Dear Mr.McCaffrey,
How to begain… When I started high school I was shy and somewhat a “geek”. I played the violin, sang in choir and loved math, art, and science. I was very out of place and knew it. Then one day I finally decided to read a book I bought in 7th grade at a book fair. It was “Dragonsinger”.
After the fist chapter I decided to buy “Dragonsong” and start at the beginning. It didn’t take long until I was hooked.
Throughout high school I read all the books that had anything to do with Pern. By my senior year I had changed completely. I was no longer as shy and I stood up for what I felt was right. I even ran for president of Student Council and won. I felt (and still do) that your mother’s books helped me become a better person. (Sounds sappy, I know).
My father is a tatoo artist and has been in bad health since 2000. I wanted him to put something on me so I would always have some of him close by. So before my 18th birthday I had him tattoo a beautiful piece of artwork on my thigh. It is of a watch-wher. And every time I feel down and in the dumps, I look at my thigh and it reminds me of who I am.
I am now reading “Dragonsblood” and will hopefully finish it tonight. It has captured me within its pages just as all your mother’s books had done before. I can only hope I will take over my father’s pations as well as you have done with your mother’s.
And even though you and your family do not know me, I feel that I owe you greatly. So from the bottom of my heart, Thank you.
From a silly girl giving thanks,
Sincerely
Stephanie
Dear Stephanie,
First, let me invite you to call me Todd, please. (“Hey you!” has been known to work but it tends to get more attention than perhaps is desired.)
Second, please never refer to yourself as “a silly girl” again. You are clearly nothing of the sort!
Third, please forgive my tardiness in answering you. I have had a very full six weeks (I’ll describe it in more detail in my home page) and haven’t been keeping up with my correspondence as well as I’d like.
When I was nine I read “Space Cat” by Ruthven Todd. I really loved the whole story and it started my lifelong love of science fiction. I liked it so much that I wrote the author. He never wrote back. Why, I don’t know. What I do know is that the lack of response prompted my mother to vow that she’d always answer her mail. I may be tardy and I reserve the right not to answer (some people can be pretty rude or just plain offensive) but I will answer my e-mail.
Do you still play the violin? I’ve always found it a fascinating instrument. Your “out of place” sounds like a great place to me.
I’m really sorry to hear that your father has been in bad health. As you probably know, Mum had a heart attack in 2000 and a stroke early in 2001 so I think that all these years since are a blessing. Is there a chance that he’ll recover his health? I certainly hope so, as you are clearly very close to him.
Are you planning to become a tatto artist yourself? Or are you already?
It must be great to have a watch-wher companion. Have you had a chance to read “Dragon’s Kin”? There’s more about watch-whers in it. And there’ll be more about them in “Dragon’s Fire”, too.
A book is a strange thing — by itself it’s nothing, marks on pages. It takes someone to write it and bring it to life in their eyes — and someone to read it and bring it back to life in their eyes.
I’m glad that you like to bring Pern to life in your eyes.
Thank you,
Todd