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Dhugal at Court

Started by Laurna, July 02, 2016, 01:37:43 PM

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Laurna

Upon reading the newly released e-book The Bishops Heir, I once more came to love the young boarder-lord Dhugal MacArdry, who had been and was to become closest friend and blood-brother to our beloved King Kelson Haldane. If you have not read The Bishops Heir, than please do,  or read it again as it is a joy to see Dhugal grow. Now there was one little scene I had forgotten, where Dhugal and Kelson reminiscence on the forbearance of the old King Brion, when Dhugal as a page at court had dropped a platter of pheasants while serving the great king. Instantly I was transported back to another story. One I feel is as much Canon as the original novels.  The story is Dhugal at Court published in Deryni Tales and written by our own Rhemuth Castle resident and Zipper sister Melissa Houle, better known to us each day as Shiral.

Shiral, long before I had found this site, I had read Deryni Tales. And of those stories, by-far, my favorite had been Dhugal at Court. I just read it again and laughed and smiled at the pranks and trials of boys. -- there is that threat of being turned into a toad by General Morgan :o-- and oh, the final scene... our poor beloved young boarder page and all those dogs. lol. 

Thought I would say thanks for writing it, and tell others to read it if they have not yet done so.
May your horses have wings and fly!

revanne

It is a wonderful tale, and makes the reunion of Dhugal and Kelson in The Bishop's Heir come alive.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(Psalm 46 v1)

Shiral

Why, thank you both, Ladies. I'm very gratified you enjoyed Dhugal At Court:) It was also a fun write, and having it included in Deryni Tales was an honor I never would have dreamed of at the time I wrote it, if Katherine and her publishers had not made it possible. So a huge thank you shout-out to our Queen!

The dogs in the feast scene just came running into my story and started grabbing pheasants off the floor. I don't remember whistling for them, but they achieved the aim of having it be a moment of total despair for our young hero. Quickly improved the next day by the news of Nicholas Murdoch being sent home from Court.

Melissa
You can have a sound mind in a healthy body--Or you can be a nanonovelist!

Elkhound

I wish that KK would come out with another volume of stories in the Deryniverse by other authors.  The late, great Marion Zimmer Bradley had a whole series of "Friends of Darkover" anthologies, and Mercedes Lackey comes out with a Valdemar or Elemental Masters anthology about every other year.  If they could/can do it, why can't KK?

Surely not for dearth of material!

revanne

There's a fairly good selection here on this Forum.

And a fair few half-written in my notebooks too, alas!
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(Psalm 46 v1)

DesertRose

Quote from: Elkhound on August 04, 2016, 08:39:12 PM
I wish that KK would come out with another volume of stories in the Deryniverse by other authors.  The late, great Marion Zimmer Bradley had a whole series of "Friends of Darkover" anthologies, and Mercedes Lackey comes out with a Valdemar or Elemental Masters anthology about every other year.  If they could/can do it, why can't KK?

Surely not for dearth of material!

It may be for lack of time, Elkhound.  Her father just died a few weeks ago, and I believe his age was NOT on the sunny side of 90, and her mother lives near her and is likewise, while in fairly decent health as far as I'm aware, not particularly young (and likely has at least a few medical problems because aging kinda sucks like that), so she may have, in recent years, had a lot of work to do with regards to aging parents and not had time to fool with selecting Deryniverse fan stories for another anthology.

But no, dearth of material is not likely on the list of reasons why we don't have another official fanthology.  :)
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Elkhound

Quote from: DesertRose on August 08, 2016, 04:53:25 PM

It may be for lack of time, Elkhound.  Her father just died a few weeks ago, and I believe his age was NOT on the sunny side of 90, and her mother lives near her and is likewise, while in fairly decent health as far as I'm aware, not particularly young (and likely has at least a few medical problems because aging kinda sucks like that), so she may have, in recent years, had a lot of work to do with regards to aging parents and not had time to fool with selecting Deryniverse fan stories for another anthology.

But no, dearth of material is not likely on the list of reasons why we don't have another official fanthology.  :)

Mercedes Lackey has plenty of outside responsibilities, but she's been able to come out with Valdemar and Elemental Masters anthologies on a regular basis.  "Deryni Tales" came out 15 years ago.  That's a long time. 

DesertRose

Quote from: Elkhound on August 08, 2016, 09:06:56 PM
Quote from: DesertRose on August 08, 2016, 04:53:25 PM

It may be for lack of time, Elkhound.  Her father just died a few weeks ago, and I believe his age was NOT on the sunny side of 90, and her mother lives near her and is likewise, while in fairly decent health as far as I'm aware, not particularly young (and likely has at least a few medical problems because aging kinda sucks like that), so she may have, in recent years, had a lot of work to do with regards to aging parents and not had time to fool with selecting Deryniverse fan stories for another anthology.

