It all started with a book called "a terrible beauty" by the Canadian author "Nancy Baker". I don't exactly recall when my obsession with the night creatures began, but when I read on the cover that the book was a "good ol' fashioned vampire yarn" I knew I had to have it.

It was a very enjoyable read and if nothing else, it sharpened my taste for more in the subject. I went looking for her other books, also about vampires, but didn't have much of a luck finding them. I searched all local libraries and bookstores but some hadn't even heard of them. I was willing to try other vampire books-even got Ann Rice's latest-but none where in line with what I wanted to read about the seductive creatures of the night. Some books cast them as monsters, some as vermin, others gave them magical powers beyond regular earthly creatures, describing them more as wizards and even gods instead of shrouded individuals who were once human beings and presumably, still had embers of it inside of them.

After all else failed, I turned to the Internet. I remembered something about an old vampire cop show my dad and I used to watch occasionally. It was called "Forever Knight" and the reruns were aired Saturday and Sunday nights on one of the local channels. I never paid much attention to it in the past, not as I used to follow 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', the show that used to be the popular kid on the block those days. I loved the second season of BTVS with all the flashbacks and angst and the forbidden love between a lonely vampire and a mortal. Sadly, the third season deteriorated half way through, and I slowly began to lose interest as the show gradually began to lose its vampire-cored edge and moved more into the realm of freaks and monsters. I never finished the fourth season.

As I forwent the only drama on TV I liked, my attention was turned toward this little known Canadian series that slowly had turned into a Saturday night ritual between me and my dad whenever both of us were available. I started paying more attention. Oddly enough, it was what I had craved for, and more. Whatever had captured my interest in Buffy's second season was present here: more flashbacks, more angst, and a cute blond vampire as adorable as a teddy bear. The ritual of watching the show upon availability became a weekly custom. I was starting to like it, a lot.

Although my viewing pleasures were partly sated, I was still lacking in the reading quarters. When all failed in finding that perfect vampire book I thought about the Internet. Simply searching for vampire related fiction wasn't the right idea considering the thousands and possibly millions of pages that were out there regarding the subject. So I decided to narrow my search down by making it exclusive to a certain subject. The first thing that popped in my head was Forever Knight.

The first page I found was SciFi Channel's Forever Knight page that had a list of all episodes and a billboard for fans to chat on. At the same time I found the fanfic archives with over 2000 stories! My reading adventures had begun. During the coming months, I was delighted by a number of richly written stories--from Jean Graham's "judgment night" to Nancy Kaminski's "Crossroad"-and more interesting facts than I thought would be there about a small TV series. My imagination was fueled. I also started reading the billboard, delighted to know that there were still fans around. I explored the web for fan pages and all possible Forever Knight materials, found out about the factions and the wars, and learned much about the history of the fandom.

On December 2000, after I finished another dreadful school term, I finally joined the Scifi billboard as a member, the first FK related list I would join. Soon I made friends with many fans all across the globe. In February someone mentioned a mailing list on the board and I discovered ForKni-l, the main Forever knight mailing list, which I joined immediately. Figuring out my affiliations fast, I joined some of the smaller faction lists as well, including the ever so popular and appealing UF loop. I was starting to find some ground in the fandom. Throughout the time since I became a fan, I met some of my best friends through the fandom and had many enjoyable experiences, including playing in a war and even a mini-war on SciFi's board initiated by me, and a trip to San Diego to meet some of the coolest fans of the show at a gathering. I wrote my first real novel in 2001 about Forever Knight.

It was all like a journey, from the day I did that first search, to this day, that I'm creating my first personal website. The people I've met during this ride, the knowledge I gained, the enjoyment and excitement I've had discovering it all and playing it all, is something I'm glad I didn't have to miss out. It makes me think how sometimes one watches something on TV and it ends after the hour is past. And how in other times, on the same old tube you discover something that transcends that hour of relaxed enjoyment and makes its way into becoming the adventure of a lifetime.

~Sunny