Canon authors and fannish interaction

This article investigates how the authors of two popular vampire canons, Stephenie Meyer and J. R. Ward, use extratextual spaces such as homepages and Insider Guides to communicate with their fans while simultaneously limiting these fans’ possibilities for concrete involvement. It is argued that Meyer and Ward are engaged in a continuous battle for control over meaning, but that their interaction with their own narratives has close affinities with fannish practices in general. Of particular saliency is Ward’s and Meyer’s insistence on character autonomy, which increases the immediacy of their fictional worlds, but paradoxically weakens the authorial control they otherwise strive to maintain.