> stories?
No, I haven't. I never
expected to need one.
> 2. If you have such
a policy, what is it and why did you implement it?
If I end up with one, it
will be because you emailed me and I looked
at your website.
> 3. If you have such
a policy, is this a policy that you created yourself or
> was it created at an agent
or lawyer's behest? (Which is the case with
> Katherine Kurtz, and Mercedes
Lackey...)
I would definitely have to
talk to my agent. The entire subject is
complex and bewildering.
I only deal with complex and bewildering in
my books. Well, if
given the choice, anyway.
> 4. If you allow fan
fiction derived from your work, why? (Terry Pratchett
> was quoted some where
as saying that it creates good will among fans. J.K.
> Rowlings said somewhere
she found it flattering.)
I don't allow it or not allow
it; the question has not come up before.
Oh, but it is tremendously
flattering, there's no doubt about that. I know
that the impulse to make
fan fiction demonstrates that the original
author did a very good job,
because I have been on the other side.
I've written and read Star
Trek fan fiction and even tried to sell a
novel to two different editors
at Paramount, but they didn't like it.
I would hate in any way
to quash the impulse, but the law seems
capable of landing me in
a very nasty situation if I am not very
careful. I was horrified
to hear that Marion Zimmer Bradley had had
to abandon a novel because
of complications with fan fiction. I don't
want to end up in a situation
like that.
> 5. What are you general
feelings on fan fiction? Do these feelings differ
> when it is fan fiction
based say on books versus television?
As you can see, my feelings
are very mixed. I suspect that fan
fiction is a natural human
activity that does little intrinsic harm;
but it takes place in a
context, here and now, where it can cause
harm.
I do have different feelings
about fan fiction based on television,
and part of that probably
stems from the fact that with television
it's not my ox being gored.
However, part may also stem from a
feeling (not hitherto much
examined and therefore possibly silly) that
television shows are already
a collaborative effort, whereas prose
fiction is more likely to
be the effort of one or at most two people,
so that the potential for
distortion is greater than with television.
There's also the fact that
prose is my favorite medium, so that to a
certain extent it seems
natural to make TV into prose, translating it
into something I like better;
but that is not germane to any of the
real issues, it just helps
explain my gut reaction.
I suppose I will have to
write to my agent and ask her what she thinks
we should do with regard
to a fan-fiction policy; I guess you can say
it is under construction.
