I’ve delayed posting about being declared a Grandmaster by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers because I was struggling with radiation and the effects of anemia. Also, I was totally flummoxed to learn about it. My first reaction when I got the email announcement was that this was some kind of cruel hoax being played on me by one of Writer Beware’s enemies…!!!! Michael had to look up the email addresses before I’d believe it was true.

When you compare my output to that of, say, Kevin Anderson, I haven’t written all that much, and only about half my output has been tie-in books. It’s true that I’ve written in a LOT of other universes, and that many of my tie-in books sold pretty well. But I really didn’t feel worthy of the honor.

To be honest, for years I struggled with the prevailing attitude among some s.f. and fantasy writers that writing media tie-ins was the ultimate in degrading hackwork, lower on the authorial totem pole even than writing pornography to eke out a living.

Personally, I believe a good story is a good story, no matter what universe it’s written in. I really love being able to put characters from famous universes through their paces, and get inside their heads. I put as much effort into my tie-in books as I do for my original books (though I confess the original books are tougher to write, since you have to make it ALL up), and I was proud of the stories I produced. But I didn’t like getting openly snubbed or patronized sometimes when I was at conventions or writer gatherings.

One time I was talking to my dear friend, Andre Norton, about how I felt about this, and she set me straight. “Ann, you are a STORYTELLER,” she said. “One of the oldest and proudest professions known to the human race. No matter what kind of story you’re telling, be proud of that ability!”

Fortunately, that snotty attitude among the “purist” s.f. and fantasy writers seems much less prevalent today. Earning a living writing is so darned tough these days that whatever type of writing you’re doing, if you can make money doing it, hey, more power to you.

So I’m very proud to be receiving this award, and proud to be a storyteller. I wish I could go to San Diego Comic Con to receive the award in person, but I gather all the tickets are sold out. 😦

IAMTW is talking about trying to rig up a skype connection so I can be there virtually. We’ll see if that works out.

There’s a complete list of my books on my website, http://www.accrispin.com, in case you haven’t checked out my work.

Here’s the official announcement:

http://iamtw.blogspot.com/2013/04/crispin-is-grandmaster.html