If you've watched every episode of U.N.C.L.E. and are still hungry for more, you're not alone. Fans have been intrigued by the questions of what happened to the characters in between the filmed Affairs, what their personal lives were like, how the characters met, how U.N.C.L.E. all began and Solo, Waverly and Kuryakin became part of it all, what were they like before they joined U.N.C.L.E., and what happened after the series ended. These questions have been affectionately debated among fans for years, with about the same amount of postulations and theories as there are fan fiction writers.

The first U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction probably appeared during the series original run, but experienced its first real rush of wide spread popularity around the time of The Return Movie in the early 1980's. Things quieted down after a few years, with only a small number of stories and novellas being published. About 10 years later (around the time of the first cable showings of the series) interest was revived with the new editions of the popular anthology series Kuryakin Files, among others, and the appearance of some of U.N.C.L.E.'s best loved writers within their pages. Good writing begat more good writing, and U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction has fostered and encouraged some of the best in fandom, where it now ranks among the most popular series covered in fan fiction writing. No mean feat, either, this show has been out of prime time since 1968.

The world of U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction is available both on the Internet and in print.

GLOSSARY

• Fan Fiction Terms
  The world of fan fiction has generated its own vocabulary. Check out Ellen Druda's cheat sheet if you ever find yourself wondering about what a term means!

WRITING U.N.C.L.E. FAN FICTION
Here's some resources that both aspiring and experienced U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction writers will find useful:

• Writing U.N.C.L.E - First Aid and Comfort
  Part I of C.W. Walker's WRITING U.N.C.L.E. article, focusing on books on the art of writing.
• Writing U.N.C.L.E - Research : Basic Equipment
  Part II provides an indispensible list of published sources for everything an U.N.C.L.E. writer needs to know - from weapons to spy talk!
• Two Thumbnail Sketches of Napoleon ad Illya
  You are writing a story and need to find out the name of Napoleon's commanding officer in Korea. Unless you want to wait until TNT airs "The Secret Sceptre Affair" again, go read Theresa Kyle's wonderful article that basically tells you everything you ever want to know about Napoleon and Illya!
• Channel W Mailing List
  Channel W is a forum for U.N.C.L.E. writers to discuss all aspects of U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction writing. Non-writers are also known to lurk!

U.N.C.L.E. FAN FICTION

• Canon to Fanon
  Pat Foley explores the progression from canon to fanon in U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction.

FAN FICTION IN GENERAL

• Jane Mortimer's Collection of Essays on Fan Fiction
  An external link to the "Short Stories and Essays of Jane Mortimer's". She has written a number of thought-provoking articles on fan fiction.
• In Defense of Slash
  Kris Larsen has written an excellent essay analyzing the theory behind fan fiction and fandom, with a thoughtful exposition of the "slash" phenomenon. The article has an academic bent and a bibliography is included if you are interested in finding out how others who study fanfom and fan fiction have addressed this controversial topic. She welcomes your feedback via email.