Every year at Christmas time I write a short story for MaryAnn that I publish in chapbook form through my Triskell Press imprint. I've been doing this for twenty-two years now; the earliest stories were printed in editions of only one copy. It wasn't long before we decided to share the chapbooks as a Christmas gift for friends and family. In recent years, the stories have been reprinted in magazines, convention program books and my own short story collections—but their first breath of life has always been in chapbook form.

Along the way, I've had a few small press publishers offer to do a limited edition collection of these stories, but the time never felt right until now. MaryAnn and I thought that it would be fun to celebrate the millennium with a hardcover edition of all the chapbook stories to date.

This is where Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press comes in. I like Bill's publishing philosophy. He prints the amount he says he will and he keeps the cost down for the reader. He also does a bang-up job in terms of production values.

Many of the earlier stories have never been reprinted. Some of the chapbooks also contained poetry that has seen very limited publication or none whatsoever. (One chapbook, about our first magical visit to the Tucson area, was all poetry with a couple of transcribed fiddle tunes that I wrote.) We're also including a few other items, such as a pair of short stories commissioned by our local community newspaper, one of which was a collaboration with MaryAnn. And to top it off, MaryAnn has agreed to provide a full-colour painting for the cover, along with several b&w interior illustrations.

"Leaves for Mary Ann"	1974
"The Three that Came"	Triskell Press, 1977
"My Ainsel'"	The Storyteller #6 -7 '79
"Grymalkin"	Triskell Press, 1978
"The Oak King's Daughter"	Triskell Press, 1979
"The Moon Is a Meadow"	Triskell Press, 1980
"Humphrey's Christmas" by Charles de Lint & Mary Ann Harris	OSCAR v10 #4 '81
"A Pattern of Silver Strings"	A Pattern of Silver Strings, Triskell Press, 1981
"Root of Horn"	A Pattern of Silver Strings, Triskell Press, 1981
"Meran's Stone"	OSCAR v9 #10 '81
"Withered Trickster"	A Pattern of Silver Strings, Triskell Press, 1981
"The Piper"	A Pattern of Silver Strings, Triskell Press, 1981
"Secret Stones, Hollow Hills"	A Pattern of Silver Strings, Triskell Press, 1981
"Days of Fading"	A Pattern of Silver Strings, Triskell Press, 1981
"They Will Come Again"	A Pattern of Silver Strings, Triskell Press, 1981
"Glass Eyes and Cotton Strings"	Triskell Press, 1982
"In Mask and Motley"	In Mask and Motley, Triskell Press, 1983
"Blood to Blood"	In Mask and Motley, Triskell Press, 1983
"Telynros"	In Mask and Motley, Triskell Press, 1983
"Alken's Way"	In Mask and Motley, Triskell Press, 1983
"The Mysteries"	In Mask and Motley, Triskell Press, 1983
"Root Truths"	In Mask and Motley, Triskell Press, 1983
"Four Seasons and the First Day of the Year"	In Mask and Motley, Triskell Press, 1983
"Laughter in the Leaves"	Laughter in the Leaves, Triskell Press, 1984
"An Fear Glas"	Laughter in the Leaves, Triskell Press, 1984
"The Calendar of the Trees"	Triskell Press, 1984
"The Three Plushketeers Meet Santy Claus"	OSCAR v13 #4 '85
"The Badger in the Bag"	Badger in the Bag, Triskell Press, 1985
"The Old Tunes"	Badger in the Bag, Triskell Press, 1985
"The Three Plushketeers and the Garden Slugs"	Triskell Press, 1985
"And the Rafters Were Ringing"	Triskell Press, 1986
"The Lark in the Morning"	The Lark in the Morning, Triskell Press, 1987
"Bones"	The Lark in the Morning, Triskell Press, 1987
"The Drowned Man's Reel"	Triskell Press, 1988
"The Stone Drum" [Newford]	Triskell Press, 1989
"Ghosts of Wind and Shadow" [Newford]	Triskell Press, 1990
"Desert Moments Introduction"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Tapu'at House"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Sacred Land"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Apollo, Arizona and Oliver Twist"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"The Fairy House"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"The Faury House Jig"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Mission San Xavier Del Bac"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Flatbread and Chili"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Bajada"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Tucson"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Mount Lemmon"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Saguaro Dream"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"Coyote"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"At the Border"	Desert Moments, Triskell Press, 1991
"The Bone Woman" [Newford]	Triskell Press, 1992
"Mr. Truepenny's Book Emporium and Gallery" [Newford]	Cheap Street: New Castle, VA, 1992
"Coyote Stories" [Newford]	Triskell Press, 1993
"Heartfires" [Newford]	Triskell Press, 1994
"Crow Girls" [Newford]	Triskell Press, 1995
"My Life as a Bird" [Newford]	Triskell Press, 1996
"The Fields Beyond the Fields" [Newford]	Triskell Press, 1997
"Second Chances"	Triskell Press, 1998
"The Buffalo Man"	Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 1999
"Pixel Pixies"	Triskell Press, 1999

For ordering information, contact:

Subterranean Press
P.O. Box 190106
Burton, MI 48519
subpress@earthlink.net
Subterranean Press web site

