Anne Rice

Anne Rice was the author of the popular Vampire Chronicles series, and Sleeping Beauty Trilogy BDSM fantasy series (the latter under the pseudonym "A.N. Roquelaure.")
Rice was the creator of Interrogating the text from the wrong perspective.
Rice passed away December 11, 2021 due to complications from a stroke.
==Identifying with Lestat: Anne==
In 2001, Anne wrote: 
==Specs: A Fiction Term==
Early fics based on the Vampire Chronicles were called specs. These fics were posted on alt.books.anne-rice beginning in the early 1990s. While Rice did not approve of them, she did not take any action against them until 2000.
"This information that Anne Rice had this policy [stating she found fanfic hurtful] as early as 1995 is very credible but other mailing lists and sources seem to indicate that while that may have been her policy, she also had a policy of not confronting fans with lawyers. In January of 1998, Kenneth Allen Hyde or Cennydd.... said on [Mercedes Lackey's mailing list] the following: 'Most fanfic is illegal. However, the authors in question have either announced that they do not intend to pursue legal action.' (Anne Rice has taken this position, for example)" -- The Blackwood Farm Argument
From that list's FAQ in 1996: 
Up until 2000, this Usenet group had a fiction archive called The Black Rose: "The official abar Spec Archive can be found at http://www.eskimo.com/~ash or ftp.eskimo.com/u/a/ash. Heather Meloche is the keeper and Adonia updates the databases. Here you can find specs, poems, rpgs, Mayfair family trees, FAQs and everything else which makes abar and the archive the treasure that it is." from FAQ (1996) See a Black Rose sample page here.
The very first fanfic on the archive: Memnoch the Spec.
See Spec Writer Massacre (2000).
==Rice's Attitudes Regarding Fans and Fanfiction Based on Her Work: Official Policies==
===Unknown Date===
* , includes a lengthy question and answer section
* , In a message for fans, Anne Rice confirms what e-mail she uses to post to other sites and that there is no Lestat on the web, undated
===1990s===
1995
From the rules on Rices' mailing list in 1995: 
1996
From December 20, 1996 to February 28, 2004, Anne placed messages on a phone line for fans.When the fan phone line was active, Anne placed transcripts of her phone line messages on the web site. You'll find them here. Click the date to view a phone message transcript. It will pop up in a separate window. Close the window to close the message." See: Archive of Anne's official web page; WebCite
1999
In 1999, Rice described her relationship with fans: "How do I cope with being so public? Actually, it's not that hard. I am seldom really bothered by people. Outside my front gate, I almost always stop to sign autographs, if asked, or to pose for pictures. People are always extremely polite. I've never been harassed by anyone." her comments on her phone message service, April 13, 1999, transcript
=== 2000s ===
2000
Rice's statement on April 8, 2000 (still on her website in 2016): 
TBQ remembers fans receiving Cease and Desist orders:
:Speaking as one who was affected by the Anne Rice thing when it happened - which was WELL before LJ was a gleam in a Russian bot’s eye - I’d like to clarify that it never got as far as a court of law. She had her lawyer send Cease & Desist orders out to various high-profile members of the fanfic side of fandom. Some of those C&Ds implicated the private businesses of the people involved. Because all of us were poor, we didn’t challenge the C&Ds. Instead we took our stuff off of the websites they knew about and hid the fic away.
* See Spec Writer Massacre.
2001
From a 2001 post on her official website: 
2003
* , Anne's Messages to Fans: Archive of her official web page, 2003-2004
* , in which Anne talks about fan interaction, ends the phone line comments with this post: "I do want to be in contact with you, however. And having recently made the momentous step of going "On Line" and learning how to send E-mails—that is, having joined the techno-digital world at last—I can write to you direct through the website for the first time and this is my first direct greeting. Let me take up several points. First of all, be assured as always that the messages you leave on my phone line in New Orleans are reaching me. They're transcribed and sent here to Florida by fax daily. I hear you! I need you. People are calling now from all over the country and I love it." July 17, 2003
* On My Method of Writing: , in which Anne talks about the internet as a "Public Record," how reviews and comments affect sales, and how she refuses to be edited in any way (August 24, 2003)
* , December 14, 2003
2004
* , January 8, 2004
* , September 26, 2004
* Interrogating the text from the wrong perspective, September 2004
* , Christmas 2004
2005
* , October 28, 2005
2007
* , August 15, 2007
2009
=== 2010s (more nuanced position) ===
2012
In April 2012, Anne Rice was quoted in an interview as having a more nuanced position towards fanworks:
Similarly, in November 2012, she elaborated the "softening of her opinion": 
2016
2017
===Rice's Own Fanfiction===
Jokes about her previous position abound, such as this April Fool's joke on tor.net: Anne Rice Admits to Writing Jesus Fan Fiction.Anne Rice Admits to Writing Jesus Fan Fiction April 1, 2009, an April Fool's Day joke, accessed 2010-11-19
This was based on her actual writing of two books presented as the autobiography of Jesus Christ, books from Jesus's POV, Christ The Lord: Out of Egypt, and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana 
===Interrogating the Text from the Wrong Perspective===
In 1999, Rice wrote of her discovery of Amazon.com: "How many of you use the Internet? How many of you know about Amazon.com? I just recently discovered that not only can you order books through Amazon.com--we've been doing that for a long time-- but that the website publishes reader responses to each and every one of my books on an individual basis. I discovered something like over a 150 reviews of MEMNOCH THE DEVIL, some as recent as this month. There were current reviews of CRY TO HEAVEN, and THE VAMPIRE LESTAT as well, books published in the 1980's. In other words, Amazon.com keeps the discussion of books alive as new readers discover those books in paperback form or in used bookstores." Anne's comments on her recorded fan phone line, February 23, 1999, see transcript
It turns out that fans' ability to say what they thought on an immediate and very visible platform didn't always sit well with Rice.
