Episode 17: Embracing and Examining Fanfiction with Best-Selling Author Seanan McGuire

Your Biggest Fangirl Podcast

We are pumped to be joined by best-selling author Seanan McGuire on the podcast this week for a long overdue discussion on fanfiction! Seanan’s urban fantasies include October Daye, Incryptid, and the Wayward Children series, she received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2013 she became the first person ever to appear five times on the same Hugo ballot. We unpack a brilliant tweet thread Seanan wrote exploring the shame and stigma surrounding female fanfic writers opposed to men who pen transformative works, embracing the training the fanfic community can provide for female professional authors, and writing well-rounded female characters in sci-fi that challenge “The Default” hero trope. Seanan even shares with her some of her favorite fanfics to binge-read!