Every fanfic writer starts out by reading.

Then the idea forms.--I could do this.

Here are some of the authors who inspired us from the beginning and continue to inspire us today.

Some are 'famous.' Some will be new to you. Spend some clicking time, and enjoy.

Barbara D writes polished gems of Mulder and Scully interaction. Stories like "Ars Domesticatus" and "Stakeout Through the Heart" capture their relationship in perfect, nuanced dialogue. She combines wit and angst with apparent effortlessness. Most recently she's produced a different kind of story---the incredible, funny, sad, convoluted, happy "There's No Place Like Home!" Clearly Barbara has a lot more to say, and if we're lucky, she'll share it.--Branwell

From "Stakeout Through the Heart"--
"He was staring out the passenger side window again. '"Maybe I'm the
opposite of you, Scully. Maybe you grew up learning how to leave... And
I grew up learning how to be left.'"

Finn was assigned to me from the Beta Reader's Circle and it was a very fortuitous meeting. I've had the pleasure of having a front row seat on her exciting growth as a writer. She has such a sweet, romantic style that will melt you in your chair. --bugs

bugs--Susanne's clear, clean style grabs me with every story. I actually shiver with excitement when I see she's posted another story. She's one person who's vignettes I'll eat like ice cream, such as the tension-filled, sob-inducing, 'Gun.' But don't consider her one of those above all the baser instincts writers, *g*, she's just so much better at delivering the smut than some of us. I can still remember reading 'Hot Shower,' and wondering if my eyes had burned out of my head.

Looky here...from Senses: Finale--

I see her opened up wide for me, smell her truth, hear her voice calling me. Rapture is feeling every ounce of her power captured in that one small hidden part of her that vibrates on my tongue and quivers with need--when the taste of her merges with all the other parts of her to build a tsunami of sensory stimulation that threatens me with my own self-destruction. Fill up my senses? She engulfs me. I become more than myself. More than her.

Classy smut, I love it!

And I writhe in envy at the amazing stream of consciousness she pulled off for Scully in 'Stripped.' --

I absolutely must be fucked and I wish he would hurry up and eat me--I mean touch me--and touch me over and over and over until the cows come home or at least until I do and then Mulder looks up from studying my body and looks into
my eyes and I see the cows coming home in a big way, and I know
then that I could laugh for the next thousand years out of sheer joy
at this moment and all of my thoughts zoom around in my brain and
I can't really catch any of them and I end up saying only one word.

"Mulder."

Rachel Howard has blessed us with casefiles, short stories, and purely entertaining MSRs. She made me care about Krycek's well-being, through the sheer power of story-telling and realistic characterization, in "Above Rubies." Her "Show" and "Ask About the Weather" are astonishing in their pithy, perfectly realized first-person narratives. Rachel and Karen Rasch co-wrote my all-time favorite casefile "Antidote."--Branwell
From "Show"--

"Scully? I really, I don't..." I pause. "Thank you. For coming to bail me
out tonight. Thanks."
"Welcome," she says, and in the dim light from the hallway, I can see
her eyes directed somewhere across the room.
"Scully?" I know I sound desperate. I am desperate.

Do I need to say anything more than "Journal 1999"? This
remarkable story weaves post-colonization events and romance into a narrative you won't want to put down. The vivid images and the humanity of the characters will startle you. But there are many more treats to be enjoyed at MD1016's site. Among them is "Cheapened Things," a classic of angst and NC-17 romance between two flawed people.--Branwell

From "Journal 1999"
"Mulder drew Scully close as he scanned the black and green boiling
clouds that darkened the morning sky. The gusts of wind that Scully
hadn't even noticed died instantly, their absence painfully obvious.
The ground continued to shake. 'Mulder,' she screamed above the din,
'what's happening?'. . . . Scully held her breath and was just able to
make out the words between warm wet puffs of air. 'Scully...God.
It's begun.'"

Katy has mastered a subtle style that portrays the characters with all the intelligence, flaws and conflicts that make them fascinating. She shows us all the myriad obstacles that have made it so difficult for Mulder and Scully to connect emotionally. They hurt each other, but they never give up. "Absence of a Heartbeat" is especially gripping in its urgency and realism. "Infinitesimal Illumination" is a remarkably subtle account of their mutual
revelation of their most defining moments. --Branwell

From "Absence of a Heartbeat"
His eyes had protective tape over them. Little discs of white.
Only his ears were unobstructed. He was barely recognizable
as a human being, let alone Mulder. The sight could not have been
more welcome to her. She sat in a chair provided by one of the
nurses and tentatively touched his hand. Maybe he could hear her,
if nothing else.

