Hi all! Life as an author sometimes takes sharp-angled turns we never see coming. Or maybe I just don’t look far enough ahead. (That’s Big Tone’s job. He’s the big picture guy). Anyway, about a month ago, I received a message on Facebook from Jase Kayrs. Yeah, that Jase Kayrs. My hero from SHADOWED. I was like, huh? (Sometimes I’m not all that quick—I admit it.)
So I emailed my editor and asked if the publisher had created a page for Jase. She said no, that it was a probably a fan fiction/role playing group. Anybody really involved in publishing or cult shows knows exactly what this is. Anybody in my life like sisters, friends, hubby…do not. So, for those of you like my family, fan fiction is when fans of a show or book write episodes/scenes from it. Star Trek, Buffy, Supernatural, Twilight, etc…all have fan fiction. There are sites all over the web. It’s perfectly legal so long as the writers don’t try to make money off the stories. Role playing is just that—playing roles from a series/show.
Fan Fiction fascinates me, and I probably would’ve loved writing it if I’d heard about it before launching my own writing career. It’d be fun to write a Supernatural scene, right? Anyway, after a few days, I began to wonder about the other characters in the Realm. (I know. Slow, right?) Turns out Talen Kayrs has more friends than I do on my super-secret family/see-you-every-day-in-my-real-life friends Facebook page. 🙂
I’m incredibly flattered that anybody would like my characters enough to be them on the internet. And I’m intrigued what they’ll do. I’m also a bit pensive—we each have our own voices, and no matter what, that’s not me writing those scenes. What if the characters do 
something or say something I wouldn’t? Will fans blame me, thinking I wrote something? I think there may have been some sort of dustup in the community, and now it may be split into two communities, but I’m not sure.
The community managing the sites has taken pains to make sure the pages show as RP/Fan Fiction, and I appreciate that. I’ve also read some of the scenes, and I enjoyed them. I even received a message from Terrent Vilks from TWISTED on FB offering to take care of somebody who’d wronged me. Damn if I didn’t get a happy giggle. Seriously. I created this guy, and yet, it did make me happy. My reality and writing lives are blending.
Although, for the record, I can take care of myself. Was almost an orange belt in Kenpo. (Yes, that’s only the second belt, but still). 🙂 Plus, Big Tone is a badass. And that’s a true statement.
Anyway, that’s what’s going on in my life. Well, mainly. It has been an amazing month so far. RISING ASSETS hit the New York Times Bestseller list, while both TAMED and BLIND FAITH hit the USA Today Bestselling list. SWEET REVENGE received a Top Pick review from RT Reviews, and BLIND FAITH is a fresh fiction pick by readers. Also, UNDER THE COVERS and SHADOWED just finaled in the Daphne Awards.
Things have gone so well lately, I’m just waiting for an anvil to drop on my head. Life does have balance.
For now, I’m back to finishing up TOTAL SURRENDER, which is the 4th book in the Sin Brothers series. The logo I finally chose for the series is to the left. Nice, huh?
Everyone have a wonderful weekend, and if you live in the states, a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. Thank you to those who have served, and may we remember our fallen heroes on every day and not just once a year.
Great post. Who knew the Sark Protectors had their own FB pages bi just might have to go looking. I hope you have a great Memorial Day! I can’t wait for Total Surrender.
I have been a role player for 3 years. I won’t say for what series, however? I will say I like you was slow at first. My favorite characters friends with me? Too cool! I was recruited by the owner of the group. Have been doing it ever since. I have made some amazing friends through RP. Some authors are against it and I respect their opinions. I have always thought of it as an homage to the author. That we love the characters they created . I have always played my roles close to the books and mostly have them doing normal things they would do. Nothing drastic. I am just starting to read the 3rd book in the DP series. Love them all so far. Most of us that role play based on a series do it out of love and admiration.
Yeah, that was my feeling when I took a look at the different pages. Seemed like folks identified with the characters and were just having some fun. I can tell you, it’s a different sort of day when one of your own characters sends you a message. LOL!
Yeah, I could see where that would throw you a bit.LOL It would throw me too. My feeling as a RP’er is to keep the characters as close to the ones in the book. That is why we want to play those characters in the first place, because we love them so much or we relate to them somehow. There are however some that do change(none I have seen of your fans) who their mate is, or how they are portrayed. THAT I don’t like. We do this because we love the Authors work and their take on the characters, so why change them?
I will also say I have always had an active imagination, and when I first started? I sucked. But I have gotten much better, have gotten many compliments, and over the last year or 2 I have delved into the independent side of RP. It is characters of our own creation with a story to tell. That I love, I love the freedom I have with them. I find myself being woken up with ideas, or names. I have resorted to keeping a notepad by the bed to jot them down. But I love it. I am a mom of 2 girls, I have a husband. I don’t drink,I don’t smoke,I don’t do drugs, I am a home body or on the run with the kids. RP is my thing, and when life gets too crazy? I escape into my RP world. It keeps me sane.Well as sane as I can be. LOL
On a side note? I have been wanting to read your work for a while. Just discovered the digital library and have been reading the Dark Protectors series. In the past week I have read up to Hunted. I will start that later today. I absolutely love all of it! The females, the males, the shifters. Janie is a cutie and I love how she has all the males wrapped around her finger. I love her friendship with Zane.:-)