Thursday Next-fan fiction

I'll hopefully have a real post tomorrow, but I thought I'd give a brief update about One of our Thursdays Is Missing. It was awesome. If you've read any Jasper Fforde at all, know that this is up to par, and if you haven't read any, and you like books at all, you need to go to the bookstore/library, pick up The Eyre Affair and get reading!

OooTIM takes place almost entirely in the BookWorld, so there's a lot of fun book things there, including Fanfiction Island. That's where there's a brief mention of Doctor Who:

Fforde also seemingly gives his opinion of fanfiction:

"Fan Fiction isn't copying--it's a celebration. One long party, from the first capital latter to the last period!"

"I never thought of that."

"Few do--especially the authors who should really accept the praise with better grace. They're a bunch of pompous fatheads, really--no slur intended."

I like the analogy to a celebration--people write fan fiction because they
love the characters and want to see more--who cares if it's good or bad.
Obviously authors can't read it, for legal reasons, but I'm not quite sure why
some vehemently object so much. I can understand being weirded out by the way
your characters are treated, but it's a free country. Take the flattery and move
on.

What do you think about fan fiction? Have you ever written any? Would you be
flattered if someone did someday?