Darkover Report

Hi All,
Darkover was a lot of fun but I don't have a lot to report
this year. Katherine's computer problems have stalled work on Childe
Morgan. Since the written part of Childe Morgan is trapped in
Katherine's damaged hard drive, she couldn't do a reading. Her
editor was not too happy about that and now Childe Morgan won't come
until 2006.
However, the Author's Cut of Deryni Checkmate will be out in
2005. Katherine is writing a bridge chapter telling what happened
between the end of Deryni Rising and the beginning of Deryni Checkmate
that will go at the beginning of DC. She's going to write a similar
bridge chapter for the beginning of High Deryni. And she did say
she would probably rewrite the genetics essay at the end of HD.
Hopefully the Atlas will be out soon too – the Atlas team spent
much of the weekend working on it.
Katherine also said she's looking into the possibility of
getting Codex back on the market. Nothing definite on that yet.
Katherine has to discuss it with Rob.
The Adept prequel, "Hunting by Gaslight," is on hold until she
finishes Childe Morgan.
Katherine's Michaeline Mass was beautiful and very powerful.
She made it a Healing Mass for Kim, Pat, and Bambi.
Much food and merriment was available in the Rampant Lion Pub!
Thanks Pat and Kathi!

Susan -- Mistress of Complications

Melissa's Darkover Report

Hi all, back from Timmonium. I hear there was a convention there this
weekend, Dark-something, but I personally do not believe it. I even missed
most of Katherine's panels, this year. I am sorry that I did not have more
time at the convention to spend visiting with all of you, and helping to
empty the Pat 'n' Kathi Delicatessen. As usual, they had outdone themselves,
one of the items being an entire Thanksgiving turkey. Ann Dupuis generously
made it possible for me to be there this weekend at all, and as she is
paying me to be a wordsmith and to a lesser degree, a worldsmith, she does
have a certain premium on my time. It was also one of the few times over the
course of a year when Ann, Nancy, Katherine and Martine and I were all in
the same spot on the same continent and hemisphere, and we needed to make
the most of it. God bless the efficience of E-mail and IM, but sometimes,
being face to face and live in one room is the best way to resolve certain
questions and confusions.

I am glad I DID get to see some good old friends and convention goers,
especially Susan (Her engagement ring is GORGEOUS, and very sparkly. Bob is
obviously a man of excellent taste. Never let him get away, Susan!) It was
also good to see Brom and Alaric, although he now wishes to be known as
"Rick," I am told. Rick is STARTLINGLY tall for a kid I remember as about
seven years old. It was good to see Pat and Kathi, naturally, and Kim
Eskelund, Julianne and Frank and Samwise, Sianny, and Emily Sudbrink, as
well. I never got a chance to say goodbye properly to some of you, and I am
sorry, everyone! Nancy and Ann and I all had to leave Timmonium at the
crack of sparrow fart this morning to catch our respective nine a.m. flights
out of BWI. As it was, we could have left before then for greater peace of
mind on all our parts.
Anyway, Ann and I got in late on Thursday night, and promptly collapsed into
bed. The next morning, we met Scott, Pat, Kathi and Katherine at breakfast
in the restaurant, and then Brom and Alaric as we were registering for our
Con badges. Ann needed a different kind of cable to make her laptop and
portable printer to talk to one another, but the exact cable she needed had
been discontinued, she later discovered. We also went and bought some food
for Ann at the local natural grocery store, as she has been on a very
restricted diet due to food allergies since September. (This unfortunately
included most of what was available at the hotel restaurant.) When we
returned to the hotel before two, I went down to attend Katherine's first
panel. I was unsuccessful in this, as just before the panel was due to
begin, I was aware of Nancy and Martine in the doorway, pointing to me and
squealing. I was promptly abducted by them and whisked away for a sorely
needed Starbucks run-the first of many over the weekend. I'll tell you, if
somebody were to ask me to donate blood right now, they'd get super
caffinated chocolate sauce, instead. After we returned to the hotel Ann
actually DID go off to the panel and Katherine's question and answer period.
Nancy, Martine, Scott and I went and sat in the central bar area, and, as we
were very visible, we started pulling arriving convention goers into our
orbit rather like an event horizon. Katherine joined us when her official
Con duties were done, and we remained there for several hours until people
realized supper was necessary for various people. About 16 of us at last
ended up at the Nautilus Diner, which, not surprisingly, turned out to be a
seafood restaurant. I ended up at the Michaeline end of the table, and got
some fascinating insights into the OSM. The Nautilus Diner has excellent
food, and almost serves too much OF it at a single serving. My seafood kabob
over rice looked like half the Atlantic Ocean had made it to my plate,
served over rice. Two of my dining companions were a husband and wife Rabbi
and Priest team who would be officiating at a wedding the following night.
(The bride and groom were not involved with either the OSM or the
convention, in any way.) We did not make it back to the Holiday Inn in time
for the Masquerade, on Friday Night, but without Thumper present, it just
wasn't the same. (Nancy said there were all of eight contestants.)That's at
least the second year I've carted garb to Darkover that never quite made it
out of my suitcase. Martine, Nancy and I had all brought garb in case the
mood struck, but it didn't strike any of us in time. After a period of work
and digestion with Martine, Ann and I went down to the pool Jacuzzi and had
a nice, long soak. Not surprisingly, Susan and Brom had already found their
way down to the water. After the pool soak, it was time for bed.

