I am excited to see that you are writing about Pern. I am 16 years old and love reading. When I was younger I was incredibly fond of reading also, but couldn’t find anything that I enjoyed reading. Then in 6th grade my teacher had us read a part of The Smallest Dragon Boy, I loved it so much I automatically went to the bookstore and searched for it. Sadly, it was not there, but other Pern books were, so I bought one. I now have most of the Pern books, and a few of the other series’. Thanks to the Smallest Dragon Boy, and the other dragon rider books, I have come to love reading even more. Thank you, and Anne for your wonderful dedication to your work, and for the excellent books that you’ve made!

Thanks Melissa!

You can find “The Smallest Dragonboy” in the book “A Gift of Dragons,” if you haven’t found it already (which you probably have).

I’m glad that you loved “The Smallest Dragonboy,” I loved it, too. You might notice that Mum’s dedication at the front of “Dragon’s Kin” is to her (not so little anymore) brother, Kevin McCaffrey who was the inspiration for K’van. [Mine’s to my still little daughter.]

We’re talking about some more books dealing with the characters in “Dragon’s Kin” as they grow up and, of course, Dragonsblood will deal with the adult Kindan and others as they grapple with the Third Pass.

Cheers,
Todd

I don’t know if I should write this e-mail but I really feel I should. There is a character in the Dragonriders of Pern series named Jaxom and his white dragon, Ruth. I was wondering if you or maybe Mrs. Anne McCaffrey could do a short story about Jaxom and Ruth about events that were not told in the other novels like Dragonquest and The White Dragon. Events like when Jaxom bringing Ruth back to Ruatha Hold after the Impression Feast in Dragonquest and how he tried to endure the teasing of his milkbrother, Dorse, how Jaxom managed to get the Weyrleaders and the other Lord Holders to enable him and Ruth to fly for the first time. And also about events that occured when Jaxom was ill with fire-head told from Ruth’s point of view and how Ruth had to protect his rider from Thread as mentioned in ‘The White Dragon’.

Hmmm….

Well, I discovered that Mum is pretty possessive of her own characters, so you should probably ask this question of her.

However, I’ll say that for a story to get written, it has to be of interest to the writer. I suspect that Mum feels that she’s told the story of Jaxom and Ruth as much as she wants. She may surprise me, however!

Cheers,
Todd

Mr. MCcaffrey,

I have been trying to write a novel for the past year and a half, and i have all these ideas that burn in my head that would make great stories. I have beginnings, plot developments, great themes and philosophies, and enddings, but i can never go through with the story. I get off to great starts and then I get lost in the process and can’t finish them. That furthest I have ever done is a part one (and it was just starting to scratch the surface). Is there some skill or way to keep the story going with out losing interest?

Stash,

I suspect you’re falling a-foul of the notorious “editor in your head” syndrome. Every writer, including my mother, gets to a point in their story where their internal critic tells them that the story is worthless, they shouldn’t bother, and they should do something else with their time (like take up knitting — hmm, Mum was a very good knitter).

If that’s the case, the trick is to tell yourself that you’re allowed to make mistakes, that the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect and that it can even be sketchy in large parts. Tell yourself that when you get the story done, you’ll let it rest for a bit and then go back and read it over with an eye to improving it.

You will be discouraged (usually many times). That’s natural. What makes a writer is overcoming that self-criticism, and discouragement and finishing the story.

Keep going! You’ll do fine.

— Todd

Hi, Todd,

I’m extremely interested in seeing your ‘take’ on the Dragonriders of Pern series. This incredible world created by your mother, the dragonlady herself, Anne McCaffrey, has been a source of fascination, retreat, entertainment, and friendship for many years for me as well as countless others! While having a very YA feel to it, I enjoyed, “Dragon’s Kin,” a great deal – there was no telling where your mother ended and you began.

I look forward to Pern’s future with you leading the helm – once your mother hands it to you! Till then, I will continue to enjoy her books (over and over again) as with all of her numerous fans.

Ciao!

Carter.

Carter,

Thanks for your kind words. Actually, “Dragon’s Kin” was written as a YA book. In the end the editors decided that it would be read by everyone and that it made more sense to bring it out with the rest of the books than have it mixed in with all the YA books.

I’m working solo on Dragonsblood of which “Dragon’s Kin” can be considered a prequel. In truth, Dragonsblood was contracted way back when but it’s taken longer to write than “Dragon’s Kin”, partly because Dragonsblood is a much larger adult book.

If you go to my “Blog”, you’ll see that I keep posting updates on how Dragonsblood is coming along.

I’m glad to hear that you love Mum’s books — so do I!

Cheers,
Todd