My daughter Toni and Joel Rosenburg conspired to kidnap me in Texas and take me back to Minnesota. Joel’s wife Felicia and daughter Judy, as well as Toni, did amazing amounts of work loading the truck. Judy organized things as well. Toni drove the truck (towing my car). She drove every mile; I never touched the wheel. Felicia drove the van. Twice I tried to take shifts driving the van, and both times, after maybe an hour, I just fell apart, and Felicia took over again.
I’m here now, missing all the wonderful Texas people (not to mention the weather), but with my family. I plan to fall apart completely, but not until the truck is unloaded.
Thank you Toni, Judy, Felicia, and Joel.
Welcome back, and so much more.
I’m delighted you’re back with your family, but the comment about falling apart twice makes me all kinds of nervous. If there’s anything we can do to help with anything, let us know.
Ah, dear heart. I hope for all the best things for you from this move. Personally delighted to have you underfoot again, too.
I hope you find peace and healing, and not too much of the falling apartness (unless it’s needed to get to the peace and the healing, in which case I hope it’s relatively painless and short).
~hugs~
Sorry to hear about the stressful times; hope they are past you quickly!
I hope the falling-apart is clean and the recovery is quick. You have all my very best wishes.
Glad you made it! Sometimes falling apart is good–as long as it is temporary. Good food and friends help with that. I’m sure you’ll have some of both.
Hmmmm, kidnapped by a Known Felon at the behest of a Wanted Man? No good can come from this. I sense poker and partying in the near future. Enjoy.
p.s. Free Joel!
You have come full circle. Funny how life works sometimes. I lived all over the world yet here I am, back to the state where I grew up.
You’ve been through a lot. It took me a while to let it all out after my own situation that you know about. I’m glad you’re back home where you belong and hope the process of rebuilding your life goes swiftly.
We miss you already. Sundays won’t be the same without you. Or Spider House. ::pouts:: See if we won’t kidnap you back. At least for bouts occasionally.
Skyler: Steve talks very highly of you. I had hoped he could perform introductions between us as it’d be great to know another Austin writer. Maybe he can do so virtually? :)
I hesitate to ask this, but I am out of the loop obviously. What has happened to Reesa?
Glad to see you’re north of the Mason-Dixon line again. May your health & inspiration take advantage of the change & thrive.
Kit: Meet Skyler. Sky: This is Kit.
Mike: She’s well so far as I know.
Dear Steve,
Along with the many others on this site, I send my best wishes to you and your family. If there is anything any of us here can do for you, please let us know. Our thoughts and prayers will be with you always.
If you are still fallen apart (bad grammer?) take your time putting yourself back togethor.
Your work makes a some of us aroud the world makes our days more cheery but to do that, you need to start with yourself.
Sort of makes you feel good inside, yet filled with trepidation when other people make such a fuss over you. Wish you the best!
Chris & Cat from CA send you their (our?) best. You’re missed and loved! Hmm…trip to MN, eh? Never been there, but if your reputation can afford a couple of San Franies showing up…:)
Steve: Best virtual introduction evar. Thanks.
Chris: Would love to see you! But don’t know when I’ll have a hot tub; I donated mine to Reesa’s future daughter. Suggestion: not in the winter.
Ah, the Time of Road Repair it is! That’s okay. Much as I enjoy some snow, I’m a California boy. :)
I hope the falling apart is more akin to a sprain and not a break… but regardless of that it sounds inevitable that your family will help in the healing n mending. They sound wonderful.
take care,
time n all that…
warm thoughts from the UK
Texas isn’t the same without you, Steve. It’s less funny, less literate, has more hair per capita and is a lot less likely to win an interstate poker competition.
That said, I’m glad you’re safely back with your family & hope all is well.
Dear Steve,
I hope you are doing well. To cheer you up, I have a few thoughts to share.
Soon, Tiassa will be released, and when it is, you will have your chance to piss off all of us Vlad readers who have been stuck with you since they made the mistake of saying, back in the late 80’s, “Hey look, it’s a fire lizard book!”, and buying one of your works (look, I was in the 7th grade at that point, OK) and ended up getting Lioish instead. (“What’s that supposed to mean boss?” *smirking* “I don’t know Loiosh.”)
Now, as the release date of yet another excursion into the fine art of altering the cranium through high-speed impacts upon cinder block load-bearing structures arrives, I have to say that you will not succeed in pissing me off, no matter how hard you have worked at it.
Unlike many fans, I do not mind the reminders and references to other stories and adventures that Vlad makes, because those references have been there all along. I see them as possiblities for other novels and adeventures that you may write for us one day. Alternately, I see them as a chance for me to make up a story about one of the best literary characters it has been my pleasure to ever read. Thank-you. (As a side note, I find myself using this technique in teaching my chemistry classes, but only as a teaching tool to engage interest from my students, and never as a means to mess with their heads. I would never, ever do that! Not in a million years! No, I would never dilliberately mislead my students in that manner. *protests of innocence fade off into the distance*)
Another point I must make out, in reference to others complaining about how the action has changed in the last couple of volumes, is “To damn bad.” Vlad has been in different situations in the last couple of books, so the action is naturally going to be different. Vlad has always been good at adapting behavior to environment. Different situations require different kinds of actions, and Vlad is an expert at that. Don’t complain about it when he does it, try to learn from it. And besides, Issola and Dzur had plenty of the swash-buckling. And as another point to support my opinion that the action is still there, just changed, I must point out what I consider the most important line any of the past four novels, Issola or Dzur or Jhegaala or Iorich. It is when Vlad met with Aibynn in the dockside tavern. Vlad says of the Orca that comes up to them, “Five years ago, there would have been blood on the floor. Ten years ago, a body.” I think this is the most important thing that Vlad has said, done, thought, or had done to him in any book. I think it is more important than the Demon Goddess saying that she intends to use him, or that he has aquired/made/found/discovered Godslayer. Its significance will be tremendous, and I for one am looking forward to how these two little lines will play out in the future. I believe we have already seen some of those changes in Iorich, when Vlad spends most of his time sneaking around rather than growling, “Enough of this, I’m going out to kill somebody.” Then going to see Cawti and Vlad Norathar like nothing has happened.
No Kind Sir, I have not been made angry in any way, shape or form by the last additions to the Vlad adventures, and I am greatly looking foward to yet another wonderful book. I do not think you could do anything to make me mad in regards to the Vlad novels. I may enjoy some more than others, but I have never been disappointed by any of them. I will treasure them, all of them, always.
In closing, I would like to thank you for your writings. They have been constant companions to me throughout most of my life. They have helped me through good times, through bad times, and through my own breakdown. I wish you fair skies, cool breezes, and many aces, and if there is anything I can do to help you, including knocking off the nay-sayers, please ask.
Thanks for the kind words; much appreciated.
Hey Steve. Hope you’re pulling yourself back together after a cathartic breakdown. Tiassa comes out in less than a week, so that’s good, right? Which brings up my question: Do you have any ritual or celebration or tradition you do the day one of your books comes out?
So, what does it look like when you and Joel discuss politics?
Dave: I do my celebrating when I finish the first draft, and then again when I deliver the finished manuscript, so not much when it comes out.
Kukulkan: Remember the chicken at Kreske’s? It’s worse.
Steve, Long time fan. Wanted to offer my condolences on the passing of your friend Joel Rosenberg
So sorry about your friend. I’ve been reading both his and your books for years. Please let his family know that his fans offer their thoughts of well wishes and that we all miss him.