On Saturday morning, I joined up with Nancy and Martine for breakfast, and
Martine had her video camera in tow. Since Kim/Sedina could not make it to
Darkover this year, Martine's idea was to bring Darkover to Kim. She started
recording after Katherine and Samwise joined us for breakfast, and Nancy did
the commentary. Let us all hope laughter DOES have medicinal properties,
because Kim should be in hysterics when she sees the finished result. I DID
make it to Katherine's Saturday panel concerning the consequences of magic,
and met up with Kim, Sianny, Brom and Julianne, there. I met up with Martine
and Nancy in the Dealer's room, and saw many things to TEMPT me. The only
thing I bought on Saturday was my obligatory dragon. There is a woman who
has been making stuffed dragons and selling them at Darkover for years. My
Darkover tradition is that I buy one each year. This year's specimen is
made of flowered cloth on a black background, and looks rather like a piece
of Origami paper. I am currently meditating on a Japanese name for him,
which seems most appropriate.

After yet another Starbucks run, Ann, Nancy, Martine and I disappeared
upstairs to Nancy's room. I was sorely tempted to rename it the "Deryni
Typing Pool" as I was the only person present WITHOUT a laptop until
Katherine and Scott arrived. There, Nancy told us she'd come up with a
time table for completing the Core RPG Deryni Adventure game. Our do or die
deadline is for the book to be complete in time for Origins in June 2005.
Sorry, until the RPG game book is completed, the Atlas must wait its turn in
the pipeline for now. There WILL be an Atlas, I hasten to assure you all.
You'll just um... have to wait for it.

At around five o'clock Saturday afternoon when her con duties were
discharged, we dragged Katherine up to Nancy's room for a confab/brainstorm
session and bombarded her with questions only she could answer. Then she had
to go suit up as a Michaeline for the wedding downstairs, but Carl, Nancy,
Scott, and Martine, Ann, Nancy and I all went to Chili's for dinner. Through
comic misadventures and out of scale/incomplete local maps, both carloads of
diners took the "interesting"route to Chili's. However, we were all
reunited just as we were called to our table. Scott and Martine drank truly
impressive Margaritas, but I did not join them, as it seemed much too cold
for that. (It stayed very chilly all weekend. Fortunately, I don't know
that anyone went home with ConCrud, though.) I warned everyone that I
wouldn't be much good for any real work later that night if I had a
Margarita too, as Tequila makes me feel very silly. I could see the wheels
of Martine's brain turning, as she considered the amusement factors of
getting me silly on Tequila. Carl and Nancy reminisced on old times in the
SCA when Katherine was still living in So. California. (Including some
people who did not then and still do not now deal well with reality.)Carl,
Martine and I split a chocolate bomb for dessert, and three people against
one is about the right ratio for that particular cake. Think warm chocolate
cake, lots of chocolate and caramel sauce, and a monster scoop of vanilla
ice cream with MORE chocolate sauce on top. The thing was huge, but
disappeared rather quickly.

