Saint-Germain Memoirs

260 Pages·12.29 MB·English

by  Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2022 with funding from
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https://archive.org/details/saintgermainmemo0000chel
SAINT-GERMAIN:
MEMOIRS
Saint-Germain: Memoirs is published by Elder Signs Press, Inc.
This book is © 2007 Elder Signs Press, Inc.
All material © 2007 by Elder Signs Press and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
Design by Deborah Jones.
“Harpy” © 2007 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
“Lost Epiphany” © 2007 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
“Tales Out of School” © 2007 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
“Intercession” © 2007 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
“A Gentleman oft he Old School” © 2007 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
PUBLICATION HISTORY
“Harpy,” The Secret History of Vampires, DAW Books, 2007
“Intercession,” The Repentant, DAW Books 2003
“A Gentleman of the Old School,” Dark Delicacies, Carrol & Graf, 2005
All characters within this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or
persons, living or dead, is strictly coincidental.
No part oft his book may be reproduced in any manner without the written
persmission oft he publisher.
FIRST EDITION
1098765432
Published in October 2007
ISBN: 1-934501-00-X (Hardcover)
1-934501-01-8 (Trade Paperback)
Printed in the U.S.A.
Published by Elder Signs Press
P.O. Box 389
Lake Orion, MI 48361-0389
www.eldersignspress.com
SAINT-GERMAIN:
MEMOIRS
BY CHELSEA QUINN YARBRO
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INTRODUCTION
OFTEN WONDER WHAT A reader thinks when picking
up a new book and the sense of anticipation it brings.
With Saint-Germain: Memoirs many of you are look-
ing forward to spending more time with a favorite character
whose adventures you have followed through for years. But
there are also some among you who may have picked up this
book without knowing anything about this character. There
are many pleasures in store for both types of readers. For those
familiar with the work of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro there is the
opportunity to further your knowledge of her character, Saint-
Germain, to see him in new circumstances. For the first time
reader these short stories, novelettes, and novella provide an
excellent introduction to this enduring fictional persona and
his adventures. The range of the selections exemplifies the
historical time span of the entire series of stories and novels.
Everyone has the opportunity to both encounter eras that
are familiar and to learn about periods that might be more
obscure. The experienced reader will find moments in Saint-
Germain’s past clarified. But some of you may even wonder
what is meant by a memoir in this context. Memoirs are as-
sociated with real-life memories either from the perspective of
the subject or that of others describing the subject. In this case
INTRODUCTION
the selections provide the reader with many ways of viewing
Saint-Germain from the brief episode of a short story to the
more detailed exploration of a novella. Memoirs suggest the
idea of biography and concentrate on the events in a specific
person’s life. In this sense Saint-Germain: Memoirs may dif-
fer from the other literature about this character that give a
broader picture of an entire historical period.
The varying lengths of the selections allow you to have
widely different experiences with Saint-Germain. The two
short stories, “Harpy” and “A Gentleman oft he Old School,”
that begin and end the collection present short intense encoun-
ters with this character. The structure of the short story also
allows the author to explore just one aspect in greater detail
over a shorter period of time and focus on a single plot. As
there are fewer secondary characters Saint-Germain stands out
in sharp focus, and the reader can see him from the perspective
of another person rather than seeing the world from his point
of view. Both stories are also set in historical periods that may
have a certain familiarity for the reader. But short stories also
limit the amount of information the author can provide and
the complexity of the development of the plot. The novelettes,
“Lost Epiphany” and “Intercession” and the novella, “Tales Out
of School” give the author more room to develop interactions
between characters. Not only Saint-Germain but also all of
the people he encounters are more fully described. It is also
easier to cover longer periods of time in these formats. Short
stories are like snap shots. They capture a brief moment in
time with a certain amount of clarity. The longer formats are
like a series of photographs or a family album. They provide
a context for the events and give us a greater understanding
of their implications for the characters.
If you have never encountered Saint-Germain the first story
will provide a brief introduction to this unique character. The
two novelettes that come before and after the novella give
more information about him. But the fullest presentation of
his persona comes, of course, in the novella. “Harpy” actually
raises more questions than answers about this strange man