All album rights copyright © Firebird Arts & Music.
All song rights copyright © Highflight Arts & Letters.
Song credits are for the lyrics only.
In chronological order:
Heralds, Harpers and Havoc
(Firebird Arts & Music, 1988)
“Holderkin Sheep Song” by Mercedes Lackey
“Meeting” by Mercedes Lackey
“Threes” by Mercedes Lackey
“Philosophy” by Mercedes Lackey
“Her Father’s Eyes” by Mercedes Lackey
“Dark and Stormy Night” by Mercedes Lackey
“Healer’s Dilemma” by Mercedes Lackey
“Sun and Shadow” by Mercedes Lackey
“For Talia” by Mercedes Lackey
“The Face Within” by Mercedes Lackey
“Laws” by Mercedes Lackey
“Musings” by Mercedes Lackey
“First Love” by Mercedes Lackey
“Arrow’s Flight” by Mercedes Lackey
“Fundamentals” by Mercedes Lackey
“Otherlove” by Mercedes Lackey
“After Midnight” by Mercedes Lackey
“Herald’s Lament” by Mercedes Lackey
The songs on this album are all based on characters and events in The Heralds of Valdemar trilogy (otherwise known as the Arrows trilogy).
Magic, Moondust, and Melancholy
(Firebird Arts & Music, 1989)
“Wind’s Four Quarters” by Mercedes Lackey
“Kerowyn’s Ride” by Mercedes Lackey
These two songs are based on characters and events in the novel By the Sword.
The following additional songs also appear on this album, but are not related to Valdemar:
“Signy Mallory” by Mercedes Lackey
“Eumemides” by Mercedes Lackey
“Medic” by Mercedes Lackey
“Gil-Shallos” by Mercedes Lackey
“Lammas Night” by Mercedes Lackey
“F.A.P.” by Mercedes Lackey
“Jirel of Jorey” by Mercedes Lackey
“Golden Eyes” by Mercedes Lackey
“Mis-Conceptions” by Mercedes Lackey
“Of Cabbages” by Mercedes Lackey
Oathbound
(Firebird Arts & Music, 1990)
“Lovers Untrue” by Mercedes Lackey
“Tale’sedrin” by Mercedes Lackey
“Lizard Dreams” by Mercedes Lackey
“Shin’a’in Song of the Seasons” by Mercedes Lackey
“Snow Beast” by Leslie Fish
“Shin’a’in Warsong” by Mercedes Lackey
“Gift of Amber” by D.F. Sanders
“Winds Four Quarters” by Mercedes Lackey
“Oathbound” by Mercedes Lackey
“Hindsight” by Leslie Fish
“Advice to Young Magicians” by Mercedes Lackey
“The Price of Command” by Mercedes Lackey
“Advice to Would-be Heroes” by Mercedes Lackey
These songs are all based on characters and events in the book Oathbound.
Oathbreakers
(Firebird Arts & Music, 1991)
“There’s Always A Reason” by Mercedes Lackey
“The Swordlady, or ‘That Song’ ” by Mercedes Lackey
“Need” by Leslië Fish
“Mirror Spell” by Mercedes Lackey
“The Leslac Version” by Mercedes Lackey
“The Archivist” by Mercedes Lackey
“The Sunhawks” by Cecilia Eng
“Oathbreakers” by Mercedes Lackey & Cecilia Eng
“Love Found” by Mercedes Lackey
“Suffer the Children” by Mercedes Lackey
“Contemplations” by Mercedes Lackey
“Surprised By Joy” by Mercedes Lackey
“Leslac’s Last Lament” by Leslie Fish
These songs are all based on characters and events in the book Oathbreakers.