Reviews

Booklist: The body of short stories and poems presented here in order of composition consists mostly of gifts de Lint created for his wife. As such, it gives readers the opportunity to see how he honed his craft over the course of 22 years. By his own admission, some early work is fairly dreadful. Still, it is intriguing to watch de Lint shift from using faerie motifs in the manner of Lord Dunsany to pronouncing them in his own voice, setting them in contemporary Ottawa, and integrating North American Indian themes. Furthermore, de Lint's development in verse parallels that in prose. Altogether, the volume reaffirms de Lint's mastery of short forms, and its contents read like variations on a theme, not as the same piece written over and over, as is the case with some similarly prolific writers' work. Rambles Magazine: Many fans of Charles de Lint's writing know of his annual chapbooks by reputation alone. Relatively few have actually seen the tales Charles began writing for his wife, MaryAnn Harris, for Christmas in 1974, a tradition which grew over the years to include a fortunate circle of friends. That changes this year with the release of Triskell Tales: 22 Years of Chapbooks, a limited publication from Subterranean Press. The final edition, which will be bound with a sewn-cloth hardcover and will include artwork by MaryAnn, collects de Lint's short stories and poetry from the start in 1974 right through to the most recent in 1999. (There is a gap in 1975 and '76, when Charles did not write any Christmas stories.) And what an amazing collection this is! Working from an advance proof of the book—sadly lacking Mary Ann's interior artwork, but still packed with more than 500 pages of text—I was fascinated to watch de Lint's craft as a writer develop from the early days to his current level of comfort and skill. I wouldn't call any of these stories bad—each, taken individually, is a charming example of fantasy or contemporary fantasy in abbreviated form—but certainly the early tales lack the strength and depth of his later writings. As the years pass, the reoccurring characters mature into deeper, more believable individuals, and the stories themselves evolve from simple fantasies and fairy tales into richer, more profound narratives which stimulate the imagination with greater detail and emotion. Newford, the fictitious city serving as home to most of de Lint's recent fiction, first appears on p. 247 ("The Drowned Man's Reel," 1988), when a pair of timeless minstrels help a haunted woman recapture the magic of her youth. Jilly Coppercorn, perhaps Newford's most popular and recognizable resident, makes her first appearance on p. 259 ("The Stone Drum," 1989). The focus of most of these tales is the magical couple of Cerin and Meran, a pair of long-lived, mysterious musicians already familiar to readers of de Lint's Newford collections Dreams Underfoot, The Ivory & the Horn and Moonlight & Vines. Cerin, some may recall, was the hero of de Lint's early fantasy novel, The Harp of the Grey Rose, so it might seem surprising that he's still knocking around in the modern city of Newford. That won't be surprising any more; Triskell Tales lets readers follow a great portion of Cerin's lifespan, including his meeting with and marriage to Meran. While no story explains exactly how the couple ended up in Newford, it certainly seems right and proper that they live in so magical, mystical a place in our time. The early tales, set in the traditional fantasy world of Grey Rose, are usually told by Cerin himself. The wandering harper passes time in good company by telling stories about the magical Meran. In the first, "The Three That Came," she dies—but that doesn't prevent her from serving as the protagonist later on. (Remember, she's magical.) She returns in "Grymalkin," a tale of righteous revenge. "The Oak King's Daughter" gives us Cerin and Meran's first meeting and courtship. In "Glass Eyes and Cotton Strings," the couple must cope with a murderous doll after a practical (magical) joke goes awry. "In Mask and Motley" explains how and why Meran came to leave her oak and live with Cerin among mortals. "Laughter in the Leaves" introduces their resident bodach and describes the taming of a needful imp. "A Pattern of Silver Strings" and "The Lark in the Morning" both tell of very different types of musical contests, while "The Badger in the Bag" demonstrates the magic of musical instruments and the need for well-chosen names. Most of the Newford tales—in which Meran and Cerin gain a surname, Kelledy—have already appeared in de Lint's mass-market collections, but it's nice to have them here as well; it completes the collection. In these stories, they help various Newford residents deal with ghosts, lost memories of magic, goblin artifacts, a mysterious collector of bones, lost souls, crow girls and a buffalo man, a friendly hob and malicious pixies—even more mundane, yet powerful topics such as a missing teen-ager trapped in a bad situation by evil men, and second chances when a life has gone astray. But don't be deceived into thinking Triskell Tales is nothing but the life and times of Meran and Cerin. The book contains a delightful hodgepodge of other brief fictions, including "My Ainsel'," a fable based on Scottish lore; "The Moon is a Meadow," a story of magic, prejudice and hate; "Coyote Stories," a strange mix of the real and unreal beneath a veil of Native American mysticism; and "Humphrey's Christmas," a new slant on the wise old Yuletide mouse. A pair of stories from 1985 introduce the Three Plushketeers, child-like animal characters—definitely among the more whimsical figures in de Lint's entire body of work. Also scattered throughout this volume are samples of de Lint's poetry, which also evolves over the years. In 1974, his poems are short, sweet and magical, tiny love notes to his wife. when the wind is gentle upon you remember me and i will be near As the years pass, de Lint's poetry expands, exploring in greater depth his emotions and experiences. Some, like "Coyote," tell stories; others, such as "At the Border," "Flatbread & Chili" and "Mission San Xavier del Bac," convey feelings and impressions from Charles and MaryAnn's varied history. My favorite is "The Old Tunes," a brief exploration of magic and music. There's even an original tune or two to round out the experience, bringing stories, poetry, music and art together in one package. Special kudos to MaryAnn, credited by Charles in his introduction for convincing him at long last to release these gems, both rough and polished, to his readers. While Triskell Tales might not have mass-market appeal—a truth obviously recognized by the author, given this limited release—his fans and friends will count themselves lucky to have this collected body of writings in their collections.