"chris cunningham" <chrislee at neo.rr.com> writes: > indeed. first thing i did was check ms. bull's and mr. shetterly's photos, > only to find out that i couldn't determine ms. bull's height, or mr. > shetterly's eye colour. then i recalled seeing a photo of you (ms. > dyer-bennet) on your site, so there i went, only to find out that all of the > photos are in black and white. argh. Heh. Says the photographer. :-) But you might try my snapshot album, say around http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/gallery.cgi/2002/08100-Minn-StF%20Picnic > so, here are my current ruminations and wild-assed guesses: > > "she who is small finds the secrets of the present in the past..." > i'm thinking this refers to one who knows her history, includes lots of > history in her writing, or perhaps uses allegory to mask observations on the > present in a historical or mythical setting...aha! thought that kara dalkey > had set some novels in japan, so i just now searched for a site on her to > verify this, and found a nice bio ( > http://www.lunacat.net/authors/author-dalkey.htm ) which not only confirms > the japanese-historical-fantasy thang, but also mentions that she is > vertically challenged. yes! Sounds good. I can confirm that Kara is quite short. > "she who is tall says that the secret is in the song..." > emma bull. ms. dalkey's bio also mentioned that she had been a > bassist/singer, and i was afraid that i had misattributed ms. bull as this > wizard. but as ms. dalkey is small, and ms. bull seems tall, and sings/sang > as a flash girl, i'm going with ms. bull on this one. also, this part of > the description just seems to fit: "...the secret is plain to all who > listen, but that it is hidden again when the song is past," as i know that > i've loved everything i've read by her, but have naveer been able to explain > to others what i like about her work, as opposed to, say, mr. brust, whom i > can usually describe somewhat effectively to friends: zelazny-esque, jazzy, > etc. think i'll start quoting him and say that he writes "in 6/8 time." i > love that. and just as i typed that, rush's "body electric" comes on, which > song is only in my mp3 mix because of its mutated 6/8 beat. And Kara and Emma and Steven were *all* in a band called Albany Free Traders, back before Cats Laughing. Nate too, now that I think of it. I'd have to agree that Emma is the only woman in that list that can be described as tall, though. > "she whose hair is red wraps the secret ever tighter in skeins of words...so > that it is hidden to those who look, yet revealed to those who take joy in > the unfolding patterns and sounds of words." > reminds me of this description of paarfi's style, from _500 years after_: > "your reader is the one who doesn't rush on to see what happens next, but > relishes the way the sentences are formed." > ok, this is a bit of a stretch, as i've only got one story by this writer on > hand, from the first liavek book, but to me it is that sort of a story, > where skimming it to reacquaint myself with it was informative, but made me > want to read it slowly, which i did, at work, last night, during my > lunchbreak: "the green cat." > pamela dean dyer-bennet is my guess here. > "he whose eyes are green...no sooner finds the secret than he buries it > anew." > will shetterly. i have a love/hate relationship with his fiction. have to > read him again before i can say more than this. but i do think this is he. > and i feel fairly confident that i know who his analogue is in _the sun, the > moon, and the stars_. You know, I don't *remember* what color Will's eyes are, and the pictures are all B&W. > "he whose hair is dark laughs at secrets, for his pleasure is in the search, > not the discovery--and the paths he follows in this search stem from > whim..." > skzb > > the gentle one: "...when each is placed in its own position, the outline of > the secret will be laid bare..." > no idea. refers to the way in which she assembles her fiction, i suppose? > by process of elimination this should be patricia wrede, and that's my > guess, but i have zero confidence in this guess, even after a quick reread > of her story, "ancient curses." > > "the master of rhyme still searches for the way of the wizards..." > nate bucklin? having not written, or at least, not having been published, > iirc, he could be seen as still searching for the way. and i seem to recall > that he's a musician/filkster, aka a master of rhyme. Nate's a great songwriter. I believe he did have a couple of short stories published some time ago. I must admit that the descriptions don't always click in instantly for me, either -- and I've known the other 6 of them longer than Steven has. People don't always see/notice the same things. -- David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b at dd-b.net / http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/ John Dyer-Bennet 1915-2002 Memorial Site http://john.dyer-bennet.net Dragaera mailing lists, see http://dragaera.info