WRFA - Author Interviews [Diebin]

Question: Is there anything you'd like to share about yourself? (i.e. your location, hobbies, etc) (submitted by Sez)

Answer: *g* Share about me, huh? Well, let's see. I'm a geek. :) That's pretty much the best way to sum me up. I spent the first eleven years of my life in a town of 50 people, so there was really nothing to do but play outside by myself and read. Thanks to those two activities, I developed something of an overactive imagination. Then one day I stumbled across Mercedes Lackey (I believe I was twelve at the time) and my downward spiral into a Sci-Fi/Fantasy nut started.

And since that day it's pretty much been one of the defining characteristics of being me.

Aside from that, I live in California with my equally Fangrrlish roommate, and enjoy it immensely.

Question: How long have you been writing and what made you decide to start writing fan fic? (submitted by various)

Answer: Well let's see. I think the first story I clearly remember was typed up on my family's Commodore 64 when I was seven years old. It was about a Squirrel who pretended he was psychic and got himself in trouble with all the other animals in the forest by scamming them and stealing all of their money. *g* Pretty much from that point on I was writing all the time. When I was eleven we got our first copy of Microsoft Works and that sealed my fate.

As far as fanfiction goes--I always say that I have three distinct Fanfic phases. Phase One was when I sat around typing up baaaaad stories based on Mercedes Lackey--stories that I'm pretty sure I have finally destroyed all of the disks for. Of course, at that point I didn't know that what I was doing had a name. :) Phase Two was when I joined the Dragonriders of Pern club (when it was quite small, back in 1996 or so) and participated in the RPG. Once again, I didn't know that what I was doing was most likely fanfiction.

Then came the fateful day when I was crusin' the internet at work in June of 1999 and stumbled across a little page that went by the name of Star Wars Chicks. I joined the mailing list within the day, and two days later had started work on my first Official Fanfiction.

A good hundred and then some stories later . . . here I am. :)

Question: Do you have any writing experience in other fandoms or outside of fan fiction? (submitted by various)

Answer: Outside of fanfic--I can honestly say that I've never really written anything I liked. :) As I stated on my 'about me' page . . . I'm a lazy person at heart, and I find the introduction of characters to be a tiresome process at which I am no good. So I let someone else introduce them, and then I make them do crazy things.

As far as other fandoms--Star Wars is my first and greatest love. I've also written exactly two other stories, both as favors to a friend. One very depressing one for 'Ever After' and one equally depressing one for 'Gladiator'. So far, X-Men and Star Wars are the only movies that have really grabbed me.

Question: You've written angst, foof, humor, smut, etc, and some great combos of them all. Do you have a favourite? Any particular style more difficult to write? (submitted by various)

Answer: It depends a great deal on what mood I'm in, silly as that may sound. If I'm in a dark and brooding mood, I find humor very difficult to write, although for some reason I seem to be able to write angst whenever I want. Smut on the other hand . . . well I used to write smut more than anything else, and I think I got a little burned out on it. I have very large problems getting it to work these days . . . And since I know I can't compete with my beloved smut goddess Nacey, I gladly leave the field to her.

So I think angst is my favorite. Plus, the biggest rush in the world is when I get a letter from someone who read one of my stories and tell me that it made them think about life or humanity or even pizza in a different way. *grins*

Question: Series or stand-alones? Which do you prefer? Is one more difficult than the other? (submitted by various)

Answer: I think series are easy to write. Once you get your mind set in a certain way, with a certain storyline and characterization, it's really easy to run with it and keep it going. Plus it saves a lot of work writing backstory and building up . . . because you can have one story playing off of another one. But because of how easy it is, I try not to do it any more than I have to.

Writing a story that stands on its own is much more difficult--but I like the challenge. And because I'm much more likely to read stand alones, I tend to be more likely to try to write them as well. (Plus I know how easily distracted I am, and it's not very nice to start a series and not finish it. *g*)

Question: You've written a couple of stories/series in collaboration with Donna. How is it different writing something with a partner? Better, worse, more challenging? (submitted by Diane)

Answer: It's interesting. Of course, as far as it goes . . . Donna really can't be considered a partner. :) She's really a carbon copy of me, so when I'm writing with Donna it's really very easy to know where the story should go--because I know that whatever I would write is probably what she would write too. Of course, this can also be disconcerting--seeing a story that she has written to go along with one of my own that was exactly what I had planned to write. But on the other hand, it's great to have someone to bounce ideas off of who knows exactly what I want to do--sometimes she can clarify an idea that I can't quite wrap my head around.

