An Author's Legacy
by Karen S. Wiesner
While
writing the final review for a subseries in Robin Hobb's The Realm of the
Elderlings (to be posted on Alien Romances Blog in the future), I came across
an interesting thing on Hobb's website blog posted August 21, 2025 concerning WorldCon Seattle 2025. The author commented
on SFF Addicts Podcast's (rude) question posed to author (and Hobb's
good friend) George R.R. Martin about what would become of his work upon his
death. Hobb herself gave her answer to such
a question about her own legacy as: "Upon my death or me being admitted to
memory care, my very loyal daughters will torch any and all papers on my desk
and filing cabinets. All files saved to the cloud will be deleted and
accounts closed. Hard drives will be removed from computers and destroyed or
wiped. When I go, all my imaginary friends will go along with me. As they
should."
My opinion,
which mirrors both Hobb's and Martin's, is that if I can't get the actual
author's version of any sequel to their series, I don't want it. Nor will I
waste my time reading anything else as a substitute. If either author passes
detailed notes on to another, trusted author to finish their legacy, then, yes,
of course, I'd read them. Otherwise, no. Just no.
Not
surprisingly, readers had mixed reactions to Hobb's and Martin's answers. Many
said of Hobb's that, if her daughters really were loyal, they would save it all
(implying the only right thing to do is to give it to the world). I don't
believe that's the case at all. The only loyal thing Hobb's daughters will be
able to do is to follow their mother's orders. Maybe, but just maybe, they
can retain their own copies for themselves (destroying them before their own
deaths), but only if their mother expressly allows it.
This is
a task no author can safely forgo while they yet live. Only now can we have our
say about our writing legacy. When authors are no longer anything more than
names on a family tree to those who come after us, our wishes will no longer
matter. It's better to take unwanted possibilities off the table while all this
is still within our control.
Authors,
I beseech you, make your wishes known to those who come after you--write it all
down, preferably in explicit and complete detail, then talk to your family and
to the ones who'll control your writing legacy once you're gone.
Don't
assume your family would know what you want or that what they want is the same as
what you want. I had a recent discussion with my husband about some aspects of all this and found out that he believed
the exact opposite as I do--he thinks all written works should immediately pass
into the public domain upon an author's death. I was horrified. That was the
opposite of what I wanted. I want a trusted next of kin to hold onto my very
considerable legacy (with 156 books, several writing columns, countless
articles, etc.) as long as it's possible, not just thoughtlessly give it all away.
Needless
to say, it's a very good thing we had this discussion and also very good that
I've written down my wishes exactly for what I do want for the future of my
written work. Having those deep, maybe uncomfortable discussions as well as
establishing firmly for those that follow what you want to see happen with your own work isn't merely an option.
It's critical. You're never too young or old to undertake this. Tomorrow isn't
certain; the next hour isn't certain.
Do it now! You can't finish what you don't start, and you can do it a little
over time. Just do it. What happens when you're gone should be your decision. Just remember, once it's
over, it's forever out of your hands.
For me, the
thought of anyone other than a first-generation family member (who knows and
fully understands what I intended) writing anything for my series, characters,
or settings would make me turn over in my grave. And, yes, I've already done
this myself. Okay, full-disclosure, I've committed to file and paper thousands of pages of information, master copies of my
published work, instructions, etc. and this to the largest, commercially
available binder as well as onto mega-large flash drives. All of this contains
my wishes for the body of written work that is my legacy. These have been
prepared for those who will handle said body of work when I'm gone. Additionally,
I've spoken at length to the two I've chosen for this task. All this has been a
massive project I've worked on for the last couple years.
As my
publisher and I are wrapping up the editing of my last projects before I retire
from fiction and nonfiction reference writing, I'm completing the last of my legacy instructions and storing
master files, etc. as we finish them. I've already also begun to undertake children's
book illustration and various other art projects, authoring and designing Christian
devotionals, as well as composing my own songs, which will be the exciting
second chapter of my career. Honestly, I wouldn’t feel comforting going into any
of that without first doing the critical work of setting down my writing legacy
wishes. This next phase of my life promises to be filled with wondrous new
endeavors to keep my mind and body active in my "Golden Years". I
know I'll rest easier, knowing I've done all the work of leaving behind my
written legacy as I see fit. Be sure to check out my website and the blog there
to remain in the loop of all I'm doing: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/.
https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/bloodmoon-cove-spirits-series.html
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Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.
Posts
I certainly agree that an author's heirs should obey her wishes, if known. And your advice about making those wishes known in detail is of vital importance. Coincidentally, my husband and I recently had our wills updated (after many decades) and have an appointment to go into the lawyer's office and sign them, along with other end-of-life documents she prepared. She advised us to write up memoranda of things we want done that aren't covered in the will, e.g., who gets the silverware, etc. I definitely plan to do that, although I suspect my husband won't bother (especially since he expects to predecease me). Your blog post reminds me to include something about my writing in addition to passwords and procedures for keeping my website active and other concerns like that. However, I feel very differently from you, Robin Hobb, and Terry Pratchett about preserving unfinished work after the author's death. When I read that Pratchett decreed everything he left behind was to be destroyed, as a literary scholar I was appalled. Although I doubt anybody will care to write articles about me after my death, I'd want all possible material available to them if they did. I wouldn't go so far as to claim authors and their heirs OWE that kind of access to future scholars, like the obnoxious characters who pester the bestselling writer's widow in Stephen King's LISEY'S STORY, yet I have some sympathy for those people. And I wish C. S. Lewis hadn't been so modest about his own work that he carelessly discarded stuff future biographers and critics would have loved to read. Fortunately for us, in his case there's still a lot of material left -- for instance, most of the many people he wrote to generally saved his letters.
ReplyDeleteEvery author feels vastly different about these things, as displayed here, which is why my article and your comment highlight the crucial need to put wishes in writing while it's still possible. I've also gotten my end of life documents together and have taken the time to write my own obituary, lol!
DeleteI've also written my obituary for LOCUS and plan to make certain my heirs know where to find it in my Word files. And I'll tweak it from time to time, of course.
ReplyDeleteThat's great. It amazes me how few authors consider these things, let alone actually do them.
ReplyDelete