Anniversary
Today is Valentine's Day. But more than that, it's the first anniversary of my involvement in this strange online world I've come to love.
A year ago today we had houseguests, and I was vaguely listening to the conversation when I heard our friend Dani talking about a friend of hers who wrote slash fiction. What's that, I asked, and when she explained I had one of those toon moments where the light bulb goes on over your head. I was already well and truly sucked into the Anitaverse, so that was of course the milieu that popped into my mind. All those hot guys, I mused...
I picked up my laptop and quickly Googled "Anita Blake slash," and I was astonished at what I found. The rest, as they say, is history.
During the last year, I have read some amazingly good stories. Before this, I was a diehard novel reader, and the short story had no appeal for me. Reading a short story, I used to say, gave me one of two reactions: "now what" or "so what." I can honestly say that fan fiction has broadened my horizons in a lot of ways.
I have also met some really great people, some of the nicest and most talented folks I've ever encountered. I've met two of them in person, and liked them both immensely, and I hope someday to meet more in RL. All of you have brightened my life so much over the last year!
I'm a strange mix of sociability and agoraphobia. Since Karl and I both work at home, our day to day social interactions are minimal. We tend to get our social life in great gulps at long intervals, when we go to SF conventions or the occasional party, and most of our friends are people we've known for many years. Mostly it's just the two of us. But over the last year or two Karl and I have each become involved with a group of online friends who we value immensely. So we can sit at home at our respective computers and have actual social interactions. What a world!
A year ago today we had houseguests, and I was vaguely listening to the conversation when I heard our friend Dani talking about a friend of hers who wrote slash fiction. What's that, I asked, and when she explained I had one of those toon moments where the light bulb goes on over your head. I was already well and truly sucked into the Anitaverse, so that was of course the milieu that popped into my mind. All those hot guys, I mused...
I picked up my laptop and quickly Googled "Anita Blake slash," and I was astonished at what I found. The rest, as they say, is history.
During the last year, I have read some amazingly good stories. Before this, I was a diehard novel reader, and the short story had no appeal for me. Reading a short story, I used to say, gave me one of two reactions: "now what" or "so what." I can honestly say that fan fiction has broadened my horizons in a lot of ways.
I have also met some really great people, some of the nicest and most talented folks I've ever encountered. I've met two of them in person, and liked them both immensely, and I hope someday to meet more in RL. All of you have brightened my life so much over the last year!
I'm a strange mix of sociability and agoraphobia. Since Karl and I both work at home, our day to day social interactions are minimal. We tend to get our social life in great gulps at long intervals, when we go to SF conventions or the occasional party, and most of our friends are people we've known for many years. Mostly it's just the two of us. But over the last year or two Karl and I have each become involved with a group of online friends who we value immensely. So we can sit at home at our respective computers and have actual social interactions. What a world!