When Jenn wrote a sequel to my story 'Murder of One' . . . I have to say that I was totally blown away. Jenn took the story from an entirely different angle, opened up possibilities that I'd hardly known where there. In that sense, it was a complete learning experience for me--and thanks to her I've had a lot of new ideas about the story itself. She's even got me half convinced that the story needs a happy ending. *eg*

Question: Do you ever get blocked? If so, how do you get out of it? (submitted by Victoria P.)

Answer: I get blocked a lot. For me, writing is not a very analytical process. I know some people who plan out a story and know where it's going and what's going to happen before they even start to write it. For me, writing is all a very instinctual thing. Most of my stories start with a line that I can't get out of my head, or a scene I really want to see. For example, the entire story 'Murder of One' was pulled out of nowhere because I wanted to use the line "You can't have him, but I can be him . . . for a price."

So it's very frustrating for me because I really can't write unless I'm in a writing mood. And I never know what will put me in that mood--a funny show on TV, a phone call from my parents, my roommate making a random comment . . . I can't predict what will set me off.

So I guess I'm not very good for providing cures to writer's block. If anyone knows one, I'd love to hear it. *g*

Question: Do you use beta readers? If so, do you find them useful? (submitted by Sez)

Answer: Ahhhh. Beta readers. *g* I find them very useful . . . however I have problems using them because of just how random my writing is. When a story gets ahold of me, I usually write it all in one sitting and send it out before I've even really checked it over. Which is a bad example to set, because I know I'm not the best in the world at catching little typos. *g*

Although I don't really use official beta readers (with the exception of the lovely Kawwy, who puts up with me and my GambitIdiocy by explaining in small, easily understood words anything I ever wanted to know about the Cajun) I do end up having my friends read my fiction before I post it. The AngstGrrls are my screening panel--before I post anything I usually show it to a few of them and say "How scary is this?" If they say it isn't too scary . . . I post it. *g*

And this is probably a good place to thank the people without whom I would have stopped writing W/R a long time ago--the people who ask to see my stories and encourage me to finish them: Donna, Melly, Nacey, Gowdie, Jenn, Jenilou, Molly, Shana, and Kara. Without these ladies, I would have been done for maaaanny stories ago--but they make my sensless blatherings into stories that are almost worth reading. *g*

Question: Do you have any favourite authors? (submitted by Sez)

Answer: Even though I think this might have meant 'Do you have any favorite fanfic authors' I'm going to take it the wrong way and talk about my favorite original authors. :) (There are so many fabulous fanfic authors, I wouldn't know where to begin or how to end!) [ Sez's note: well, actually, I meant either ]

Orson Scott Card and Anne Bishop are two of my favorite authors of all times. Although I have so many authors that I adore, these two are among the best of the best. Melanie Rawn and Frank Herbert come in close behind them. I was addicted to McCaffrey and Lackey as a child, as well as Tamora Pierce and Madeline L'Engle. And then, of course, is Vonnegut and Heinlein. And . . uhh . . . well, Bradbury I was always fond of too. And Eddings. And Jordan.

I read a book a week. So it's hard to keep up with me. :)

Question: Among your own stories, what are your favourites, and why? (submitted by various)

Answer: For some strange reason, I have always been irrationally fond of 'On Tuesdays'. That story seemed to flow as I was writing it, although in the beginning Rogue's POV was not a part of it, which made it much darker. 'Agony and Ecstasy' was a very difficult story to write, and I still feel that I didn't do justice to the end . . . but I'm proud that I managed to finish it.

And of course 'Cupid Doesn't Wear Leather' was probably the most fun I've ever had writing a story, except for maybe 'Every Noisy Inch'. I remember when I was writing it, and had Nacey in my IM window feeding me all these hysterical lines that Rogue was supposed to scream--and I was thinking "These will never come together in a story!" But they certainly managed to somehow.

Question: What do you enjoy most about writing fan fic in general, and W/R fan fic in particular? (submitted by Diane)

Answer: I love writing for writing, for the most part. Fanfiction is just an illusion to make me think that my writing is accomplishing something. *g* For some reason, it's much easier for me to rationalize spending two hours writing a story to share with other people than it is to sit around just writing it to sit on my hard drive.

And yes, I admit, the feedback is addictive. *smiles* Anyone who says that it isn't is lying, because there's nothing more uplifting than opening your e-mail after a hard day of real life and finding a great letter from someone who thinks you're swell. It never fails to make my day.

