My very favorite author, Anne McCaffrey, passed away yesterday.  I am so sad that I won’t have any more new books to look forward to.  I am sad for her family; she seemed like a pretty delightful lady and I am sure she will be missed.

I have probably read every one of Anne’s books at least 3 times and some of  them many more.  I am a pretty voracious reader and I usually have more than 1 book going at any given time.  I often read favorite books over and over. When you read that much, many of them blend together, but sometimes a moment with a book sticks with you.  I still know exactly where the Anne McCaffrey books were in the Rapid City Public Library (young adult section, second shelf from the bottom, right hand side).  I actually remember discovering one of them for the first time, a vivid mental snapshot of the cover; it was love at first sight.  I was ten?  I remember snuffling with a kleenex through the end of “Moreta” (several times).  I can’t describe why I love her books, except to say that we found each other at exactly the right time and I have never outgrown them.

Anne was the first woman to win the Nebula and Hugo awards for science fiction.  She had the first science fiction title on the NYTimes bestseller list.  She wrote great female characters that could do anything the boys could do.

Before I had heard the news, I sat down this morning to tweak that dragon artwork you see above.  That is the dragon on my Knight in Shining Armor costume pattern, which is in the new One Yard Wonders book.  I will talk about that another day.  I had decided that a tiny version of the dragon might make a great Christmas ornament this year.  Something quirky that several of my nephews would like.  So I spent an hour touching it up and tweaking the outline so I can get it laser cut from something (metallic gold acrylic?).  On the computer screen when I got home from work, one window was my dragon and in the next window, Anne McCaffrey was trending on twitter.  Seems like it is meant to be.

Cheers, Anne.  Say hi to the dragons for me.