"It" in this case being the "From Fanfiction to Fantastic Fiction" workshop I presented at Savvy Authors last year. They asked me back this year, and since last year was such a blast, I jumped at the chance. Click on the link for more information.
My past life in the world of fanfic taught me a lot. One of the most important things is that we have to love what we're writing. Readers can tell if the author is invested in the story or phoning it in, and starting from a place of love (especially in romance) is the best possible foundation.
These days, I squeal in fangirlly glee over shippy moments in shows like How I Met Your Mother or Bones, and while it's probably only a coincidence, I prefer to consider that Bones' grad student, Vincent Nigel-Murray is a reference to Hannah Howell's Nigel Murray from Highland Honor, the second installment in her long running Highland historical romance series.
There's absolutely no reason for me to make any connection between the Bones character and the one in Hannah Howell's books, as they're very different characters but I am very fond of both, so the fact that they share a name gives me the happies. Similarly, when someone on Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior refers to Mick and Beth doing something, my brain goes right to Moonlight. My brain fills in that "my" Mick and Beth are off doing something related to the case somewhere in the background and will connect with the rest of the team later. Never mind how long it would take the profilers to figure out "my" Mick was a vampire and any name confusion. Moonlight Beth would fit in quite fine, to my thinking.
Yeeeah, once a fangirl, always a fangirl. What long time loves affect your current writing, reading or viewing?
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