Today’s topic, my first Writing Weekend post, is how I feel about fanfic, specifically the idea that someday there might be fanfic based on my work.
First, definitions. I’m assuming most people reading this blog are familiar with fanfic, but just in case, I’ll start by saying that fanfic is any work of fiction that builds upon a fictional world created by someone else. I don’t know that any real statistics exist, but from my observation I’d say that the vast majority of fanfic focuses on science fiction/fantasy media. There’s loads of Star Trek, Buffy, and Harry Potter fanfic, for example. But if you look for it, you can also find fanfic based on shows like Castle or books like the Aubrey/Maturin series.
Why do people read and write fanfic? Often it’s a way of exploring possibilities only hinted at in the story canon--which can mean anything from explicit scenes of the hot sex Castle and Beckett will have when they finally get together to a detailed story of Hogwarts when Harry’s parents and Snape were students there. It’s also a fun way to make worlds collide--Buffy can meet The Doctor, or Richard Sharpe from Bernard Cornwell’s novels can meet Temeraire the dragon from Naomi Novik’s.
Fanfic, for obvious reasons, inhabits a legal gray area. If you tried to publish it for profit, it’d be a copyright violation, but the general consensus is that if you just post it on the internet for free and include a disclaimer crediting the creator/owner of the fictional world, it’s OK.
As an aside, once a work is out of copyright, the game changes. Wide Sargasso Sea is Jane Eyre fanfic. March is Little Women fanfic. And then there's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, plus more Austen sequels and reworkings of her novels from the hero's perspective than I can count.
Living authors, however, vary greatly in their comfort level when it comes to fanfic about their work. Diana Gabaldon, whom I’ve met in person and can attest is a delightful person and very supportive of budding writers, spoke out against it this year, though the post in question is no longer available on her blog. Naomi Novik, by contrast, was a fanfic writer before she produced her original work and is very supportive of fanfic.
I’m not going to rehash the many debates over the morality and utility of fanfic. If you’re curious, google either of the authors in the paragraph above plus “fanfiction” and you’ll see the range of opinions. I’ll just say that I’m very much on the Novik side of the continuum. If you want to write fanfic based on any of my fictional worlds, have at it with my blessings! I can’t imagine anything more flattering than someone loving my characters or world so much they couldn’t resist playing with it themselves.
But I won’t be reading your fanfic, for the following reasons:
1) The worlds I create are complete enough to satisfy me in my own imagination. When I read fanfic, it’s to enjoy speculation on what might be happening before/after/alongside the canonical work. With my own canon, I already KNOW what’s going on off the page.
2) It’s always possible that someday I’ll be writing a series, and a fanfic writer’s guess about what’s going to happen in Book 3 of the trilogy is close to reality. I don’t want to feel obliged to change my own vision, or have the fanfic writer think I stole her work. If I never see the stuff, that’s not an issue.
3) I write Napoleonic-era adventure stories. I have as-yet unpublished works with Wellington and Napoleon as major characters. If/when those stories sell, some fanfic writer is going to slash those two. (For the uninitiated, that means writing stories with them as a romantic or erotic pairing.) Because that’s what happens with enemies in a lot of fanfic. And I don’t want to see that. If I did, I’d have to come murder the writer with a spork, then gouge out my own eyes with the same. That is just not a pairing that would work for me. At all. Ever. Ick.
In summary, I’m pro-fanfic. Go out there, be creative, and have fun--just don’t tell me about it!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Blog revamp
Now that I'm between releases and am therefore marginally less busy, I decided it was time to revamp my blog. It's been my goal since I started to post 3-4 times/week, but that hasn't always happened. Part of the problem is I'll decide I'm going to blog MWF, but then have no idea what to say on the day.
So I decided I needed a blog plan. A set of themes, if you will. So, starting this weekend, my blog schedule will be as follows:
Writing Weekends: On Saturday or Sunday, I will post about writing and the writer's life. This could be anything from craft issues to writers conferences to which writing advice books I like to what I'm doing to make my home writing office even more awesome.
Favorites Mondays: On Monday I'll talk about a favorite story from any medium--mostly books, but also movies, TV shows, maybe even a fanfic or two.
Research Wednesdays: What it sounds like. I'll describe some interesting fact I've stumbled upon in my research or point you toward helpful online sources.
Friday Finds: This is when I'll talk about something neat I've read, watched, or otherwise consumed recently. Probably 90% of the time this will be a book recommendation, but it'll also be a place I can talk about a new TV show, store, recipe, etc., if I feel so inclined.
