Reader feedback on HASTUR LORD

[deborahjross]

Here, with the permission of the writer, is one of the most touching letters I've received. This is one of the reasons I'm hoping the book will find a readership beyond Darkover fandom. Any help promoting it to other readerships will be appreciated.

I just finished The Hastur Lord.

Deborah, thank you!! As a gay man who has had to live in the closet from much of my early adult life, I wasn't sure how the lives of Regis, Danilo, and Linnea would find their ways to peace, harmony, beauty, and honor. Your caring for these people is more than I could have hoped for. I always loved the way Marion gave primacy of love and honesty, no matter the culture or the perceived taboo. You have honored that tradition and reinforced the power of honesty and honor in love with your own compassion and insight.

Those of us in the Midwest (and other places), who have lived under the harsh lash of religious zeal, ideological repression, and the resulting personal constraint, cherish your ability to portray living honestly, openly, self confidently, at peace with ourselves. We know the cost, the loss, and the gain. And you have not shied away from the struggles to achieve that peace. It is hard won. But you have shown that the determination of caring people like Regis, Danilo, and Linnea (among the long history of others in Marion's pantheon) can make committed lives blend together beautifully, forging a family, while at the same time allowing each to express their own individual truest selves. Thank you for carrying on Marion's vision and for touching me deeply.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

That is lovely. And a very appropriate tribute to what MZB created and you have so beautifully continued.

[equesgal.livejournal.com]

That is amazing...and part of what being I writer is all about: touching others with your story.

[equesgal.livejournal.com]

being a writer...

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

That is a nice letter... :)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful response--how great to have made a difference in someone's life with your story!

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Yes, this particular book was very much in the spirit of what Marion dared to explore in the 1970s. Only updated to be meaningful to today's readers. I am so hoping it will find a readership beyond the established Darkover fandom. A number of readers have said it makes a good introduction to the whole series.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed. I think of all the times a book has helped me through a difficult time, comforted me, inspired me to keep trying. It's so wonderful to know I've been able to do that for someone else!

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I get all kinds of fan mail, mostly positive. Often with suggestions of what the reader would like to see next (some of which are already in the idea-queue "Will the Terrans ever return to Darkover?") and some I really don't think I'll ever tackle. But this letter moved me deeply; it felt like such a personal connection.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

yes, indeed.