(DA) Fan mail

Yesterday I received my first 'Fan mail' and I couldn't have been more excited.

I have been feeling 'on' with regards to my writing in the last little while. I have finally finished the manuscript for my first novel and am almost through my first round of edits; which makes me feel very accomplished. But, as if finishing my manuscript wasn't enough, I've been dedicating a lot of my time to a new FanFiction story. I posted about it last week because it was new and I had a lot of writing momentum with it, but in one week, it's gotten so much bigger.

My story "Supremely Natural" (which takes place in the universe of the television show 'Supernatural') has had over 800 views from around the world in the past week. I get email alerts when people favourite my work, follow my stories or write reviews about my work, and on Friday I woke up to 21 alerts about my story. It was an incredible feeling to know that people are reading and talking about this story.

But getting Fan Mail was a completely different experience. It was just as exciting, but much more personal. The message was just for me, and no one else. Yesterday, a young woman from the United States messaged me saying that she loved my story and couldn't wait for more and was wondering what I was planning on writing for the next chapters.

I almost jumped up and down I was so excited to hear a positive review from someone who was invested in my story.

I quickly wrote her a message back and thanked her for reaching out. I informed her that I wouldn't give away any spoilers, but that I hope she likes what I publish next.

Since then I have received 5 more messages from her. But there was one message that stands out above the others. It impressed me the most because she mentioned that she really enjoys how I structured the story. [I was floored.] I had spent a lot of time on the structure of the story- planning each chapter to center around a major plot point in each season of the show- but I never imagined someone would actually notice it, let alone notice and tell me that they loved it!

It's an amazing feeling to get a little bit of recognition for the effort I put into these stories. FanFiction for me means that I build a story inside a preexisting story, and I have to weave my story around predetermined events, which is a very interesting -and at times horribly frustrating- task.

-Brandolyn

Check out the progress I've made with 'Supremely Natural' since last week >>>HERE<<<