As for W/R in particular . . . I love the people. They're friendly, fun, enthusiastic, and prolific. I'm astounded at the size of the WRFA, frankly . . . and am impressed. Keep it up, lovelies!

Question: Would you mind explaining a bit about exactly what was going on in "It Was Love" and "Living in Stereotypes"? (submitted by Diane)

Answer: Aaaah. Boy, I've gotten this one more than once. :)

'It Was Love' was inspired by, of all things, a cheesy line in an Anime movie. I was watching it for the umpteenth time and chatting with Jenn at the same time, and since I had Logan on the brain, the line 'You were born to belong to me' suddenly took on a whole different meaning. And I watched the poor little Anime chick on the screen slump over all confused about being wanted and not knowing if it was good or not--and something in my brain just clicked over. I wrote the story in about 7 minutes, and spent a few hours chewing on my nails trying to figure out what it meant. (If Molly hadn't been around to tell me that yes, it did mean something, I probably would never have posted it.)

To me, it's a story about how scary love can be--and how sometimes even if you want it, you don't want to lose that much of yourself to someone else.

'Living in Stereotypes' was a story about the wonderful power of denial. I'm always amazed by the stunning lies that the human brain is capable of--and how well it can fool itself sometimes. It was also an attempt to deal respectfully with a very delicate subject matter--the defense mechanisms a victim can pull up after dealing with emotional or physical assault. Some scars are visible--others surface in strange ways.

Of course, I've found that my views on stories hardly ever echo the opinions of the people who read them. :) And in a way, that's good. If you walk away from reading one of my stories thinking about anything . . . even if it's nothing to do with what I intended . . . at least it means that I got someone thinking. And that's a really good feeling. :)

Question: Are you still working (hopefully) on "Fate Gone Astray"? (submitted by Diane)

Answer: *g* I am indeed working on it. However, it has been replaced as first on my list by a story I've been working on for almost as long--my first (and hopefully only) true epic. If I can just get that one out of the way, I'll be one happy 'shipper.

Question: Having written quite a few stories, what have you found (if anything) is the worst/most difficult aspect about writing in this 'shipperdom? (submitted by Diane)

Answer: Cliche. When I started writing W/R (a looong time ago) there were very few other movie-based W/R stories out there. The only one I saw before I wrote the first Compass Points story was Melissa's 'Almost a Woman' . . . so I really had an open playing field. Quite literally, almost nothing had been done before. So I ran off and merrily tried to do everything.

These days we've got a thriving fandom, last time I checked the WRFA was approaching 600 stories. So now the challenge is to do something new, something that no one else has done before. And unfortunately, I've found this is making me reach for darker and more disturbing stories, maybe because my mind just tends to swing that way. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and realize that we need more humour in the fandom. That'd be a nice change, eh?

Question: Which secondary character do you enjoy writing/including in your stories the most? (submitted by Diane)

Answer: You know, as of now I don't really have one that is my favorite. Though thanks to Nancy, I have a rather active Jubilee running around my head babbling about the color Yellow. ;) I find writing Scott the least stressful, I think, because of all the non-loganrogue characters in the movie, he was the one whose characterization seemed firmest to me. Storm, frankly, wasn't characterized that I could tell--and Jean seemed confused. And I have a total fear of writing Gambit, mostly because (I know this sounds silly) I can't get a handle on that darn accent, and a Gambit that doesn't talk really doesn't advance the plot much.

Question: Which characters do you a) find easiest to write, and b) find is the hardest to write, and for what reasons? (submitted by Victoria P.)

Answer: It was Logan at first. For some reason, everything I tried to write always came out in Logan instead of in English. For some strange reason I understood him and his motivations and his fears and I was just addicted to writing him. Almost all of my earlier stories are from Logan's POV, because he is a characterization that I usually manage to keep very consistent. There are shades to his character, of course, but all in all Logan is Logan is Logan. (I believe it was Jennifer who also noted this in her interview.)

I didn't like writing Rogue at first, because I hadn't settled on a characterization for her. I have her young and naive, young and bitter, young and compassionate, young and twisted, old and pissed off, damaged, broken, fixed, strong, weak, crazy . . . it's like the variable in any story I write is how Rogue acts. :) And that is usually the hardest part of writing a story for me--trying to figure out who Rogue is in the story and keep her that same Rogue. (I'd hate to have MilkshakesRogue meet MurderofOneRogue . . . they wouldn't get on well at all.)

