I'm stepping aside today--and just today, so don't get your hopes up--to let my dear friend Julia Spencer-Fleming give you her view of one aspect of the crime fiction biz I've never encountered. Julia, whose brilliant Millers Kill series continues in April with One Was A Soldier, is not only a terrific writer and a good friend, but also a wonderful person, an exemplary mom and for all I know, a standout pipe-fitter. I said something about stepping aside, didn't I?
By Julia Spencer-Fleming
I was going to write about friendships among the mystery community today, which I thought was appropriate, since Jeff and I met through our writing and have been friends for many a year now. (Although it wasn't friendship that got me this guest blogging gig. I had to introduce Jeff to my associate, Mr. Andrew Jackson, to seal that deal.) However, I just discovered something amazing about myself, so let's kick bonds of relationship and fond respect to the curb and talk about me.
I have fanfic!
No, I don't mean I've got Naruto h/c slash downloaded on my hard drive. (Don't know what that means? Ask your 13-year-old.) I've found stories about my characters, Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne, written by people who are not me for the enjoyment of others.
I think that's SO cool.
Technically speaking, my oldest daughter found the fics. Apparently Smith College doesn't keep her so busy as to prevent her from browsing multiple fanfiction sites looking for stories based on the Millers Kill mysteries. (I don't know what else she's looking for out there, and I don't WANT to know, either.) Now admittedly, my fandom is smaller than J.K. Rowling's. Actually, I think there are probably more fics out there written about Hagar the Horrible than about Russ and Clare. But I can't tell you how affirming I find the fact that there are readers out there who love those characters so much they aren't satisfied with what I can write about Millers Kill.
To me, fanfiction based on novels says the author has created characters so real, so alive, that they attain a sort of freedom from their original works. The characters walk around, as it were, in the common imagination, existing not just in the mind of the author or between the covers of a book, but in the hearts of the readers, the people who make John Gardner's “dream of fiction” a reality.
And in my case, it's probably a good thing, since I have a lot of trouble keeping to the one-book-a-year standard approved by the publishing industry. When One Was A Soldier comes out at the end of April, it will have been two and a half years since my last novel; I Shall Not Want. That's a lot of time to keep readers waiting. So let a dozen fanfics bloom! (I did mention there aren't a lot out there right now, yes? A dozen would be a significant bump up in numbers.)
For those of you who prefer authentic, copyrighted, 100% Julia Spencer-Fleming produced fiction, I have an Advance Reader Copy of the above mentioned One Was A Soldier to give away. Just leave a comment letting me know what book or character you'd like to see (or create!) in fanfiction. At the end of the day, I'll draw a name at random (translation: my 10-year-old will pick a slip of paper out of a hat) and one lucky winner will walk away with the 7th Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery.
And we have a winner! My 10-year old already went to bed, so my husband Ross did the pulling out of a hat honors. And the ARC goes to Carolyn, who thought she was going to have to wait until her birthday to read One Was A Soldier. Carolyn, if you contact me with your address at julia at juliaspencerfleming dot com, I'll have that winging it's way to you in no time.
Don't worry, you can still read the book even if you didn't win. One Was A Soldier is available at:
And of course, your locally-owned independent bookstore.
I'm not a reader of fanfic but I have written plenty of it in my head. One of my favorite series, Laurie R. King's Mary Russell books, are of course a (very successful) extension of fanfiction, keeping Sherlock Holmes alive and well for a whole new generation of fans. My joy knew no bounds when Lord Peter Wimsey turned up in one of the novels.
So if I wanted to see more fanfic, it would probably be a similar fusion of characters from Golden Age (and some earlier) detective novels, starring LPW because (Jill Paton Walsh notwithstanding) there are just not enough Wimsey books out there.
Posted by: Jane Steen | January 24, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Julia, I'm anxiously awaiting the release of One Was A Soldier! I've sung the praises of your books to all my book loving friends. Absolutely love Claire & Russ!
As an aside, I had a friend in high school who wrote fanfic about the Osmonds. LOL She'd write a story for each person, putting them in as the girlfriend of their favorite Osmond brother.
I'd like to see fanfic of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Morgaine from The Mists of Avalon. Love that book & re-read it yearly.
Posted by: Kay | January 24, 2011 at 10:54 AM
You know, Osmond Fanfic sounds like something I might have done when I
was twelve.
