The Hive: Exploring an Online Community

By "with a stack of books and an armchair near the window" -- LS

Introduction

The Mary Russell mystery novels of Laurie R. King feature Sherlock Holmes, famed Victorian detective first introduced through the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Mary Russell, an intelligent young woman who begins as Holmes's apprentice and later becomes his full partner in detection, and in life. The Russell series has attracted a loyal following of readers from all over the world with the internet serving as the great enabler, allowing Russell fans to find others who share their interests despite geographical separation. One of the common meeting places for admirers of Russell and Holmes is known as "The Hive¹," a special site dedicated to stories featuring characters from King's Russell novels written entirely by fans of the books. Viewing The Hive as a collection, we will explore its genre, its history and structure, and its community of users.

What is Fan Fiction?

The first step in evaluating The Hive is to understand its genre, commonly known as fan fiction. A broad definition of fan fiction, which we shall use for our purposes, is as follows: "a story based on a pre-existing story-concept, written by someone who is not working under the original copyright, and therefore not an officially sanctioned part of said story universe" (Moondaughter par. 1). Anything from a six-year old writing new stories about her favorite television character to a professional writer creating an online novel which takes place in his favorite author's fantasy landscape can be considered fan fiction.

Many people who are unfamiliar with fan fiction, or are skeptics of fan fiction, dislike the practice of writing stories based on other works: "[t]hey say it is unoriginal, and a bad practice for new writers to get into. [...] writers should spend their time coming up with their own, original ideas, and that to do otherwise is being lazy" (par. 5). The reasons why people write fan fiction will be discussed later, but the core function of stories needs to be addressed in response to this attack on the practice of writing fan fiction. Stories have, for many centuries, served as building blocks of culture. Professor Henry Jenkins from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology uses the examples of Homer and the Arthurian legend stories to show that "[t]he great works of the western tradition were polished like stones in a brook as they were handed off from bard to bard. This process of circulation and retelling improved the fit between story and culture, making these stories central to the way a people thought of themselves" (par. 11). Stories describe human experience and shape our identity. Old tales have been brought to the modern age as the same plots find new story garments to wear and characters to reenact them. Fan fiction is simply taking modern tales and continuing their cultural transformation, "and like a traditional folk culture fans are assuming that with stories that circulate we have the right to build on them to expand them, that we have the right to remake them in our own image" (Lichtarowicz par. 22). Why should writers of fan fiction be criticized for following the tradition of building upon stories when those stories themselves were influenced by the cultural fabric of the past?

Modern storytellers now have modern technology to aid the creative process. Fan fiction and The Hive fit primarily into the genre of the internet culture. The internet has fast become the best communication resource for scattered fan groups around the world. Before the internet, "Zines (at first called "fan-zines") emerged in the sixties as fans [...] used typewriters, stencils, staplers, and the post office to create small groups around shared interests" (Brown and Duguid 193). Physical isolation and lack of a fan base to unite writers made the growth of fan fiction difficult. The genre of fan fiction has grown dramatically, however, with help from the web as fans are now able locate each other and keep in touch despite geographical separation, as discussed by Sue Hazlett: "The internet has given rise to literally thousands of newsgroups devoted to particular programs, characters, and actors. Fans can go online and discuss their interests with other fans without regard to boundaries of time or geography. [...] [the internet has] brought fandom into a public place where it can be more easily accessed by both potential fans and researchers."

The establishment of the fan fiction genre yields a process of refinement by the types of sites available on the internet, and the culture that accompanies those sites both individually and as a whole. Specialized terminology forms an aspect of fan fiction culture which writers and readers of fan fiction have adopted to create mutual understanding of story content and form. Stories marked as "Mary Sue," for example, mean that the author has placed himself or herself as a character in the story, while stories mentioned as "slash" contain some form of sexual content. Likewise individual fan fiction pages contain their own lingo. On The Hive, for example, many of the book titles of the Mary Russell novels are shortened into four letter phrases such as "BEEK" for The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or "MOOR" for The Moor. Classification of the stories themselves also aids in refining the culture and genre of fan fiction. A fan fiction story cannot be posted on any web page. "In order for a story to be circulated among other fans, it must go on a site that specializes in fan fiction," must be on the appropriate fan fiction site, and must abide by the rules of that site for story writing (Hazlett). For example, Mary Russell fan fiction would not belong on a Harry Potter fan fiction site, and some fan fiction sites have guidelines on how to use specific characters or what direction the plot must take at certain parts of the story. These specific categorizations of communal environments and regulations within the genre of fan fiction attract different audiences to different collections of stories, and encourage additions which correspond to the established collection guidelines. Collections of fan fiction stories "help structure society, enabling social groups to form, develop, and maintain a sense of shared identity [...] [even] though most of the people in these '[social] worlds' kn[o]w little of one another directly" (Brown and Duguid 189-190). From these facts about fan fiction as a genre, we can observe that The Hive is part of a larger culture, yet also maintains its own unique collection content, audience, and community.

