Lee Goldberg and his brother Todd occasionally have a few unkind words to say about fan fiction. I read them and, for the most part, agree. But today I started thinking (a rare and dangerous thing). Sure enough, in a way I've been plenty guilty of perpetrating fan fiction. For one thing, I've written several Sherlock Holmes stories for various anthologies, and I've written a story about Dickens' Mr. Pickwick and other characters from The Pickwick Papers for Death by Dickens. But the most fun I've had with someone else's character was writing a story called "The Captive Soul" fan Pawn of Chaos, an anthology of stories about Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion. I remember many happy days spent with my nose buried in the tales of Dorian Hawkmoon, Corum, and Elric. Being invited to write my own Elric story was a fan's dream come true. It's also true that I didn't bother to bring much of my own to the table. I was writing an Elric story as much like the ones I'd previously enjoyed as I could, with no doubt a little Robert E. Howard thrown in. It was a pleasure to write, and I can see why fans of a certain TV series or movie or fictional character might be tempted to write their own stories about their favorites. The fact that I was asked to do it (and that I got paid) might make my case a little different, but now I'm wondering just by how much.
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