Diana Gabaldon
| Name: | Diana Gabaldon |
| Also Known As: | |
| Occupation: | writer |
| Medium: | novels, short stories |
| Works: | Outlander series, Lord John Grey series |
| Official Website(s): | http://www.dianagabaldon.com/ |
| Fan Website(s): | |
| On Fanlore: | Related pages |
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Diana Gabaldon is the author of the Outlander romance/time-travel/historical-fiction series, and a spin-off series about Lord John Grey.
She is also the creator of Fan-Fiction and Moral Conundrums, a 2010 rant.
Gabaldon on Fan Fiction
Diana Gabaldon has gone on record as opposing fan fiction based on her books.
CompuServe "White Slavery" Post
In 2008, Gabaldon wrote on a CompuServe forum: "A good bit of my objection to fanfic (aside from the copyright issues--and I'm not sure how these apply when you take characters from one medium and implement them in another; particularly when one medium is TV, in which episodes may be written by a lot of different people) is that 99% of it is Just Awful, and it's revolting to see your characters being made to do and say idiotic things, or be forced to enact simple-minded sex fantasies (which is what most fan-fic that comes to my unwilling attention is). Like someone selling your children into white slavery."[1]
screenshot showing original post, click to enlarge
screenshot showing the post has been deleted, click to enlarge
A Controversial Blog Post
On May 3, 2010, she posted to her blog an entry which began: "OK, my position on fan-fic is pretty clear: I think it’s immoral, I _know_ it’s illegal, and it makes me want to barf whenever I’ve inadvertently encountered some of it involving my characters."[2]
Gabaldon deleted that blog post, apparently around October 2010 or before. For more on the post and the waves it made in fandom, see Fan-Fiction and Moral Conundrums.
Official Fanfiction Policy
2010 (accessed):
You know, I'm very flattered that some of you enjoy the books so much that you feel inspired to engage with the writing in a more personal way than most readers do. Both for legal and personal reasons, though, I'm not comfortable with fan-fiction based on any of my work, and request that you do not write it, do not send it to me, and do not publish it, whether in print or on the web. Thank you very much for your courtesy and consideration. And I think that’s about all I have to say. [3]
2017 (accessed):
You know, I’m very flattered that some of you enjoy the books so much that you feel inspired to engage with the writing in a more personal way than most readers do. Both for legal and personal reasons, though, I’m not comfortable with fan-fiction based on any of my work, and request that you do not write it, do not send it to me, and do not publish it, whether in print or on the web. Thank you very much for your consideration. [4]
Doctor Who and Outlander
Outlander, one of Gabaldon's main characters is commonly understood by many fans to be a Doctor Who Companion self-insert.[5][6] She has openly has openly admitted many times that the character of Jamie Fraser was inspired by the character of Jamie McCrimmon, a character from Doctor Who.
Gabaldon, Sony, and Fan Merch
- OK. About the dust-up with Sony on Facebook sites this last week, by Diana Gabaldon, November 10, 2017
Similar Controversies
- Robin Hobb and The Fan Fiction Rant (2005)
- George R. R. Martin and Someone is Angry On the Internet (2010)
Fan Fiction Archives
References
- ^ Books and Writers Community>Genre Reading>Firefly! Fanfic!. 20 February 2008, Accessed 10 October 2014. This comment (#58981.2) has since been deleted. One can read it at the archived link: WebCite.
- ^ FAN-FICTION AND MORAL CONUNDRUMS. May 3, 2010 blog post by Diana Gabaldon. Accessed May 3, 2010. Voyages of the Artemis: FAN-FICTION AND MORAL CONUNDRUMS -- archived link, Archived version
- ^ Fan-Fic III - The Final Word. May 7, 2010 blog post by Diana Gabaldon. Accessed May 8, 2010. (offline)
- ^ Diana’s Fan Fiction Policy at DianaGabaldon.com, Archived version (Accessed June 23, 2017)
- ^ "More loosely the main character in the Outlander series was inspired by a character in Dr Who (which is quite funny given she is massively anti-fan fic)..." -- Re-publishing long S&H stories as original novels? - The Starsky and Hutch Fan Community, March 14, 2014
- ^ "The fact that Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books BLATANTLY started as thinly veiled self insert Doctor Who fanfic about the hot Scottish companion does not mean she's creatively barren." -- Comments on Pulled to Publish Fan Fiction (P2P Fanfic) - page 3, Archived version, comment at Goodreads by Nichola, 2012