The keyword her is finds. Please don't beg me to include your book, because I want this to be, "Things Susanna genuinely loved and recommends to people of similar tastes," rather than, "Things Susanna felt obliged to feature because she shares an RWA chapter/publisher/etc. with the author."
But if you are interested in promo...
...I'm opening my blog for guest posts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Not necessarily every Tuesday and Thursday, but as there's interest. So, if you fit into one or more of the following categories:
1) Historical romance author (particularly if you tend toward the research geeky end of the spectrum)
2) Fantasy author (I love to read fantasy and hope to be published in that genre too eventually)
3) E-book author
4) Napoleonic Wars research geek (or really any kind of military history)
5) Regency research geek
...and you'd like to be a guest here, please drop me a line at susannamfraser AT gmail DOT com, and we'll set something up.
So I decided I needed a blog plan. A set of themes, if you will. So, starting this weekend, my blog schedule will be as follows:
Writing Weekends: On Saturday or Sunday, I will post about writing and the writer's life. This could be anything from craft issues to writers conferences to which writing advice books I like to what I'm doing to make my home writing office even more awesome.
Favorites Mondays: On Monday I'll talk about a favorite story from any medium--mostly books, but also movies, TV shows, maybe even a fanfic or two.
Research Wednesdays: What it sounds like. I'll describe some interesting fact I've stumbled upon in my research or point you toward helpful online sources.
Friday Finds: This is when I'll talk about something neat I've read, watched, or otherwise consumed recently. Probably 90% of the time this will be a book recommendation, but it'll also be a place I can talk about a new TV show, store, recipe, etc., if I feel so inclined.
The keyword her is finds. Please don't beg me to include your book, because I want this to be, "Things Susanna genuinely loved and recommends to people of similar tastes," rather than, "Things Susanna felt obliged to feature because she shares an RWA chapter/publisher/etc. with the author."
But if you are interested in promo...
...I'm opening my blog for guest posts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Not necessarily every Tuesday and Thursday, but as there's interest. So, if you fit into one or more of the following categories:
1) Historical romance author (particularly if you tend toward the research geeky end of the spectrum)
2) Fantasy author (I love to read fantasy and hope to be published in that genre too eventually)
3) E-book author
4) Napoleonic Wars research geek (or really any kind of military history)
5) Regency research geek
...and you'd like to be a guest here, please drop me a line at susannamfraser AT gmail DOT com, and we'll set something up.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Outfitting my office
Slowly but surely, I continue outfitting my office to be the perfect writer's cave. Today I got these coasters:
Aren't they adorable? I think they add the perfect classy yet whimsical touch to my dark wood desk (which I picked up cheap on Craigslist months ago and love because it looks old-fashioned but has built-in plugs enough that I can charge both laptops, my iPhone, and my Kindle off my desk if I feel so inclined).
My goal is to have the office fully furnished by the end of the year. Next up will be a new desk chair, then a half corkboard, half dry erase board, then a mini file cabinet that looks good with the desk. I also want a print of this Waterloo image (featured on my website) to go with my Celtic cross and my Ichiro picture, and I'll have the best and most "me" office I can imagine.
Aren't they adorable? I think they add the perfect classy yet whimsical touch to my dark wood desk (which I picked up cheap on Craigslist months ago and love because it looks old-fashioned but has built-in plugs enough that I can charge both laptops, my iPhone, and my Kindle off my desk if I feel so inclined).
My goal is to have the office fully furnished by the end of the year. Next up will be a new desk chair, then a half corkboard, half dry erase board, then a mini file cabinet that looks good with the desk. I also want a print of this Waterloo image (featured on my website) to go with my Celtic cross and my Ichiro picture, and I'll have the best and most "me" office I can imagine.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Can an author of 90,000-word novels write a 1500-word short story?
I would dearly love to enter this contest. It's for short stories of any genre, set during or in the days leading up to the Battle of Waterloo, with all proceeds going toward restoration of the battlefield in preparation for the 200th anniversary of the battle in June 2015.
On the surface, this looks perfect for me. I own something like five books on Waterloo alone, plus multiple biographies of Wellington and Napoleon, general histories of the Napoleonic Wars, analyses of the French and British armies of the era, etc. I'm planning to be there for the 200th anniversary--I've already got most of the money for the trip set aside and everything.
Problem is, the upper limit on word count is 1500 words. I don't know that I can think in that length. That's an awfully short space to develop a character and a plot, or even to describe an incident, especially for an author whose shortest-ever manuscript clocked in right around 90,000 words.
Still, I'd like to enter, and I don't want to enter some half-assed effort that won't even have a chance at the prize. I mean, I could just send a donation for the battlefield restoration (and may well do so regardless, because history, and preserving history, MATTER to me). But if I'm going to compete, my goal is to win.
