The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz

Bart M. Kleber writes: If the Camberian Council is mainly designated to police Deryni activity in Gwynedd, how can they presume to do so if several of those members are not native to Gwynedd? How can they presume to police Deryni in other neighboring lands without being totally ignored?On a somewhat different note, are you offended if someone writes a Deryni fan fiction story without getting your permission first?

Katherine says: As the Chronicles continue to unfold, we'll find that the goals and focus of the Camberian Council have shifted and metamorphosed numerous times over its two centuries of existence, responding to changes in local conditions. We know how it started, and the state it was in during the first decade or two of its existence; and we know what it had become by the time of Kelson's accession. There's a lot of history in between those two times—fodder for many more books, God willing!Re: fan fiction—so long as such fiction is written not-for-profit, and with the understanding that the characters and universe are mine, with due credit given, I have no particular objection if fans write stories solely for their own enjoyment and that of their friends and other fans. [Any financial gain, I get to share. After all, it was my idea and my hard work over the keyboard!]

But sharing the enjoyment is the reason I started Deryni Archives, more than twenty years ago. I do vet all the stories that go into DA, and many of them are very good, indeed! (I've just read and edited two wonderful stories by Melissa Houle and Laura Jefferson that will be in the next issue, due out in the next month or two.) In general, I recommend that fan writers not get carried away with putting my major characters into adventures that would be in conflict with the Canon of novels and stories that I've done; we aren't likely to publish those!