Probably most people who read this blog do so because they know me (though others who are interested are, of course, welcome too). Something most of you probably don't know about me is that I like to write for fun. I've written bad poetry, some original fiction, and lots of what is now known as fanfiction.

Fanfiction takes an already existing fictional world (usually from a book, but also sometimes from film, TV, and even, I believe, videogames) and uses it as a springboard. This can result in prequel, follow-on, alternative point of view or 'missing moment' type stories, which vary from a few hundred words to long novels. Probably the most well-known, and certainly most well-respected, example of this kind of fiction is Jean Rhys's novel, 'The Wide Sargasso Sea' which tells the story of the first Mrs Rochester from Jane Eyre. There have been several published attempts at sequels to Pride and Prejudice which also fall in this category.

I've always enjoyed writing this kind of fiction. I find that when I've invested so much time and emotional energy in reading a book, the characters and the setting live on in my mind for a long time afterwards, and writing about them is lots of fun. I never expected anyone else to be at all interested in reading what I wrote - it was purely for my own pleasure. As indeed were all my attempts at creative writing.

Then came the internet. And Harry Potter. And now there are literally hundreds of thousands of fanfiction stories being posted daily. Most of which are utterly abysmal.

About six months ago I started a Live Journal account specifically as a place to post some of my Antonia Forest fanfiction (it's a pretty minority interest and at the time I'd only read one other story in her world so I didn't expect much of a readership). Since then I've been writing more and more and starting to consciously think about how to become a better writer. One of the ways I do this is by writing Harry Potter fanfiction. Harry Potter, not because they're my favourite books by a long shot, but because there's such a wide audience out there for it, including some really able and insightful writers and readers who I've learnt a lot from. Also, back in November I did the National Novel Writing Month Challenge - 50,000 words of original fiction in a month.

Anyway, the reason for this post is not that I expect all, or indeed, any of you to rush off and start reading (though feel free if you really want to). It was more a nagging sense of unease at having something of a double identity here on the internet. I don't write things that I'm ashamed of (or at least I don't want to) and I think that knowing my 'real-life' friends have access to what I'm posting is a good thing. I've recently posted something on my writing LJ introducing myself properly to the people I've met there and that feels like a good thing too.

So, if you are interested, you can also find me at http://girlyswot.livejournal.com and my NaNoWriMo novel (a counter-factual historical novel in which Jane Grey becomes Queen properly) is at http://queenjane1.livejournal.com