Shadow Stalker
(Firebird Arts & Music, 1994)
“Windrider Unchained” by Mercedes Lackey
“Demonbane” by Mercedes Lackey
“My Lady’s Eyes” by Mercedes Lackey
“Web of Light” by D.F. Sanders
“The Colddrake” by D.F. Sanders
“The Shadow-Lover” by Mercedes Lackey
“Vrondi’s Eyes” by D.F. Sanders
“Shadow Stalker” by Mercedes Lackey
“Earth Spirit” by D.F. Sanders
“Nightblades” by Mercedes Lackey
“Hawk Brother” by D.F. Sanders
“Magic’s Price” by Mercedes Lackey
“The Herald’s Creed” by D.F. Sanders
These songs are all based on characters and events in The Last Herald Mage trilogy.
By the Sword
(Firebird Arts & Music, 1994)
“Open” by Meg Davis
“Warrior” by Meg Davis
“Blade of Desire” by Meg Davis
“A Serious Business” by Meg Davis
“Thinking out Loud” by Meg Davis
“Draw the Circle” by Meg Davis
“On the Edge of the Forest” by Meg Davis
“Kyree” by Meg Davis
“Guardian of the Night” by Meg Davis
“Keep the Peace” by Meg Davis
“Women of Steel” by Meg Davis
These songs are all based on characters and events in the novel By the Sword.
Lovers, Lore, and Loss
(Firebird Arts & Music, 1995)
“Coming Home” by D.F. Sanders
“Confusions” by Mercedes Lackey
“Chosen One” by D.F. Sanders
“The Cost of the Crown” by Mercedes Lackey
“Trapped Between” by Mercedes Lackey
“Trio” by Mercedes Lackey
“Recall” by Mercedes Lackey
“Dark Ending” by Mercedes Lackey
“One Answer” by Mercedes Lackey
“Promise” by Mercedes Lackey
“Battle Dawn” by Mercedes Lackey
“My Lady” by D.F. Sanders
“Heart’s Own” by D.F. Sanders
“Maiden’s Hope” by D.F. Sanders
These songs are based on characters and events in The Heralds of Valdemar (otherwise known as the Arrows trilogy).
Dangerous Heroes
(Firebird Arts & Music, 1996)
“Monster in My Head” by Michael Longcor
This song is based on characters and events in The Mage Winds Trilogy.
These additional songs also appear on the album, but are not related to Valdemar:
“Dangerous Heroes” by Michael Longcor
“Me and My Uncle” by John Phillips
“Building Fires” by Michael Longcor
“For the People” by Michael Longcor
“Eternity’s Waltz” by Michael Longcor
“Hunter of the Damned” by Michael Longcor
“I Like to Watch You Walk” by Michael Longcor
“Here’s to the Next to Die” by Benjamin Dowling
“The Wild Man From Borneo” by Kinky Friedman
“This Old Dog” by Michael Longcor
“Twilight of the Millennium” by Michael Longcor
From Kitchen Junk Drawer
(Firebird Arts & Music, 1998)
“Falconsbane” by Michael Longcor
This song is based on characters and events in The Mage Winds trilogy.
These additional songs also appear on the album, but are not related to Valdemar:
“Kitchen Junk Drawer” by Michael Longcor
“Silver Bullet Blues” by Michael Longcor
“Pillar of Hell” by Michael Longcor
“Ballad of James A. Moon” by Michael Longcor
“Privateer” by Michael Longcor
“Pennsic War IV” by Michael Longcor
“Tribes of the Draft” by Michael Longcor
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�Badlands” by John Standefer
“Truck Drivin’ Vampire” by Michael Longcor
“Pirates In England” by Rudyard Kipling
“Unicorn Song” by Michael Longcor
“Rhinotillexomania” by Michael Longcor
“Quest” by Martha Keller
“Imagination” by Michael Longcor
Owlflight
(Firebird Arts & Music, 2000)
“In the Pelagir” by Michael Longcor
“Errold’s Grove” by Cecilia Eng
“People” by Michael Longcor
“They Don’t Know” by Michael Longcor
“Bad Magic Day” by Michael Longcor
“Song of the Bear Clan” by Michael Longcor
“On the Bridge” by Michael Longcor
“Send in the Silver Gryphons” by Michael Longcor
“Snare and Deadfall” by Michael Longcor
“Song of the Hertasi Water Killers” by Michael Longcor
“Kuari’s Song” by Michael Longcor
“Lilly” by Cecilia Eng
“Friends” by Michael Longcor
“Raucous, Rude and Rowdy” by Michael Longcor
These songs are all based on characters and events in the novel Owlflight.
