Ann Herendeen

I got my first angry e-mail message the other day from a Jane Austen fanfic site:

“It is thoroughly disgusting to read of your use of the P&P characters to write prono [sic] to Jane Austen's works.
You should be ashamed but I am sure the money you are raking makes it all worth it to you.”

Where to start? Surely Austen fanfic writers are better spellers, although perhaps it's a clever device for getting the message past my e-mail program's spam filter. And does anyone really believe that writers like me are “raking” in money? Seriously? Or that we write for any other reason than that we need to, have to--that it's a labor of love? And what, exactly, do fanfic writers do, if not “use” another writer's characters? And why is using them in anything, from “prono” to alphabet books to Christian inspirational romance, reprehensible? (more…)

I don't think Austen would have liked the modern word "classism." But I certainly agree with Newsweek journalist Sarah Ball that Austen's work is defined by these three concepts. So when I read this forthcoming article, yet another discussion of Austen rip-offs, that said my novel Pride/Prejudice doesn't "stink" because it's "porn" but because it lacks these elements, I admit to feeling a bit ... misunderstood. (more…)