Those of you who read either Lee's blog or Tod's blog know about Lee's latest wrestling match in the pro-con fanfic arena. Fanfic is short for "fan fiction" -- stories written by fans of particular fictional characters in books, movies or TV. It's a fun hobby, and those who enjoy writing and reading fan fiction share their material with each other. If, however, they want to charge money for it, sell it, market it, etc, then they are in BIG TROUBLE. My Saint books and/or short stories are created under an official legal agreement I have with the Estate of Leslie Charteris. I have the right to create new Saint stories, and have them published, as long as the Estate reviews and approves them, and agrees to the publishing deal. If you write a new Saint novel without permission or review, print it up and charge money for it, you will get your ass sued by the Estate of Leslie Charteris. But as long as folks keep it between themselves and for fun, it's just a lark. Some of these larks are, as you might imagine, horrid beyond human comprehension. Some are obscene sex romps (YAY!) written as erotic humor or satire. The worst of the worst are reviewed on a site devoted to the WORST in Fan Fiction
When you've had your fill of slash, gen, and 'ship fiction (fanfic terms for various character enganglements), when you groan at the arrival of each new "Mary Sue" (a ludicrously empowered author proxy), when you find yourself wishing every story you read had been beta-ed (i.e. edited), then it's time to visit Godawful Fan Fiction, where the worst fan fiction on the Web is filleted with the hot knife of peer criticism. - The New York Times Book Review
Some of this stuff leaves you drop jawed with incredulity. Get this:
"Professor Tiberious, we
have located a very strange signature in Africa" A young man asked as he saluted his
soupier officer.
This reminds me of the day several friends took up a collection to send a hot hooker to their 95 year old pal as a birthday surprise. She knocked on the door, he opened it, and she said "Happy Birthday! I'm here to give you Super Sex!"
He didn't have to think twice about his response:
"I'll take the soup."
At least people are writing, as bad as it might be. Makes MY stuff look like Shakespeare, or at least Sidney Sheldon.
Posted by: k.d. | February 14, 2007 at 12:29 PM
Nice joke. The fan fiction clip pretty bad.
Posted by: Randy Johnson | February 13, 2007 at 10:13 AM