I have to confess, I fell in love with the Anne's Pern series so badly, I even wrote fanfic. As a guy, I was fascinated by the universe she created. She hasn't always done justice to her universe, but I still find it fascinating. I'm a few books behind in the series.
I discovered her writing when I was driving around at lunch time, ages ago, and the local classical station had her on for an interview about her latest dragonrider book. She, and the book, sounded so interesting, I bought a couple of her paperbacks that day.
Out of respect for her earlier books, I'll at least tolerate the newer ones. She was the person who got me so enthused with her universe that I actually attempted fanfic.
And I even got a "fancy number" without cheating.
I hope you don't still write "Pern" fanfic: Anne McCaffrey has demanded that fans do not write fanfic. Um, I think she's taken legal action.
My fandom was "Harry Potter", and our author was flattered by fanfic. But McCaffrey aparently dislikes it...