Methodology

The primary users of The Hive are members of a listserv known as RUSS-L which discusses the Mary Russell novels and various related topics via postings and email messages. Many of the stories on The Hive are written by RUSS-L members, and even RUSS-L members who do not write Russell fan fiction enjoy visiting The Hive to read the stories posted there. I am a member of RUSS-L, and hence have been able to observe the community for several months and its reactions to the stories posted on The Hive. In preparation for this paper I sent various questions to members of RUSS-L by posting to the list, and have since received eight responses via private emails from both authors and users of The Hive stories, as well as a response from the primary caretaker of The Hive itself and its collection. I use these responses in this paper as a representative sampling of the active users and authors of The Hive. While I did ask if any RUSS-L members do not use The Hive and why, I did not receive any responses.

History and Structure of The Hive

When researching the history and structure of The Hive, I contacted the creator and caretaker of The Hive, "A Pure-blooded, Well-trained Foxhound"²." The Hive has emerged from a lineage of mystery literature discussion groups -- which proves to be a common occurrence in the history of fan fiction and group discussion sites as the genre of fan fiction is refined. Foxhound filled in the gaps in the lineage chain by describing his involvement with previous mystery sites:

I had been a member of The Hounds of the Internet (a Sherlock Holmes discussion group) since the mid-1990s, which in turn was an off-shoot of a broader mystery discussion list called Dorothy-L (after Dorothy Sayers). [...] some rather closed-minded individuals on Hounds-L mocked the Russell novels enough that some folks got fed up with the abuse, stalked away in a huff (and rightly so), and staked out their own virtual territory. (Foxhound email)

The new virtual territory became RUSS-L in the spring of 1996, which Foxhound joined soon after its creation because he wanted to talk about the first Russell novel, The Beekeeper's Apprentice. The Hive followed soon after as Foxhound goes on to explain:

The Hive began in September, 1997, so I guess it's over 6 years old. The Hive was born in Williamsburg, Virginia while I was a masters student at William & Mary, and it has always resided at Geocities. I ran another Holmes pastiche site, and I noticed that most of the stories coming in involved Mary Russell, so I set up a separate page just for those stories. I called it "The Hive" because Holmes kept honeybees in his retirement.

The name "The Hive" is likewise appropriate due to the bee imagery in The Beekeeper's Apprentice and the fact that all members of RUSS-L are referred to as "bees."

The structure of The Hive involves its organization, and the process of collecting the stories written by Russell fans. The homepage is accessible through several different locations, but the main two are Foxhound's Sherlockian Page³ and the official site for the Russell books called "The Beekeeper's Holmes Page"⁴ which is maintained by the caretaker of RUSS-L, Rebecca Bohner. When at the homepage of The Hive, a greeting from Foxhound gives a brief overview of the site and welcomes visitors. The homepage also has links to Foxhound's page, RUSS-L, The Hounds (Sherlockian) discussion group, and Laurie R. King's homepage. Three categories of The Hive divide its holdings into "Stories at The Hive," "Stories Elsewhere," and "Links." The stories under "Stories at The Hive" were all written by members of RUSS-L. There is one "Round-Robin Pastiche⁵" in which several authors contribute to a single story, and many "On-Site Stories" which make up most of The Hive's collection. Each of the stories under the "On-Site Stories" category contains the name of the story, the name of the author (usually the author's nom rather than real name), and the date on which the story was posted. Stories that have more than one part or are sequels to previously posted stories are identified as such. Each title, or individual part of the story if there are several parts, is a link to the desired story on a separate page showing the story's title, author, and full text of the story. The stories are arranged in chronological order of posting, the most recent postings near the top of the page.

