An Interview with Anne McCaffrey
Creator of the DRAGONRIDER'S OF PERN Series

by Byron Merritt

 

 

Anne McCaffrey is a literary icon when it comes to fantasy and science fiction. She received the Hugo Award in 1968 at the World Science Fiction Convention for best novella for WEYR SEARCH, which was later incorporated into DRAGONFLIGHT, the first of the DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN series of novels. She received the Nebula Award in 1969 for DRAGONRIDERS, which was also later incorporated into the novelDRAGONFLIGHT. She's also garnered the E. E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction (1976), the Gandalf Award (1979), the Ditmar Award (1979 – Australian fandom's Hugo equivalent), the Golden Pen Award (1982 – the same year Carl Sagan was honored), the Barnes & Noble Freedom's Choice Award (1997), the Stresa Eurocon Award (1980–for THE WHITE DRAGON DRAGON), and multiple book of the year awards from the Science Fiction Book Club in 1994, 1993, 1992, 1989, and 1986. She was also the guest of honor at DragonCon in 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia. There are almost too many awards to list that this creative lady has been blessed with! But FWOMP thanks her for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer these questions. Ms. McCaffrey currently resides in County Wicklow, Ireland, with her family and multiple pets.

 

FWOMP: Do you feel that living in the land of the Leprechauns aided you in creating a mythical world like Pern?

Ann McCaffrey: Not at all, as Pern was created in the sharp, unkind world of America. But I will say that living in Ireland has changed the cadence and fullness of speech, since the Irish love words and use as many of them in a sentence as possible.

FWOMP: What does a normal Anne McCaffrey writing day consist of?

Ann McCaffrey: A so-called normal day for me is rising from my downy couch at about 8-9. Breakfasting with two cups of coffee, usually, and then to my desk and keyboard to work. I have a break for lunch and then do any grocery shopping needed for dinner and to keep the cats (6) and dogs (4) from the pangs of starvation.

FWOMP: My grandfather – Frank Herbert – did a lot of world building in Dune (similar to Tolkien and yourself). These world building stories seem to resonate with readers. Why do you think that is?

Ann McCaffrey: Because we build the worlds we wouldn't mind living in. They contain scary things, problems, but also a sense of rightness that makes them alive and makes us want to live there.

FWOMP: How do you feel about handing over your stories to a screenplay writer? Any worries?

Ann McCaffrey: Far too many, thanks, and having seen the two versions of DUNE and the atrocities done on Frank's books, you understand it. I have written my own screen version of Pern, but had no buyers yet.

FWOMP: Do you still read the classics?

Ann McCaffrey: A few but not many, as I did not approve of the selections on recommended reading when I was in school.

FWOMP: How about modern writers? Whom do you prefer to read?

Ann McCaffrey: I prefer s-f or good murders and some historicals.

FWOMP: The Dragons of Pern series vaulted you into the literary mainstream. When did you first realize that you'd struck a positive chord with readers?

Ann McCaffrey: When I started having trouble keeping up with my fan mail.

FWOMP: What advice can you give to authors struggling to introduce their first breakthrough novel?

Ann McCaffrey: If you have lived the story during its writing, its resonance should hit the reader between the eyes. That's what writing is all about, after all, making others see what you have put down on the page and believing that it does, or could, exist and you want to go there.

FWOMP: You've written some wonderful short stories in the past. How do you feel about writing in the short story format?

Ann McCaffrey: I would recommend the short story form, which is a lot harder to write since you have to be so careful with words, until there is plenty of time to doodle through a novel. I did not have a chance to write novels until my youngest child started school fulltime. Then I had 8 hours with no kids to bother me in which to write and write and write.

FWOMP: Have you ever co-authored a novel? If so, do you prefer to work alone or with a partner?

Ann McCaffrey: I've done quite a bit of collaborating, with Annie Scarborough, Elizabeth Moon, Jody-Lyn Nye, Margaret Ball, Richard Woods and most recently with my son, Todd McCaffrey. At age 77, I need the help of someone with more energy than I can now summon to finish a book.

FWOMP: Once you've finished a novel, is there an Irish routine that you have?

Ann McCaffrey: It's called praying for the Delivery and Acceptance money from my publisher and is usually sweated through without the benefit of alcohol.

FWOMP: Do you have plans to do a book tour in the U.S. any time soon?

Ann McCaffrey: No. Tours are exhausting and I ain't got the energy for such occupations anymore. I jetlag badly.

FWOMP: What do you love most about writing?

Ann McCaffrey: Doing it or as the A-team would say, "I love it when a plan [story] comes together!"

FWOMP: When you're on a book tour, what do you enjoy the most (besides the cheap hotels and cramped airplanes)?

Ann McCaffrey: Meeting the many nice people who stand patiently in line just to get my autograph and a few minutes' chat. That's what's so exhausting . . . meeting and chatting with readers when you have to cram a lot of good will into a few words.

FWOMP: As a highly successful author, do you ever have trouble coming up with fictional stories that appeal to you?

Ann McCaffrey: Not often.

FWOMP: Do you have a website that fans can go to in order to find more information on you and your literary works?

Ann McCaffrey: Yes, indeedy. http://www.annemccaffrey.org. I love being an org.