So Facebook asks me, What have you been up to? Answer: tearing my house apart. Were down to two here, once more, and so were remodeling big time, with many rooms - even the garage and cellar - involved. Part of that is better organizing the inventory for RASalvaStore (and Im happy to have those shelves full of books away from my car! During the reorganization, my assistant and I have been going through the books (an impromptu inventory) and its brought back so many wonderful memories, particularly regarding the Rare and Out of Print versions. It occurs to me that many of my readers dont even know about many of these old books, and so now Ive decided to do some posts to give insight and information on many of my works. Perhaps this is for COLLECTORS, RESELLERS, or COMPLETIONISTS (nice new word, eh? You know what I mean!), then. Let me start with Tales from Tethedril. (Be honest, how many of you said, Huh?) Tales from Tethedril is an anthology for an open world I created with the seminal story, Gods Law. The anthology was a bit of an experiment and a lot of fun, for the only real guidance we gave to the other authors who joined in was that story. Take it from there and have some fun. Those were the marching orders. The anthology was the idea of my then-agent and still-friend, Scott Siegel. In 1997, TSR had floundered and Wizards of the Coast was trying to pick up the pieces. Scott represented many of the authors, and others were friends of both of us who were, because of circumstance, between jobs, so to speak. So we put together Tales from Tethedril. I wrote the short story and sent it to some of my favorite authors (I think youll recognize the names). Doug Niles wrote Ice Magic. Dougs book, Darkwalker on Moonshae, was my introduction to the Forgotten Realms, and the reason I was so thrilled to get into the world. Love that book, and so many other books Doug has done, in the Realms, in Dragonlance, and in worlds of his own making. Dan Parkinson wrote Family Tree. I was the least familiar with Dans work, as he was mostly in Dragonlance (and many of his own books. Scott was his agent and told me hed be a great addition. Yup, cant argue that. After reading his story, I went back and read his Dwarven Nations books for Dragonlance. So see, in my own anthology, i found a new writer to follow! Nick ODonohoe wrote The Lazy Man. I was thrilled that Nick joined in the anthology. I rank his books The Magic and The Healing and Under the Healing Sign (TSRs independent fiction line) as two of the most entertaining novels Ive ever read. Love his work. Nick had stayed at my house earlier in the 90s,a s he was doing a booksigning in the area and so Diane and I got to know him away from the business. Good guy, fantastic writer. Ive lost touch with him these last (too-many) years. I hope hes well! Some guy named Ed Greenwood wrote The Sword of Dreams. Seriously, Ed is one of my favorite short story writers (Elminster at Mage Fair - enough said). How could I do an open world anthology and not demand that Ed be involved? He lets me play in his sandbox, after all! Christie Golden wrote The Ultimate Weapon. What can I say about Christie? Vampire of the Mists remains one of my favorite Realms/Ravenloft titles, and Jandar Sunstar kicks serious butt. Shes continued on with NY Times bestseller after bestseller, now writing in Azeroth (World of Warcraft novels). She can flat out tell a story. May H. Herbert wrote Blood of the Lamb. Another star from TSRs independent line (her Dark Horse books are wonderful), Scott and I were high-fiving when Mary agreed to participate. Scott describes her writing as elegant in the forward of Tales from Tethedril. Yup, thats about right. Mary Kirchoff wrote The Greatest Gift. Let me think...how much fun was it for me to be Marys editor (kind of)? Hehe, you see, Mary is the editor who pulled me out of the slush pile in 1987 and asked me to audition for the 2nd Forgotten Realms book (following Doug Niles). To this day, she remains a dear, dear friend - but none of that is why she was asked (begged) to be in this anthology. Go read Kendermore from the Dragonlance series and youll understand. If you arent laughing out loud as Tasslehoff et al hunt for the last talking woolly mammoth, go see your doctor, because youre very likely dead. And closing it all out, Elaine Cunningham wrote The Sleeping Sauron. Anyone whos ever talked to me about Elaine kows the fondness and deep respect I have for her. Shes a wonderful writer who weaves brilliant characters (including drow!). When Elaine asked me if she could borrow a few of my characters for her Liriel stories, I was honored - and knew that shed treat them with respect and make sure she wasnt doing anything to mess up where I intended to go in the future. Integrity and talent is an amazing combination. So there you have it - going through the books is like walking down memory lane for me, and its a fun journey (usually). I cant believe we actually have two of these Tales from Tethedril available. rasalvastore/#!/~/product/id=23507680
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 16:08:54 +0000
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