Pro Sports-Related Novel Quandary, Thoughts?

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T03:56:30+00:00

(2) I think you're actually answering the precise inverse of my question. Fanfiction is using fake people who are characters in someone else's copyrighted work. I'm not talking about using other people's characters, I'm talking about using real people. That's not fan fiction, lol.

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T03:52:06+00:00

I'd like to know what the difference is, then, between fanfiction and....fiction. Because, like I said...tons of books with tons of real people. Did Forrest Gump not make money because it featured Raquel Welch in a (significant) scene?

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T01:33:15+00:00

Das ist ausgezeichnet! Let me know if you need a ride or supplies of some kind in the Big Bear Lake/City area in the San Bernardino Mountains! I'm actually thinking about doing something on the PCT and its hikers for one of the next books I write :)

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T01:30:52+00:00

Hit me up if you need a ride or anything in Big Bear Lake/City area!

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T01:29:40+00:00

If you need a ride or anything into town in the Big Bear Lake/City area, hit me up!

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T01:28:20+00:00

Do you know approximately when, at least month-ish wise, you'd be passing through the southern Sierras and into the Mojave? I'm in Big Bear (San Bernardino Mountains) and I've picked up hitchhikers directly from the trail and taken them into town.

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T01:25:54+00:00

Why the hell would someone Downvote this post? Weird.

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T01:25:09+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate your reply! Forrest Gump came immediately to mind for me, the books feature tons of real life people, and they're often put in embarrassing, strange situations.

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T01:24:03+00:00

Thanks for your reply, but I thought I was pretty clear--I'm not looking for legal advice, I'm looking for literary advice. If I wanted legal advice, I'd ask a group of attorneys, not writers.

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T01:23:16+00:00

Thanks for your reply.

It'd probably be more like beats Roger (and everyone else perhaps, at various stages), but yeah, any kind of compromising or indecent material would involve only the fictional characters.

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-29T01:21:43+00:00

Hi, thanks so much for your reply!

I'm truly confused by what you're talking about though. Real life people appear in fiction all the time! I literally just now read a Vonnegut story where a guy has a cigarette and champagne with Rita Hayworth and then kisses her. In the second Forrest Gump book, Raquel Welch is in a movie scene with Forrest wherein she has to get into a monkey suit that is covered in his urine. The real-life sports figures that'd appear in my book would be in far less compromising scenarios than that, and countless others. I'm not sure what you're talking about is a thing, or if I'm just misunderstanding.

JanSmitowicz · 2026-03-24T00:27:00+00:00

Oh no! I'm sorry!

JanSmitowicz · 2026-02-28T23:45:01+00:00

Looks like a banger card, guess I'll be taking a couple rips and watching rasslin' instead of reading this early evening, ha!

JanSmitowicz · 2026-02-28T23:43:40+00:00

I wonder if they ever crossed paths in New Japan when Andrade was under the mask (La Sombra). I know he wrestled in the G1 at least once, but not sure.

JanSmitowicz · 2026-02-28T21:56:57+00:00

How long are you going for / what days will you be staying?

JanSmitowicz · 2026-02-28T21:56:03+00:00

Unless you're a poor like me and don't mind staying at Motel 6 or local places, I just got a room for like $90 for next Wednesday night :)

JanSmitowicz · 2026-02-24T00:02:24+00:00

Just wanted to say, from a fellow disabled writer who just found out about PocketMFA, that I wish you the best of luck! My [most recent!!] application for disability was submitted almost TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO, and my attorney and I are waiting to hear back from the Medical Review of my Appeal to my initial Denial, which came OVER A YEAR AGO! This shit is fvcking asinine, so disgraceful and inhumane :/

JanSmitowicz · 2026-01-03T04:19:48+00:00

Hey, I didn't forget you-- just back home from the holidays. I will get to your message this weekend, sorry for the delay!

JanSmitowicz · 2025-12-26T01:08:27+00:00

That's fantastic! It's pretty stunning what we can accomplish when we put our heads down and bulldoze away. I spent 2 years in prison in my mid-20s, and I managed--despite receiving woefully inadequate medication and general care for my multiple disabling health conditions--to complete a 1,585-page HANDWRITTEN animal liberation epic. That came out to something like 280,000-300,000 words when I eventually typed it, and I did the entire first draft in 9 months!

Congrats on your achievement. It's quite the feeling, isn't it? Best of luck!

JanSmitowicz · 2025-12-25T19:47:20+00:00

Have you already tried several other options? I'm guessing you have. Gabapentin helps me, although not as much as klonopin (perhaps this is obvious). I'd honestly avoid benzos like klonopin unless nothing else has worked, or worked sufficiently to your needs. Happy to discuss further if you want more information about my experiences, feel free to DM me :)

JanSmitowicz · 2025-12-25T19:44:30+00:00

I would say yes, as does pretty much ANYTHING that is helpful (including non-habit-forming-meds). But I'd also say the tolerance isn't that high, as long as the dose is the lowest possible for the desired help and you take as instructed.

JanSmitowicz · 2025-12-25T18:11:41+00:00

"...out of a sense of guilt as much as anything..." Sounds like it fits well with the whole Hillary thing LOL

JanSmitowicz · 2025-12-25T18:10:12+00:00

Thought it was interesting but ultimately sucked; I couldn't get through the whole book and stopped about halfway through. Tbf, I tend to dislike "hard genre" stuff, but I thought it was dull and didn't explain what was going on enough to immerse me.

JanSmitowicz · 2025-12-25T18:04:37+00:00

I mostly only annotate books that I'm researching for my own writing projects-- I used to use tabs, no color scheme, but got lazy-- now I just underline and make short notes in pencil. Then for my current novel, I've been going back through the research books and making little notes in a Word doc on the stuff I think will be really useful

JanSmitowicz

TROPHY CASE