Hi Steve De-Lurker, Nice to meet you and yes i read till the end. Thanks for the apology :) Accepted tehehehe. Good reading to us all, and with a box of tissues. Lani (New Zealand)
> Date: Mon, 6 May 2013 03:57:19 +0200 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Lurkers de-lurk – now or never! > > After way, WAY too long lurking on this wonderful list, I’d like to finally > say ‘Hi everyone’ from the western outskirts of London - and to apologise for > the Subject of this posting which (unintentionally) sounds a little like a > call to arms! I first registered on here in August 2005, and after receiving > many tens of thousands of e-mails from you active lot over the past 8 years > or so, it is more a reflection of the way I feel about not having ‘spoken > directly’ to any of you up until now, and wanting to say at least something > as we all approach what feels to me, with the imminent publication of Ray’s > last Midkemia-universe book, something akin to ‘The End’. > > I have read all of Ray’s books, and many of your postings (albeit not all of > them), and I’d quite simply like to express my immense gratitude to all of > you. Ray, your books have given me huge amounts of pleasure over many years, > and have kept me up later than I should have been on way too many occasions. > Long ago, I lost count of the number of incredibly vivid images that you have > conjured up in my mind: of forests, villages, towns, cities and worlds that I > have ‘visited’ through your writings, of battles in which I feel I have > almost taken part, of political machinations that I have been privy to, and > of course what must be many hundreds of ‘friends’ that I have made with the > characters in your stories (for the record, Jimmy and Nakor are my endearing > favourites!). I am of course looking forward to your future writings, Ray, > but will miss them all, good and bad, and this universe, forever! Thank you > from a man to whom you have given back such a wonderful gift - the enjoyment > of reading. > > As for the rest of you here on this list, you have provided me with much > entertainment, laughs, and information – and not just on Ray’s literature > either, but on plenty of other subjects. I am, as always, taken by the rising > excitement on this list of the book launch, helped on this occasion by the > tantalising pre-release chapters now available (that I have resisted reading > thus far). I intend to drop in and see Ray tonight at Forbidden Planet in > London (welcome back to the UK, Ray!), and perhaps will have the honour of > chatting with one or two of you, but my heartfelt thanks go out to all of you > on this list, many of whose names are now very familiar to me, and I hope > that you continue to entertain and inform long into the future! > > Briefly (I know, it’s probably obvious by now that my communications are > often anything BUT brief!), a couple of things I had considered contributing > previously to the list, but somehow never quite got around to posting: > - For the locationists amongst you, I live with my wife of three months (whom > I managed to persuade to read Magician and half of Silverthorn, but nothing > further so far, sadly) in a mid-sized town just inside the western side of > the world’s largest car park, the M25 motorway, which surrounds London. I’m > 46, and along with half of the rest of the world, work in IT! > - Some time ago, shortly after reading about a fort set in one of Ray’s > out-of-way places (the Dasati, or perhaps the demon, realm? – I can’t recall > for sure), I drove past a road in a little town called Ware somewhat north of > London, with the name of Demontfort Rise. Well, it made ME smile! > > For any of you that have made it this far into my overly-long message, > apologies for the length of it. Oh, and if any other lurkers feel brave > enough, please join me in saying hello, if only on this one ‘special > occasion’. Go on, you know you want to. ;-) > > Thank you again to one and all, and finally : Magician’s End, here I come! > > > Steve (resisting the strong urge to re-lurk!) > >