Elizabeth Wollheim, better known as Betsy to those of us lucky enough to number her among our friends, is (for the benefit everyone who hasn’t read the front matter in all the Valdemar books) the President and co-Publisher of DAW Books. She is also Mercedes Lackey’s first editor, the person who bought her first book, and the person responsible for editing and publishing every Valdemar book. In the fifteen years since she bought Arrows of the Queen, Betsy and Misty have forged an editor/author relationship that is one of the most enduring in the publishing business. Naturally, Betsy’s got a big stake in the world of Valdemar, and strong opinions on the events and characters within that world. She’s also got some very fond memories of working with Mercedes Lackey through the years. I asked her to share some of these, and here’s what she had to say:
DL: How did you first discover Mercedes Lackey’s work?
BW: The author C. J. Cherryh, a seemingly unlikely source, first brought Mercedes Lackey to my attention. C. J. had been writing for DAW since the beginning of her career, and since she had published her first book with us, she knew we were interested in first novelists, so she would occasionally pitch young aspiring-author friends of hers to me. I say “seemingly unlikely” only because C. J. was best known for her hard science fiction, and Mercedes Lackey was an aspiring fantasy writer. Both Carolyn (C.J.) and Misty were active in fan groups, specifically filk singing groups, in the Oklahoma area, and Misty had written a song entitled “Signy Mallory” about one of Carolyn’s most famous characters. The song impressed C. J. so much that she showed it to me. It impressed me, too.
DL: What caught your eye as you were reading it?
BW: It was clear to me from the lyrics of the song that Misty had professional writing talent. Signy Mallory is a very complex character; Misty’s lyrics were extraordinarily perceptive, and her style was fluid, subtle, and clever. Naturally, I asked to see if Misty had written anything besides song lyrics, and she had. Pretty soon, I had an early draft of Arrows of the Queen in my hand.
DL: Did you know then how much potential that young author had?
BW: Obviously I thought that Misty had serious potential; but potential is a funny thing. I think most beginning professional writers have huge potential. The question is always whether or not they will fulfill their potential. I believe that genius is made up of a small amount of inspiration and a large amount of perspiration. Misty’s potential is being fulfilled because of her serious hard work and intelligent planning. Of course, at the time, I had no idea whether Misty would fulfill her potential. How could I have known? But I’m very happy she did!
DL: When you made that first contact as an editor with Misty, what do you remember best about it?
BW: Misty’s energy. Most new writers are wildly enthusiastic—ecstatic even—to have a publisher interested in their work for obvious reasons, and Misty was no exception, but she had a level of energy that was truly unique. I’ve never seen anyone turn around a draft or make a requested editorial change with as much speed and competence as Misty did. I was just amazed. She was a real firecracker!
DL: Did Misty have a clear idea of what she wanted to do with Valdemar, even in those early days? If so, what was that? Do you think she achieved her goals?
BW: Oh, yes. That’s an understatement if I ever heard one. Misty knew exactly what she hoped to achieve with Valdemar. That was another thing that impressed me—that she knew so well even then what she hoped to do in her fiction. Misty said that she wanted to create a world that would be as real and vast as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover, Anne McCaffrey’s Pern, and Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni, and have certain elements of each in it, along with many new elements. She wanted to give to her readers what these fantasy worlds had given her. Yes, I definitely think she achieved her initial goals, but she has new goals now. I imagine as long as she’s writing she’ll continue to work in every book to reach new heights as a writer.
DL: What kinds of advice—editorial and personal—did you give Misty then, and how do you think it changed her work?