The "Stories Elsewhere" and "Links" pages contain resources outside of The Hive itself. "Stories Elsewhere" has what are called "Off-Site" stories, which are fan fiction about the Russell novels from other parts of the internet, much of which is also written by members of RUSS-L. The stories are arranged in the same manner as the "On-Site Stories" category. The "Links" page contains links to other resources on the web which interest Russell fans. Examples include articles on the Russell books, Laurie R. King's site, a list of books recommended by RUSS-L members, and even recipe site and atlas sites relating to the Russell novels. Each of the links is followed by a brief description of the site.

The Hive is a unique fan fiction site due to the ease and few requirements by which stories may be posted. Russell fan fiction writers have free reign of the entire Mary Russell universe and may introduce any new elements they desire into their stories. The only requirement is that the stories have some connection to the Russell novels, or the "kanon" as RUSS-L members prefer to call the books. Fan fiction about the Holmes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle belongs on Holmes fan fiction sites rather than The Hive. Stories are submitted to Foxhound via email, and he welcomes all submissions: "I will accept anything from 4th grade book reports to actual published articles (with permission of both publisher and author, of course), so submit! If you have anything you'd like to send, just e-mail it to me along with any special requests you might have" (Foxhound Sherlockian). Foxhound surprised me in his email when I asked about how he decides which stories to post versus those which do not meet the criteria of the collection or have inappropriate content: "I have never turned down a story, although I do edit them for grammar, punctuation, etc. One or two stories were real bodice-rippers, so I put warning labels on them. I find total censorship repugnant." With his open posting policy, Foxhound leaves most of the power related to expanding The Hive's collection with the authors. Since he has promised that "[stories], once posted, will never be altered or removed except at the author's request," all of the stories on The Hive will remain in the collection for as long as the collection itself exists (Foxhound Sherlockian). The Hive has no method of destruction or alteration for its collections. Keeping the layout and links current without changing its content is The Hive's biggest priority outside of posting new stories. It is a collection that only keeps growing.

The Honey Providers and Gatherers

Now comes the question: who uses The Hive and who contributes to it? While fan fiction has not been studied by many in the academic field, one researcher had this to say about fan fiction writers and audiences: "the friendliness and openness of the people writing fan fiction make it a gratifying and rewarding subject for academic research" (Hazlett). The audience and authors of The Hive support this statement in every respect. The responses I received for my research, as well as the general postings on the RUSS-L listserv, are all written by incredibly enthusiastic, helpful, and amiable people. We will first look at the users of The Hive on an individualized basis separating them into the categories of authors and readers, then move on to look at the community of The Hive as a whole.

First: a look at the surface level descriptions of Hive users. RUSS-L members are the greatest users of The Hive, but not the only ones. Once a non-RUSS-L member finds The Hive, however, he or she is likely to become a RUSS-L member soon. I myself became a RUSS-L member shortly after discovering The Hive, and am not alone as Beth "who knows the Tarot lingo", a new RUSS-L member, confirms: "one of the primary reasons I joined [RUSS-L] was to find out when 'The Hive' was being updated" (Palladino email). Hazlett's article studying characteristics of fan fiction communities described the "'typical' fan as a white, college-educated, middle-class, heterosexual female between 25 and 50 years old." Users of The Hive are indeed overwhelmingly female, Foxhound and a few scarce male members of RUSS-L being the only exceptions. The gender issues of why females are more attracted to the fan fiction universe are far from being entirely elucidated, however Hazlett does draw some comparisons between the female realm of fan fiction and the mostly male realms of gaming, and sports fandom. Foxhound refutes the observation that all fan fiction is female dominated, however, as he mentioned that: "most pasticheurs who focus on Doyle's Holmes are men, whereas *all* of the RUSS-L authors are women" (Foxhound email). While reasons for this could be as simple as the fact that the original Holmes stories have a lead male character while the Russell novels are written as first person narration from a female, Russell's, point of view - the gender issue demands far more attention before that sort of conclusion can be drawn, and needless to say that attention is left for a different paper to pursue. The age range of Hive users matches the Hazlett quote fairly well, yet also extends into the upper teens since many RUSS-L members are still at university and often mention homework keeping them from reading new stories on The Hive, or vice versa.

While The Hive is mostly used by females, it still incorporates a diverse group of people. Professional journalists and writers, university students, librarians and archivists, a dance instructor, retirees, and mothers are several professions of the members of which I am aware, not to mention that members log on from all over the world (Germany, Canada, Denmark, Japan, England, and Australia to list a few of the countries represented). The wealth of knowledge brought and shared is amazing, and is all focused toward the same passion of exploring the Russell novels.

