I enjoy reading, writing and commenting on fan fiction even though it's kind of a busman's holiday for me. I have been writing fanfiction since way before the Internet, starting with Star Trek. That was in the days when we published fan'zines before Xerox copiers, used things called mimeograph machines, had to type one original stencil to get five copies and participated in what were known as collating parties. It was amazing what we were able to accomplish using old Remington typewriters, hand operated drum copying machines and monster staple guns. The IBM selectric typewriter was considered a huge technological advancement and anyone who actually owned one was considered rich beyond dreams and very popular. Can you imagine that an electric typewriter in those days cost more than a lot of computers today?

I was the publisher and editor of a very popular fan'zine (I had a selectric) and was able to parlay that experience into a professional writing career.

Compiling a list of the fandoms I've participated in (which does not include every show I made a practice of watching) takes me way back but here goes: The Lone Ranger (used to watch in on a tiny television screen in the morning, bundled up in a big fluffy towel after my mother gave me a bath), Davy Crockett, Bonanza, The Deputy, Stingray, Star Trek, Man From U.N.C.L.E., Wild Wild West, I Spy, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Knight Rider, MacGyver, Quantum Leap, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, JAG and White Collar.

While I like the idea that it's now so easy to get a piece of fanfiction "out there" the one thing I really miss is that in "the old days," we had editors and even as amateurs, we had standards of spelling, grammar, punctuation and even content. While now, the Internet allows fans from all over the world to easily communicate, back then we found our fan friends closer to home and socialized face to face. It was a very different world.