Nancy was borne off to a party with Carl when we returned, and Scott went
to amuse himself elsewhere. Ann, and Martine and I had honest intentions of
working, but we kept talking about other things, instead. I went down to the
pool around midnight Saturday in hopes of singing the Hallelujah chorus, and
there I met up with Julianne post-wedding. I only heard the tale second
hand, but the groom's parents (who are unfamiliar with the concept and more
colorful aspects of Fandom and Cons) walked into the hotel lobby and got a
crash course. These very properly and formally dressed people were
considerably taken aback by large, strange people wandering around the hotel
in leather costumes and other forms of medieval garb and carrying weapons.
No doubt, they were VERY happy to find out these were not the people who
would be attending their son's wedding. <G> Too bad Bynw and Tika were not
there to reassure them that "They're all mostly harmless and very nice,
really. WE got married at Darkover just a few years ago..."

We did sing the Hallelujah chorus about 12:30 A.M. after which, I went
up to bed. I thought for certain Ann would already be asleep, but no Ann!
She came in about 1:30 A.M, saying that she'd had a second wind, and she and
Martine had talked until very late. NONE of us were very perky for Mass the
following morning, but we went, as it had extra significance, this year.
Nancy had partied too late, and both Ann and Martine woke up with migraine
headaches. I was lucky, as I was only short of sleep. I have to be VERY
tired to fall asleep on those Holiday Inn beds. They'd make Torquemada
proud. But Mass was, as Susan said, a very beautiful event. Sedina's little
nurse bear and Pat's green and yellow dragon must have absorbed some
POWERFUL blessings and Healing energy by the end of it. Martine and Nancy
had made substantial inroads into Martine's very large Kleenex supply by the
end of Mass. Lots of prayers also for Pat, who will be undergoing cancer
surgery early tomorrow morning, and for Bambi, Katherine, Pat and Kathi's
long time friends who has endured her husband's long illness. I do not know
for certain if Bambi herself is now ill, but she has had her share of
troubles already. As often seems to be the case, Sharon Henderson and I
finally connected just before Mass, when neither of us had time for more
than a fast hello hug. Martine filmed another section of Sedina's Darkover
video after Mass before everyone headed over the restaurant for brunch.
After which, the team tramped back up to Nancy's room for yet another
session. We tramped back down, filmed more of Sedina's video in the Rampant
Lion pub, in which several people gave Kim messages of hope and Healing, and
we all told her how much we missed her and loved her.

We milled about the Dealer's room before closing, and I broke down and
bought a new pair of amber earrings. Even with Rebecca Davis's very wise
rule of "Resist All Jewelry!" ringing in my head, I still went and did it.
And I'd do it again..<EG> It was actually one of the most frugal Darkover
experiences I've ever had. Katherine bought a gorgeous piece of silk
paisley shawl at one booth.

Ann and I made a solo final Starbucks run for the next stint at Da Book on
Sunday afternoon, after the Con had essentially closed down. Along about
six thirty, the six of us repaired to the Steak and Ale for a final dinner.
There was much discussion of various movies, both loved and hated, between
Scott and Nancy with assistance from the other four of us, and we finally
left when we realized the lights going off around us meant that the
restaurant was trying to close up for the night. We sent Katherine home
with large chunks of hard copy to be reviewed at her leisure (But not TOO
much leisure), said our final farewells, and all repaired to our various
beds.

The weekend was a wonderful working and eating session with a Con for
diversion. =o) But Kim, Donald, and all those regular attendees who did not
quite make it this weekend, you were sorely missed.

Melissa