At 10:54 AM 1/24/2011, you wrote:
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 07:54:02
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Hi Julia Spencer-Fleming,
Kay ([email protected]) has
left you a comment:
Julia, Im anxiously awaiting the release of One Was A Soldier! Ive
sung the praises of your books to all my book loving friends. Absolutely
love Claire Russ! As an aside, I had a friend in high school who
wrote fanfic about the Osmonds. LOL Shed write a story for each person,
putting them in as the girlfriend of their favorite Osmond brother. Id
like to see fanfic of Marion Zimmer Bradleys Morgaine from The Mists of
Avalon. Love that book re-read it yearly.
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Julia
Spencer-Fleming
Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author of
I Shall Not Want and
One Was A Soldier
Posted by: Julia Spencer-Fleming | January 24, 2011 at 11:00 AM
I think this may be the first time I've heard an author *excited* over discovering fanfic of her original work - how refreshing!
I'll confess that my dabbles in fanfic were television-based. But Robert B. Parker's characters have captured my imagination for years, and since I won't be able to read any new exchanged between Spencer and Hawk or Sunny and Jesse, I'd love to make up my own.
Which isn't to say that I wouldn't chance my mind if I were given a chance to read *One Was a Soldier*!
Posted by: Sarah W | January 24, 2011 at 11:16 AM
Times like this, I'm grateful I grew up before the Web existed. Heaven knows what sort of embarrassing "Brady Bunch" or "Love Boat" fanfic I might have written & shared with the world! Today, I am happy to leave writing to the professionals.
Posted by: twitter.com/trow125 | January 24, 2011 at 11:48 AM
Going with the theme here; If fanfic had been around in my pre-tee/teen days I would have written scenes from Here Come the Brides like crazy. But, you question was who I would write now. First off, I would love to write about Clare and Russ. Have to admit I have written a little - just for my own pleasure. I had an idea about Brian, Clare's brother, coming up to sign some papers (power of attorney for Clare who was going on a mission) and he came to visit Russ. lol Also, I've written a few letters back & forth between Russ and Care. If I had to chose any other book/charcter it might be from the Eve and Roarke - In Death- books by J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts.By the way, I have searched for Clare/Russ fanfic and came up empty handed. Would love to know where it is!
Posted by: Gail | January 24, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Gail, I like your idea! Clares family was going to make an appearance in
ONE WAS A SOLDIER, but got cut for space. (a LOT of stuff got cut for
space!) I do know my daughter mostly gets her fic from the Organization
for Transformative Works archive and Livejournal.
Sarah W., Im an author who believes fanfic can only enhance a writers
work. I dont see that J.K. Rowling lost any sales, despite the 57
million Potterverse stories out there.
At 12:01 PM 1/24/2011, you wrote:
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:01:23
-0800
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Hi Julia Spencer-Fleming,
Gail ([email protected])
has left you a comment:
Going with the theme here; If fanfic had been around in my
pre-tee/teen days I would have written scenes from Here Come the Brides
like crazy. But, you question was who I would write now. First off, I
would love to write about Clare and Russ. Have to admit I have written a
little - just for my own pleasure. I had an idea about Brian, Clares
brother, coming up to sign some papers (power of attorney for Clare who
was going on a mission) and he came to visit Russ. lol Also, Ive written
a few letters back forth between Russ and Care. If I had to chose
any other book/charcter it might be from the Eve and Roarke - In Death-
books by J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts.By the way, I have searched for
Clare/Russ fanfic and came up empty handed. Would love to know where it
is!
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Posted by: Julia Spencer-Fleming | January 24, 2011 at 01:06 PM
Welcome to DEAD GUY, Julia! Hey, we can forgo that Jackson guy you were talking about if I get a signed copy of ONE WAS A SOLDIER!
Posted by: Jeff Cohen | January 24, 2011 at 02:05 PM
When I was ten I may or may not have written Bay City Rollers fanfic, although I had no idea that it was a genre. (It was 1977. I make no apologies for what I wrote when I was ten in 1977.)
Because there can never be too many stories about Miss Maud Silver, and because I would like to see Detective-Inspector Frank Abbott happily married off, I nominate Miss Silver for fic. Frank could fall for Chief-Inspector Lamb's flighty middle daughter when she is tangentially involved in a murder...
...and now I'm going to stop, in case I actually try to write it.
Posted by: Shelley | January 24, 2011 at 02:16 PM
Bay City Rollers fanfic. Was there plaid? Please, God, tell me there was
lots and lots of plaid.
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!
