deborahjross: (Default)
 This year, I'm co-editing Sword and Sorceress, along with Elisabeth Waters, who has done it single-handedly for lo, these many years. This is the 33rd volume -- incredibly special because my first professional sale was to the very first volume! The lineup is now complete and here it is for your delight:

SWORD AND SORCERESS 33 TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

WRESTLING THE OCEAN

by Pauline J. Alama                                   

HAUNTED BOOK NOOK

by Margaret L. Carter                                

THE HOOD AND THE WOOD

by Lorie Calkins                              

SINGING TO STONE

by Catherine Mintz                        

THE RIVER LADY’S PALE HANDS

by M. P. Ericson                  

LIN’S HOARD

by Deirdre M. Murphy                               

THE CITADEL IN THE ICE

by Dave Smeds

ALL IN A NAME

by Jessie D. Eaker                                       

DEATH EVERLASTING

by Jonathan Shipley                                  

BALANCING ACT

by Marella Sands                            

FIRST ACT OF SAINT BASTARD

by T. R. North

THE FALLEN MAN

by Deborah J. Ross             

A FAMILIAR’S PREDICAMENT

by Jane Lindskold  

THE SECRET ARMY

by Jennifer Linnea                         

COMING HOME TO ROOST

by L. S. Patton                     

FROM THE MOUTHS OF SERPENTS

by Evey Brett           

MAGIC WORDS

by Alisa Cohen                                                        

CHARMING

 by Melissa Mead    

 


deborahjross: (Default)

Realms of Darkover, an anthology of short fiction including stories by Diana L. Paxson, Robin Wayne Bailey, Shariann Lewitt, Barb Caffrey and other wonderful authors, is set for a May 2016 release. In case you can't wait that long, here is a "sneak peak" at the cover by Dave Smeds.


In the future, I'll be posting a Table of Contents and interviews with the authors. Stay tuned!



deborahjross: (hands)
Tanith Lee, one of the greatest writers of fantasy, died recently. I "came of age" in my own fantasy career reading her marvelous stories (even though we were born the same year) and had the delight of editing several of her short stories and in the process becoming friends. Many writers and readers have posted tributes to her. Here is a bit of my own story, originally written as part of a "behind the scenes" series for The Feathered Edge: Tales of Magic, Love, and Daring, which contained the third of the Tanith Lee stories I was privileged to edit.


What is there to say about editing a Tanith Lee story? You sit there, holding the typewritten manuscript that she sent you, and something in your brain turns itself into total fangirl jelly. But you already knew that.

To begin with, the first Tanith Lee story I worked on was for Lace and Blade (2008). She'd agreed to submit a story in the very early planning stages of that project, before I came onboard as editor. And it was my first gig as editor. Over the years, I'd worked with a bunch of different editors and had ideas about what worked for me, what didn't, and how I wanted to interact with writers "from the other side of the desk."  After years of participating in writer's workshops and teaching adult education classes in writing, I was all set to instruct and guide.

None of this prepared me for the experience of holding in my hands an original typewritten Tanith Lee manuscript.

The first, and most important thing, I had to do was to take off my fangirl hat and my fellow-writer hat, and affix my editor hat firmly to my head. This involved an excruciating change of gears. I made mistakes. Of course, I made mistakes. (And I learned how to clean them up.) I wasn't born knowing how to edit, let alone how to edit iconic authors in whose shadows I have long stood. Tanith herself encouraged me. She wrote to me, "On editing though - like writing, I feel strongly one must do what one feels is right. In me, of course, you run into an old war-horse, 40 years in the field, covered in armour and neighing like a trumpet." Which was a most gracious way of acknowledging that the relationship between an author and an editor is an organic process that, when at its best, is rooted in clear communication, deep listening, and respect. Not intimidation (in either direction), but a partnership in which both people have the same goal -- to make the story the best representation of the author's vision.

By the time I received, "Question A Stone," Tanith and I had evolved out a procedure that worked for both of us. It began with her sending me a typewritten manuscript. In a 1998 interview, she said, "I have to write longhand, and no one can read my writing, I have to type my own manuscripts, because I'm going almost in a zigzag, across and then down. (I don't write backwards, I've never been able to do that!) I used to throw away my holograph manuscripts after I'd typed them, but I'm keeping a lot of them now, because I'm starting to think, if anyone ever is interested in me after I'm dead, they can look and see, 'My god, this woman was a maniac!'" 

I'd tried scanning Tanith's pages into a digital file, but all the handwritten corrections and irregularities of type, not to mention the paper being British-sized rather than American-sized, meant the result required an enormous amount of line-by-line clean-up. So I transcribed it (and then printed it out and sent her a copy for review, which amounts to a preview of proof pages.) I've heard this technique suggested for beginning writers -- type out pages from the published works of your favorite authors, to get an inside look at how the story is put together, how the prose works, all the details you miss when you read; the action of typing (or writing out the passages longhand) engages your brain in a different way. Transcribing Tanith's manuscripts taught me an immeasurable amount about how she crafts her prose and weaves together the details of character, setting, dialog, plot, the works.

On the computer print-out, I highlighted anything I had questions about, she caught my typos, I caught hers, and what she sent back was ready to go in the final anthology line-up.

