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Our Esteemed Guests
:: Anne McCaffrey :: Todd McCaffrey :: Jody Lynn Nye :: |
| Anne McCaffrey was born to George Herbert McCaffrey and Anne Dorothy
McElroy McCaffrey on April 1st, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has spent a lifetime living up to her auspicious natal
day, as could be attested to by her two brothers: Hugh McCaffrey (deceased 1988), Major US Army, and Kevin Richard McCaffrey,
still living.
Anne was educated at Stuart Hall, Staunton Virginia, Montclair High School, Montclair, New Jersey, and graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, majoring in Slavonic Languages and Literatures. Her first novel was written in Latin class and might have brought her instant fame, as well as an A, if she had written it in that ancient language. Anne McCaffrey's first story was published by Sam Moskowitz in Science Fiction+ magazine and her first novel was published by Ballantine Books in 1967. By the time the three children of her marriage (Alec Anthony, b. 1952, Todd, b.1956, and Georgeanne, b.1959) were comfortably in school most of the day, she had already achieved enough success with short stories to devote full time to writing. Her first novel, Restoree, was written as a protest against the absurd and unrealistic portrayals of women in s-f novels in the 50s and early 60s. It is, however, in the handling of broader themes and the worlds of her imagination, particularly the two series The Ship Who Sang and the fourteen novels about the Dragonriders of Pern, that Ms. McCaffrey's talents as a story-teller are best displayed. Although she used to make appearances throughout the world as guest of honor at science fiction conventions, arthritis has now restricted such travel. She lives in a house of her own design, Dragonhold-Underhill (because she had to dig out a hill on her farm to build it) in Wicklow County, Ireland. It is not remotely like a castle, "on purpose," she says to people who believe "hold" is synonymous with "castle" in Ireland. Anne runs a private livery stable and her horses have been successful in Horse Trials and showjumping. She does not ride in competition, she hastens to add, but has enjoyed the success of horse and rider and, until recently, rode out on her black and white mare, Pi. Visit her website at http://www.annemccaffrey.net. |
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Todd Johnson McCaffrey wrote his first science fiction story when he was twelve and has been writing on and off ever since.
His work includes the Pern novel Dragonsblood, the audio adaptation of which was nominated for a 2006 Audie Award,
and Dragonholder, a biography about his mother. He has also completed several collaborations with Anne McCaffrey: Dragon's Kin, Dragon's Fire, and
Dragon Harper.
Todd's second solo Pern book, Dragonheart, will be published November 2008. He is hard at work on its sequel and will have that finished and turned in before Dragon*Con. He has just recently completed a very short story (2600 words) for the special Dragon*Con anthology. Buy it at the con! He has lived in Los Angeles since 1986. Visit his website at http://www.toddmccaffrey.org. |
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Jody Lynn Nye's main career activities have always been spoiling cats and telling stories. She got her first cat at age nine,
but she had been regaling her younger brothers, cousins, friends and relatives with the products of her imagination for many years by then.
She had the good fortune to be born to a mother who was an artist and a father who was a musician (alongside other, more useful income-producing
skills, like nursing and accounting), and to have an inventor grandfather and a grandmother who made costumes, so she didn't have to look far
to experience several different aspects of creativity. (In many ways, science-fiction conventions are not all that different from her family
get-togethers.)
Not until after college did Jody discover that she could get paid for writing stories. Her first cash-producing work was a small number of nonfiction articles for Video Action Magazine, edited by Mike Stein. She also wrote mystery game materials free lance for Mayfair Games. Before breaking away to write full time she worked at a variety of jobs: file clerk, book-keeper at a small publishing house, freelance journalist and photographer, accounting assistant to her father, costume maker for her grandmother, and finally, technical operations manager at a local television station, WFBN (now WGBO) Channel 66, in Chicago. It was at a convention in 1985 that Fate (and Barbara Green Deer Young) brought Jody together with her future husband, Bill Fawcett. He was immediately smitten by her undeniable charms, her wit, and her unbridled access to a TV studio where he might be able to make free commercials for his board and role-play game business. She, on the other hand, had entirely forgotten about him by Wednesday. But, slowly, a romance was kindled that continues to make their friends gag, and they've been married now for 20 years. Since 1986 she has published 37 books and over 100 short stories. Her latest works are Myth-Chief, with Robert Asprin, and the second book of her epic fantasy duology, A Forthcoming Wizard, which is-- well, forthcoming, due in the fall. When not writing or petting cats, Jody reads, travels, takes pictures, does calligraphy, fences, makes costumes, bakes and eats chocolate. Jody and Bill live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with two cats, Jeremy and Miles. |