January 2004 – Page 2 – Todd McCaffrey

Bird by bird

By Todd | January 22, 2004 | Comments 0 Comment

I’ve mentioned this in “New Stars on the Horizon” already. By the way, we’re going to be renaming “New Stars on the Horizon” some point soon. My proposed name is “Readings and Recommendings” (::rubs hands together with slitted eyes:: “my precious”).

Anyway, when despairing of ever being able to re-write Dragonsblood — shh! don’t tell anyone — I discovered a couple of salutary things:

1) Go to a bookstore and walk around if you’re book’s not going well.

2) Read “Bird by bird” by Anne Lamott. She’s very funny and knows a lot about writers and writing.

I’ll quote a nice bit because I think it explains a lot:

” My writer friends, and they are legion, do not go around beaming with quiet feelings of contentment. Most of them go around with haunted, abused, surprised looks on their faces, like lab dogs on whom very personal deodorant sprays have been tested.”

— from the Introduction, page xxx

Yes, exactly! She’s got it right.

What am I reading now?

By Todd | January 22, 2004 | Comments 0 Comment

Well, I’m on “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” — the UK (Bloomsbury) edition.

I raced through Donna Andrews’ “Murder with Peacocks” and have “Murder with Puffins” — all because I saw her third book on the shelves in hardcover, “We’ll always have Parrots.” I’m a bit of a good when it comes to puns and that one just tickled me the right way.

“Bird by bird” by Anne Lamott is also on my list.

Yes, I’m sorta reading all these at once. Sometimes I like getting back to Mr. Potter and sometimes I like to look at murders and every now and then I wish I could figure how to write perfectly — I’ll never write perfectly, I’ll always be sure that I can do better on the next book.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

By Todd | January 22, 2004 | Comments 0 Comment

I picked this up the other day when I decided that I just couldn’t get flashbacks straight. Oh, I know how to go into them and how to get out but I couldn’t figure out when to stop using the past perfect tense and just go to the perfect tense.

Anne Lamott’s book is a must-have for writers. She is witty and spot on when it comes to all the despairs that writers go through and how to get around them. I haven’t finished the book but I’ve enjoyed reading so far — and have stopped at several points for an “ah-ha!” moment and at other points for a good laugh.

Oh yeah, don’t despair — I finally figured out flashbacks. I found a really nice one in Donna Andrews’ “Murder with Peacocks” and it completely restored my faith in humanity or writers or… whatever.

Letter from Marian

By | January 21, 2004 | Comments 0 Comment

I love the fact that you are writing the Dragon Series as well, I never want it to end. I would love to find out more on F’lessan and Tai. My big question is really to do with your mom. I wrote her and never recieved an answer. I was wondering how Mirrim managed to become a weyr leader. She is a green rider. If you could answer that I and my daughter (also a fan) would be grateful. Thank you for your time.

Marian,

Thank you. I don’t know if the series will never end but I have several stories that I want to tell on Pern.

Right now I’m working on the second draft of Dragonsblood, trying to bring out the very best in the book. Dragonsblood is set in the Third Pass and I’m so stuck into it that I don’t have time to consider anything else — and I don’t have an answer for you off the top of my head (except some niggling thought that this came up in either the Dolphins of Pern or All the Weyrs of Pern).

Perhaps someone else here knows the answer and would be kind enough to inform us.

— Todd