But no, dearth of material is not likely on the list of reasons why we don't have another official fanthology.  :)

Mercedes Lackey has plenty of outside responsibilities, but she's been able to come out with Valdemar and Elemental Masters anthologies on a regular basis.  "Deryni Tales" came out 15 years ago.  That's a long time.

I've never read Mercedes Lackey, and I've no idea what that author's personal life is like, but what I'm trying to say is that KK is KK.  She is NOT Mercedes Lackey (or the late MZB) or anyone else.  KK took a very personal interest in compiling Deryni Tales, and in addition to family responsibilities, KK has also recently had to have surgery on her own eyes (to remove cataracts, IIRC), and there may be other things going on in her personal/not-writing-related life that she hasn't mentioned in chat.

I'm not trying to be mean, but we don't own KK, and we as fans are not entitled to demand that she produce more novels or anthologies of short stories (or edit anthologies of fan-written stories).  She is a human being with a life independent of the fictional universe and stories she has created, and I want this forum to be a space that respects that, please.

Thank you.
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Laurna

I don't really want to get into the middle of this conversation... but... "Hear Hear!" to your, DR.

Now perhaps we can get back to rereading stories of young Dhugal and Kelson running amok through the halls of Rhemuth Castle. Do you think all the dogs at court followed Dhugal around for days after, just hoping he might have some more pheasants for them?

May your horses have wings and fly!

DesertRose

Quote from: Laurna on August 09, 2016, 12:10:05 PM
Do you think all the dogs at court followed Dhugal around for days after, just hoping he might have some more pheasants for them?

LOL, I can just picture that, especially given Dhugal's knack with animals, as in the canon scene of Dhugal charming Kisah (sp?) at Kelson's court!
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

revanne

KK also gives very generously of her time on Sunday evenings. I am especially grateful to her, and to all on t'other side of the pond for early chat which I know isn't particularly convenient.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(Psalm 46 v1)

Shiral

Quote from: DesertRose on August 08, 2016, 04:53:25 PM
Quote from: Elkhound on August 04, 2016, 08:39:12 PM
I wish that KK would come out with another volume of stories in the Deryniverse by other authors.  The late, great Marion Zimmer Bradley had a whole series of "Friends of Darkover" anthologies, and Mercedes Lackey comes out with a Valdemar or Elemental Masters anthology about every other year.  If they could/can do it, why can't KK?

Surely not for dearth of material!

It may be for lack of time, Elkhound.  Her father just died a few weeks ago, and I believe his age was NOT on the sunny side of 90, and her mother lives near her and is likewise, while in fairly decent health as far as I'm aware, not particularly young (and likely has at least a few medical problems because aging kinda sucks like that), so she may have, in recent years, had a lot of work to do with regards to aging parents and not had time to fool with selecting Deryniverse fan stories for another anthology.

But no, dearth of material is not likely on the list of reasons why we don't have another official fanthology.  :)

Not for dearth of material, but it's not entirely KK's decision as far as a published anthology is concerned.  It may be that the publisher did not feel the original Deryni Tales fanthology  was profitable enough to them for a second volume. And traditional publishers are, alas, rather notorious bean counters. 

LOL, I don't know about the palace dogs following Dhugal around hoping he'd just happen to take meat out of his pockets and drop it behind him... but it makes for a funny image.

Melissa
You can have a sound mind in a healthy body--Or you can be a nanonovelist!

Elkhound

Of course she probably has very good reasons for not having done a second anthology; I never meant to imply that she was being lazy or that she didn't care about her fans, and if I gave the impression I am sorry.

DesertRose

Quote from: Elkhound on August 10, 2016, 07:28:12 PM
Of course she probably has very good reasons for not having done a second anthology; I never meant to imply that she was being lazy or that she didn't care about her fans, and if I gave the impression I am sorry.

It's all good.  I'm sorry if I came off as harsh.  It's just that KK is remarkably generous with her time, coming to chat with the fans more or less weekly,  for one thing, and for another, I really hate seeing fans of [whatever] treat the people who make [whatever], be they authors of books, directors or actors of films, musicians, what-have you, like those people who make [whatever] are public property because they've made something other people like, rather than actual human beings with feelings and lives, just like anyone else.  I probably got a little heated there, and I didn't mean to be sharp.

Anyway, as stated above, it's all good, and Shiral has a good point about KK possibly wanting to make a second fanthology but the publisher maybe not so much.  :D
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Lochiel

I think many of her fans, including myself wish that she would write more Deryni books. That is selfish on our parts as she is entitled to do whatever she wants with her time, like spending it with her family, friends, animal friends, personal hobbies etc etc
KK is very generous in meeting with the people, weekly, who love her wonderful books!  ( Greedy people like me wants to read more new ones!)
"And as they tread the ruined Isle,
Where rest, at length,
the lord and slave,
They'll wondering ask, how hands so vile,
Could conquer hearts so brave?"
Thomas Moore

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