In September 2004, Anne Rice posted a reply on Amazon to critics of her book "Blood Canticle", in which she rejected all negative reviews.In particular, she told the "negative voices" that they were interrogating the text from the wrong perspective, that they have used this site as if it were a public urinal to publish falsehood and lies, and I fought a great battle to achieve a status where I did not have to put up with editors making demands on me, and I will never relinquish that status. full text copy, accessed 2010-11-23 Many fans found Rice's response intemperate, jargonistic, and disconcerting, leading to amusing Amazon replies, professional author and editor commentary, and a Fandom Wank post which led to seven pages of comments and an number of icons. The New York Times wrote about it, under the title "Fan power takes on new meaning.".
One line in particular—"interrogating the text from the wrong perspective"—is now a favorite catchphrase on Fandom Wank and elsewhere.A July 31, 2012 Google search for the phrase gave 15,400 results. It is used ironically by fans to mock someone, either the original author of the text using authorial intent to trump what actually appears on the page, or another reader who assumes that there can be only one "correct" interpretation of the text. The text (fanfic or published writing) in question is usually problematic or badly written, and the mocked individual may be the lone defender. See also resistant reading.
===Removal of Fan Fiction Based on Anne Rice's Works from Fanfiction.net===
A report on the page "Where Has the Anne Rice Fanfiction Gone?" from 2000 says:
In May 18, 2001, Rice's lawyers sent a letter to fanfiction.net demanding that the site remove fic based on The Vampire Chronicles and other Anne Rice fanfiction. The text of the letter: 
On May 20, 2001, there was a single sentence in FF.net's news post: "Anne Rice: Vampire Chronicles, the category, has been removed at Anne Rice's request." On September 25, 2002, Xing Li posted: "The FanFiction.Net Content Guidelines have been updated to state that the site will not accept entries based on the work of Anne Rice and Anne McCaffrey. This policy is not new but had not been clearly displayed on the site prior to the amendment." 
Fanfiction.net put this on their guidelines: "FanFiction.Net respects the expressed wishes of the following authors/publishers and will not archive entries based on their work ... Anne Rice".However, by 2010, simple searches on fanfiction.net for Anne Rice, Vampire Chronicles, and Lestat produced a total of several hundred stories. - Search for Anne Rice on fanfiction.net accessed 2010-11-18
A fan in 2015 commented: "What is it with female authors of sexy vampire books, that makes them act like their lead character is their secret boyfriend who’ll be cheating on them if he makes an appearance in someone else’s story?" elfwreck at Fandom First Friday, January 2015
== Comments by Fans==
===Regarding Negative Reviews ===
In September 2004, there was much discussion regarding Anne Rice's book, "Blood Canticle," on Amazon.com.
* Interrogating the text from the wrong perspective, post by Anne Rice
* , 2001, accessed 2016
* Punishing Pandora And A Surprising Opinion On Anne Rice by Kayleigh Herbertson (Anne Rice sicced her fans on this fan/blogger due to a poor review of one of Rice's books; this set off a firestorm.) (April 25, 2013)
* How Not to Respond to Negative Reviews: The Anne Rice Edition by Nate Hoffelder (April 29, 2013)
A crafter uses pages from an old Anne Rice book as part of a project
* Author responds after blogger rips book to shreds—literally, Aja Romano, Daily Dot, April 29, 2013
* Anne Rice Sics Her Fandom on Unaffiliated Lone Blogger for One Poor Review, Susana Polo, The Mary Sue, April 30, 2013)
* When authors clearly don’t have enough to do…., Claire Simpson (May 2, 2013)
* Anne Rice hits out at 'internet lynch mobs' attacking controversial books, article by Allison Flood in "The Guardian" (August 14, 2016)
* Anne Rice blasts Internet ‘lynch mobs’: ‘We are facing a new era of censorship’ Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times - (August 12, 2015)
===1993===
===1994===
===1999===
===2000===
===2002===
In 2002, a fan posted a comment to alt.books.anne-rice: 
In February 2002, a fan explained: 
===2016===
==Fanworks==
===Notable Fiction===
*Immortality Awards
===Vids===
===Fanart===
* Punishing Pandora And A Surprising Opinion On Anne Rice by Kayleigh Herbertson (April 25, 2013)
===Fan Fiction Links & Resources===
* alt.books.anne-rice, also refereed to as "ABAR," or sometimes "a.b.a.r."