I'm so happy that Karen is back and sharing her talent with us again. The first memorable fan fiction I read was "No Greater Love."I still go back to it and refresh myself with Karen's vision of Mulder and Scully's partnership. Karen also wrote the NC-17 rated "Words" series, including the now completed "Words to Live By." She also co-wrote "Antidote" with Rachel Howard---a triumph of casefile and romance I cannot recommend too highly. Her latest, "Love in Wartime," gives us a view of a post-colonization world from Karen's unique point of view. --Branwell

From "Words to Live By"
". . .she wedged herself against him so her shoulder fit snugly
between his arm and torso, her bound hands touching his hip, her
cheek resting against his collarbone. Lashes lowered now in total
exhaustion, she began to push against his chin with the top of her
head. Rhythmically. Like a needy feline begging for attention."

CazQ writes vignettes and stories using lyrical prose that
admits the reader to a beautiful world. Every sensation can
be savored, from the delicate scent of kitchen herbs to the
ache of thin, icy mountain air. My favorite is "Furious Winter."
You should know that it takes the reader to a mighty pinnacle,
of angst, but it is a beautiful evocation of Mulder's emotions in
a truly changed world. The "Night Treasures" vignettes will
warm your heart again. --Branwell

From "The Long, Lowering Hour"--
"Shadow pools in the hollow of her eye, beneath the brow-bone,
a startlingly lovely contrast to the thin gold-plating of light over
the gentle curve of her eyelid. He could look at that light and
that darkness lying so softly over her closed eye for hours."

Alicia's joy and fun in writing shows up in her breezy style, if you don't count her angsty post-colonization piece. LOL! --bugs

frogdoggie writes something for everyone, MSR, slash, long, winding tales, and short, yummy erotic tidbits. He has a very distinct, visceral style that scares the shit out of some people, and makes many more very happy. His site is a collective with two other authors, so enjoy them all while you're there.--bugs

Khyber brings a world-weary air to our heros and their universe that I find very appealing. And, sexist statement ahead: I love my boy-written smut. It's certainly a different, angle *g* than we're used to seeing. Khyber has written one of the hottest pieces of smut, ever, 'Day 17'. --bugs

Sarah writes stories that mesh closely with the canon. She builds them with all the details that pull the reader, in happy collusion, into a coherent universe. Sarah's Mulder and Scully are strong, mature, and intelligent, but they're far from perfect. An intimate relationship between two such adults will not be easily arrived at. And it will definitely have a humorous side for those with an eye for the incongruous. Read her "A Less Certain World" and "Out of Our Minds"---the latter co-written with Haphazard Method---for brilliant takes on Mulder and Scully's world after the events of "Biogenesis" and "Amor Fati" respectively. Her "Operation Clean House" is the most memorable vignette I've ever read. --Branwell

From "Operation Clean House"
"She thinks of a hallway, and a bee, and what
never came to pass. No regrets, Dana, not now.
Take consolation in the fact that you will see him
again in the next life."

I met Diana through a beta hook up too. Boy, that was an easy assignment! LOL! She's another writer with a strong grasp of her characterization, careful plotting and mature style. She's shows a strong appreciation of Mulder in her stories, which I always welcome. --bugs

I tell Sharon, they come for the case files and stay for the smut. She writes some of the tightest case files on in the XF fic world and quite simply some of the most realistic, funniest, and hottest smut for our Mulder and Scully. Lucky dogs. --bugs

An IM conversation:

Ambress: Rachel Anton is the Queen of Smut
Ambress: She is alternatively funny, sexy, and she is always smart.
Ambress: I would read the phone book if she wrote it.
Ambress: She can make me believe anything, even against my will.
Ambress: Howzat?
Ambress: She is alternatively funny and sexy, and she is always smart.
bugs: I like hte phone book line.
Ambress: What, and the rest is crap?
bugs: because she does take situations that you think would never work and make it
work.
Ambress: Well what do you expect
bugs: NO, I was mearly highlighting a comment. <g>
bugs: I'm thinking of 3 months
Ambress: ummm
bugs: whoda thunk that could work?
Ambress: When I first read 3 Months on Gossamer, I knew I had struck gold.