DM News:Author Interview: Drew McCaffrey

EbonyAdo · October 20, 2018

If you are part of the Facebook Wheel of Time Community, you may have run into Drew McCaffrey. He has been an active part of the online community and is an excellent resource for anyone that needs information about the Wheel of Time series.

But Drew is more than just a Wheel of Time fan, he is also an up and coming author. He recently began writing for TOR.com, and I had a chance to sit down with him to discuss this new opportunity.

Ebony: How did you get involved in writing for Tor.com?

Drew: One of my friends, Alice Arneson, has been writing the Brandon Sanderson Cosmere re-reads on Tor.com. She encouraged me to submit a proposal this fall, when Tor announced they were looking for new voices covering different books. I was thrilled when they said they were interested!

E: What is your official title with Tor.com?

D:I don't think I have one...maybe "contributing writer"?

E: What topics will you be writing about?

D: I'm starting with a big article about 10 of the best completed series in science fiction and fantasy. Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson fans will undoubtedly enjoy it (and maybe find a couple new series to check out)!

E: How often do you expect to post articles?

D: For now, it will depend on how often I propose ideas and Tor approves them. I don't have a regularly scheduled column or re-read or anything.

E: What will your first article be on Tor.com be about and when will it be posted?

D: My first will be that completed series article. It should be going up in the next week or so!

E: How did feel after submitting your first article to Tor.com?

D: I was incredibly excited and nervous. Tor.com is one of the biggest emerging platforms in SFF, with an outstanding track record in publishing revolutionary short fiction, novellas, and literary essays. I'm blown away by how many of their stories have been nominated for, and even won, major SFF awards.

E: Aside from writing for Tor.com do you any other sort of writing?

D: I do sports writing, covering the New York Rangers for bluelinestation.com. I also write lots of original fiction, ranging from short stories to novels, and I wrote a fair amount of book reviews for dcafwriting.com, although I haven't had the time to keep my site current.

E: How does writing from Tor.com differ from other writing you have done?

D: Writing for Tor.com has me much more cognizant of audience. Writing a book review or an opinion piece for dcafwriting is low-stress, because there isn't much of an active comment section and the general audience is relatively small. Tor.com is a big-time site, and articles there regularly see 100+ comments.

E: Are there any topics you hope to be able to write about for Tor.com?

D: I have at least one article about Matthew Stover's Acts of Caine series on my plate, and I hope to explore that series more. I'd love to talk about Glen Cook's Black Company, The Gap Cycle by Stephen R. Donaldson, and David Farland's Runelords series, too.

E: What do you think/hope you will gain from your experience with Tor.com?

D: I think this will give me a great chance to bring some lesser-known series to a wider audience, but more importantly, it will give me a chance to see what that wider audience loves. How many amazing series are out there that I haven't heard of or read yet? Interacting with the Tor.com audience will assuredly open my eyes to things that haven't crossed my path yet.

E:Are there any other writing endeavors in your future?

D: My Blue Line Station writing is an ongoing job, but my big focus for the future is getting a novel published. I'm writing my fourth novel right now, and I've gotten to the point where I'm confident enough in my stories and my writing that I'm querying literary agents.

Well, we will certainly keep an eye out for Drew’s upcoming novel. Until then check out his TOR.com articles:

The 10 Best Completed SF and Fantasy Series (According to Me)

Matthew Stover’s Heroes Die is a Grimdark Cult Classic

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