malayna
asked
Shannon Messenger:
Hi Mrs. Messenger, sorry for asking so many questions. But I have a question for you: Do you ever read fanfiction on Keeper of the Lost Cities or any of your other books? If you do, what is your favorite? Thanks!
Shannon Messenger
Sadly, I do not read fanfiction--and not *just* because I don't have time to read it (though truly, I don't have time).
But I personally feel that fanfiction exists for other fans, not for the author, and there are lots of reasons why I should stay away. For one thing, I work very hard to try to stay true to the story, and not make plot decisions just because it's what *I* want--or what *fans* want (i know that sounds weird, but you truly get a better story that way). And filling my head with fanfiction would only make that much harder.
More importantly, it opens up all kinds of complicated legal messes. Like if, for example, I read a piece of fanfiction that does something I was already planning to do, the author of that piece might think I stole that idea from them--and could maybe even try to sue me for it, even though I had the idea on my own. And that's just one of the ways it could get tricky.
So alas, I stay far, far away from any fanfiction (in fact, if readers email me links to it my assistant deletes those emails to ensure I never see them). Being an adult isn't always as fun as I'd like it to be.
But I personally feel that fanfiction exists for other fans, not for the author, and there are lots of reasons why I should stay away. For one thing, I work very hard to try to stay true to the story, and not make plot decisions just because it's what *I* want--or what *fans* want (i know that sounds weird, but you truly get a better story that way). And filling my head with fanfiction would only make that much harder.
More importantly, it opens up all kinds of complicated legal messes. Like if, for example, I read a piece of fanfiction that does something I was already planning to do, the author of that piece might think I stole that idea from them--and could maybe even try to sue me for it, even though I had the idea on my own. And that's just one of the ways it could get tricky.
So alas, I stay far, far away from any fanfiction (in fact, if readers email me links to it my assistant deletes those emails to ensure I never see them). Being an adult isn't always as fun as I'd like it to be.
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