Nostalgia Nook: Animorphs

When I look back, I’m still surprised I started reading “Animorphs.” Even at the age of 11, I was well on my way to reading mostly historical fiction. But at the same time, I was reading Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” And I was devouring my mother’s old Nancy Drew novels. So I had a slight interest in science fiction and mysteries. I think this interest drew me to Animorphs, a blend of both!

While I never finished the series, there will be some SPOILERS!

Nostalgia Nook: American Girl

When I was a little girl, my parents took me to a bookstore to find something for me to read. I was already a proud bookworm and was already a few reading levels ahead. My parents explained this to the employee who helped us and also explained how much I love American history. The employee said he knew what was perfect for me. And that’s when he introduced me to the American Girl collection.

This was back in the early 1990s, about 1991 or ‘92 I would say. The collection had just expanded to 5 American Girls and they are who I am going to talk about.

So, history and SPOILERS follow.

A Guide to Fanfiction

Okay, I'm a regular over at Fanfiction.net and throughout many years of reading fanfiction, I've learned what makes a good fanfiction and what makes a bad one. So, if you don't mind a bit of ranting, I'm going to share it. Because I feel there are people out there who need to know this.

Definition

Look, I'm sick and tired of fanbrats whining, "It's fanFICTION." You have to stop putting the emphasis on the last part of the word. It's as I told someone else earlier who whined about it. If you don't want people nitpicking you and telling you your doing it wrong, DON'T WRITE FANFICTION! Seriously, if you want to do whatever you damn please, write your own damn story. There's even a place for you to post it--Fictionpress.com. If you're still up to fanfiction, remember that the emphasis goes on the first part: FANfiction. It is stories written by fans for fans. You must respect the work at all times. Readers are coming so that they can be pulled back into their favorite book/television/movie/etc and not because you are such an OMG! Amazing writer.

Characters

There are two parts to this. First, the established canon characters. These are the real reason why someone clicks on a fanfiction story. They want to see the characters they love in a new scenario. So please respect the characterizations the authors or writers have established for their characters. Study their personalities, their quirks, their strengths, their weaknesses. Don't just write about them because their actors are hot. Hermione from Harry Potter is an average looking studious young woman with bushy brown hair and slightly big teeth who isn't lusted over by every boy in the school. She is not suddenly going to return from summer vacation as bombshell blonde with big breasts, a perfect figure, a sudden focus on getting into someone's (Harry/Ron/Draco/Fred/George/Snape/Remus) pants nor is the entire male population (including those that haven't hit puberty) going to start chasing after her. Also, Erik from the Phantom of the Opera isn't some misunderstood sexy man who was wrongfully scorned by Christine. He's an ugly, twisted, murderous, obsessed man who also happens to be a genius with the voice of an angel. In other words, don't change the characters to suit the story. Change the story to suit the characters.

Since long post is long, I will continue this probably Monday as tomorrow (err, today) is the Tony Awards. And that will probably be another long post.

Next: Mary Sues, Tenth Walkers, Setting, Canon, Romance, Alternate Universe and others. Hmm, this might take longer than I thought...