I'm so sorry, Mark. I've drifted away from these sites in recent years, but I used to read them regularly and post occasionally, and I still follow your social media.

I met you and Baize at a couple of Arisias. I wish I had photographs or memorable stories to share; all I can say is that it was a genuine pleasure to see how the two of you interacted with each other.

I am glad that you have support around you and that you're able to do what you need to do to care for yourself.

I wish you all possible peace and solace as you grieve, and that his memory may be a blessing.

I've been a fan of Diane Duane's ever since I was 11, when my dad handed me a hardcover copy of My Enemy, My Ally, but I assumed she was exclusively a Star Trek author, so I didn't know about the YW books until I bought the omnibus edition of the first three books from SFBC in 1990 and fell in love.

I was fortunate to have escaped bullying in school; I was distressingly good at blending into the woodwork (agonizing shyness and insecurity in my case resulted in a kind of social invisibility). It was good in that I wasn't ever bullied, but the tradeoff was that I was so very lonely. Nita resonated with me in her love of books and her ability to find companionship within them.

I adore this entire series and recommend it to people at every opportunity I get. [series in general and WD and later in particular] Bar bs gur guvatf V zbfg ybir nobhg vg vf gung gurer vf nyjnlf n cevpr gung zhfg or cnvq. Gurer'f na njnerarff abg whfg bs gur varivgnovyvgl bs qrngu, ohg gung qrngu vf uneq. V pel fgvyy rirel gvzr V ernq JQ: gur qrfcrengr cnva gung Avgn rkcrevraprf, gur ubcr gung ure zbgure jvyy gevhzcu bire gur Ybar Cbjre, naq gura gur gehyl ovggrefjrrg ernyvmngvba gung va guvf pnfr gevhzcu erdhverf ure gb npprcg ure qrngu. Naq gura gung ynfg puncgre, naq gur pbairefngvba orgjrra Avgn naq ure zbgure naq gur Genafpraqragny Cvt... tnu. V'z jryyvat hc ntnva whfg guvaxvat nobhg vg. Naq nf gur obbxf tb ba, gung cnva qbrfa'g tb njnl. Avgn naq ure snzvyl ner abg gur fnzr nsgre ure zbgure'f qrngu. Gurl fubhyqa'g or. Naq Qhnar tvirf gurz gur ernyvgl naq gur qvtavgl bs gurve tevrs.

It's beautiful, beautiful writing.

'74 baby here. Fortunately(?), I'm accustomed to feeling old on the internet.

I'm just hoping that since I just turned 42 that I'll now have all the answers...even if I don't know what the questions are.

They're such great books. (I was always sorry that Ureo Gnamre naq Zbven gur tnzr pbzchgre [naq Nry...naq X'f'g'yx...naq...] weren't canon characters. And I adored what she did with Rafvta Anenug.) Sorry. Muppet flailing again. I've met very few people who've read those books, though, so it's exciting for me. Almost as exciting as knowing that the Easter egg is, in fact, real! You made my day by telling me that.

I had the omnibus edition also! It had a pink dust jacket, and I think I got it from the SFBC.

Which TNG book is it in? I had a fairly large collection of TOS tie-in books growing up, but I never had the same interest in TNG books. I know I read them, because I did my best to read everything she wrote, but I didn't reread them very often.

Diane Duane is among my favorite authors...and I can barely wait to watch Mark discovering these books

Agreed! N Jvmneq'f Qvyrzzn erqhprf zr gb grnef ab znggre ubj znal gvzrf V ernq vg.

I don't know if any of them are still in print - they're all about 30 years old at this point - but if you haven't read them, I strongly recommend many of her Star Trek tie-in novels. (I have a genuine love most especially for The Wounded Sky; My Enemy, My Ally; and Spock's World. Good storytelling, and I love seeing how certain ideas and themes have cropped up in multiple ways across the duration of her writing career.)

I've never checked, because I don't want to know if I'm wrong (although I really don't think I am) but I've always thought there was an Easter egg for her Star Trek readers in N Jvmneq'f Qvyrzzn (I'm convinced that one of the minor characters is n Fhynzvq, yvxr Yvrhgranag Znunfr).

...and I'll stop now, before the Muppet flailing gets completely out of control.

Thank you! I'm hopeful (I actually went and signed up for an account even!)