Todd McCaffrey
Encyclopedia
Todd J. McCaffrey is an Irish American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...

 author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 best known for continuing the Dragonriders of Pern
Dragonriders of Pern
Dragonriders of Pern is a science fiction series written primarily by the late American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey, who initiated it in 1967. Beginning 2003, her middle child Todd McCaffrey has written Pern novels, both solo and jointly with Anne. The series comprises 22 novels and several short...

series in collaboration with his mother Anne McCaffrey
Anne McCaffrey
Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American-born Irish writer, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. Over the course of her 46 year career she won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award...

.

Life

Todd Johnson was born 27 April 1956 in Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...

 as the second son and middle child of Horace Wright Johnson (deceased 2009), who worked for DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...

, and Anne McCaffrey, who had her second short story published that year. He has two siblings: Alec Anthony, born 1952, and Georgeanne ("Gigi", Georgeanne Kennedy), born 1959.
Except for a six-month DuPont transfer to Dusseldorf, Germany, the family lived most of a decade in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

, until a 1965 transfer to New York City when they moved to Sea Cliff, Long Island
Sea Cliff, New York
The Village of Sea Cliff is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 4,995...

. All three children were then in school and Anne McCaffrey became a full-time author, primarily writing science fiction. About that time, Todd became the first of the children to read science fiction, the Space Cat series by Ruthven Todd
Ruthven Todd
Ruthven Campbell Todd was a Scottish poet, artist and novelist, best known as an editor of the works of William Blake. He wrote also under the pseudonym R. T. Campbell.-Background:...

. He attended his first science fiction convention in 1968, Lunacon
Lunacon
Lunacon is an annual science fiction/fantasy convention organized by The Lunarians. First held in May 1957, it is the oldest science fiction convention in New York state, and is generally held on the third weekend of March....

 in New York City.

Soon after the move, Todd was directed to lower his voice as an actor in the fourth-grade
Fourth grade
Fourth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fourth grade is the fourth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 9 or 10 years old, depending on their birthday. It is a part of elementary school. In some parts of the United States, fourth grade...

 school play, with his mother in the auditorium. That was the inspiration for Decision at Doona (1969) which she dedicated "To Todd Johnson—of course!" The story is set on "an overcrowded planet where just talking too loud made you a social outcast".

Anne McCaffrey divorced in 1970 and emigrated to Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 with her two younger children, soon joined by her mother. During Todd's school years the family moved several times in the vicinity of Dublin and struggled to make ends meet, supported largely by child care payments and meager royalties.

Todd finished secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...

 in Ireland and returned to the United States in 1974 for a summer job before matriculation at Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...

 in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. He studied engineering physics
Engineering physics
Engineering physics is the study of the combined disciplines of physics, engineering and mathematics in order to develop an understanding of the interrelationships of these three disciplines. Fundamental physics is combined with problem solving and engineering skills, which then has broad...

 and discovered computers but remained only one year. Back in Dublin he earned a Mechanical Engineering degree at the College of Technology (Bolton Street). Later he earned a Politics degree at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

.

Before Trinity College, Todd Johnson served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 1978–82, stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, and determining to pursue civilian life. After Trinity he returned to the US hoping to work in the aerospace industry but found employment in computer programming
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...

 beginning 1986. He earned a pilot's license in 1988 and spent a lot of time flying, including solo trips across North America in 1989 and 1990. Meanwhile he sold his first writings and contributed "Training and Fighting Dragons" to the 1989 Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, using his military and flight experience. Next year he quit his job to write full time and in 1992 he attended the Clarion Workshop
Clarion Workshop
Clarion is a six-week workshop for new and aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Knight and Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, USA, it was founded in 1968 by Robin Scott Wilson at Clarion State College in...

 for new science fiction and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 writers.

Writing under the name Todd Johnson until 1997/98 he specialized in military science fiction
Military science fiction
Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...

, contributing one story each to several collective works.

Dragons

As a boy Todd had accompanied many of his mother's meetings with writers, editors, publishers, and agents; and attendance at conventions from age 12. He was exposed to Pern before its beginning: soon after the move to Long Island when he was nine, his mother asked him what he thought of dragons; she was brainstorming about their "bad press all these years". The result was a "technologically regressed survival planet" whose people were united against a threat from space, in contrast to America divided by the Vietnam War. "The dragons became the biologically renewable air force."

About thirty years later, Todd McCaffrey recalls,
the editor at Del Rey
Del Rey Books
Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn since 1998, by Bertelsmann AG. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy...

 asked me to write a "sort of scrapbook" about Mum partly to prevent Mum from writing her autobiography instead of more Pern books. That was Dragonholder [1999]. The editor had also pitched it to me that someone ought to continue Mum’s legacy when she was no longer able. At the time I had misgivings and no story ideas.


Soon after selling his first stories, he had contributed the chapter "Training and Fighting Dragons" to The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern (1989). Mother and son had also discussed Pern and its setting for years, and she had suggested that he "write the military science fiction prequels" to the colonization, but that never progressed far.

Todd McCaffrey's work on Pern started in earnest with Dragon's Kin (2003), co-authored with his mother. His first solo Pern novel Dragonsblood was published in 2005. Both books are set around the beginning of Pern's "Third Pass", about 500 years after human settlement on Pern and 2000 years before the "Ninth Pass" events chronicled in most of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books including the inaugural Dragonflight. Since then Anne & Todd have published two sequels to Dragon's Kin, Todd has published two sequels to Dragonsblood, and they have co-authored a third sequel to the latter, Dragon's Time (for release 28 June 2011). They expect that one further sequel will be published a year later.

