Fanfiction seeps into the mainstream?

[sartorias]

A younger relation who reads no sf or f recently asked me, in a tentative voice, as if I might explode, if I had ever heard of fan fiction. I had to laugh before I said of course, and asked the context.

She said she was talking to some people about how Fifty Shades of Grey was reputed to start out as fan fiction, and also Twilight. I said I haven'

Comments

[whswhs]

The first encounter I had with something comparable to fanfic in an obvious way was when I was in elementary school and discovered Edward Eager's fantasy novels. The second one, Knight's Castle, has its four kids intervening in the story of Ivanhoe and bringing about the marriage of Wilfred to Rebecca, whom they considered clearly superior to Rowena. I think that may have been my first step toward preferring the dark woman with brains as a literary heroine.

[sartorias]

I remember that one!!!

[whswhs]

Now that I can look it up online, I think the movie version the kids had seen must have been the one with Elizabeth Taylor playing Rebecca.

[shirebound]

Thank you for defending fan fiction, as there are many creative, fully-researched, and excellently-written stories out there. They come from the heart and imagination, take time and energy to craft, and the only compensation is an occasional "well done" or "I liked this" or "will there be more?" from someone 'out there' who discovers it.

[sartorias]

Exactly, exactly.