'm not sure I really want to write dark things when my mood is also dark. I would like to expand a book that *almost* landed me an agent some years ago (he said he couldn't put it down, but he didn't take it on). I've been debating since then what, if anything, I should change, and I think I've come upon something the MS was missing that I'd really like to see in there. After that, I'd like to tackle the horror genre again, but this time in novel-length form.

Monday Wisdom From Louisa May Alcott

I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.

Seek resilience and resourcefulness, not insulation.