The Great Compliment of Fan Fiction

Almost every aspect of writing involves struggle.

Writers struggle with ideas, writer's block, making time for writing, discipline.

When we finally have a jumble of fairly cohesive words, we only to tear it apart through the revision process.

Then writers struggle to find beta readers, agents, and publishers.

Oh and writers struggle against rejection, LOTS of it.

If writers finally see their words in print, they struggle to find readers and reviews.

And then writers struggle against their emotions when reading negative reviews.

So when a reader starts writing fan fiction based on your words, it's a surreal experience like no other. And it's an experience I'm experiencing right now.

A few months ago, at the request of my lone BryonySeries super fan, Ed Calkins began writing his backstory.

If you don't know Ed's connection to my books, you can find it here.

Now, Ed's novel is not the first time he's "played" with my characters, including the fictionalized version of himself.

But as I'm reading through the chapters he sent me on Sunday night, enjoying those chapters as a reader (doubled-over laughing in spots) and mentally marking areas for tightening as an editor, I began to realize someone else was creating new works out of my old ones and encouraging my mind to go beyond the stories I've written.

I can't adequately describe how that feels.

First, Ed has read (at least), the "drop of blood" trilogy, since he is featured in those books. So he's already spent time in the fruits of my imagination. Keep the term "fruits" in mind, for comparison's sake.

Second, the sheer length of these chapters shows he's spent even greater amount of time there than, say, an average reader of my stories.

Now, I don't want to minimize the joy a writer feels when a reader revels in one's works (and even re-reads them) and takes the time to write lengthy reviews championing those works. It's exhilaration on the humbling scale, and I hope every writer gets to experience it.

Let's call that grapes: red grapes and green grapes. If you've read Before The Blood, you'll get it.

I'm also enjoying collaborating with Timothy on creating The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series, based on a character in Visage, which ranks high for me on the fun scale.

Let's call that an orange, even though no actual oranges were ever used in Cornell's favorite orange drink.

But Ed's fictionalized backstory is a new honor altogether. Let's call that an apple, since Ed's spending so much time with the character John-Peter.

When I was writing Bryony, Ed was the supervisor for one of my routes. I felt the story needed a new character.

Ed, who is very creative, had created a fictionalized version of himself. I approached him with teh request to take his idea  few steps beyond that.

So he allowed me to create a pretend version of himself and gave me complete freedom to develop the character in any way I wished. And he did it legally. As through an attorney. The amount of trust there is huge.

But now he is taking my pretend version of his pretend self, along with some of my characters and storylines already established, to create an entire new work.

Now I have always said the creation of BryonySeries is a team effort. But Ed has take that to, pardon the cliche, a whole new level.

It's an emotional whirlwind to read his words.

And it's beyond humbling.