Remembering Anne McCaffrey

Browsing through Twitter yesterday, I stumbled upon some very sad news. Anne McCaffrey died. For those of you who are unaware of who that is, Anne McCaffrey was the dowager empress of Sci-Fi & Fantasy. She was the first woman to ever win the Hugo and the Nebula Award. She was the first female Sci-Fi & Fantasy author that I ever read.

When I was eleven, Y.A. had yet to really blossom as a market, and when I was done with Anne of Green Gables and Little Women and The Hobbit, I went searching for something new to read. My dad, an avid Sci-Fi & Fantasy geek, put a book into my hands. (Yes, I am a second generation geek. I come by it quite honestly.) That book was Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. As I said on Twitter last night, it changed my literary world forever.

I finished that book in two days, and when we next went to the library, I checked out as many Pern books as I could carry--probably more than I could carry. I was a pretty small eleven year old.

I related to the obstinate, scheming, and fiery Lessa instantly. I fell in love with the wry, sly, and charismatic Robinton. But more than my love for the human characters, I fell hard for Anne's dragons. I felt like I was a candidate who had just impressed. A lifelong bond was forged.

Anne's characters were diverse with real depth. Her women were strong, but true partnerships existed between her romantic leads. While Lessa and F'lar's relationship was passionate and explosive, her portrayal of true partnership was shown no better place than between Brekke and F'nor. I still remember vividly the image of F'nor returning to Brekke in the Southern Continent, and he simply put his hand on her shoulder, and she smiled at him. Anne referred to this exchange as more intimate a gesture than if they had started making out. Granted, she stated it much more elegantly and subtly than that.

I read that scene almost twenty years ago, and that image of real, quiet intimacy has stuck with me. I can't remember things that happened last week, but scenes and characters from Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern have stuck with me since middle school. I then went on to read her Catteni Sequence, A Tower and Hive Series, Acorna, and anything else I could get my hands on.

I asked for her books every Christmas. I disappeared into her worlds all throughout middle and high school. They were my refuge. To say that Anne McCaffrey had an affect on my writing would be a gross understatement. Through her examples, she taught me how to create immersive worlds. She taught me how to create dynamic relationships and characters.

I can never express my thanks to her enough. You and your voice will be missed, Anne. Thank you.