Happy New Year! Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. The holidays kept me quite busy as usual.
Santa brought me a Kindle Fire this year. Though the new toy is fun and easier to read an eBook on than a laptop, I still find that I enjoy reading an actual book. It could be because the kids wear the battery down playing apps, so when I'm ready to read, the battery is low. I find my eyes tire easily also.
One of my new purchases for the Kindle was a Phantom novel. I've been having a hard time keeping with it. The first book I read by this self-published author was Phantom inspired, so she came up with her own characters and setting. I feel that this author has really grown as a writer, especially since she made this story into her own.
That brings me to today's discussion. I've never really understood copyright. My understanding was that a writer should create their own characters and if they dare use someone else's characters, it was copyright infringement if they didn't have special permission. In recent years, I learned it was okay to use another's characters if the original author has been deceased for 100 years. I can understand that, but now there's fan fiction. How does that play into the whole copyright scheme of things?
When I was a child, I used to make up stories in my head using TV or movie characters. I still do it, but it's in my head. When the concept of my novel began to form in my mind, I was afraid to write anything down on paper because the characters were not my own. I pondered how I would get the permission I needed to be able to write my story. Time passed with no solution to my dilemma. Finally, one day it dawned on me. I had enough to make my own story! To create my own characters. To make my own setting. To this day, it still baffles me how a little inspiration has brought me to where I am today with writing. I still ask myself how I got from there to here. And I wonder if readers will be able to determine what inspired me. I feel that I chose the right path for me. Sometimes, I wish others would go the extra distance to create their own characters. It can open up whole new worlds and the possibilities are unlimited.
Veronica
