Earlier this year (2019), needing a break from the insanity that is America today, I re-read Anne McCaffrey’s “Dragonriders of Pern”. I’d not read them in 35 years. I’d forgotten what a fascinating world Pern was, and how incredible dragons are.
I even found more recent books that fleshed out dragons, their riders, and other Pernian things.
When I was done…I wanted more.
The problem is, Anne McCaffrey died in 2011. Her son, Todd, took over and has written more, but I wanted Pern as she wrote it.
I discovered what they call “fanfiction”. The Internet had come into being between my first and most recent reading of McCaffrey’s world, and now there is a way to actually write my own dragons. Trouble was, it seemed as if there was only one fanfiction website left that is devoted to Dragonriders of Pern,(it’s named that), and if you discount the fact that they don’t actually write about dragons or their riders, it’s hews fairly close to McCaffrey’s Pern. Trouble is, it’s run by an 75 year old OCD sufferer ( who considers herself to be the reincarnation of Anne McCaffrey, but acts more like Star Trek’s Squire of Gothos) who would rather control a writer than allow that person to creatively write. That, and they refuse to admit that AIVAS was an important part of Pern. (Repeat after me: AIVAS IS canon. McCaffrey created it, so it’s legit).
One the one hand, I was punished for using the word horse instead of runner, but they were perfectly willing to omit anything that Anne wrote that had anything to do with AIVAS. I wasn’t all that taken with AIVAS, either, but still, you can’t claim to be the reincarnation of Anne McCaffrey by parsing out what you don’t like of Anne McCaffrey.
They told me there was no other place to write about Pern save their own club, so I had to obey all their nitpicky rules. But there is another place. It’s called Dragon*con. It’s huge.
The thing that perplexed them was the fact that, after getting shit on several times, forced to write to someone else’s opinion, be oh so careful to not write something that might make someone feel uncomfortable, and delete things that got their old lady panties in a twist, I decided to take my dragon and go elsewhere. It’s hard to keep a club alive when it shits on newbies.
I found, though, that Anne McCaffrey had given permission to write her Pern world on “The Worlds of Anne McCaffrey” website, and this from her son, Todd McCaffrey’s official site:
So, here, is my return to Pern. I obey McCaffrey’s strictures. I am aware of her copyrights. No advertising, no money making (I write this for my pleasure), no membership fee, and no porn. That, and my characters will refer to F’lar, and Lessa, Ruth, AIVAS and others, but no changes to those characters will ever be attempted.
In addition, I use earth terms for animals, just like the early stories of Pern did. AIVAS approved it and that’s good enough for me.
Because it is a book in blog form, I have to lay groundwork for my stories, so please, excuse the extensive base I’ve blogged before I actually get to the name and direction of this blog. Nomading, in my blog, is Pernese for exploration of Pern. It will come. Just read, get to know my continuation of Pern, and enjoy.
Comments are welcome but keep it clean.
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