So nice to be recognized!

What a treat! In recent months—mostly by mere chance—I’ve discovered that one or more of my novels in the Macsen’s Treasure Series has been noted in bibliographies or encyclopedias. All are in sections that highlight Arthurian fiction written by modern authors. Recognition is such a satisfying thing!

I had been aware for years that supplements to The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, edited by Norris J. Lacy, were to include mentions of my books, but I had no idea how this would come about. I doubted this book’s publisher would reissue the entire book as it is large and expensive to produce and not exactly a bestseller. However, an email surfaced from the International Arthurian Society (I’m a member) announcing updated information about the University of Rochester’s Camelot Project. Lo and behold, included was information about the supplements. They are incorporated into a series of annual books entitled Arthurian Literature, published by D. S. Brewer. Into the Path of Gods and In the Shadow of Dragons were listed in the supplement printed in Volume XXII of this series! And…The Anvil Stone will be mentioned in an additional supplement to be included in Volume XXVI, reportedly forthcoming this year. To be associated with Norris Lacy’s New Arthurian Encyclopedia is like finding the Holy Grail for an Arthurian fiction writer!

Another notation can be found in Mike Ashley’s The Mammoth Book of King Arthur, published in 2005. This one mentions my first two books, Into the Path of Gods and In the Shadow of Dragons. The Anvil Stone was published a year after Ashley’s book came out. Into the Path of Gods was also noted in Cindy Mediavilla’s book, Arthurian Fiction: An Annotated Bibilography, released in 1999. Unfortunately, neither described the books accurately, one even misspelled a character’s name. While I am grateful for these two notations, I’m also rather mystified as to why they both say the books are for “young adults.” No, the books are definitely adult fiction. If they were movies, they would certainly receive an “R” rating for sex and violence. Nowhere have my books ever been categorized for a YA audience.

And yesterday, on a more uplifting line, while browsing through Amazon.com for something completely different, I ran across Books and Beyond: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of New American Reading, by Kenneth Womack. This is a reference book for librarians and costs $400 new! But using Amazon’s “search inside the book” function, I see this eight-pound tome has five, count ‘em, FIVE! references to the Macsen’s Treasure Series. In a section on Arthurian fiction the author compares the various treatments of characters in recent novels. He mentions all three of mine at different points, plus he gets the information correct! Thank you! They are also listed in two places in the back of the book. Hot diggity!

It will be interesting to see where the series is mentioned next, once the fourth book, A Land Beyond Ravens, is released in September. Huzzah, for search engines.