What happens when a writer dies before the novel is finished?
I had the most amazing 3 hour interview with Spider Robinson about completing the work of a literary great. He was commissioned to finish an incomplete Robert A. Heinlein book in 2006 and shared how it felt to write for one of his heroes.
It was genuinely such a pleasure to listen to him talk about his life. He had so many interesting things to say that I was over 1,000 words over my brief!
He was very interested in the way the world is big, but also so small that unbelievable coincidences happen all the time. He shared many examples of this happening to him; bumping into his neighbour half way around the world, meeting the love of his life, and the way Heinlein ‘taught him to read’ and shaped his creative career.
At one point, early in his writing career, he was struggling to pay his rent. ‘I couldn’t even get help from my agent as I couldn’t write because I was so stressed about the situation. Then in the mail, I got a letter. It said, “I have a feeling your credit is bent, enjoy this from Robert”’ Robert A. Heinline had sent him a cheque for the exact amount of rent that was due plus $100. Spider says he has no idea how Heinline even knew he was struggling financially. He called up Heinline and promised to pay him back. Heinline told him that it was not a loan. he said, “Some day in the future you will hear of a colleague in a similar circumstance, and remember that. We call it paying it forward”. He was the first person I heard saying that term. That is kind of what I felt like when I finished the book, some day some writer will pick it up read it and find something in it that inspires them.’
Jenny Lester 
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