Fan-Fiction 1: Twilight vs Fifty Shades of Grey/ The New/Old Trend in Creative Ideas and Publishing.

What do Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey Have in Common? Alot, Thanks to Fanfic.

 There is a new game in the literary circle and it is called Fan-Fiction, aka fanfic, where characters from popular books, television shows and hit movies are rewritten into new storylines by amature writers and authors and then published into ebooks.  There is only one  tricky rule: Anything goes except  stepping over the  thin copyright line. If you win at the game, there is big money to be made—just ask E.L. James, author of the blockbuster-bestseller book, 50 Shades of Grey.

“This is like reading a very kinky adult version of  the Twilight Saga with Bella and Edward,” I said to my husband after finishing another chapter of Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James. That’s because it is a fan fiction revamp of Twilight.

Fan-fiction is the rewrite of characters from hit movies, books and computer games into new literary product.  A perfect example would be taking the Harry Potter series, resetting it in the New England state of Maine with all the young wizard’s adult friends renamed and working as teachers at a local High School,. But no they are out to save the world from author Steven King’s characters in The Stand.  Next,  mix that with  more obvious similarities to some spooky characters from other authors and you could have a new literary hit scouted out and published by a big publishing company.

Sound unlikely? Not in the shadow world of fan-fiction, where no character is safe from a makeover and rewrite by amature authors bent on taking popular books, movies, television shows and even video games to new hights and in unlikely and sometimes disturbing directions; hence Fifty Shades of Grey—Twilight with an adult S&M twist.

Fanfic is a way for fans to continue the stories they love, and the genre is exploding with millions of free works based on:

• The Lord of the Rings
• Buffy the Vampire slayer
• Glee
• Charlott’s Web
• Star Treck
• Shakespere, to name just a few.

So what is fanfic, how does it work, where is it,  and who are the people behind it?

Check back tomorrow for part two of this 4-part series on Fan-fiction, the New/Old Trend in Ideas, Creative Ideas and Publishing.

Bio: Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos is an author, radio host & Patheos blogger. To learn more, follow her & listen to her  4 radio shows from her website @  www.survivingcancerland.com