Snowflake Challenge Day 6

[alisanne]

In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul.

So the obvious answer of course is HP, but I'll go a bit deeper for this one.

I would prolly never have ventured into any sort of fandom had it not been for Laurel K Hamilton and her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series.
Up until I encountered those books I simply read books and accepted them for what they were. When I discovered the Anita Blake series (on the sale table at a street book fair) I devoured books 1 through 4 all at once and then went in search of the rest. Since I didn't know exactly the order in which they were supposed to be read, I had to do some research, and I even ordered several from Amazon. While I was waiting for my shipment, I encountered Cerulean Sins in an airport and gave in to the temptation to buy it and read it. Well, it was so completely different from what I'd read so far that I had to go online and figure out WTF had happened, which was when discovered Hamilton's blog and the very dedicated group of fans who were both pro and against the direction the books had taken.
After a few days of lurking I jumped in and, well, never looked back.
My dear friend melisande431 wrote the first slash fiction (it had rimming!) I ever read. Oddly, it had never occurred to me that people in books could have relationships other than what the author had intended, but I quickly got sucked into the idea of Jean Claude/Asher with or without Richard. Three sexy men all together? Dude, screw Anita, why had this never occurred to me before? *g*
Hamilton's books have now jumped the shark and I haven't read one in...six years? But it still holds a special place in my heart. But for the way LKH seriously screwed up that series, I'd never have discovered fandom.
And I've never looked back after that. I fell into Smallville (mm, Clex), and, finally, Harry Potter, and I was lost. Or found, depending on how you look at it. :)

Comments

[mizface]

That's pretty much how I feel about the series too. I was stunned by the amazing worldbuilding and devoured the first three or four books. I miss what it used to be (I was so, so hoping her fae series would get all the "all the sex all the time" stuff out so she could do more books like the first ones), and still love some of the characters (Ted!).

But yeah, haven't read one of her books in years.

[alisanne]

From what I can tell, things fell apart when she divorced her first husband (who was also her editor). She started to believe her own press, and since the book deal she signed included a caveat that they couldn't edit her stuff... Well, you can see how that can get you into trouble.
Ted was a fabulous character, but from what I hear, he, too, appears to be falling under the spell of Anita's crotch. *rolls eyes*

[fire_juggler]

HP was my entrance into fandom "proper". It will always have a soft place in my heart for that reason. One never forgets one's first, right?

I've never read LKH, though I've definitely seen her around. Maybe one of these days I'll check her out!

[alisanne]

LOL! You're right. You never forget your first. ;)

And if you do check out LKH, my advice is to confine it to the first 8 or so books. After that it's all just about Anita's crotch. :P