Discussion: All About Fan Fic

Today, my friends, I would like to talk about fanfiction and publishing and why it's OK.

It seems like every other week I'm seeing a headline about a new author emerging from the fanfiction 'verse and making a splash on everything from Amazon to the NYT Best-Seller List. I'm sure you can name at least one book - whether you like it or not - that was born in the world of fanfiction. It also seems like people, bloggers especially, are either very anti-fanfiction or very pro with little gray area in between. 

I started writing fanfiction before I even knew it was called that. It started off because I would fall in love with a TV show and typically a specific pairing (or ship). If my ship didn't get the storyline I wanted, I gave it to them. Around 2001, I found my way to several online sites (like fanfiction.net) where not only was fanfic the norm, but it was embraced openly. Proudly. But these communities were quiet and not into making waves.

I spent the better part of a decade inside these places - forming lasting friendships and indulging in every creative fantasy I could come up with. I found people, fangirls and fanboys, who I could be myself around. I didn't have to hide that I was a massive TV addict who loved fantasy land more than her nursing classes and studying. I created my own website for my fanfiction where at the peak of it's time had several thousand followers. I could posted a new chapter and within minutes have a dozen reviews. As a writer, this instant feedback was beyond helpful. I can clearly see how my writing quickly evolved because trust me: hell hath no fury like a fandom done wrong. Writing a character out of character (OOC) was the equivalent of failing a final exam. 

But slowly I started backing away from fanfiction writing. My interests shifted after a few fandom wars. I mean, you think bloggers have fights? Authors behave badly?You haven't seen online carnage until you've pitted 2 rival ships against each other. I also started reading more and writing less and that evolved into blogging. The more I got into blogging, the more I drifted away from the fanfiction, almost forgetting about it until one book was suddenly everywhere.

Fifty Shades of Gray pulled fanfiction out of the shadows and straight into the spotlight. Suddenly everyone was weighing in on fanfiction and its merits and did author E.L. James even deserve any credit? Shouldn't Stephenie Meyer being calling her army of attorneys and filing a lawsuit? IS THE WORLD IMPLODING AROUND US?! Charlatans are making millions off someone else's work!

Calm down, OK? Calm the frak down.

Here's the Wiki definition of fanfiction:

Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic or fic) is fiction about characters or settings from an original work of fiction, created by fans of that work rather than by its creator. It is a popular form of fan labor, particularly since the advent of the internet.

What this doesn't get into are the many facets of fanfiction - because it is NOT one fic fits all. There are more genres of fanfiction than I can count. From AU (alternate universe) to Canon (elements established in the original work) and Original Characters (OC) to Crossovers (merging two or more fandoms and their characters together), fanfic is much more involved than you think. (Definition Source)

So let's take Fifty. This is an example of an AU story. That mean E.L. James took already created characters but put them in a whole new world while maintaining characteristics or original characters - a world she created with new plots, new settings, and new dialogue. 

If this is true, then what about retellings? Is it OK to recreate a fairy tale with an updated setting and plot, but still using the same characters? Or is it only OK because the Brothers Grimm aren't around to file a lawsuit?

Isn't JANE by April Lindner (which I love and is amazing) nothing more than Jane Eyre fan fiction? I just finished SCARLET by A.C. Gaughen which was so freaking good, but isn't that  also considered Robin Hood fanfiction?

Most recently Anna Todd is catching a lot of flack because her debut, AFTER, is based off fanfiction of a real-life celebrity. People think it's creepy and wrong and shouldn't be published. I haven't read this series yet, but I might. 

So, let me ask you this: What do you think historical fiction is? It's taking a real life figure and making a fictional story about them or events they were involved in. Is it only all right because those people are dead? 

Fanfiction writers don't have some magic formula where they have an idea and poof - it appears online. They do exactly what other writers do - they sit down and write. And write. And write some more. They edit, they interact with readers and receive positive and negative feedback. I wrote a fic once what took me 6 months to write. It was work. 

I guess the point of this is I'm tired of a fanfic hating and people saying that writing fan fiction is inferior to original fiction and that these authors don't deserve credit for the words they've written and hours they've worked.

Maybe you hate fan fiction, maybe you write fan fiction. Maybe you still have no clue what fan fiction is. If S.E. Hinton and Meg Cabot can write fan fiction, why can't I?

