Last
year I began this series on "the stories behind the stories" in this
anthology of marvelous fantasy stories I was privileged to edit. I got
about halfway through when life in the form of writing deadlines
intervened. So I'm going to repost them and hopefully finish the series,
then put them together in a companion volume. to
The Feathered Edge.
Sheila
Finch's "Fortune's Stepchild" is linked to other stories
backwards-fashion. For so many of us, a tale or legend or bit of history
so captured our childhood imaginations that forever after, it is a
touchstone for "something wonderful and magic." Kari Sperring, for
example, grew up dreaming of joining the musketeers and saving France.
(Aside: I wonder if there's something about being British -- Sheila's an
ex-pat Brit -- that lends itself to such inspiration; we on the other
side of the Atlantic can read about Arthur and company, but he's not
our
Arthur.) At any rate, Sheila admits to a special fondness for tales
about Sir Francis Drake (who was an amazingly colorful fellow, even if
only a tenth of the stories told about him are true.)
Sheila's
best known for her science fiction, including a series of stories about
the Guild of Xenolinguists (one of which won the Nebula Award), but
she's a writer of many and varied interests. I met her a gazillion years
ago, if memory serves me right at the same convention at which I met
Sherwood Smith, and thus began a long-running conversation. After I fled from
Los Angeles to the redwoods of the Central Coast, we'd get together
every so often at one convention or another, grab a few friends, and
head offsite for the best fish restaurant we could find. And have meaty,
thoughtful discussions on everything under the sun.