"Question A Stone" involves two superb and very sexy swordsmen who, through a twist of circumstances, find themselves committed to fighting a duel to the death, despite having fallen in love with one another. Their swords, being magical, have other ideas. The whole adventure takes place in an inn called The Chameleon's Arms, a delight suggested by Tanith's husband, John Kaiine.

o0o

"Forgive me that I must interrupt your meal," said Andreis, as he stopped beside the table. "But unfortunately you and I have something to discuss."

Talzen looked up at him in dreary self-annoyance. Which with a flick of expression sometimes bewildering to others, he changed to the lightest arrogance. "Pray sit. Have some wine. It's from Khavalisc. The l8th Year."

Andreis raised an eyebrow. "That won't be necessary. But I will sit." He sat.

Was ever such male grace surpassed?

Damnation, thought Talzen.

"Perhaps an apple then? They're at perfect ripeness."

"Forgive me again," said Andreis, who had too quite a wonderful voice, "but I dislike to share food or drink with anyone I shall presently kill."
deborahjross: (dolomites)

On a wondrous planet of telepaths and swordsmen, nonhumans and ancient mysteries, a technologically advanced, star-faring civilization comes into inevitable conflict with one that has pursued psychic gifts and turned away from weapons of mass destruction. Darkover offers many gifts, asked for and unexpected. Those who come here, ignorant of what they will find, discover gifts outside themselves and within themselves. The door to magic swings both ways, however, and many a visitor leaves the people he encounters equally transformed. Gifts of Darkover will be released May 5, 2015, and is now available for pre-order.



Jane M. H. Bigelow talks about her story, “Healing Pain.”  

 

So many different things drew me into the world of Darkover that it’s hard to decide what came first. I think I may have started with The Spell Sword; I know I read it early on, and Andrew Carr’s adventures make  a wonderful introduction to the world. The rich detail of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s world, the fascinating paranormal powers that some people there had, the clash of cultures between Darkovan and Terran societies: I loved it all. I first found the books when I was working at a back-office job in a brokerage, and Darkover had the excitement and big questions that my daily life noticeably lacked. Life’s become more interesting since then, but I’m still hooked on Darkover.
That cultural clash inspired my story. What happens when someone wants the best of both worlds, not just for themselves, but for their people? Taniquel’s father might have lived if the people around him had been able to combine Terran and Darkovan medical knowledge instead of each fearing and discounting the other’s resources. Taniquel also must deal with a question that transcends cultures: How do you rebel effectively against people who genuinely, but mistakenly, believe that they have your best interests at heart? People whom you respect, like, and even love?

I’m currently writing a short story about a young alien attempting to study earth culture in the middle of Denver, where I live. His attention to earth’s art and architecture reveals some surprising details of his own civilization’s history. Leaping several millennia here, I’ve done a short historical fiction piece set in Egypt’s Middle Kingdom just as the Kingdom begins to disintegrate. It’s for a still-untitled anthology created by the Egyptian Study Society; it should be published sometime this summer. There are also a couple of ideas that I thought were short stories but stubbornly refuse to stay within that length.

Speaking of novels, I’m revising a fantasy novel set in an alternate Bronze Age world where magic works, and both deities and donkeys may speak to people if it pleases them to do so. Layla’s a former gem thief turned jeweler. She had meant to leave politics, magic and love behind when she left Tzakende for the great trade city of Issrandar. Both her friends and her enemies have other plans. It’s one thing to fight the machinations of her old enemies the Exemplars of Order. When friends need help, Layla finds she can’t turn them down. An earlier book set in the Thilassthian Empire, Talisman, came out through Pronghorn Press. It’s currently available through Smashwords. 

There are certainly other Darkover stories that I’d like to write. They’re still more concepts than stories, but here are a couple.


I’ve always wondered why no one skis there. Wouldn’t cross-country skis be a useful way to travel the less mountainous areas, especially if you wanted to go quietly for your own private reasons?
Another idea begins when a Terran woman working at the spaceport attends a cross-cultural event in Thendara. She politely assures one of the few Comyn ladies present that the Terran’s mother does perfectly well without her, as the mother has nine other children to raise, and the eldest are old enough to be of help. How does the Comynara react? Is this a comedy or a drama, I wonder?

 

Jane M. H. Bigelow had her first professional publication in Free Amazons of Darkover. She has always been interested in history and in fantasy; Darkover fit her interests so perfectly that she no longer remembers just when she started reading about it. She says it’s wonderful to play in Marion’s sandbox again. Jane has published a fantasy novel, Talisman, as well as short stories and short nonfiction on such topics as gardening in Ancient Egypt.

 


deborahjross: (croning)
Here's the beautiful cover, designed by Dave Smeds:



Table of Contents:

Introduction: Darkover, An Evolving World, by Deborah J. Ross (editor)

Learning to Breathe Snow, by Rosemary Edghill and RebeccaFox

Healing Pain, by Jane M. H. Bigelow

Blood-kin, by Diana L. Paxson

The Tower, by Jeremy Erman

Stonefell Gift, by Marella Sands

Compensation, by Leslie Fish

Green Is The Color Of Her Eyes So Blue, by DeborahMillitello

Renegades of Darkover, by Robin Wayne Bailey

Memory, by Shariann Lewitt

A Problem of Punishment, by Barb Caffrey

Hidden Gifts, by Margaret L. Carter

Climbing to the Moons, by Ty Nolan

Profile

deborahjross: (Default)
Deborah J. Ross

November 2020

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 11th, 2025 09:42 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios