Darkover Newsletter/Issues 61-70

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==Issue 61 (June 1993)==
Darkover Newsletter 61 was published in June 1993 and contains 20 pages.
* The editor writes at length about a Star Trek: The Next Generation computer creative writing program being developed called "Plots Unlimited" (based on "Plotto," a 1930s pulp novel). She also makes sure there is a mention of copyright. Some o Sharp's criticisms of the game: its high cost, its lack of plot, its genericness, the presence of "female bimbos," inability to switch player genders, no character growth for characters or players. The game's developer wants "the DNL crew to hold a seminar on plotting for the game developers": "A couple of weeks ago I happened to nave a long talk with someone who s working on the latest thing in games, a multi-media game based on Star Trek - The Next Generation. So far, the game software writers have been concentrating, very properly, on getting together the copyrights—if you are a ST-TNG character and appear in this game, every time you turn your head, another round of copyright permissions seems to be required! ... It seems that this particular game is really supposed to break all kinds of new ground in all kinds of ways. For one thing, it will require a special player costing several hundred dollars."
* There is a parody letter written which pokes fun at over-exuberant fans; the letter is written by "Cassandra Silverpen" and signed "Your MOST devoted fan. The editor reponds in kind and at length.
* Bradley wrote: "The stories mentioned [by a fan] are prehistoric Darkover books written when I was very young. "The Bloody Sun" I rewrote as an adult—it's not bad. The others I'd just as soon forget."
* A libertarian fan from Puerto Rico who now lives in New York City writes an angry complaint of how libertarians were portrayed in the book "Rediscovery." Bradley's response is unsympathetic, and a jab: "The trouble is that I've probably met too many of the wrong kind of libertarian; it is probably a waste of breath defending them to me. I never met a Puerto Rican one though -- now that's something."
* A devout fan writes that he purchased Bradley's and Mercedes Lackey's new book in hardcover and "want to tell you how very much I enjoyed it. Please ignore the pan you received in Locus with justified dignity. I didn't even mind the week I spent surviving on buttered macaroni and iced tea."
* There is a flyer for Fantasy Worlds Festival 1994.
* This issue contains a logic puzzle.
* There is no mention of Walter Breen's very recent death (April 27, 1993). Breen was in prison serving a 12-year sentence regarding eight felony counts of child molestation involving a 13-year-old boy.
A fan writes: 
Bradley's Letter from MZB describes what a convention is to readers who've never been to a science fiction con, and she proposes doing another Fantasy Worlds Festival in 1994, a con that has been on hiatus for seven years. Bradley's main selling point appears to be meeting a celebrity-writer, and perhaps changing your life: 
Elisabeth Waters explains the con skit called "Free Amazons of Ghor" that was done at several Darkovercons: "'Free Amazons of Ghor' is a musical comedy written in 1979 by Randall Garrett, a science-fiction writer and close friend of MZB's, and Vicki Ann Hevdron, his wife, also a writer. At the time, MZB and John Norman were DAW's two best-selling authors, so the premise of the play is that their fictionalized alter egos. Ms. Bee and Norman Gorman, agree to collaborate on a book, to "rope in both your fans." "Both our fans? Are you implying that we have only one fan each?" Randall wrote the words, and Vicki wrote the music, it was performed at one of the early Darkover Grand Council Meetings on the East Coast as well as several of the Fantasy Worlds Festivals in California.... Time went on. Randall died, to the great sorrow of all who knew him, and MZB was sick for a couple of years, putting the Fantasy Worlds Festival on hiatus. I checked with Randall's agent, Tracy Blackstone, who tells me that "Free Amazons of Ghor" was never published anywhere. Sorry, but those are the breaks. And before anyone tries to persuade us to publish it, permit me to point out that we don't own the rights.}}
==Issue 62 (September 1993)==
Darkover Newsletter 62 was published in September 1993 and contains 26 pages.
* The editor writes of plot and skeletons and what they tell us about gender roles.
* Bradley has a conversation with a fan about dogs and says her dog: "has accepted my secretary and the rest of my household as part of her pack. I think my secretary is pack leader probably because she has the fiercest gaze."
* A fan asks if she could volunteer to read through Bradley's slush piles if it could be of assistance. Bradley responds that "Thank you for offering! I'm happy to be able to say that my health is much improved and, for the most part, I maintain a regular professional schedule. Due to an unfortunate incident last year, I have no current plans to do any more Darkover anthologies. I have never employed anyone else to read my slush pile -- it's the high point of my day."
* A fan from Israel says that most of her belonging were thrown overboard during a terrible storm at sea: "... the captain despaired of saving the ship, and as a last-ditch effort to keep from gong down, he gave orders to jettison cargo. Seventy-two lifts were thrown overboard. Fifteen belonged to new immigrants to Israel. One was mine." Not only has she lost all her stuff, but her Darkover books are gone.
* A fan who's been out of touch for a while says: "whatever happened, it seems to have caused a lot of needless trouble and pain, and I am sorry for that. I sincerely hope that the damage will be remedied swiftly and completely."
* A fan offers to give Bradley a backrub: "MZB, I am sorry to hear that you have not been well. I hope for your swift and complete recovery. I've never been to California, but I could wish to go there for only one reason: to give you one of my back rubs, or as many of them as you might want. It might not be a great help, and I know it would be a small return for all the pleasure and eye-openers your books have given me (especially Mists and City of Sorcery, which I haven't managed to find here yet)—but I wish I could give you one anyway. I've given massages since I was ten years old, and my recipients have liked them; I like to think that you would, too."
* A fan asks if they will be able to write fan fiction after Bradley dies. "Since Star Trek has survived the demise of its original creator, it seems that Darkover ought to as well. It is just as strong a concept, if not stronger."
* Elisabeth Waters says several times that the rights to the original Darkover books owned by Ace Books (who let them go out of print), reverted to Bradley, who then resold them to DAW books.
* A fan writes and praises a Darkover story called 'Darkover Summer Snow" and compliments MZB on the name of the cat in the story. Elisabeth Waters responds by saying this story wasn't by Bradley. "Perhaps it was in a fanzine." Well, yes, it was in a fanzine. "Darkover Summer Snow" was a story by fan writer Eileen Ledbetter and in the first Starstone. It's a little odd that Waters did not remember this fact.
* This issue has a logic puzzle.
Bradley's Letter from MZB says she has returned from a three-week trip to England, and is crabby about having to read letters asking her where she gets her ideas: 
A fan writes and expresses "delight": 
Ann Sharp has some words about Guild Houses and fans' constant questions about them: 
A French fan says she is starting a Darkover newsletter and fan club. She tells Bradley: 
A fan says she has a lengthy Darkover novel written and wants to know how she can publish it: 
==Issue 63 (December 1993)==
Darkover Newsletter 63 was published in December 1993 and contains 18 pages.
* The editor writes of writing and offers tips.
* Bradley's Letter from MZB is about opera and her opinions about Phantom of the Opera.
* A fan asks a common question about if there are maps of Darkover, and Bradley responds: "I don't do maps to avoid boxing myself in suppose I needed a city where the map claims a Howling Waste is located?" Ann Sharp notes that "an attempt at a map was made in the Gregg Press edition end papers, but it's very much out of date now."
* Ann Sharp tells fans that "The professional problems with Darkover anthologies lucky does not, by definition, apply to Sword and Sorceress anthologies, so I hope they will continue to appear as long as readers are interested." Bradley adds: "We're now at number thirteen and still going strong, so [if you have a story] send it in -- but I must warn you that the competition is now fierce."
* A fan asks about a Friends of Darkover in Germany and the editor writes that it is "Freunde von Darkover' based in Berlin and that its organizer, Hans-Jurgen has done an interesting chronology of Darkover dating B.C. and A.C. (before Compact and after Compact)."
* There is a long, long, long letter (6 pages, single-spaced) from a fan in Switzerland that discuses Darkover.
* A fan wants to buy a copy of the Darkover Concordance by "your husband Walter Breen." Elisabeth Waters wrote: "Walter Breen died earlier this year,He died the end of April, something that was not commented on in the June issue. and I believe that Pennyfarthing Press is no longer in business. In any case, the Concordance was written in the 1970's, so it doesn't cover any of the more recent books, which makes its utility rather limited."
* Ann Sharp says, tongue-in-cheek: "Not only did I manage to miss the September "Omni",A for-profit international science magazine. but no one waved it under my nose, either. What is going on while our backs are turned?."
* Bradley's upcoming con schedule: January 14–16 Rustyon II, Seattle, Washington. March 31-April 3 Norwescon 17, Seattle, Washington. April 22–24 [[Fantasy Worlds Festival, Berkeley, California. May 27–30 Baycon, San Jose, California. July 21–25, ConVersion, Calgary.
* This issue contains a logic puzzle.
When a fan asks about the book "Black Trillium," Bradley writes a long answer, one that she immediately attributes to Elisabeth Waters. It is an example of how with Bradley's declining health, it is very difficult to know who's words are whose, where those boundaries are, and when they started to be blurred: 
==Issue 64 (March 1994)==
Darkover Newsletter 64 was published in March 1994 and contains 14 pages.
* A fan, Patricia Mathews, has a eloquent letter about feminism that cites a previous newsletter editorial as being written by Bradley. Ann Sharp tells her: "I can hardly tell you how complimented I am that you're crediting Marion with the editorial... those are actually written by me, Ann." This small exchange illustrates how some fans, perhaps many, were confused regarding who wrote what commentary in the newsletter, and that fans could easily misconstrue someone else's words as being Bradley's words.
* A fan asks about fanzines and the editor of the newsletter writes that "You will need to to check at conventions," an answer that blatantly side-steps giving the address to the very visible zine, Moon Phases.
* A fan asks about Darkovan filk songs by "Bettina Holmes & others, Oak, Ash & Thorn music group." Ann Sharp says she's never heard of them.
* There is the ever-present logic puzzle.
* When a fan asks for some clarification about the plotting of Darkover books, citing a fairly obvious error, Bradley responds: "Because I have a poor memory, of course... Besides, I didn't make of the list [of Darkover books], so I decline to take responsibility for other's guesses."
A fan is disappointed in Mercedes Lackey's Darkover novel, and also asks where the release form (printed in only one issue of this newsletter) is so that she can send her own fiction to be considered for the next DAW Darkover Anthology: 
The editor bemoans fans who want to start a Guild House, some excerpts: 
Bradley's Letter from MZB addresses ideas and where they come from: 
A fan says he has rewritten one of Bradley's poems, says he is sorry about Contraband, offers some suggestions regarding how the controversy could be resolved, and comments on films. Neither Bradley, and Ann Sharp, oddly, take offense at most of this post, but have negative things to say about movies instead: 
==Issue 65 (June 1994)==
Darkover Newsletter 65 was published in June 1994 and contains 20 pages.
* The editor writes of food and eating and how it is incorporated well into fiction.
* The fan who runs the pen pal club drops out, citing lack of time and that she now has a job where she earns a good salary; Bradley asks for volunteers.
* Bradley says she is working on another Darkover novel called The Forest House," and that she is starting a new book "that fits between Forest House and Mists. At the moment it's called Forests of Avalon, but titles are always subject to change until the book is published."
* A fan is moving and selling all her Marion Zimmer Bradley stuff.
* A fan gives Bradley some condolences regarding the recent death of Bradley's mother.
* A fan wishes she could have purchased "Kristoph Klover and Margaret Davis's Avalon Rising," a filk tape.
* Ann Sharp tells a fan who wants to connect with other Darkover fans at DragonCon to see a flyer for Darkover Grand Council and then adds: "The most effective way I can think of to attract Darkover fans like iron filings from a haystack would be to attend DragonCon draped in length of red as a veiled Keeper -- if you can find a very party-isa fabric like sparkling tulle, that's about the thing. Tossing kiriseth pollen into the hotel's air conditioner in Atlanta in July runs a distant, very distant third."
* Bradley writes that "I would like to be Lisa's age again, with the best of my life before me. If I had to do it over again, I'd give Darkover a better climate -- and live there."
* The editor includes a long, long letter from a fan, telling her that "though your letter is too long to publish in a single issue of DNL, I'm going to excerpt pieces so we can enjoy it in installments. You're the only letter-writer I can ever remember doing this for, too. Reader, read on..." The letter published comments on various Darkover books.
* A fan writes briefly of her experiences at the last Fantasy Worlds Festival.
* There is a logic puzzle.
In her Letter from MZB, Bradley talks about aging, death, and the afterlife: 
A fan who had a letter in an earlier issue regarding a Darkover novel she'd spent years writing and was told it was now worthless as it used Darkover characters, wrote about that book, and about Contraband: 
==Issue 66 (September 1994)==
Darkover Newsletter 66 was published in September 1994 and contains 20 pages.
* This issue has the usual essay on writing by Ann Sharp: subject is the "retribution plot."
* There are some more excerpts from a fan letter in the previous issue about various Darkover books.
* Bradley says she is writing 'Return to Darkover' now.
* A male fan writes: "I noticed an anti-male bias in the Darkover newsletter... There was no sign of it in your books, so I wonder if it's something you have developed lately, or just concealed well." He is the same fan who sent MZB a rewritten "Ballad of Hastur and Cassilda" and writes "I did not ask for credit of any sort, not even so much as the use of my name.... Therefore, I find it odd that you did not take the trouble to even read it... I should realize, at my age, that one's heroes and heroines often have feet of clay, but I expected better from you." The editor responds: "You may not be aware that, as a result of an unfortunate incident two years ago, complete with threatened legal action, MZB has had to forego the pleasure of reading fan material. Any Darkover material sent to her is immediately forwarded by her office staff to the Marion Zimmer Bradley Collection in Boston. MZB never sees it. I am happy to be able to assure you that, if MZB has feet of clay, it is not because she wouldn't LIKE to read everything that comes over the transom!"
* A fan says she, due to a wildfire, had an hour to pack to flee their house. She packed up her children, her pets, her family photos, and her Darkover books. [Hopefully, it was in that order!].
* There is a reprint of a long humorous poem from a small press called "Figment" called "O'Connor's Last Quest."
* This issue contains a logic puzzle.
* Bradley's list of upcoming cons is short: Darkover Grand Council Meeting and BoucherCon.
Bradley writes in her somewhat disjointed Letter from MZB about slans, being a BNF, science fiction fans looking after their own drunks, how she could probably make good money just being a GOH now, her writing off the purchase of books as tax deductible, alcoholism, and how her father looked in his coffin:
A fan writes a long letter about the turmoil and enlightenment the Darkover books had on her parents' marriage: 
==Issue 67 (December 1994)==
Darkover Newsletter 67 was published in December 1994 and contains 20 pages.
* There is an essay on writing by Ann Sharp.
* Bradley's letter complains about the cost of a stamp, now .32. "The post office, in its Godly all-knowingness, has decided to raise the price of stamps to thirty-two cents per stamp. I could use that as a take off point for a slapstick routine about "I'm getting old—I can still remember the 3-cent stamp." But actually I feel a bit bruised: why is the Government always allied against the forces of literacy? [snipped] That's a little terrifying. Originally our Post Office felt proud to give an infinitesimal subsidy to the forces of Literacy. But now there is a television in almost every home, and they uncover their true colors; don't let people read, they might begin to think for themselves, instead of peacefully absorbing the Government's far-right propaganda. Big Brother, here we come."
* "The Choosing" by Deborah Awad is a short parody about the Wisewoman of DAW and M'Zeebee.
* There is some excerpts from the very, very long letter started two issues ago, it includes this exchange: "...I would like to reiterate that I hope someday the legal problem will be resolved, and not only Contraband, but also this [her fan-written] trilogy -- or some better story of similar magnitude -- will come out after all. I am sure that there will be plenty of people around who would want to read not only these but also any more stories that literate and creative fans might write in the limitless future of the Darkover concept." Ann Sharp writes in response: "Well, as explained, MZB's current legal position involves an agreement not to read Darkover fan fiction. She hates this, but that's how things have worked out." Bradley writes in response: "Your story will go to the... Mugar Memorial Library... This is the depository for the 'Marion Zimmer Bradley Collection.' You are free to -- and I would like to see you do this -- use the elements of your story in another work; re-do it on a world you create yourself that no one can take away."
* Bradley writes: "The Sword of Aldones was originally a juvenile work, cleaned up when Ace Books wanted something in a hurry. I rewrote it as Sharra's Exile, and developed it the wayI thought it should have been done. MZB"
* There is an announcement about the death of the fan, Paula Crunk: " It might also interest you in knowing that the last three or four weeks she was alive, she spent on Darkover. Her last days were spent calling for Leona asking for the kiss of death."
* Bradley writes about some costuming she has done in the past: "As for portraying myself as a character in one of my books, actually, no. I once wore a Red Lens woman costume— red leotard, red shorts, a big diffraction grating for the Lens, and I once wore a Keeper's costume, but I'm now too old and professional."
* Bradley has an essay called "Advice to Young Writers" Among other things, it has one bolded and underlined line: learn to type. A revised version is at: 
* This issue contains a logic puzzle.
* When a fan asks if he can send Bradley a Darkover story he has written, Elisabeth Waters replies: "Unfortunately, there is no way that anyone but Mrs. Bradley can get novels or stories set in the Darkover universe published. Darkover is her property, and it is a violation of copyright laws to prepare derivative works without the permission of the copyright holder. Due to a very unfortunate incident which occurred two years ago, Mrs. Bradley is no longer giving anyone else permission to write Darkover fiction. EW"
Bradley writes of being ordained in a Catholic splinter group and of her two husbands: 
==Issue 68 (March 1995)==
Darkover Newsletter 68 was published in March 1995 and contains 14 pages.
* See image. This issue includes "Oath of the Free Amazons -- 1995 -- In a language best understood by those who need it most." written by Patricia Anne Myrtis. This is the second time a version of the "Oath of the Free Amazons" has been printed in this newsletter series. The first one was in January 1978, see 1978 "Oath of the Free Amazons" (scroll down for scans)
* Some German fans are writing a Darkover dictionary and want Bradley's permission to publish it. Bradley said she personally can't give permission for it, but she sent a copy of the letter to her agent, and "he is going to talk to my German publisher about it."
* There are more excerpts from the letter that has been printed in parts for several issues regarding various Darkover novels.
* A fan writes about Bradley's books as therapy, and how this could translate to writing: "I first discovered "Darkover" in my early 30's, when "Spell Sword" and "Forbidden Tower" were suggested reading to provide a common reference and starting point for rape trauma counseling. (A very good one, it turned out, since Callista's "Keeper" state [was] very similar to the emotional and physical "shutdown" I experienced.) I also discovered that Mrs.Bradley was very encouraging of new writers."
* Bradley counsels a fan about rejection, but then provides a example of not following her own advice: "One of the things a would-be writer must learn to take is rejection -- everyone gets it. Only when I got an agent did it cushion the blows a little. A writer must be very sensitive or she can't write -- yet must cultivate rhinoceros hide or rejections can destroy her. Mention of Callista reminds me of a painful little review by Jessica Somebody-or-other, when she referred to "the psychogynecological problems of Callista," a fortuitous phrase; image an American medical journal Journal of Psychogynecology!" Bradley is referring to a review in a 1977 Publisher's Weekly, something she is still apparently angry about almost twenty years later.See her, and other fans', reactions to this review in "I'd have liked to be a fly on the wall at Thendara Council when you were all cracking jokes about psychogynecology.". "It seems that the lady had misunderstood my flippant retailing of the review in Publisher's Weekly, and our hilarity about the absurd word "Psychogyne-cology"". It was also mentioned in a Sime~Gen zine and fans proposed a separate zine with this as a subject. See the first issue of A Companion in Zeor.
* Bradley's con appearances (now a rarity) are Magic Carpet Con April 27-May 1 in Dalton, GA and BayCon May 26–29 in San Jose, CA.
* A fan writes about how she understands that Bradley's Darkover books are quite inconsistent with each other regarding geography and more, something that Bradley has addressed in the past, but she also notices big inconsistencies in individual books. Bradley's response: "I think I was always careless about time. There are to approaches to time, first the nervous antsy slaves of the clock (as a Terran, I am one), and the second easy approach of never giving a damn --which is much better."
* This issue contains a logic puzzle.
* Bradley says her favorite books now are by Ursula LeGuin, Dick Frances, and Diana Paxson.
There is an essay by Ann Sharp on writing fiction, and it appears that everyone is getting tired of the publishing game. It begins with: 
Bradley's Letter from MZB addresses slush piles, something that in previous issues, she has said she would never get tired of reading:"[Don Wollhiem] also gave me my first taste of editing; I used to go into DAW Books and read slush for him. I think he thought it rather odd and eccentric of me that I never lost my taste for the slush pile. I still haven't. I still greet each new pile of manuscripts for the magazine or my anthologies with renewed enthusiasm." -- from
Darkover Newsletter: #51 (December 1990) "Thankfully I have never lost my taste for reading the slush pile; most of the time it's a pain in the neck and the seat—but what would it do if I did lose patience with it?" -- from "Darkover Newsletter" #55 (December 1991. "I have never employed anyone else to read my slush pile -- it's the high point of my day." -- from "Darkover Newsletter" #62 (September 1993) ) 
A fan writes of how much she enjoyed Fantasy Worlds Festival '95: 
==Issue 69 (June 1995)==
Darkover Newsletter 69 was published in June 1995 and contains 14 pages.
* There is an essay on writing by Ann Sharp.
* When a fan asks if there are any newsletters or fanzines about the Free Amazons/Renunicates, Bradley says "There aren't any now, or none that have made themselves known to me."
* This issue contains a logic puzzle.
* A fan asks "what is the possibility of getting DNL on IBM disk or tape? Is anything taped? MZB is grossly under-represented in the National Library Service Talking Books." Ann Sharp replies: " Why on disk? That is, MZB has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the computer age and composes via electron instead of typewriter or pen these days. But reading her golden words on the printed page is ten times less likely to produce a headache as peering at them on a monitor, right? As for Talking Books, you might propose her name and a few choice titles to the local group." Bradley responds: "Most of my serious books -- "Mists of Avalon", "Firebrand," etc., have been done on tape, and I gave permission to print them in Braille, as most writers do. Don t know if any of the Darkovers exist on tape. There are not one, but two taped versions of Mists. Number One has lovely harp music,- I ve never heard the other ."
Bradley writes in her Letter from MZB that this will be the next-to-last newsletter. 
A German fan is disillusioned and writes: 
==Issue 70 (September 1995)==
Darkover Newsletter 70 was published in September 1995 and contains 18 pages.
* There is an essay on writing by Ann Sharp.
* Bradley's final Letter from MZB is the same, word for word, (except for a mention of a con she will be attending) as the letter in issue #69.
* Bradley has a "Marion Zimmer Bradley's FANTASY Magazine" t-shirt for sale.
* Bradley writes: "I am not currently planning anymore Darkover anthologies (my secretary hasn't recovered from the incredible hassle of the last one), but if I do, submission will be by invitation only, and I will invite only professional writers I have worked with before."
* A fan writes: "I was very sorry to hear of the scandal involving Contraband; not only did this rude and egotistical author ruin things for Marion, she ruined things for the rest of us who were regular Darkover anthology contributors."
* A fan writes: "I am interested in the Friends of Darkover. I am a thirty-four-year-old Game Master and fantasy fiction nut. I'm also a convicted felon serving a life sentence for a mistake when I was eighteen. I am looking to make some pen-friends, interested in fantasy fiction, music (classic rock/country), animals, and interested in writing long letters and short stories. I don't know if you allow inmates to receive your newsletter or not; I hope you will give me the chance. [Ann Sharp replies]: "We've always had some subscribers in correctional facilities desperate for escape literature (males in the 18-35 age group is probably the real reason). However, this is the last issue of the newsletter."
Elisabeth Waters has a long article on copyright. It begins with a general description of copyright, and moves into something more personal. An excerpt:
Ann Sharp says farewell and gives a short retrospective: 
And yes, there is a logic puzzle in this issue.
==References==
Category:Darkover Zines
Category:1993 Zines
Category:1994 Zines
Category:1995 Zines