Sarah Rees Brennan
| Name: | Sarah Rees Brennan |
| Also Known As: | SRB (Please do not link Sarah's fandom pseud!) |
| Occupation: | author |
| Medium: | print novels, short stories, eBooks |
| Works: | The Demon's Lexicon trilogy, Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy), The Bane Chronicles, etc. |
| Official Website(s): | www.sarahreesbrennan.com sarahtales on LJ / sarahreesbrennan on Tumblr |
| Fan Website(s): | mamalade_fish on LiveJournal |
| On Fanlore: | Related pages |
Sarah Rees Brennan is a YA author. Her first trilogy, starting with The Demon's Lexicon in 2009, generated a small but enthusiastic fandom. Unspoken, the first book in a new series, was published in 2012.
Brennan also co-wrote several stories of "The Bane Chronicles," a series of eBooks set in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments universe, which was due to be released in 2013 and 2014.
Most recently (August 2017), she published "In Other Lands," a novel that is a more comprehensive version of a story she serially published in 2014 on her livejournal named "The Turn of the Story," which follows a thirteen year old boy named Elliot as he snarks his way through 4 years of Magic Sparta's School for Child Soldiers and Future Diplomats (Note: not the actual name of the school). "In Other Lands" also contains Elliot's perspective of events that occurred in short story "Wings in the Morning" that SRB wrote for the anthology "Monstrous Affections."
History as a Fan Writer
Brennan has been open about her history as a fan writer, but has asked that her real name and fannish pseud not be linked publicly.
Brennan retired from fandom and took her fanfiction offline in 2008. [1]
In a 2010 post about fanfiction and turning pro, Brennan wrote:
I also wrote fanfiction and put it on the internet from when I was seventeen, because I found Harry Potter fanfiction and I thought it looked like fun, so I decided to write it too. I wrote about my favourite character (Draco Malfoy, see above re: the Edmunds [from King Lear and Narnia], I can't help myself) and what-if scenarios and turning into rats and fighting crime and any number of romantic entanglements. It was fun: I had fun doing it for many a year. And I made friends who I still love now. Near the end it wasn't much fun because I wanted the time to do other stuff, so I finished up the stories and did other stuff. I also took down the stories, because I wanted to keep this journal and having fanfiction up is a legal grey area, and because the thought of unedited stuff I wrote when I was seventeen floating around forever was a bit horrifying.[2]
In a 2014 Tumblr post, Brennan described lost professional opportunities and harassment from other fans as a result of having been open about her past, and said that she regretted ever having posted fanfic. She implied that this was only because of the harassment and not because there was anything wrong with fanfic. Her long essay also addresses what she feels is the very different treatment male and female professional writers receive when it is revealed they wrote fanfic in the past. [3]
On Fanfiction of Her Own Work
In 2010, an FAQ on Brennan's website stated:
Q: What do you think of fanfiction (stories on the internet which are based on your books)? Can I write some if I want? A: I think fanfiction is very cool. It’s a way to have fun, be imaginative and practise your writing. And if you want to write some based on my books, I’ll be very flattered and pleased: you have my permission to go right ahead. I can’t read it, because that can get writers into nasty legal situations, and you’re not allowed make money off it. Otherwise go right ahead![4]
In February 2013, when asked on Tumblr about her views on fanfiction, she wrote in part:
I’m in favour. Excellent thing. Lots of fun. Would defend people’s right to fanfic to the death. Very flattered if people wish to write fanfiction for my books. However if anyone publishes Fifty Shades of Blond, the super-naughty name-changed Unspoken fanfic, to universal acclaim and billions of dollars, I want them to buy me a very, very large drink. ;) Then we’re cool.[5]
Brennan also supports fan art of her work, and hosts several pieces on a Fan Art page of her website.
External Links
References
- ^ FictionAlley Park Fic Search, Archived version accessed June 25, 2017
- ^ Sarah Rees Brennan (sarahtales) at LiveJournal. The Time Has Come to Talk of Many Things: Genre, The Internet & Stories; 05 May 2010. (Accessed 27 July 2013.)
- ^ sarahreesbrennan. untitled Tumblr post, Archived version, 26 February 2014.
- ^ The Time Has Come to Talk of Many Things: Genre, The Internet & Stories, posted 05 May 2010 by sarahtales. (Accessed 27 July 2013.) This quotes the FAQ section of sarahreesbrennan.com.
- ^ sarahreesbrennan on Tumblr. woflbite asked: what are your views on fanfiction? :). 24 February 2013. (Accessed 27 July 2013.)