New Book I'll Be Reading

I picked up a new book from my local library today.

Then I check my email and find an interview with the author in the DRIN newsletter!

And permission to use it!

(Notice I added the book to my AllConsuming bot in the right sidebar too.)



I read the author's first book in his mom's universe: Dragon's Kin. That was a good read.



Here's the interview excerpt:

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The following material is being reprinted from the Del Rey Internet Newsletter. To subscribe to this free, monthly e-newsletter, visit http://www.delreybooks.com.





An interview with Todd McCaffrey, author of DRAGONSBLOOD





Del Rey: Your mother, Anne McCaffrey, has been writing about Pern for more than thirty-five years, creating some of the best-loved classics in science fiction. It's probably inevitable, unfortunately, that some people will ascribe your authorship of this novel solely to your being her son. How would you respond to those people?



Todd McCaffrey: I'd say to them, "Read the book, then let's see if you still feel the same way."

DR: Did you feel any trepidation about trying to fill Anne's literary shoes? How did you deal with the pressure of coming up to her high standard?



TM: Yes, I did feel a lot of trepidation. However, I've been researching for Mum for over twenty years now, and reading her for longer.



As for dealing with the pressure, it's very difficult. It helped that I was the editor's contact for DRAGON'S KIN--I was relieved to see that not only were my words being edited, but so were Mum's.



DR: Is DRAGONSBLOOD a passing of the torch from mother to son, or will Anne continue to write novels and stories set on Pern?



TM: It wasn't intended to be a passing of the torch. I think writing more Pern novels is strictly up to Mum. But she'll be seventy-nine this April, well past the point when other people have retired, and I don't see why she shouldn't rest on her vast accomplishments if she wants.



DR: What was it like to grow up with a famous writer for a mom? Did you always have the ambition to be a writer yourself?



TM: Fame is strictly relative. More people didn't know Mum's works than did. In science fiction and fantasy circles, Mum didn't really break out as a "famous writer" until the publication of DRAGONSONG and "A Time When," in the mid-70's--and she'd been writing since 1953.



I earned my first typewriter at the age of thirteen by teaching myself touch typing so I could write my stories. That said, I didn't want to be a writer. I wanted to be an astronaut (doesn't everyone?), but I expected to be writing as a sideline.



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