The writers of The Hive stories are also readers of the stories, however they differ from the non-writer audience by personally interacting with the novels and characters - writing down their creative inspirations in story form and sharing them with the rest of the group. I asked what motivates them to write and got responses from four authors. All of the authors who responded listed at least one and often more of the following reasons for writing Russell fan fiction: 1) Russell stories enable the author to "fill in the gaps" within the story narrative that Laurie R. King left open. In essence, fan stories can provide explanations for occurrences in the novels or tie up loose ends. "A prim bun which would soften as the day went on" comments: "I first found [The Hive] while suffering from Russ and Holmes withdrawal between books. It fills that gap, definitely. Some of the stories are [...] an attempt to fill in the blanks that drive us crazy" ("Prim bun" email). 2) The author can also contemplate new ideas or "further adventures" outside of the novels. "What a noble mind is here o'erthrown" writes: "[King's] given us opportunities to spring off from her Kanon with ideas she may or may not have thought of herself, with departures from her plotlines and insights into minor characters who are mentioned but barely (if at all) described" ("What a noble mind" email). 3) The creativity which comes from thinking up new stories also allows writers to improve their writing skills. Many of the authors on The Hive are amateur writers, but a few are also professional writers who find fan fiction to be a wonderful exercise by attempting to write in the style and creative universe of another author, bringing new vigor to their other writing. "Quite musical and curiously soothing" writes: "It has been a bit surprising to myself to suddenly write a pastiche - I've never in my 15 years as a professional writer done it before. [...] I wrote the story on-and-off in three days and enjoyed it tremendously. It released new writing energies in me [...] [the] story pushed me over a writer's block on quite a different novel I'm working on" ("Quite musical" email). 4) The last, common reason I found for authors of Russell fan fiction to write their stories is simply for pure love of the novels. This goes almost without saying since the many hours of writing fan fiction yield the profits of enjoyment and the thanks of other RUSS-L members rather than any monetary gains.

Readers of the Russell fan fiction stories, of which the authors also share a part, greatly agree with the authors' comments on "filling gaps" and "exploring new ideas" as main reasons why they enjoy spending time at The Hive, but those who responded added a few more points of interest: 1) Stories at The Hive tend to focus on deepening and refining the relationship between Russell and Holmes, which some Hive users like DarWolf applaud: "There's a lot more romance at The Hive, and a lot more emotion, which I also like" (DarWolf email). Other users, like "quite musical," find the extra sentiment to be a drawback: "There's generally too much feeling and too little action to my taste. [...] I get this feeling that the writers' own sentiments and longings run over into their figures and fantasies in the stories" ("Quite musical" email). 2) Reading fan fiction stories from a range of different authors also made many of my respondents feel like their knowledge of and appreciation for the Mary Russell novels grew as a result. Beth comments on this observation:

the existence of "The Hive" and RUSS-L serves to bring you into contact with interpretations of these characters from other people that deepen your own readings of King's books. King's universe would be the loser if "The Hive" didn't exist no matter how wonderful her own writing. These stories flesh out all the points that King would never have time to do in her own writing. And it is so interesting that even where the stories on "The Hive" can be so different from one another they still have something to add to this universe. (Palladino email)

3) And one of the major reasons why The Hive is so unique, mentioned by both readers and authors alike, is that the quality of the writing on the site is outstanding in comparison to other fan fiction, and other writing in general. "Prim bun" compares The Hive stories to Sherlock Holmes pastiches in this quote: "I haven't read many Canon pastiches. I've never found any that were nearly as fulfilling as the stories at the Hive. [...] Everything else seems rather flat in comparison" ("Prim bun" email). Beth moves the point from Sherlockian pastiches to fan fiction overall: "In the past I have found that most fan-fiction that I read on the Net to be poorly written, poorly edited, or obscene. To my delight everything on 'The Hive' is exactly the opposite" (Palladino email). Foxhound's email response also enthusiastically voices his praise when it comes to Russell fan fiction versus Sherlockian fan fiction: "I do not consider The Hive to be on the same level as other Holmes pastiche collections - it is superior! For some reason The Hive authors seem to be more talented and more enthusiastic about their subject matter than pasticheurs who focus only on Doyle's Holmes." Foxhound moves this boast to The Hive homepage itself with the quote: "This is not fan-fiction, folks -- it's literature! Read and enjoy."

