I have enjoyed fanfiction on and off for decades, starting back when authors photocopied typed copies of their stories and passed them around to other fans. (BEFORE the internet-Yes, I'm THAT old.) I was introduced to such fanfiction through my local chapter of the Beauty and the Beast fan club (the TV show with Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman in the title roles--Google it ). A friend introduced me to Star Trek fanfiction online in the 90s, then I moved on to Forever Knight stories (a vampire based TV crime show that predates Twilight and True Blood- think Edward Cullen as a homicide detective and Bella as the forensic pathologist-seriously, the characters are similar in personality). I found the Harry Potter fanfiction stories in the 2000s while waiting impatiently for JK Rowling to write the final books in the series. Looking online for the DVD of the Megamind movie, I encountered the Megamind fanficiton stories, and found myself sucked in.

I have composed fanfiction since I was a teenager, but only in the form of little movies I composed in my head, based on my favorite TV shows, movies, and books. For some strange reason, while reading Megamind stories, I was inspired to finally try to write some of the stories down.

Of the now 8 stories I have written, my personal favorites are Revenge (my first), Redemption (which completes the three story arc begun in Revenge), and Trickery. Going by the number of “favorite” designations, the readers by far like Revenge the best, followed by Beginning (my “fluffiest” piece and the middle of the 3 story arc), and Boundaries (my M rated story that expands on some story elements from the trilogy). Boundaries and Revenge pull the most visitors, followed by Unpredictable and Redemption, but maybe it’s my story descriptions that are responsible for that. I’m guessing a lot of readers are looking for romance… or maybe smut.

In my opinion, Boundaries has the darkest material, and Revenge is the “edgiest.” My shortest story, Trickery, I consider my cleverest. I think Unpredictable is my weakest story, and almost pulled it, but it gets a surprising amount of “favorites”- see last paragraph.

My story ideas always come to me unbidden, usually as a scene that pops into my mind. Then I build the story around the scene. For example, Lessons started as just the opening scene, and became my attempt to have an interesting OC character who interacts with Megamind. I've never been successful in "trying" to come up with a story, like when several readers asked me for a sequel to Trickery.

I had no more inspirations for Megamind stories, although I started a couple of stories based on a new obsession (The Hunger Games). Real life led to me abandoning them for almost a year, but when I finally decided I was ready to go back and work on my Hunger Games stories, a plot bunny for another Megamind story popped into my head and took over. Weird how that happens. I never have gotten back to finishing the Hunger Games stories. Who knows if I ever will. Maybe my time of fanfiction is over...

I love the image of the Phoenix, rising in rebirth from destruction. I have used some version of the name phoenix ever since I came out of lurker-hood to join online communities- and, yes, I selected this before JK Rowling wrote The Order of the Phoenix. (Although I will admit it was after she had written Chamber of Secrets, and introduced her version of the phoenix myth. I especially liked that phoenix tears had healing powers.)