In the internet age, writers have more interaction with readers than ever before, and superfans aren’t afraid to share their opinions online. Here, three writers look at how this relationship has influenced their work
My latest novel, #Panic, was inspired by an online chatroom, and a group of TV superfans. Five years ago, I knew little or nothing of this niche world, and wouldn’t have dreamed of trying to write about it, but in April 2018,I had written the stories on which the show was based, and soon began to be contacted online by fans of the series.
Some were gay or gender nonconforming, and living difficult lives among people who didn’t understand them, or from whom they were concealing aspects of their identity. They loved Villanelle because she was powerful, and did what she liked without worrying about the opinions of others. They felt that she was in their corner.
There was one character I’ll call Maria who, if she were to be believed, lived a helter-skelter life in Amsterdam, regularly picking up women for one-night stands à la Villanelle. Maria messaged me, asking if I thought she was a psychopath. She was incapable of empathy, she wrote, loved to control and manipulate people, and often had violent impulses.