I've been writing stories since I learned how to put letters on paper. I've also been an avid reader and in recent years, gone mainly for historical fiction, especially books that cover hundreds of pages. That way, I can travel to some other era and stay there for a really long time. People generally write what they like to read, or so they say, and my writing follows that line. I currently have three novels and one volume of short stories on Amazon and an Author Page on Facebook under the pen name of Carolyn E. Cook. My stories exist within wide backdrops of eras ranging from the 1850's to the 1970's and touching large events such as the Civil War, the influenza pandemic of 1918, the Great Depression, and the JFK assassination.

Long ago and far away when I was a kid, I used to watch reruns of the thirty-minute Gunsmoke episodes and sometimes I'd catch one of the then-current color ones. Just this year, I discovered the reruns again on TV and found that I appreciate those stories and characters on a completely different level. In joining a Gunsmoke forum, I learned about this concept of Fan Fiction, a new thing to me. I read a bunch of other writers' stories and liked them all. What a great idea, to fill in the gaps with much-loved characters or create new plots for them to navigate. And all done for the sheer enjoyment of it, nothing more.

When I wrote my first fanfic, I had no plans to take it further, but that Gunsmoke writing bug really took hold and I've written three more. They all follow each other, though I uploaded them as individual stories, mainly because I wrote them at different times. Hindsight, I should have at least numbered them, so readers could get the story in order. Here's how they go:

1. A Few Words Upon the Occasion of the Funeral for Miss Kitty Russell

2. The Dodge City Social or Truth Can Be a Brutal Friend

3. The Shooting Lesson or How to Be a Crack Shot

4. Nurse's Training or Sheriffs Should Mind Their Own Business

Update: All subsequent chapters have been uploaded as part of The Autobiography of Miss Kitty Russell, which is now up to Chapter 9.