I am a Reader. I watch Movies and TV shows.
I have my favourites….
And because I am a Writer, just occasionally, I play with those worlds. Yes, even I dabble in what is known in the writing world as FAN FICTION (FnF).
There are varying views of FnF. Here are a couple that you might have heard:
George R.R. Martin: “My characters are my children … I don’t want people making off with them, thank you. Even people who say they love my children. I’m sure that’s true, I don’t doubt the sincerity of the affection, but still… No one gets to abuse the people of Westeros but me.”
Anne Rice: “I do not allow fan-fiction. The characters are copyrighted. It upsets me terribly to even think about fan-fiction with my characters. I advise my readers to write your own original stories with your own characters. It is absolutely essential that you respect my wishes.”
Neil Gaimen: “Canonically, which is to say using the text in the book, you don’t get any description of Crowley’s sex life. The only thing the book says is “angels are sexless unless they specifically make an effort”. You can infer, and (more to the point) you can imagine, and lots of people have chosen, not unreasonably, to ship him with Aziraphale, but you are still Making Stuff Up. It could be Making Stuff Up that happens between paragraphs, or Making Stuff Up that isn’t mentioned at all, but it’s still Making Stuff Up.** (And using the kind of eagle-eyed textual analysis that Bible scholars used to decide exactly what a piece of four thousand year old verse definitely meant also counts here as Making Stuff Up.)
Which is the fun of fanfiction, and part of the tradition of fanfiction. As is, I’m afraid, grumbling at people who do not see that your ship is the only true ship, and choose to ship anyone else with anyone else.
If anyone decides that The Relationships in Their Fanfiction Are the Only True Fanfiction, it seems to me they are missing the point. The point is Fanfiction exists so that you can imagine, enjoy and fill in the gaps. The point is that you can change things and have fun with them. And the stories are absolutely true… for you.”
I once wrote to Anne McCaffrey and asked if we could write a story together (I was 8). Her response was something like “No. I don’t allow Fan Fiction and you would be breaking my copyright, so please don’t.”
At the time I was heartbroken… then after getting on the internet for the first time in the 90’s, I found out that she had softened her stance on fan fiction and was allowing it… and at the time I did join in – but as I can’t find it, I am going to assume that it died and was wiped…
I also wrote to Piers Anthony when I was 13 and while I don’t remember what he said about FnF, I do remember that over the course of many snail mail letters (no internet back then) that he encouraged my original writing, my poetry and essay writing. He also encouraged me to read a lot (not just his books) and the last time I had a letter from him, he suggested that I write an essay on the trials and tribulations of being a teenage writer, on being a new writer and sent me details on a book of essays that he was being included in, to see if I could get in…
It actually worked, my essay was accepted – but the book never picked up a publisher and never got published in anyway…
If you want to discover what your favourite author has said – take a look here: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Professional_Author_Fanfic_Policies
Personally, I am in favour of FnF. It gives new writers a chance to work out what they like to write and the confidence that comes with having people read their work and possibly like it, that comes with good comments and good, useful criticism, that confidence that spurs the new writer to write their own worlds and stories… that’s the way that FnF writers become Authors. Like E. L. James, Cassandra Clare, Meg Cabot, Naomi Novik, Sophie Jackson…
I write Dr Who and Marvel Fanfiction. I used to play Middle Earth – yes, DnD style roleplaying can be considered fan fiction… if you write something from it – and I wrote a saga (never finished) about the game (all in rhyme too). So I am happy enough to have FnF of my characters… in fact there’s a tik tokker that does the most amazing videos about my Lych Mistress – her handle is @ngryhobbit if you want to find her.
So this section is going to be about the stories that I have written as Fan Fiction.
And because I am not just a writer, but also a nascent Illustrator, there will very probably be Fan Art as well… I’m sorry to inflict it on you, but I do so love causing emotions in people…
Just click through the links below to find them!
The World of The Teigr Princess 