So, with that in mind...what makes a good 1500-word story? Any author recommendations?
On the surface, this looks perfect for me. I own something like five books on Waterloo alone, plus multiple biographies of Wellington and Napoleon, general histories of the Napoleonic Wars, analyses of the French and British armies of the era, etc. I'm planning to be there for the 200th anniversary--I've already got most of the money for the trip set aside and everything.
Problem is, the upper limit on word count is 1500 words. I don't know that I can think in that length. That's an awfully short space to develop a character and a plot, or even to describe an incident, especially for an author whose shortest-ever manuscript clocked in right around 90,000 words.
Still, I'd like to enter, and I don't want to enter some half-assed effort that won't even have a chance at the prize. I mean, I could just send a donation for the battlefield restoration (and may well do so regardless, because history, and preserving history, MATTER to me). But if I'm going to compete, my goal is to win.
So, with that in mind...what makes a good 1500-word story? Any author recommendations?
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Interesting blog on e-book pricing
I'm too busy writing to blog much of late--gotta ride that new idea adrenaline while it lasts! But to keep this blog from growing cobwebs, today I'm linking to fantasy author Jim Hines' discussion of e-book pricing. Interesting stuff, more musing and discussion than answers.
For what it's worth, the list price of The Sergeant's Lady, a 94,000-word historical romance, is $5.99, but most retailers offer at least a bit of a discount. If you buy it directly from Carina Press, it's DRM-free and will cost you $5.39. At Amazon it's just $4.69, but you're buying a Kindle edition with DRM.
A comparable mass market paperback historical romance averages around $6.99. To me, that price difference feels about right. When you buy that paperback book, only a small fraction of the cost goes to the production and shipment of the physical object. Most of it goes to the labor of producing the book--all the work the author, editor, cover artist, copy editor, and so on did to take it from a creative gleam in the author's eye to a complete, polished, and packaged story. And when you're buying an e-book from a professional, reputable publisher (like Carina!) or the e-edition of a book that's also in print, those creative labor costs are exactly the same. So I can see discounting e-books by a dollar or two--or, to look at it another way, asking customers to pay a small premium for a paper book to cover printing and shipment--but no more than that, at least not as a regular thing. Promo offers or listing one's backlist for $0.99 to build interest in a new release is another story.
And this post is longer than I intended, so I'll leave it at that for now.
For what it's worth, the list price of The Sergeant's Lady, a 94,000-word historical romance, is $5.99, but most retailers offer at least a bit of a discount. If you buy it directly from Carina Press, it's DRM-free and will cost you $5.39. At Amazon it's just $4.69, but you're buying a Kindle edition with DRM.
A comparable mass market paperback historical romance averages around $6.99. To me, that price difference feels about right. When you buy that paperback book, only a small fraction of the cost goes to the production and shipment of the physical object. Most of it goes to the labor of producing the book--all the work the author, editor, cover artist, copy editor, and so on did to take it from a creative gleam in the author's eye to a complete, polished, and packaged story. And when you're buying an e-book from a professional, reputable publisher (like Carina!) or the e-edition of a book that's also in print, those creative labor costs are exactly the same. So I can see discounting e-books by a dollar or two--or, to look at it another way, asking customers to pay a small premium for a paper book to cover printing and shipment--but no more than that, at least not as a regular thing. Promo offers or listing one's backlist for $0.99 to build interest in a new release is another story.
And this post is longer than I intended, so I'll leave it at that for now.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
At last, a new and improved website
At long last, I have an official author website, which you can view here. As for why this is such a big deal, you can view the site I had from July 1 until last night here, and read the story of WHY it looked like that here.
My husband built it, but we've mutually agreed that in the future I'll hire someone else to design and manage my site. It's the first time I'd tried to work with a family member on something of this nature, and while I know several cases where a spouse or child designs a writer's website, for us it didn't work well. Not because we have a bad marriage--we love each other, and we work together well on all the ordinary couple things like paying the bills or picking paint colors for the house or flying across the country to see the in-laws.
This turned out to be more of a challenge for us. I found it hard to be the boss of my website--to say that I needed X, Y, and Z, and that it had to be up by such-and-such date or else--and balance that with being an understanding spouse, especially when I knew dang well what was slowing him down. I was either living through the same stressors myself or watching them up close and personal. So I realized that I need a web person I can fire at will without feeling like I'm a bad person...and that's just not going to be my husband.