The Buzzing of Many Bees

Besides the well-written stories, The Hive is also a unique collection because it embodies a community. The authors and readers feel as if they have a shared interest in The Hive, a feeling that is supported by group discussions on RUSS-L about The Hive along with ideas tossed about for new plots or situations to be molded into a tale. Russell fans can also, as a group, choose to add elements to the fan fiction stories which they might like to see in the Russell novels, such as the overwhelming amount of stories which deal in-depth with Russell and Holmes's relationship -- which some RUSS-L members argue is often neglected by Laurie R. King. DarWolf was able to identify the unification of The Hive community in this quote: "In The Hive [Russell] seems more like we want her to be. Almost like The Hive is banding together to make the Russell/Holmes relationship grow like the Kanon made Holmes grow. [...] So, I think we all know that we want changes, and we encourage the writers among us to provide them" (DarWolf email). Laura Page, an avid Hive reader, commented on her feeling of shared interest when she said: "I tend to feel a somewhat proprietary interest in the stories, even though I haven't actually written any of them! My Hive, my Bees, my stories" (Page email). Shared documents, like the stories on The Hive, and the communities which form around them were studied by Benedict Anderson and his observations greatly reflect The Hive web community:

He considered networks so large, so diverse, and so spread out that individual members could not possibly know one another. They nonetheless may develop a sense of membership and belonging if they can create an image of a group as a single community with a single identity. Anderson described the communities that developed as "imagined" and claimed that shared documents play an essential part of this imagining. (Brown and Duguid 194).

The stories in The Hive can be seen as a sort of glue which binds the community together and forms an identity.

Communities in society contain hierarchical structures, and the online community of The Hive contains such structure as well. The members at the proverbial "top" of the hierarchy are Foxhound, caretaker of The Hive, Rebecca Bohner a.k.a. "A worn white leather New Testament, looking oddly feminine," the list moderator of RUSS-L, Sara Berger who is the oldest member of RUSS-L and is commonly known as the "Queen Bee," and the other founding members of RUSS-L. Members with great knowledge about the Russell novels, those members who have been on RUSS-L for a substantial amount of time, and respected Hive authors are next in the hierarchy, followed by new RUSS-L members, or "newbees," down at the bottom. This hierarchical division supports this quote from Hazlett on fan fiction community hierarchies: "A higher level would be obtained in these dimensions by exhibiting a great deal of knowledge about the fictional universe, attending prestigious gatherings and/or conventions, [...] and controlling an internet site." I would also add that meeting Laurie R. King could definitely carry some clout. The hierarchical structure of The Hive can be considered as a "shallow" one since even the newest list members may easily contact Foxhound or Rebecca through email with any questions or concerns they have. The hierarchy is also informal. Although some list members do have far more experience and knowledge of the Russell fandom universe, newcomers are always welcomed and encouraged to participate in discussions. Feeling that everyone is on an equal footing and encouraging fresh ideas from new members helps maintain the identity of The Hive and RUSS-L community.

The identity created by the community of The Hive is also charged with emotion. As is common in most fan groups, the environment is implicitly understood to be one of acceptance and is meant to be "safe" for thoughts on the Russell novels to be spoken by the members either on RUSS-L or through stories at The Hive. Ties can be so strong, in fact, that online friendships can be formed without the people involved in the friendships ever meeting. Laura Page comments on how much the Hive community means to her in this quote: "The stories at the Hive, and the community on the RUSS-L list [...] have also helped me combat feelings of loneliness when I am away from my real family and community" (Page email). Russell fans have a sort of "truce" to keep the atmosphere uplifting, positive, and to give a sense of worth and acceptance to all members, just so long as they respect the ideas of others and, above all, respect the enjoyment of the Russell novels which brought everyone together in the first place. Hazlett ties these thoughts together nicely in the following quote: "There is a strong sense of community among fans. They congregate [...] and are very supportive of other members and their efforts. [...] The community is open to anyone willing to participate, but closed to anyone who might jeer." Once the truce of acceptance and amiability is broken the community falters, just as Foxhound explained with the schism between the Hounds-L discussion group and RUSS-L: "individuals on Hounds-L mocked the Russell novels enough that some folks got fed up with the abuse, [and] stalked away in a huff" (Foxhound email). Beth discusses the positive difference that RUSS-L and The Hive embody in comparison to other online discussion lists:

I have joined and left discussion groups about religion, theology, classical music, and tarot (all topics of great interest to me) because the lists were badly moderated (or unmoderated) and most posts were way off-topic or on-topic nasty flame-wars. ⁶ [...] [After joining RUSS-L] I found to my true amazement a discussion group that basically stays on-topic, stays polite, and even the so-called off-topic discussions are of interest to one who likes Holmes or Laurie King's Holmes/Russell stories. (Palladino email).

