Today, it’s all about fandom… A few things Penknife would like non-fans to know about fanfic; Powerofthebook has a great entry on legitimate fanfiction; Lozenger8 and pals on fandom as a capitalist society; and Millefiori has some thoughts on fannish dysfunction.
More press for fanfic
Where the Wall Street Journal goes, other media follows. Well, okay – a few.
Headline award goes to the Lexington Herald-Leader for What the fic? Alas, they play up the ‘laugh at the freaks’ aspect a bit. (“…What if the cast of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace met up with the cast of the musical Cats?“)
Way to paraphrase the WSJ, Biz Report.
The Daily Athenaeum takes the personal approach. Now, can someone find them some working paragraph tags?
Fanfic is mainstream, at least for Saturday
The Wall Street Journal, of all places, has a great article on fanfic. Thoughtful and for once NOT dominated by slash (though it’s mentioned, of course) this is some great exposure for folks sick of the sensational approach the press often takes when exploring the phenomenon.
Here’s hoping no one ends up sued.
From the Blogside
Summer is over soon, right? Because there simply aren’t enough folks staying inside and writing meta lately. That or I’m still nursing PCD.
Nandamai brings us Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from Badfic. It’s true.
Qui-Tom Servo loves Padme explores Palpatine’s lies.
Kesseljunkie defends Jar-Jar. I suppose someone has to.
In EU corner, more Courtship of Princess Leia analysis from Sunnyskywalker.
Harry Potter fans write gay porn!
Yet another article about fandom that is shocked – shocked I tell you! – by slash. Though at least this time the writer does talk about more than the porn. Though methinks there have been women-dominated fandoms for much, much longer than Harry Potter.
ETA: As expected, fandom reaction is less than positive.
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!
Another fan fiction article that focuses on slash. Yes, women like to write about men having sex. Shocking, I know.
Well, at least it’s not on Amazon
Matt Ruff, a juror for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, recently posted the long list of nominees for the award. On the list is a Harry Potter/CSI fanfic, Emily Brunson’s Arcana. And the cherry on this sundae? It’s Snape/Stokes MPREG. The story didn’t win, or even make the shortlist, but naturally, chaos insues.
Author Elizabeth Bear comments and the posts turns into yet another debate on fanfic legitimacy – and again. More takes from Cathexy, Coffeeandink, and Ruff himself.
Lori Jareo: The Roundup
The blogosphere has been fairly quiet on the Lori Jareo front lately, but via Lee Goldberg we have another sighting – Publisher’s Weekly.
Entries on Jareo and Another Hope have also shown up on Wookieepedia and Wikipedia.
Meanwhile, here’s a timeline of CJ’s coverage:
Thursday, April 20th: A user asks about the Amazon listing for Another Hope on the starwars.com VIP thread. Lucasfilm Licensing editor Sue Rostoni (‘Eeusu Estornii’) says it’s “Not one of ours” and passes the word onto Lucasfilm’s legal department. Word spreads and writer Lee Goldberg blogs about the incident.
Friday, April 21st: Writer John Scalzi blogs about Jareo; his post will become one of the most-linked items regarding Another Hope. The news also makes Fandom Wank, spreading rapidly across the general fandom community. Publishing blog Galleycat also posts about Jareo.
On Friday afternoon Jareo and Wordtech take down the book site thenaberriegirls.com, leaving a brief message that the book has been removed from Books in Print and “will be removed from book distribution channels effective Tuesday, April 24, 2006.”
Saturday, April 22: Teresa Nielsen Hayden posts about Jareo on Making Light; Star Wars author Karen Traviss immortalizes Jareo in Mando’a; items on several fannish Livejournal communities.
Sunday, April 23rd: Amazon removes reviews that don’t address the actual work. Thenaberriegirls.com ceases to direct to anything. Calm analysis of the situation begins to appear.
Monday, April 24th: Several sporkings of the books text appear on Livejournal; more analysis. Amazon page remains up.
Tuesday, April 25th: First mainstream news coverage from Sci-Fi Wire. Another Hope finally becomes unavailable for order on Amazon.com.
Wednesday, April 26th: Book pulled from Amazon; Column on Jareo and fan fiction appears in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Thursday, April 27th: Time magazine writer Lev Grossman discusses Lori Jareo and fan fiction on NPR.
From the Blogside
MetroDad’s Modern Jedi’s Guide to Parenting.
The Infinite Force considers Palpatine’s manipulation of information.
Jkthunder explores Buddhist parallels in Star War
And over in Lori Jareo corner, takes on the controversy and what it means for fanfic in general from Imadra-blue and Lazypadawan.
Fanfic writers: Literature’s unsung heros?
Time magazine writer Lev Grossman discusses Lori Jareo and fan fiction on NPR’s All Things Considered.