But for now I'm happy with my site. I especially love the way Mr. Fraser incorporated a Waterloo painting as a backdrop, since it's perfect fit for the military setting of most of my writing, and because I was already planning to get a print of it to hang on my office wall, along with my Celtic cross and my commemorative photo of Ichiro's 2001 AL MVP season. (Yes, I'm that into baseball and military history. You don't HAVE to be a girly girl to write romance...)
My husband built it, but we've mutually agreed that in the future I'll hire someone else to design and manage my site. It's the first time I'd tried to work with a family member on something of this nature, and while I know several cases where a spouse or child designs a writer's website, for us it didn't work well. Not because we have a bad marriage--we love each other, and we work together well on all the ordinary couple things like paying the bills or picking paint colors for the house or flying across the country to see the in-laws.
This turned out to be more of a challenge for us. I found it hard to be the boss of my website--to say that I needed X, Y, and Z, and that it had to be up by such-and-such date or else--and balance that with being an understanding spouse, especially when I knew dang well what was slowing him down. I was either living through the same stressors myself or watching them up close and personal. So I realized that I need a web person I can fire at will without feeling like I'm a bad person...and that's just not going to be my husband.
But for now I'm happy with my site. I especially love the way Mr. Fraser incorporated a Waterloo painting as a backdrop, since it's perfect fit for the military setting of most of my writing, and because I was already planning to get a print of it to hang on my office wall, along with my Celtic cross and my commemorative photo of Ichiro's 2001 AL MVP season. (Yes, I'm that into baseball and military history. You don't HAVE to be a girly girl to write romance...)
Friday, October 1, 2010
Off to Emerald City Writers Conference, and what to read next?
Another drive-by post, since I'm scrambling to do laundry, ironing, and the like for the Emerald City Writers Conference, which starts in a couple hours. I love going to writers conferences, because for the space of those few days my life is all about writing, instead of fighting to shoehorn writing in around my day job and family responsibilities.
In other news, I can't decide what to read next because I have too many good choices among the new releases already on my Kindle or set to arrive either there or from my library holds queue in the next few weeks.
Already have:
Butterfly Swords, by Jeannie Lin, the Tang Dynasty China historical romance from Harlequin that's been generating all kinds of good buzz.
The Sevenfold Spell, a novella looking at the Sleeping Beauty fairytale from another angle, by fellow Carina author Tia Nevitt.
Nemesis, by Lindsey Davis, the latest Marcus Didius Falco mystery. I love this series, but I've heard this entry is unusually dark, so I haven't dived in just yet.
Should get soon:
The Pericles Commission, by Gary Corby. Debut mystery set in Periclean Athens, which I've been dying to read ever since I discovered Gary's blog.
Cold Magic, by Kate Elliot. I love her Jaran novels and her thoughts on writing and life, so I'm looking forward to this AU fantasy take on 19th century Europe.
The Fort, by Bernard Cornwell. Cornwell returns to the Revolutionary War, though I believe this one is unconnected to Redcoat. I tend to prefer Cornwell's 18th and 19th century settings to earlier ones (though his Arthurian trilogy is pretty awesome), so I'm looking forward to this one. That said, I wish he'd go back to Nathaniel Starbuck. If this were a Starbuck book, I would've already bought it for my Kindle rather than just placing it on hold at the library, and I wouldn't be going through all this "what to read next" indecisiveness, because the choice would be obvious.
In other news, I can't decide what to read next because I have too many good choices among the new releases already on my Kindle or set to arrive either there or from my library holds queue in the next few weeks.
Already have:
Butterfly Swords, by Jeannie Lin, the Tang Dynasty China historical romance from Harlequin that's been generating all kinds of good buzz.
The Sevenfold Spell, a novella looking at the Sleeping Beauty fairytale from another angle, by fellow Carina author Tia Nevitt.
Nemesis, by Lindsey Davis, the latest Marcus Didius Falco mystery. I love this series, but I've heard this entry is unusually dark, so I haven't dived in just yet.
Should get soon:
The Pericles Commission, by Gary Corby. Debut mystery set in Periclean Athens, which I've been dying to read ever since I discovered Gary's blog.
Cold Magic, by Kate Elliot. I love her Jaran novels and her thoughts on writing and life, so I'm looking forward to this AU fantasy take on 19th century Europe.
The Fort, by Bernard Cornwell. Cornwell returns to the Revolutionary War, though I believe this one is unconnected to Redcoat. I tend to prefer Cornwell's 18th and 19th century settings to earlier ones (though his Arthurian trilogy is pretty awesome), so I'm looking forward to this one. That said, I wish he'd go back to Nathaniel Starbuck. If this were a Starbuck book, I would've already bought it for my Kindle rather than just placing it on hold at the library, and I wouldn't be going through all this "what to read next" indecisiveness, because the choice would be obvious.
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