Kindness is a profoundly powerful sort of magic. It’s a gift that Charles de Lint has been giving his readers for decades, an example set by the way he engages with the world and by the way his characters exist in each other’s lives. I’m sure Moonheart was my first encounter with the author. Like so many of his stories, it features characters who enter one another’s lives by chance (or fate), who are strangers to one another and, in many ways, to the idea of “normalcy” as defined by traditional society. Before the phrase “found family” entered my personal lexicon, I understood what it meant—and how much true heart it could exemplify—because of Charles de Lint. There’s a generosity of spirit that shines in his writing and his characters that makes readers want to be a part of the found family anytime such relationships appear in his work. I could write chapters about his influence on the fantasy genre, but others have done and will do that. Instead, I want to say this: I believe that thanks to the inspiration I drew from Charles’s work, I’m not only a better writer but a better person. Now that is magic.
I first met Charles and MaryAnn on a shuttle bus taking people from O’Hare airport to the Hyatt Regency in Schaumberg, Illinois, for the 1990 World Fantasy Convention. It wasn’t my first convention, but it was my first big one and I was nervous as hell. I didn’t know what to expect, and I somehow ended up in conversation with the couple next to me on the bus. They were so kind, answering questions, putting me at ease, offering advice. When I finally thought to introduce myself and learned I’d been talking to Charles de Lint and MaryAnn Harris, I was stunned. I’d already become a huge fan of Charles’s writing, and the idea that they would take the time to offer their guidance to this 23 year old stranger made an indelible impression. I would never forget it, and never cease being grateful…
But I wasn’t surprised. Charles showed me then that he was exactly the kind of thoughtful, open-hearted person he wrote about in his books.
That’s probably the longest conversation we’ve ever had, but I remain an ardent fan of both the man and his stories.
Congratulations on forty years of Moonheart. Tamson House holds many secrets and dangers, but there’s a family there, too, just waiting for us.
–Christopher Golden
Bradford, MA
12th August, 2024
© Christopher Golden
Christopher Golden is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories, and won twice. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world.
Celebrating CdL 