What I Learned From Fan Fiction

In the literary world, there are conferences, experts, and amateurs. My first editor went to such a conference a few years ago wherein they had a discussion panel about "fan fiction". The questions were centered around plagiarism and how the publishing world is being affected by the new onslaught of Twilight fan fiction novels. Million dollar book deals are being born from adapted fan fiction and thus, it really matters. The consensus is that it's not plagiarism and that authors should be flattered that so many other writers want to play in their sandbox.

So who writes fan fiction?

Everyone.

The overwhelming majority are women but they stretch across all known demographics (with the exception of toddlers). What interests me about fan fiction authors is why and what they write. Most aren't writing to reach a New York Times Bestseller audience, nor are they shaping their prose to fit marketability patterns. Most stories (even the bad ones) are glimpses or plots the authors want to experience, but can't in the real world. In other words, they write what they want to be under the protection of a pen name.

Because of this we get to see what women want, but won't admit out loud.

In the five years I have been reading fan fiction, I have read easily thousands of stories and tens of millions of words. Past, present, future, fantasy, contemporary, sci-fi, flash fiction...everything. I'm a speed reader with a disgusting amount of retention. My nick name among friends is "Bing" because I'm a human search engine. After reading so much, patterns start to emerge. But what is the pattern in romantic fan fiction?

Men that consider it an honor to provide for a woman.

The male protagonist can be rich, poor, homeless, middle class, or royalty. I even read a time travel story where a futuristic woman got sent back to caveman days and there was a language barrier. Even then, the man offered her a comb and a fur like coat. Over and over again, without fail, stories have the romantic male interest want to contribute/provide for the woman and not consider it a burden. The woman can be any socioeconomic station as well, but the underlying ideology is that even a homeless man wants to provide.

In a western world where women are berated if they don't bring home a paycheck and the majority of women maintain employment after they have children, what do they want in dark corners no one admits to? Men who take pride in being good men.

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THE DISCORD TRILOGY

The Golden Apple of Discord – Book 1

***Winner of the Compulsion Reads Quality Book Endorsement***

Taralie Severin and her three sisters are a powerful coven of modern-day witches who banish mythical creatures in between classes and shifts at the police station. But when Taralie is kidnapped by vampires and converted into the undead, her sisters are ordered to execute her for crimes against the Milunfran order. Refusing, the sisters become fugitives from both their kind and vampires alike.

Ignorant and hunted, Taralie becomes entangled with unlikely allies, a band of vampires in hiding from the ruling vamperic government. With this new addition to their coven Taralie must balance duty with desire while learning not everything is as it seems, their enemies are worse than she knows, and she could be on the verge of ending a thousand-year-old civil war.

Abomination – Book 2

Taralie Severin and her sisters have secured a non-aggression pact with the rulers of the vampire world, the Noricum. Having relocated to Cannon Beach, Oregon, Alexander prepares to marry his beloved Tara. But when an encounter with average vampires goes wrong, the Severin coven’s fragile amnesty with the Noricum is destroyed. With the supremacy of their rule challenged, the Noricum set out to restore the balance of power, leaving the Severin family two choices – die on their feet, or live on their knees.

Rubicon – Book 3

Hidden away on a Caribbean island, Tara's body survived abomination while her mind did not. Strangled from within by Verus's accumulated memories, the eldest Severin sister struggles under the weight of so many conciseness inside her mind. But the Noricum are not idle, nor are they forgiving. Enraged by Tara's murdering of their princess, they hunt the Severins relentlessly. After turning a powerful halfling and declaring open war, the Severin coven must choose between defending the Milunfran witches protecting humanity or their own extinction.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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I'm Lauren Hodge, a chemist turned author with three children, a lot of friends no one else can see, and a swearing habit. Writing is something I stumbled into on accident. I was reading fiction for the first time as an adult and wondered if I could do it. It never crossed my mind to publish until my twin got a hold of my manuscripts and pressured me into it like the cool drug seeking kid from the After School Specials.

Because of that, my books are different. I don't write because I have a story to tell. I write because there is a story inside my head and it's merely using my fingers to get out. I enjoy writing protagonists that are flawed and enemies that aren't. Not everyone is all good or all bad and I love the philosophical process of defining that grey area.

There are two parts of communication. What is articulated and what is received for only the latter can compel action. You, the reader, are more important than me, the author. I relish understanding what you receive from my articulation. To help with that, I have editors - lots and lots of editors. Editors are the heroes authors need, but not the heroes they deserve. As an author, I strive every day to be worthy of professional editors.

I'm the oldest of seven and have an identical twin/perfect organ donor.

What I Learned From Fan Fiction - Guest Post from Author Lauren Hodge