Bloggers Anonymous: Enough is Enough

Welcome to the first edition of Blogger Anonymous. Not quite so anonymous, but definitely a place where people (mainly me, but feel free to join in), post about issues and drama that is currently plaguing me pertaining to blogging.

I debated about making this post for over a month now. Debated, toiled, fretted, worried, plotted, pondered, agonized - 

OK, maybe not agonized.

I feel like this is an issue every blogger faces at some point: Jealousy. And not just "Oh, that's a cute bracelet" jealous. I mean gut churning, dark thoughts, I give up jealous. I seem to be seeing more and more of this, and I will admit I've struggled with this myself. 

About two months ago I was truly fighting daily with myself about closing the blog down for good. It's something my friends and my awesome co-blogger knew about, but I felt like admitting it openly - to everyone in the blogosphere - was ridiculous and so not important in the grand scheme of things. But I didn't like the person blogging was turning me into.

What started as a fun hobby had morphed into an obsession that was constantly eating at me. Every instagram post I saw where a blogger got an ARC or 10 I didn't get, I wondered what I had done wrong. How could I be a better blogger? How could I get on people's radar? What new ways could I up my comments? Or bring more page hits?

It got to the point where I was legit obsessed to a point that was scaring me. I feel like since I started blogging I've always been chasing an unattainable number. When I first started it was all about the GFC count. I convinced myself that if I could hit 1,000 GFC followers then I had arrived. Cue the marching band and confetti. (Please don't ask where/why/how my twisted little mind decided that was the magic number.) And then, about a year and a half after blogging, I hit that number. I was elated.

For a week.

But then it wasn't about GFC numbers anymore. I was about my Klout score. My Twitter followers. My Facebook likes, my email subscribers ... Every time I wrapped my mind around one set of numbers, it changed. Now it's page views. Or unique page views. Maybe both (it took me almost a year to figure out the distinction). 

Wait - or is it Bloglovin' followers?

HOLD ON! This just in! Something called an Alexa is the new standard by which bloggers are judged? The only Alexa I know was in a couple Spy Kids movies back in the day, but OK....

Blogging stopped being a fun hobby and became a chore that I dreaded. Reading books wasn't exciting - it was a means to an end. Read a book to write a review. Post a review to get some page views. I found myself competing with my friends - I got irrationally jealous when they had more twitter followers than me. Or more comments on their posts. 

I finally hit my breaking point one night where I had my cursor positioned on the "Delete Blog" button. I was done. I was over feeling like crap and worrying and freaking out about stuff that - at the end of the day - wasn't the be all/end all of my life.

It took a lot of furious text message sessions between some bloggers friends before I finally settled down and decided to take a step back. I made a conscious decision to breathe and not touch the blog for a week and back away from social media. After the first couple of days, it became easier. Instead of trying to adhere to a a strict book reading and posting schedule, I just did what I wanted.

You know - the way I did when I first started down this rabbit hole 3 years ago.

I guess the reason I'm bringing up all of this now is because I have several friends who are currently struggling with this very thing. And I know we can't be the only ones. I don't want to see a lot of awesome bloggers throw in the towel because they forgot - we forgot - why we started doing this at in the first place.

So what if you don't get that ARC everyone else did? Can you honestly tell me you don't have a shelf or more of unread books somewhere? If people have better stats than you? More followers? More power to 'em. 

Every follower you have in every facet of blogging and social media is someone saying, "You're worth it and you matter" on a daily basis. If even 5 people are willing to follow you, that's amazing. You've influenced and touched those 5 people.

So, stop and count. Right now. Do it. How many people have you reached? Can you name them all? How long would it take you to write each and every single one of them a quick "Thanks for following me" note? 

I'm not saying I'll never get jealous again. But now I can keep it in better perspective and I'm loving blogging again. It's fun. And isn't that the whole point?

It's Not You, It's Me

So recently my awesome friend, Andye of ReadingTeen, posted about if there was one book she would recommend to everyone. She may have called me out a bit in it because I simply cannot love one of her favorite books - Harry Potter. I've tried, believe me I've tried. But I have come to the conclusion that there are 4 types of books that I just can't do. 

1. Faeries: I don't know what it is about these creatures, but I see the words "fae" or "faeries" and I'm out before I even started. Now, to be fair, I have tried these books. I tried reading several different series' by highly acclaimed authors (The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa, Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, and Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston). I was bored within the first five chapters and DNF'd all of them.

