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Who says the gods haven't a sense of humor?
Does anyone on my friendlist know Dorothy J. Heydt and why her Cynthia stories were never collected? They are some of my favorite short classical fiction and they are impossible to find and read in order unless you have access to fourteen Sword and Sorceress anthologies, which I almost do.
I grew up with the original Sword and Sorceress (1984) on my parents' shelves. It was my introduction to a whole bunch of authors, including Heydt, but "Things Come in Threes" never made that much of an impression on me as a child. I got the rock-paper-scissors punch of the ending, but the historical in-jokes eluded me until my first or second year of college when I could read Greek as well as Latin and I was learning classical history and all of a sudden the story was hilarious. After that I foraged through used book stores for the last sixteen years of Sword and Sorceress and bought all the ones that contained stories of Cynthia, daughter of Euelpides. Evidence of this box I just unpacked suggests that this process maxed out in 2000 with "An Exchange of Favors" in Sword and Sorceress XVII, leaving me with eleven anthologies. The Internet Database of Science Fiction tells me there are three further Cynthia stories I've never read. I don't know if they form a full cycle or if they break off. I hope they stay good. As late as 2005, I was hoping the author would put out some kind of collection or mosaic novel—the Cynthiad, maybe?
It's ten years later and there is still no collection and this makes it very difficult to recommend the stories. At this point I would accept an e-book, and I hate reading off screens. Was there some weird copyright issue? I can't believe there wasn't enough of an audience for beautifully written, wry, well-researched, correctly estranging and intelligent third-century-BCE history plus magic to make publication worthwhile. Does anyone have any idea what happened?
[edit] I have been informed that the editor who bought the stories individually rejected the collected cycle on the grounds that it lacked a plot. I disagree with this profoundly, factually as well as morally. Self-published edition? I'd throw money at it.
[edit edit] The author provides an explanation for the absence of self-published editions in comments.
I grew up with the original Sword and Sorceress (1984) on my parents' shelves. It was my introduction to a whole bunch of authors, including Heydt, but "Things Come in Threes" never made that much of an impression on me as a child. I got the rock-paper-scissors punch of the ending, but the historical in-jokes eluded me until my first or second year of college when I could read Greek as well as Latin and I was learning classical history and all of a sudden the story was hilarious. After that I foraged through used book stores for the last sixteen years of Sword and Sorceress and bought all the ones that contained stories of Cynthia, daughter of Euelpides. Evidence of this box I just unpacked suggests that this process maxed out in 2000 with "An Exchange of Favors" in Sword and Sorceress XVII, leaving me with eleven anthologies. The Internet Database of Science Fiction tells me there are three further Cynthia stories I've never read. I don't know if they form a full cycle or if they break off. I hope they stay good. As late as 2005, I was hoping the author would put out some kind of collection or mosaic novel—the Cynthiad, maybe?
It's ten years later and there is still no collection and this makes it very difficult to recommend the stories. At this point I would accept an e-book, and I hate reading off screens. Was there some weird copyright issue? I can't believe there wasn't enough of an audience for beautifully written, wry, well-researched, correctly estranging and intelligent third-century-BCE history plus magic to make publication worthwhile. Does anyone have any idea what happened?
[edit] I have been informed that the editor who bought the stories individually rejected the collected cycle on the grounds that it lacked a plot. I disagree with this profoundly, factually as well as morally. Self-published edition? I'd throw money at it.
[edit edit] The author provides an explanation for the absence of self-published editions in comments.
Um, hello...
In answer to why don't I consider e-publishing, it's been suggested, but the problem is there would be no marketing. I am unable to say "Hey, I wrote this, you should buy it." I grew up in the 1950s, when tooting one's own horn was generally discouraged, especially for girls.
I bet everybody on this group has had the experience of being the bright kid in a class of normal kids. Some of you may even have read _Children of the Atom_, though it's been out of print for a long while. Group of ultra-intelligent kids who have to hide among the normal. I met the author once and she told me how she'd had many letters and conversations boiling down to "That story was about ME!"
Trouble was, I took a long time learning to act normal, and it never really worked.
So if I e-published anything I would be unable to market it, so it wouldn't sell, so it would be wasted effort.
But I'm delighted to see that so many people liked the Cynthia stories. I can summarize the final three that none of you seem to have copies of, if you like. And yes, the story definitely *does* come to an end. I read it to a party at Greyhaven and had Diana Paxson practically in tears. :)
Dorothy Heydt
Re: Um, hello...
no subject
Um, what Sovay said, on all counts except for loving "Things Come in Threes" the first time; I continued S&S anthologies for years specifically for those stories.
The advantage of e-editions is that if it takes twenty years for everyone who needs to find them to do so, they don't have to go out of print in the mean time.
Re: Um, hello...
Dear Dorothy,
I left the house this afternoon having replied to all comments and did not expect to return to the author herself. Thank you very much for taking the time to create an LJ account and comment. I really appreciate the information.
Would you be comfortable with me making some suggestions for publication that would not require you to be the only person stumping for your work? If not, I will repeat only that the Cynthia stories are some of my favorite short fiction about the ancient world and I am a classicist by training, so I care very much about this sort of thing.
My mother used to give copies of Children of the Atom to the parents of smart children, to explain what it was like. I read it as a child myself.
Thank you again for coming here!
Re: Um, hello...
Re: Um, hello...