Entry tags:

author entitlement, authors, creator wank, doesn't mean what you think it means, fanfic, suck it up and deal, writers are often pompous douches, your kink is not okay

Diana Gabaldon, author of the wildly popular Outlander series, has an opinion on fan fiction: I think it’s immoral, I _know_ it’s illegal, and it makes me want to barf whenever I’ve inadvertently encountered some of it involving my characters.

Highlights include:

Writing fanfic is just like breaking into someone's house.
Fanfic is WAY WAY WAY TOO PORNY omg ick people have sexual fantasies!*
What to do about an auction offering fanfic to raise money for a cancer patient? She doesn't want to "seem heartless"! So she seeks advice in the comments. Which are mostly full of "Fanfic? I have never heard of such a despicable load of garbage! Also, CRUSH THAT CANCER PATIENT!"

ETA: Unpublished author Eddie Louise (who cannot write the word "shit" and seems to fail spectacularly at reading comprehension) offers fanfic writers A CHALLENGE! Accept it if you dare, sniveling pedo thieves!

ETA 2: Previously, Ms Gabaldon has said fanfic is like selling your children into white slavery. Well. Now. I don't even know what to do with that.

ETA 3: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books has some discussion on the topic.

ETA 4: And bookshop on LJ/DW has a rebuttal.

ETA 5: See what happens when I leave the sweet embrace of the internet for a few hours? Ms. Gabaldon updates her blog!

ETA 6: Evidently Ms. Gabaldon deleted all evidence of her hissyfit, but some wankas have screencaps in this thread.

ETA 7:

kate_nepevu has screencaps and the text of Gabaldon's posts here. And via

alchemynerd, more screencaps available here:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/tiz4vp
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ibidpj
http://www.sendspace.com/file/r6zik6
http://www.sendspace.com/file/hlknqo
http://www.sendspace.com/file/d9alsh

Thanks for all the links! :)

MOD REMINDER: Remember, my little wankas, we DO NOT troll the wank. Nor do we write fanfic after the author has specifically requested people not and post it in the comments here, no matter how tempting it may be. Carry on. oh god my inbox ow ow

*Just as a point of interest, I was a bookseller for 12 years, and had several customers tell me about the sex scenes in her books. Some were pro ("My friend told me to read these books for the sex scenes, and she was totally right, they are so hot, this is best thing to happen to my sex life in years!") and some were con ("What is up with all the sex all the time? Where's the story?"), but one thing you can't say about her books is that they're sexual-fantasy free. :D

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	gmth 2010-05-03 06:19 pm UTC (link)
	Also, Jim Butcher is pretty cool. I knew this already, this new policy is just icing on the cake. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	yoritomo_reiko 2010-05-03 06:43 pm UTC (link)
	I love Jim Butcher. I really, really do. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	jkefka 2010-05-03 06:58 pm UTC (link)
	That is a pretty classy maneuver right there. I approve. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	bienegold 2010-05-03 07:04 pm UTC (link)
	That's a really good way to set things up, actually. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	tehrin 2010-05-03 09:54 pm UTC (link)
	PONIES AND ICECREAM! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sistercoyote 2010-05-04 10:16 pm UTC (link)
	I do not know how often, over the years, I have seen your icon. And yet, I only just realized there is a person impaled on that unicorn. ::boggles:: ::stares:: (Reply to this)(Parent)

	moongazingfae 2010-05-03 10:06 pm UTC (link)
	I read one of his books last year - the first one of the furies series (Furies of Calderon? Mindblank moment >.<). I couldn't really decide whether I liked it or not as there were a mix of good points which kept me going and bad points which jarred me out so I had to consciously get back into the text. Opinion on books aside, that policy makes a lot of sense. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	teaqueenie 2010-05-03 11:24 pm UTC (link)
	I feel the same about the Furies series. Try the Dresden series, it's much better. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	eleutheria 2010-05-04 12:13 am UTC (link)
	Having read what that series is based on, I'm just amused it's as good as it is. Apparently JB had an exchange with a fan where he said that anything can be written well and said "give me two things, I'll combine them and write them well" (or something along this line). He was given Roman legions and Pokemon. Hence, Codex Alera. I think this is kind of awesome! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	varethane 2010-05-04 08:51 am UTC (link)
	Whoa, serious?? I can totally see that holy crap!! BRILLIANCE. Now if anyone ever asks me what those books are about, that will be my answer. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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eleutheria, 2010-05-04 09:02 am UTC

