Foreword by Laura Anne Gilman

Many years ago, when I was still editing the Roc SF imprint, I cornered an agent friend of mine, waving a book in her face. “Why didn’t you send me this author, when you were submitting it?”

She blanched a little. “Oh, but you already had [author redacted] on your list, so I thought it would be too similar.”

“Argh,” I growled. “I would have made room!”

So I lost out on my chance to be Lynn Flewelling’s editor. But instead, I got to be her fan.

And that’s a word I don’t use easily: I’ve worked with many writers over the years, and I enjoy their work, I often love their work, but I don’t often consider myself a fan So why Lynn Flewelling? Because when I start one of her stories, I know that I’ll lose the rest of the day to anything else. Period. She writes of people I care about, adventures that I can lose myself in, and, underneath it all she writes about things that matter. About love and friendship. Loyalty and fear. The many layers of faith, and the equal layers of betrayal. And she does it without losing sight of the most important, cannot-be-underestimated elements of writing: Make It Fun. Even if you’re tearing your readers’ hearts out, make them enjoy it.

Lynn is heterosexual. In case anyone was wondering. So the fact that her main characters in the Nightrunner series are gay could have backfired, could have been seen as a ploy to ride a particular subgenre bandwagon, except for the fact that Seregil and Alec are characters formed by their experiences, rather than formed to BE their experiences. When Lynn writes about gender issues, ostracism and the difficulties of knowing and accepting not only who you are, but who you love, readers—no matter what their self-identifications, can find their own emotions and personal conflicts there.

That’s a gift. That’s storytelling.

I’ve been doubly fortunate, since that first encounter with Luck In The Shadows, to also be able to claim Lynn as a friend. For those of you who know that her totem animal is the otter, I can confirm, that yes, she shares many traits with that animal—she’s friendly, open, inquisitive, and cracks shells open with rocks.

Oh no, wait...

There are many stories I could tell, from the years of rooming together at conventions, of sitting long over drinks, and of sharing tea—one of Lynn’s obsessions, as she tries to wean me from my beloved coffee—but then she would probably and rightfully kill me.

So I will say only that it has been my pleasure, for the past fourteen years, to watch Lynn’s readership grow, from those of us who knew early on, to people discovering her work only now. And it is my great pleasure to introduce you to this collection, which brings us into the heart of her world and her characters, and does what Lynn does best: makes us care.

Laura Anne Gilman

September, 2010