letter about her first published works, the Silistra novels. Cousin Diana, I am
proud to say, first saw print in an anthology edited by me. And now we welcome
Cousin Robin to the strangest familial group since the Addams Family.
Right after reading Wings of Omen (same time you did: last November, just before
I wrote the story in this volume), I wrote Paxson and Bailey each a fan letter
of congratulations and thanks. Did you? Why don’t you write me, you bum!
Could those be letters to me that Bob brags about piling up by the bag in his
home?
Like your family, we work together and separately. We get along and we argue or
even fall out. When Janet Morris and I include Hanse and Tempus in each other’s
stories, we exchange manuscripts and say “OK, but (Tempus or Hanse) wouldn’t use
this word or phrase,” or “wouldn’t drink this much,” or “he is not blond.” (I
thought Zip was, and Janet fixed that in my story last time. Zip looks like that
swine who tried to murder the Pope and Hanse resembles Lee Marvin at about age
23.)
Too, Janet sent me pages and pages of lovingly machine-copied (the Xerox people
keep reminding us that “xerox” isn’t a verb, and is capitalized) research notes,
which I filed with my own Arms and Armor; Medieval Warfare; Smaller Classical
Dictionary; Approved Tactics For Attacking and Trashing Publishing Offices; and
other valuable research sources.
She and I met once, about five years ago. We must have exchanged at least thirty
words on two occasions that day. She was on her way to someplace else, both