	defenestrate 2010-05-04 07:57 pm UTC (link)
	...Okay, now I want to try that series. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	alyknight 2010-05-06 02:54 pm UTC (link)
	/de-lurk I know. I really LOL'd hard when I read the interview /re-lurks (Reply to this)(Parent)

	jaina 2010-05-04 05:08 am UTC (link)
	I would also advise trying Dresden Files instead. (I usually recommend starting with book 4, Summer Knight, since that's when everything really started to gel.) I tried reading the Codex Alera books and they just take me forever to get through, because when I hit a boring part I just put it aside and don't come back to it for awhile. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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frequentmouse, 2010-05-06 06:48 pm UTC

	knightrider 2010-05-04 08:26 am UTC (link)
	I recommend the Dresden Files books over and above the Codex Alera books. The Dresden books also improve incredibly as Butcher obviously hones his craft. The first few are OK, but they get REALLY good after that. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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bigbigtruck, 2010-05-04 05:48 pm UTC

(no subject) -

knightrider, 2010-05-05 01:42 am UTC

	meagenimage 2010-05-04 12:12 am UTC (link)
	eh writes urban fantasy and doesn't afraid of fanfic! (Reply to this)(Parent)

duraniedrama
2010-05-04 12:34 am UTC (link)

You need to post a disclaimer on your fic, like this handy example: "The Dresden Files/Codex Alera is copyright Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction." In doing so, you waive any rights to that work--you can't sue Jim for compensation if he writes something similar.

That's an interesting take on it. I wonder if other writers will consider it.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	dragonfangirl 2010-05-04 06:09 am UTC (link)
	It could just possibly catch on! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	cinnamonical 2010-05-04 01:11 am UTC (link)
	Hm! That's pretty cool, actually. If I ever became popular enough to warrant a fandom, I'd definitely implement something like that. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lyras 2010-05-04 06:03 am UTC (link)
	Ooh, nice. He is still on my to-read list. :) (Also, it's a timely reminder that those disclaimer thingies I used way back in the dark ages do actually mean something and should probably still be used.) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	maverickz3r0 2010-05-04 08:18 am UTC (link)
	That is brilliant. He's a genius. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	knightrider 2010-05-04 08:24 am UTC (link)
	I knew I loved Jim for a reason. Except for the ending of the latest Dresden Files book. For that, he can be...I don't know. Something uncomfortable, but that will in no way hinder the production of the next book. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	The ending teaqueenie 2010-05-04 02:40 pm UTC (link)
	I was quite peeved at that ending. I will be thinking smug, superior thoughts at him (in a Monty Python British accent) until he pleases me with a new book. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: The ending -

yoritomo_reiko, 2010-05-04 03:21 pm UTC

Re: The ending -

cinnamonical, 2010-05-04 08:58 pm UTC

Re: The ending -

honorh, 2010-05-05 03:11 am UTC

Re: The ending -

cinnamonical, 2010-05-05 05:50 am UTC

	yotz_fen 2010-05-04 08:06 pm UTC (link)
	For that he can hurry the hell up and release the next one. Not funny to add a cliffhanger on the last freaking page! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	surrexi 2010-05-04 01:23 pm UTC (link)
	I... kind of want to start reading his books JUST because of this. ... and I'm trying to remember my bookseller days so I know where they're shelved and thus what kind of books I'd be reading, lol... TO GOOGLE! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mneiai 2010-05-05 10:05 am UTC (link)
	I used to be really, really involved with Laurell K. Hamilton fandom and somewhat knew Jim Butcher at the time, I am not surprised that he would be pretty cool about this stuff by this point. Of course, I've also never read any of his books, so I should probably get on that. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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