BW: I’m sure I told her what I tell every new author: don’t quit your day job until the income from your books equals or exceeds your regular yearly income! Misty has mentioned that I advised her to bring magic into the picture early on in the first book. I still feel that it’s important for an author—especially a fist novelist—to indicate to a reader that they will be getting what they want, and for fantasy readers what they want is magic. I can honestly say that I don’t remember too many specific details from that first editing session—it was fifteen years and countless books ago! But I do remember that Arrows of the Queen, despite the helpful advice from friends (and in the case of C. J. Cherryh, a highly respected author), came in the way most first novels come in to a publisher—in a very rough state. Misty needed to do significant re-writing, fleshing-out, and polishing. Which, I might add, she did with extraordinary speed, willingness and ability.
DL: From the very first, you gave the Valdemar books a distinctive and cohesive look—what were your thoughts as you worked on those early covers?
BW: We had “discovered” an artist, Jody Lee, who had worked primarily on young adult books, including some quite famous ones. We loved her style. It incorporated more design elements than most fantasy artists do, and we were looking for an author to pair her up with. Misty’s books seemed right for her style, and we were so happy with the resulting combination that we’ve used Jody for every DAW Lackey title since, even her non-Valdemar books. I think it’s important to differentiate our DAW books by Mercedes Lackey from the books she publishes with other houses. Jody’s covers do that for us.
DL: How did you make the decision to begin bringing out the Valdemar books in hardcover?
BW: Honestly, I wish we had published every book Misty’s ever written in hardcover! The simple fact is that in 1986 when we started work on Arrows of the Queen, the DAW hardcover list was brand new—we had only published two hardcover books in the history of our company. It took several years for us to realize that our hardcover line was working—was successful—and by that time the Valdemar series was well underway. We decided to make Winds of Fate Misty’s first Valdemar hardcover because it was an important book in the series: it tells the continuing story of Elspeth, who first appears in the Arrows series, and it brings back the Herald-Mages, who we hadn’t seen since Vanyel. Readers can get very touchy when a book in a series that had previously been released only in mass-market format is brought out in hardcover format. A certain percentage of people don’t like to, or can’t, spend the money for a hardcover, and aren’t happy about waiting another year or so to get the paperback. As a publisher, when you make a switch like that in a series, you have to do it with a “big” book. I wish we c
ould have made the switch earlier, with Magic’s Pawn, but our hardcover list wasn’t as well established at the time that book was published.
DL: The hardcover books were beautiful inside and out—with illustrations, maps, and a lot of design elements—very different from most of what’s on the shelves. Can you talk about how the decisions about laying out and putting those first hardcovers together were made?
BW: Many of our books have maps, and we try to add appropriate design elements to all of our hardcovers—we feel that when a reader is spending over $20.00 buying a book, that reader should get a deluxe product. But what really sets Misty’s hardcovers apart is Larry Dixon’s beautiful interior artwork. It was a very happy coincidence that Misty married Larry, who is not only capable, but also willing, to illustrate her books! And since Larry has worked with Misty on Valdemar since the Magic series, and has co-authored six Valdemar novels, who could possibly be a better choice to illustrate Valdemar?
DL: Do you think that the look of the books helped drive sales?
BW: That’s an interesting question. There’s no way we can possibly know if the beautiful packages increased Misty’s sales. We love the look of the books, and we love Jody Lee’s art, and the reception to them in combination has been excellent or we would have changed the look long ago. But would the books have sold fewer copies with a different cover look? I don’t know—that’s something we can’t answer.
DL: What kinds of publishing decisions have you made through the years that have helped DAW and Misty build her career as the author of the Valdemar books so successfully?
BW: Well, I think the decision to put Valdemar in hardcover was an important one. The uniformity of cover art through all the books in the series was important as well, for identification purposes. Readers who see a new book in the series on the shelf can recognize it immediately. Also, we put Misty in a “lead book” position in our monthly list quite early on in her career—inspired in part by the phenomenal monthly paces her books were generating. Before we published the first Valdemar hardcovers, we used a beautiful special effect—printing the cover on silver foil stock—for the Magic books, which was quite effective and made the books really “pop” on the shelves. We’re always trying something new to promote the books—we’re about to launch a DAW-run Mercedes Lackey website. And, of course, promotion and advertising has always been heavy for Misty’s books.
The Valdemar Companion Page 13