With such a supportive and wholesome environment, creativity and intellectual curiosity are allowed to flourish - spurring the authors to add more stories to The Hive collection, and encouraging the readers to continue reading.

Writers also get feedback and suggestions for stories from the RUSS-L discussion group. Shortly after a new story is posted, it is announced on RUSS-L and members will then come back to the list after reading the story with all sorts of encouraging comments for the author. Praises such as "this story made me happy all day" or "when will you finish the second part to this story? I'm dying for more!" are commonly seen in postings. Authors are free to get ideas from the wealth of knowledge held by RUSS-L members, as observed recently when one author asked RUSS-L members about which wines were considered worthy of Holmes's taste in the 1920s so that she could write the name of a wine into her story. Questions can also be asked of the author by RUSS-L members for clarification on certain aspects of a story, or for insight on what sorts of things inspired the author. Hazlett quotes one excited fan fiction reader as saying "If I read a great story, I can communicate directly with a writer about it, and a rapport can be built. [...] I can't imagine what it would be like if people were able to communicate in this way with writers of the novels we pick up in bookstores!" Speaking of novel writers, Laurie R. King does herself send messages to RUSS-L through the list's moderator, Rebecca Bohner, from time to time and is supportive of the stories written at The Hive. Support for a fan society from the author herself is quite rare since most fan fiction sites are wary of copyright infringement suits being brought by the original author rather than approval.

Conclusion

Overall, The Hive represents the very best of the modern fan fiction online collections. Like many other fan fiction collections, it takes a commonly shared work of art, the Russell novels, and brings those who appreciate the art together to share and explore their passions and creativity. Unlike other fan fiction collections, the environment of The Hive is supported by respectful and energetic users who contribute their time and talent to keep the stories of The Hive at a high level of excellence. While The Hive's distinctive atmosphere is considered unusual in comparison with other fan fiction sites, its consistency of quality within its own realm is worthy of praise, and hopefully, worthy of many years of enjoyment.

Works Cited

Brown, John Seely and Paul Duguid. The Social Life of Information. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.

DarWolf. "The Hive." Email to the author. 18 November 2003.

Hazlett, Sue. "Filling in the Gaps: Fans and Fan Fiction on the Internet." Writer's University. 2003. Laura Hale. 2 December 2003 link.

The Hive. 2003. A Pure-blooded, Well-trained Foxhound. 2 December 2003 link.

Jenkins, Henry. "Digital Land Grab." Technology Review. March/April 2000. 18 pars. 2 December 2003 link.

King, Laurie R. The Beekeeper's Apprentice. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.

Lichtarowicz, Ania. "Fans' Desires Swamp the Web." BBC News. 28 December 2002. 31 pars. 2 December 2003 link.

Moondaughter, Wolfen. "The Facts About Fan-fiction." Sequential Tart. December 2003. Sequential Tart. 2 December 2003 link.

Page, Laura. "Amazonian Bees." Email to the author. 24 November 2003.

Palladino, Beth. "What does The Hive mean to YOU?" Email to the author. 18 November 2003.

Pure-blooded, Well-trained Foxhound, A. Foxhound's Sherlockian Page. July 2001. 3 December 2003 link.

Pure-blooded, Well-trained Foxhound, A. "Re: for The Hive Master." Email to the author. 23 November 2003.

"A prim bun which would soften as the day went on." "Re: The Hive." Email to the author. 25 November 2003.

"Quite musical and curiously soothing." "The Hive and I." Email to the author. 23 November 2003.

"What a noble mind is here o'erthrown." "Thoughts on the Hive." Email to the author. 25 November 2003.

Endnotes

¹http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8950/russell/russell.htm

²Many of the RUSS-L members have "nom de plumes," or "noms" for short, which they list after their names in postings or as the authors of Hive stories. Noms can be any person, place, object, or quote from the Russell novels, or from the original Sherlock Holmes canon. They are used only for fun and do not reveal status within the group.

³http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8950/holmes/holmes.htm

⁴http://www3.sympatico.ca/mudthehut/beekeepr.html#russl

⁵A simple definition of "pastiche" is a story which emulates the style or uses the ideas of another author. Many fan fiction stories are called "pastiches" by this definition.

⁶"Flaming" online means sending angry, hateful, or offensive messages to other members of the community.