Todd McCaffrey was a Guest of Honor along with his mother at Albacon
Albacon
Albacon is the Albany science fiction convention, held each autumn in the Albany, New York area, also called the Capital District.Albacon is the largest "Con" in upstate New York. It is hosted by LASTSFA, or Latham-Albany-Schenectady-Troy Science Fiction Association, a local science fiction fandom...

 2008, the annual sci-fi convention in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

. He was Literary Guest of Honor at ConDor
ConDor (convention)
ConDor is an annual fantasy and science fiction convention held in and around San Diego, California in the early spring. It is sponsored by the California Association for the Advancement of Speculative Media, a California non-profit corporation. ConDor is the longest running science fiction...

 2009 in San Diego and at  AggieCon
AggieCon
AggieCon is the oldest and largest student-run science fiction convention in the United States. Held annually since 1969 by Cepheid Variable at Texas A&M University's Memorial Student Center, it has grown to become one of the larger conventions in Texas...

 2009 in College Station, Texas
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...

. Anne's health permitting, they attend DragonCon in Atlanta (September), where the 2011 Artist Guest of Honor will be Michael Whelan
Michael Whelan
Michael Whelan is an American artist of imaginative realism. For more than 30 years he worked as an illustrator specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art...

, creator of cover art for some early Pern books including The White Dragon.

Publications

McCaffrey recalls that he was first paid for writing in 1988: "an animated screenplay I got them ol’ Reptilon Blues Again Mommasaur" and the book Slammers Down! in a "choose your own adventure"
Gamebook
A gamebook is a work of fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making effective choices. The narrative branches along various paths through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages...

 series for Ace Books
Ace Books
Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...

. He published under his given name Todd Johnson until the late 1990s.

Pern

  • "Training and Fighting Dragons" (1989), in The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern
  • Dragon's Kin
    Dragon's Kin
    Dragon's Kin is a fantasy or science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey and her son Todd McCaffrey. Published by Del Rey Books in 2003, it is the eighteenth book in the Dragonriders of Pern series and the first with Todd as co-author.Dragon's Kin may be considered the first...

     (2003), Anne & Todd McCaffrey
  • Dragonsblood
    Dragonsblood
    Dragonsblood is a science fiction novel by Todd McCaffrey in the Dragonriders of Pern series that his mother Anne McCaffrey initiated in 1967. Published in 2008, this was the first with Todd as sole author and the nineteenth in the series....

     (2005)
  • Dragon's Fire
    Dragon's Fire
    Dragon's Fire is a fantasy or science fiction novel novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey and her son Todd McCaffrey, Published in 2006, it was the twentieth book in the Dragonriders of Pern series that she initiated in 1967....

     (2006), Anne & Todd McCaffrey
  • Dragon Harper
    Dragon Harper
    Dragon Harper is a fantasy or science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey and her son Todd McCaffrey, in the Dragonriders of Pern series that she initiated in 1967. Published forty years later, it was the twenty-first in the series.Dragon Harper may be considered the last of a...

     (2007), Anne & Todd McCaffrey
  • Dragonheart
    Dragonheart (novel)
    Dragonheart is a fantasy or science fiction novel by Todd McCaffrey in the Dragonriders of Pern series that his mother Anne McCaffrey initiated in 1967. Published by Del Rey Books in 2008, it was the second for Todd as sole author and the twenty-second in the series...

     (2008)
  • Dragongirl
    Dragongirl
    Dragongirl is a fantasy or science fiction novel by Todd McCaffrey in the Dragonriders of Pern series that his mother Anne McCaffrey initiated in 1967...

      (2010)
  • Dragon's Time
    Dragon's Time
    Dragon's Time is a fantasy or science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey and her son Todd McCaffrey, the latest in the Dragonriders of Pern series that she initiated in 1967...

     (2011), Anne & Todd McCaffrey

  • Dragonrider or Dragon's School (forthcoming 2012, Anne & Todd McCaffrey)

Other

As Todd Johnson
  • Slammers Down! (Combat Command: In the World of David Drake's Hammer's Slammers) (1988)
  • "The Archimedes Effect", The War Years #1: The Far Stars War (1990)
  • "Dasher", The War Years #3: The Jupiter War (1991)
  • "Ploughshare", Bolo: Honor of the Regiment (1993)
  • "Legacy", Bolos 2: The Unconquerable (1994)
  • "A Question of Valor", Bolos: Last Stand (1997)

As Todd McCaffrey
  • "Best Evidence", Albedo One #16 (1998)
  • Dragonholder: The Life and Dreams (so Far) of Anne McCaffrey (1999)

  • "The Dragons of Prague", (Doctor Who) Short Trips: Destination Prague
    Short Trips: Destination Prague
    Short Trips: Destination Prague is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Steven Savile and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The collection features stories set in the future of Prague.-Stories:...

    (2007)
  • "Tribute", Jim Baen's Universe, August 2008 (2008)
  • "Tree", Writers For Relief Volume Two: An Anthology to Benefit the Bay Area Food Bank (2008)
  • "DragonCon: Trials and Tribulations", Here Be Dragons: Tales of DragonCon (2008)

  • "The terrorist in my kitchen", Albedo One (forthcoming)
Albedo One previously published '"Why I Shot My Car" ("one of my early stories")

External links

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