My two cents on the matter of putting yourself in a fanfic:

   Contrary to popular belief: it isn't always a bad thing. The problem is
a tendancy to inflate oneself (see Misadventures for the most promient
example I know of) into a allmighty, unflappable hunk of ego.
   BUT, careful writing can avoid this pitfall. Ultimatly, self-insertion
can be a valid technique. Some rules of thumb follow:

1. - DO NOT make yourself any kind of fighter. Even if you happen to be a
black belt in RL (I dabble in Escrima, myself), make your fictional avatar
totally unskilled.

2. - DO NOT have yourself walk out of the fic feeling glad the whole thing
happened. Even if the characters fail to make your life miserable, don't
write it as a good experience.

3. - DO NOT use yourself as a deus ex machina, a solver of problems.

4. - DO NOT form any serious relationships with a character.

5. - The whole genre of self-insertion is best done as a comedy, better as
a parody, and poorly as drama.

Of course, there are exceptions to all of the above rules.

Erin - If you don't finish TGACFH, I will personally hunt you down and
kill you. PUT YOURSELF IN, the tone of the fic makes it very appropriate.

Mr. Ji - *sigh* Don't make it a lemon. I really mean that. I've never
flamed an individual in my life, and I'd really hate to start now.

- Mike of No Particular Title or Handle
===/\=====+==================================================================
  /  \    l   Mike Loader - Lincolnite, Amberite, Illuminatus, Discordian,
 / () \   l      Journalist, Author, Traveler, Historian, Java Fiend.
/      \  l        Trier - LA - LV - Kiev - Reno - Hong Kong. Fnord.
--------  l                    mloader@scs.unr.edu
==========+==================================================================