In addition to this being the 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which I still cannot believe), it is the 30th anniversary of The Lost Boys, which was my second fandom, and the other fandom that really changed my life. (I've loved fandoms since, but BtVS and LB are the two that had a direct, long-lasting, biggest impact on my life, the people I love, and the woman I've become.) Later this year, I'm off to Santa Cruz, where the movie was filmed (it became Santa Carla in the movie, the murder capital of the world, FITTING I KNOW), and I can't wait to go back.

There's also an amazing behind-the-scenes book due out this fall, and I can't wait to read it and see all the pictures. It's going to be so great.

And to celebrate both those things, an old fandom friend of mine is running the Lost Boys 30th Anniversary Fanfic Contest Extravaganza, and I hope you Lost Boys fans will participate. You may even know one of the judges. (You definitely know one of the judges.)

Here's what Donna has to say:

Thirty years ago, on July 31st, an epically awesome, mullet-filled movie called The Lost Boys, was released. Starring Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Jami Gertz, and for the first time on screen the two Coreys, Haim and Feldman, The Lost Boys changed the vampire scene forever.

Now in honor of the movie, Paul Davis, who brought you BEWARE THE MOON, a behind-the-scenes movie book for American Werewolf in London, is bringing his magic to the world of The Lost Boys. A full color, 200-page book complete with cast and crew interviews, a ton of never-before-seen images from the set, and a scene-by-scene recreation of all deleted scenes, will be available in a limited release this summer just in time for the anniversary.

So what's going on here? From now until the end of summer you'll find a whole slew of stuff in this book, from pre-order information to fanfic recs, character bios, mini-contests that'll stretch your artistic fingers, fan site highlights, and, of course, the big shebang: the fanfic contest. Over the next few months you'll interact with other Lost Boys fans and have the chance to win awesome prizes, from sets of press kit photos from the movie, TLB-inspired lip balm, some books that were influenced by the movie, and a copy of Paul's book!

So step inside, if you dare. Don't worry. That smell is just the ocean air . . .

I just realized that it has been ten years since I started posting fanfic online. Ten years this month, I think, but I don't remember exactly when I started posting Forever. TEN YEARS. I was such a kid back then, so freaking young. Most of my friends in fandom were at least ten years older than me, and I loved it. I'm the woman I am now because of the people I met back in early Buffy fandom (I joined online fandom awhile before I started writing fic), with whom I still keep in casual contact. I've met some of the most important people in my life because of writing fanfic.

Ten years.

Happy decade of fic to me!

( Some fic thoughts and my fandom progression. )

So there it is. Ten years of Carla fanfic.