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Description
Tattoo Artist: Lacie Frain , Phoenix Tattoo Studio
Artist: Michael Whelan, from The Girl Who Heard Dragons, by Anne McCaffrey
Photographer: Brian Lee
Model: Me!

tl;dr: Last year I got a tattoo adapted from one of Michael Whelan's illustrations from an Anne McCaffrey novel. It's awesome and makes me happy.

Longer version:

Last October, after dicking around with the idea for the better part of ten years, I finally sucked it up and got my first ink: a colored version of a Michael Whelan illustration from Anne McCaffrey's short story collection The Girl Who Heard Dragons. Whelan is one of my favorite, favorite artists -- he's done the cover art for just about every speculative fiction novel worth its salt -- and I even had the privilege of meeting him at Dragon*Con a few years ago. I'd always wanted a piece of his work as a tattoo, but it wasn't until Anne McCaffrey passed in late 2011 that I felt ready to consider it seriously.

Although the original piece is in black and white , it's stayed with me since I saw it as a teenager. There's no telling whether the dragonrider is waving farewell or beckoning us to join her; maybe it's both. But there was something so free and wonderful about her, something I felt really embodied the soul of Pern. I put her on a green dragon because that's what I would ride -- and I made her a redhead for obvious reasons. We also enlarged her somewhat so that she'd actually be visible and tattooable. I think the artist, Lacie Frain, did a phenomenal job, and it only took her about two hours. There's a reason I had to wait six weeks for a 15-minute consultation!

While all this was happening, I was asked to contribute an essay to "Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern ," the upcoming Anne McCaffrey memorial book, edited by her son Todd. Contributing essayists include David Brin, Jody Lynn Nye, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Elizabeth Moon, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Gigi Kennedy, and my wonderful friend Angelina Adams, among others. (The book will be out on August 6 and is published by Smart Pop Books; you can pre-order on Amazon !) My essay, "The Twithead with the Dragon Tattoo," talks about how I came to direct Weyrfest at Dragon*Con, how Pern influenced my creative life, and why I decided to get inked. It's my first published piece; I'm both super-stoked and super-nervous.

Oh. And the cover artist? Michael Whelan. So basically I can die now.

Description
Tattoo Artist: Lacie Frain , Phoenix Tattoo Studio
Artist: Michael Whelan, from The Girl Who Heard Dragons, by Anne McCaffrey
Photographer: Brian Lee
Model: Me!

tl;dr: Last year I got a tattoo adapted from one of Michael Whelan's illustrations from an Anne McCaffrey novel. It's awesome and makes me happy.

Longer version:

Last October, after dicking around with the idea for the better part of ten years, I finally sucked it up and got my first ink: a colored version of a Michael Whelan illustration from Anne McCaffrey's short story collection The Girl Who Heard Dragons. Whelan is one of my favorite, favorite artists -- he's done the cover art for just about every speculative fiction novel worth its salt -- and I even had the privilege of meeting him at Dragon*Con a few years ago. I'd always wanted a piece of his work as a tattoo, but it wasn't until Anne McCaffrey passed in late 2011 that I felt ready to consider it seriously.

Although the original piece is in black and white , it's stayed with me since I saw it as a teenager. There's no telling whether the dragonrider is waving farewell or beckoning us to join her; maybe it's both. But there was something so free and wonderful about her, something I felt really embodied the soul of Pern. I put her on a green dragon because that's what I would ride -- and I made her a redhead for obvious reasons. We also enlarged her somewhat so that she'd actually be visible and tattooable. I think the artist, Lacie Frain, did a phenomenal job, and it only took her about two hours. There's a reason I had to wait six weeks for a 15-minute consultation!

While all this was happening, I was asked to contribute an essay to "Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern ," the upcoming Anne McCaffrey memorial book, edited by her son Todd. Contributing essayists include David Brin, Jody Lynn Nye, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Elizabeth Moon, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Gigi Kennedy, and my wonderful friend Angelina Adams, among others. (The book will be out on August 6 and is published by Smart Pop Books; you can pre-order on Amazon !) My essay, "The Twithead with the Dragon Tattoo," talks about how I came to direct Weyrfest at Dragon*Con, how Pern influenced my creative life, and why I decided to get inked. It's my first published piece; I'm both super-stoked and super-nervous.

Oh. And the cover artist? Michael Whelan. So basically I can die now.