At 02:16 PM 1/24/2011, you wrote:
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:16:43
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Hi Julia Spencer-Fleming,
Shelley
([email protected]) has left
you a comment:
When I was ten I may or may not have written Bay City Rollers fanfic,
although I had no idea that it was a genre. (It was 1977. I make no
apologies for what I wrote when I was ten in 1977.) Because there can
never be too many stories about Miss Maud Silver, and because I would
like to see Detective-Inspector Frank Abbott happily married off, I
nominate Miss Silver for fic. Frank could fall for Chief-Inspector Lambs
flighty middle daughter when she is tangentially involved in a murder...
...and now Im going to stop, in case I actually try to write it.
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Posted by: Julia Spencer-Fleming | January 24, 2011 at 02:20 PM
Not to rain on your parade, but you need to talk to your editor about your publisher's policy about fanfic, particularly since you've talked publicly about it.
Some publishers consider fanfic of novels to be a threat to author's copyright and expect their authors to send cease and desist orders.
Posted by: Marilynn Byerly | January 24, 2011 at 04:13 PM
When I was in high school, one of my friends wrote Beach Boys fan fic. I just let stories play out in my mind ;-)
I always thought writers hated that kind of stuff. I think I'd "write" Clare's correspondance from her military posting-- letters to family, friends, the Bishop....
Posted by: Debbie Bogenschutz | January 24, 2011 at 05:45 PM
I've never even thought of writing fan fic (does that make me unimaginative?). Of course, I've always been one who will follow a storyteller/author wherever they go without all the second-guessing of them that some people do. It takes some massive incompetence for me to say, "that's not what they should have done." That said, since I can't get enough of Clare and Russ, my fan fic vote would go to them.
Sidenote: I was so sad when the book didn't come out on the original date, but then, it got moved to my birthday month. So, I was happy once again, even if I had to wait and wait and wait. Also, you announcing that you'll be in my town for your book tour actually caused me to squee like a fan girl, but it was in an email to my husband, so I can still claim to be a mature person. Kinda.
Posted by: Carolyn | January 24, 2011 at 06:12 PM
First off, let me apologize for merrily spamming the comments with everything that was included with my comment notification emails. Thanks, TypePad.
Carolyn, Im happy One Was A Soldier will be coming out on your birthday! And dont worry about the squeeing--when I met Jenny Crusie (one of my writing idols) I got all flustered and said, (I swear this is true) Why, youre not as large as I thought youd be! Because, you know... she blogs about feeling heavy... and about dieting... *Julia crawls under table and dies.*
Posted by: Julia Spencer-Fleming | January 24, 2011 at 07:01 PM
I don't go as far as writing anything down, but I do imagine favourite characters in settings - Jamie and Claire from Outlander, Russ and Clare... It seems to be those authors with a long lapse between books, just before the latest is released. My subconscious can't wait any longer and gets started on it's own.
My Russ and Clare imaginings have them in the kitchen, puttering about and discussing some case. Clare pregnant(!)and Russ not wanting her to be poking her nose in something he's working on. I think this scene stems more from my desire to end the relationship conflict and have the mystery solving conflict continue long into the future!
Posted by: Alison | January 24, 2011 at 07:30 PM
I should add that you shouldn't read the fanfic, EVER.
The great Marian Zimmer Bradley once had a fanfic author try to sue her for copyright theft when she wrote something similar.
That's hubris. Suing an author for copyright theft when you are writing in THEIR universe.
Posted by: Marilynn Byerly | January 25, 2011 at 12:16 AM
You & JK! Very cool, Julia.
It'll happen for you too, Jeff...
Posted by: jenny milchman | January 25, 2011 at 08:18 AM
I'm too busy reading fiction to write any fanfic now, but I've gotta tell you folks, ONE WAS A SOLDIER is worth waiting for! I held onto my ARC as long as I could (I do that so I can read it just prior to release so my review will be fresher), but once I started it, I carried it along with me everywhere until I was done!
Fantastic job, Julia!
Posted by: Molly Weston | January 25, 2011 at 09:35 AM
Oh, there was plaid all right....
Posted by: Shelley | January 26, 2011 at 03:07 PM
Shelly, you're a woman after my own heart.
Posted by: Julia Spencer-Fleming | January 26, 2011 at 06:14 PM
Julia, your books were just recommended to me two weeks ago (sadly I hadn't discovered them before -you know how life with 3 kids is) and I've already read the first 4 and can't wait to read the rest! I've been a fanfic writer for about 6 years now (for tv shows) but once I started your books I couldn't help myself. Clare and Russ are such wonderfully beautiful and tortured souls ... you've made me love them immensely and enjoy writing about them. Thank you!
Posted by: Tracy | June 18, 2011 at 12:09 AM