Doris Egan
| Name: | Doris Egan |
| Also Known As: | Jane Emerson |
| Occupation: | Author, Television Writer, Producer |
| Medium: | Television, Books |
| Works: | City of Diamond (novel), episodes of Dark Angel, House, Smallville, NCIS, Tru Calling, Profiler, Early Edition, The Agency, and Numb3rs |
| Official Website(s): | |
| Fan Website(s): | http://tightropegirl.livejournal.com |
| On Fanlore: | Related pages |
Doris Egan is a writer perhaps best known for her work on the tv series House, for which she has written eight episodes. She has also written several novels, including The Gates of Ivory trilogy and City of Diamond, under the pen-name of Jane Emerson. As for television, Egan has been a producer, co-producer and/or writer on many popular fannish shows, such as Smallville, Dark Angel, Numb3rs, and NCIS.
In several fandoms she has written episodes that were extreme fan-favorites, such as "Hourglass" for Smallville and "House vs. God" for House.
Doris Egan and Jensen Ackles
According to an anecdote posted by Egan on her livejournal, she was extremely impressed with Jensen Ackles after seeing him audition for a role on Dark Angel. Over Egan's objections, he was not hired at that time. Later, while working on Smallville, she again tried to cast Ackles, but was informed he had just been hired... on Dark Angel. After leaving Smallville and joining the staff of Tru Calling, Egan again expressed interest in casting Ackles, but was informed that he had just been hired... on Smallville. [1]
Doris Egan and House fandom
Egan has written House episodes such as 3.07 Son of a Coma Guy and Don't Ever Change, which are popular amongst the House/Wilson fans for exploring the complexity of their relationship. She also has a fondness for writing about Wilson's affairs with women (Grace in 2.19 House vs. God, Bonnie in 3.20 House Training, and Amber in 4.12 Don't Ever Change), which does not seem to have diminished the affection slash fans have for her. On the contrary, Wilson's love affairs provides an interesting contrast with the "stupid, screwed up friendship" (1.18 Babies & Bathwater) he has with House.
She has the nickname of "St. Doris" in the House fandom, possibly because of her open attitude and friendliness towards fans, or because of how much House/Wilson fans like her interpretation of the relationship between the characters Gregory House and James Wilson. Egan has acknowledged her awareness of this nickname, when she half-apologized, half-joked about the contents of the then-upcoming House episode "Family":
One of my respondents has drawn my attention to the "St. Doris" thing. I am touched, but must disclose that there's not as much room for chocolaty House-Wilson goodness in this episode as some might wish. The story went elsewhere, and it's always best to follow where the story wants to go.[2]
Doris Egan as a fan
Doris Egan has encouraged other writers to write what they feel driven to write, and in her encouragement, acknowledges that she herself has been inspired to write stories based on other people's works, including the X-Files:
After I watched the X-Files episode "3" I thought, "That's not how I'd handle Mulder and a vampire." So I wrote a story about a neurotically focused detective who looked strangely like Duchovny in my head, and his relationship with a woman vampire and how it plays out while he's solving a case. The story appeared in a Datlow & Windling anthology and was a finalist for an International Horror Guild award. And while that and a token will get me a subway ride, I honestly think it succeeded better as a story than the episode that inspired it did as an X-Files episode. [3]
She has written fanfiction herself:
But somewhere after writing my fourth book, I dipped a toe in the water, and found it personally fulfilling. Yes, I've written slash, and I've found it a creative joy -- it was pure fun facing problems I'd never faced before, trying to integrate a sexual relationship with a story plot so that both were advanced simultaneously.[4]
Egan has posted about her personal understanding of fanfic, saying:
If you think of it purely as a training ground, you're missing the point of the genre. You write fan fiction to follow up interesting characters and premises, and to do things creatively that you can't do very well in the pro world. Again, I'd have to write at too great a length to really explain what I mean, so I'll simply point out that it's much easier to write a deeper, more intense, and more realistic story in fan fiction than it is on a TV show, where the characters all have to be put back in the box exactly the same at the end. The joint mythmaking aspects of fan fiction as a whole is one of the things I get a big personal jolt out of.[5]
External Links
- Doris Egan's LJ
- Doris Egan's profile on IMDB
- Doris Egan on Wikipedia
- Early season 5 interview
- Q&A with questions from House fans
References
- ^ Doris Egan, a pointless anecdote August 18, 2005. Last accessed October 8, 2008.
- ^ Doris Egan, Post-Shooting Collapse Last accessed October 22, 2008
- ^ Doris Egan, Potato Chips Last accessed October 22, 2008
- ^ Comments on the blog Making Light
- ^ Comments on the blog Making Light Last accessed October 23, 2008