* Fiction tagged with "Anne Rice".
* Anne Rice Character Slash Description"Take LeStat (The Vampire Chronicles) and the many other characters created by Anne Rice and slash them to the max. We're interested in the gooey sweet of smarm and beyond. All stories will eventually be posted to the WWOMB unless they include a Do Not Archive notation. I don't have the time or inclination to moderate this list for tender ears, so adults only, okay?" (mailing list)
==Meta & Further Reading==
===1990s===
* decision on "specs" policy, post at alt.books.anne-rice (1995)
* SPEC FAQ (1995)
* spec faq and abar, post at alt.books.anne-rice (1998)
===2000===
* THE BATTLE OF FANFICTIONS - SCREW THE LAW, SCREW THE FACTS!, discussion at alt.books.anne-rice, six pages, 149 posts (2000)
* Believe or not! The Choice is Yours!, discussion at alt.books.anne-rice (2000)
* Where has Anne Rice fanfiction gone?, Croatoan Fanfic
* (undated)
* Anne and Fanfiction
* Fanfic and Opinions
===2002===
* , ; ; ; ; , discussion at alt.books.anne-rice (2002)
* Anne's stance on fan-fic, discussion at alt.books.anne-rice (2002)
* The Blackwood Farm argument, ten pages, 234 posts at alt.books.anne-rice (2002)
* (2002)
===2004===
* Interrogating the text from the wrong perspective, post by Anne Rice (see the comments by fans at this page) (September 2004)
* To quote rhiannonhero from LJ: "Anne Rice wouldn't last a day in fandom, yo.", page 1, WebCite, page 2; WebCite, page 3; WebCite, page 4; WebCite, page 5; WebCite, page 6; WebCite, page 7; WebCite, September 20, 2004
* On Anne Rice, and why we write., by Aja September 23, 2004
* The People Have Spoken. Those Patience-Trying, Filth-Slinging Whores, page 1; WebCite, , October 12, 2004
* , by Neil Gaiman, September 22, 2004
* The Anne Rice Problem, Adam Lipkin, October 2004
* , Sarah Lyall, New York Times, October 11, 2004
* Fan power takes on new meaning, by Sarah Lyall, October 14, 2004, New York Times
* , by Dana Huff at blogcritics, November 4, 2004
* -#28DaysofLestat-Week of Anne Rice-Blood Canticle Controversy, by fantastyfreak (October 19, 2004)
===2007===
* , archive page 2, archive page 3, archive page 4, survey and four pages of comments regarding opinion about pro-canon creators' and fanworks opinions about: Robin Hobb, Anne Rice, J. Michael Straczynski , Marion Zimmer Bradley, Anne McCaffrey, J.K. Rowling, and others (2007)
===2013===
* Authors Behaving Badly: Why We Can't Help It and Why We Have To Knock It Off Already, February 21, 2013
* Punishing Pandora And A Surprising Opinion On Anne Rice, by Kayleigh Herbertson, April 25, 2013
* How Not to Respond to Negative Reviews: The Anne Rice Edition by Nate Hoffelder (April 29, 2013)
* Author responds after blogger rips book to shreds—literally, Aja Romano, Daily Dot, April 29, 2013
* Anne Rice Sics Her Fandom on Unaffiliated Lone Blogger for One Poor Review, Susana Polo, The Mary Sue, April 30, 2013)
* When authors clearly don’t have enough to do…., Claire Simpson (May 2, 2013)
* Decoupaging the text from the wrong perspective?, page 1; WebCite, page 2; WebCite, April 28, 2013
* , Amazon forum, includes comments by Anne Rice, 2013
* , by Aja Romano, March 11, 2013 for The Daily Dot
* Anne Rice's Facebook post about "Punishing Pandora", Anne Rice writes: "Comments most welcome," includes over 800 replies, April 23, 2013
* In 1992, the pro writer of vampire fic, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, destroyed a fan's fanzine: "The Holmesian Federation" Supposedly Pulped and Turned Into a Papier-mâché Statue.
===2014===
* by Hayley Campbell (March 20, 2014)
* , by Ceilidh, March 10, 2014 at Bibliodaze
* Amazon reviewers are interrogating Anne Rice's Dickensean principles from the wrong perspective!, March 2014
===2015===
* Anne Rice hits out at 'internet lynch mobs' attacking controversial books, article by Allison Flood in "The Guardian" (August 14, 2016)
* Anne Rice blasts Internet ‘lynch mobs’: ‘We are facing a new era of censorship’ Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times - (August 12, 2015)
===2017===
* So I’m on AO3 ...(the forgotten history of disclaimers)
===Fan Letters to Anne Rice===
The links below are letters Rice has posted to her website.
* Angel Time
* Called Out of Darkness
* Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana
* Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt
* Other Books
* Various Topics
===Reviews===
* reviews at Amazon for Blood Canticle
* reviews at Goodreads
==Further Reading/More Information==
* Anne Rice, unedited..., transcript of an interview done for the "Charlie Rose Show" (October 23, 1997)
==References==
Category:The Vampire Chronicles
Category:Anne Rice
Category:Science Fiction Authors