2. Mermaids: Not sure why this one doesn't wok for me. I adore The Little Mermaid, but something about half humans with scaly tails just doesn't work for me. Maybe it's because I find it freaky that they breathe underwater? Again, I have tried different series (Fins by Tera Lynn Childs and Tempest by Tracey Deebs) and clearly it's not meant to be.

3. Ghosts: Here's the thing: I am very much a girl who craves a good romance. All of my favorite books have some sort of romantic aspect to them. With a ghost, what can you do? Does the main character die so they can be together (depressing)? Do they both put their lives on hold to engage in a pointless relationship (even more depressing)? I tried reading Tara Hudson's Hereafter series and I just don't get it. She's a ghost. A dead, no longer living entity and he is still kickin'. What future can they have?!

4. Witches: I can't exactly pinpoint what it is about witches that doesn't work for me. And this includes wizards and warlocks, too. Which means sadly it includes a series about a boy wizard who is destined for great and amazing thing and spawned 8 hit movies, 7 massively popular books and countless devoted fans ... except me. (I am not naming this series by name because I was forbidden to by someone who could legit inflict bodily harm on me.) But I have also tried reading Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton and Half Bad by Sally Green. 

Exceptions to the rule:
There are always exceptions, right? Some books just break through my mental barriers and work for me.

My faery pick: Wings series by Aprilynne Pike
My mermaid pick: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks* (I haven't read this yet, but am giving it a try because Jen raves about it)
My ghost pick: The Dark World by Cara Lynn Shultz
My witch pick: Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

The good news is that my co-blogger doesn't have the same issues I do, so she happily reviews all of those types of books. 

Discussion: Why Books Scare Me

Why Books Scare Me

I am the book lover. At least, according to my friends, I am. I’m the go-to-girl when someone wants a book recommendation. My room (aka my inner sanctum) is hailed as a private library that friends and family members are frequently granted access to. It’s a title and notoriety that secretly makes me giggle and preen. And when I get more books? I am the happiest girl alive. I know you might think you are, but really it's me.

I freaking love books … But sometimes?  Books scare me.

Yeah. I actually just said that.

I’ve noticed lately that I have been so excited for certain books to come out, but then when I finally have them in my fingers, I set them aside. Or place them on a shelf with their series-mates like decorations. Or carry them with me in my purse, work bag, car, etc. for weeks with the intention of reading them, but always finding an excuse not to.

Need an example? OK, fine.

Lets take Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi as an example. This was a highly sought-after book. After the smashing success of Shatter Me (which I raved about for months), everyone—myself included—was desperate to get this book. An amazing, patient and benevolent friend of mine actually got a copy at ALA in June. She offered to lend it to me almost immediately because she had plenty else to read in the meantime.

I know. This girl (*cough*Lena*cough*) should clearly be nominated for sainthood. I've already submitted the application.

She sent the book to me and I am ashamed to say it sat on my shelf for months before I returned it to her for reading. And I never read it myself.

It’s not as though I didn’t have the time. I most assuredly did. I think the problem is that I loved Shatter Me so much, I was worried about 2 things:

1.)    The Sophomore Slump: We all know it’s a real issue in books. The first in the series is out-of-the-park phenomenal, but then the second just gets bogged down with details, separation of characters you’ve come to love, the introduction of new characters that infringe upon time spent with the original characters, etc. Sometimes this an author can climb out of this slump in book 3, other times the sophomore slump is the first nail in the coffin for the series.

2.)    The Agonizing Wait: Cliffhanger endings slay me in a big way. To the point where I got through the 5 stages of grief, I think.

a.       Denial: I don’t want to admit it’s over and that just happened. Clearly there’s a hidden chapter I’m missing.

b.      Anger: How dare the author leave it like this? Do they want to infuriate their readers?

c.       Bargaining: I’ll do anything to know what happens next. Seriously. I’ll come mow your yard for the next chapter.

d.      Depression: I’ll never know what happens ever again, will I? Sigh. I need chocolate.

e.      Acceptance: The next book will be out in a year! I can move on with a new book until then!

It’s utterly exhausting. And to repeat this process with each book in a series may eventually lead me to the nuthouse.

See? There’s just so much involved in this. I look forward to something so much, that when I happens I can’t appreciate it because I hate that it will be over soon.

Does anyone else do this? Do you get so excited to have a book, but then find yourself inexplicably shying away from it? Maybe we can get a group rate on therapy!