Question: Any character or story that you think has been neglected by authors in the fandom? (submitted by Elisa)

Answer: Yes. I think Jean has been neglected. I really, honestly do. As W/R 'Shippers, a lot of us (myself included) seem to feel very threatened by Jean as a rival for Logan's love, and therefore we tend to paint her in a less than generous light. This is also a vicious circle--we read other fic that makes her a mean person so we hate her more and then we make her even worse in our next fic, until Jean is doing more harm to the X-Men than Magneto ever could.

Part of my problem with the idea of an inconsiderate Jean comes from my Star Wars and Fantasy days, I think. :) I just can't see a telepath being so completely oblivious to the world around her--because even if she doesn't know what other people are thinking, she is certainly going to get all the negative emotions that come flooding from all directions when she says or does something hurtful. So I'm advocating a nicer, gentler Jean--one who only is the bad guy when she's got a reason to be. :)

Question: How do you get into Logan's head so well? (submitted by Victoria P.)

Answer: *laughs* Do I do it well? I never am sure . . . usually I'm worried that I'm doing the man a huge injustice. As far as that goes--Donna and I have a theory. We have decided that we are Logan (only I think she said that sometimes I'm Rogue too, which must make for an interesting party inside my head). I think that comes from the fact that I've never been shy about admitting that I'm very much the CutLooseAndRun type . . . which is something I'm sure I need to work on. :) But I understand the need to get the heck out before you hurt someone, and the need to make sure that no one can own you or hurt you. And that's really the foundations that I built my Logan on. If he's a good Logan, well then that makes my day.

Question: Which part during the movie/comic book/cartoon did you realise that W/R should have more than a friendly relationship? (submitted by Siale)

Answer: *g* I was determined not to see the movie. I remember saying clearly to my ComicBoyFanatic Best Friend that I had no intention of sitting through a scary adaptation--and heck, it couldn't beat Mystery Men, could it?

Two of my best friends from the Star Wars fandom talked me into going. Shana blathered on and on about Cyclops and how fine he was (I do love her, even if she has the strangest taste in men.) Caeryn was more to the point, informing me that I had to go, if for no other reason than to goggle at Wolverine's leather encased backside.

So I took my grandmother to the theatre (she insisted on seeing what us young pups were watching these days.) We only made it half way through the movie before Sabertooth scared her right out of the theatre. (She informed me that he was quite unpleasant and didn't seem to be a very nice man.) Frustrated that I hadn't gotten to enjoy the movie (and Logan and his leather) as I should, I went home only to find that Shana had already sent me links to fanfiction pages. I clicked on a link, read Melissa Flores' "Almost a Woman" and was primed and ready when I went back to see the movie again the next night.

The minute she walked into that bar--I became a 'Shipper. :)

Though for the record, I should state that I've worn out the Statue of Liberty track on my roommate's DVD already. *g*

Question: What is it you enjoy/like about the L/R 'ship? (submitted by Sez)

Answer: The pain and the hope. The jaded cynical man finding something that makes him smile in a girl who life hasn't beaten down yet no matter how hard it has tried. The Statue of Liberty scene--which to me is the reason I'm a 'shipper . . . anything else I can pass off as affection and brotherly love . . . but most places I've been it's darn near illegal to hold your sister like he's got himself wrapped around her there.

I love the variety of fiction, too. How many different types of stories we get from all kinds of different people. And we're so friendly. *g* I can't say I don't love that.

Question: Is there any character in the X-Men that you find particularly interesting? (submitted by Elisa)

Answer: Predictable as it seems: Rogue. Rogue is endlessly entertaining for me. The endless ways that she could deal with her powers, her landlady status for all those surly live-in's she's got in her head . . . I love how adaptable her character is. I especially would like to see some stories dealing with maybe a little more of the comic-y beginnings of Rogue, and the fact that her allegiance was not always with the ones we like to call the good guys.

Aside from Rogue . . . I adore Magneto. Maybe because I can see his point of view almost too easily sometimes . . .

Question: If you were ordering a Logan clone, would it be the slightly (but reluctant) mushy, whipped Logan, or a growling, prowling, bad-ass Logan? (submitted by Sez)

Answer: Much as I love my bad-ass Logan . . . chances are we wouldn't mesh very well. :) Being an overly aggressive female as it is, I think the first time I kneed him or kicked him or elbowed him would probably spell my death on the end of his claws. (Unfortunately for me, without Rogue's powers I don't get second chances.) Not to mention the fact that I'd probably verbally abuse him and get myself into all sorts of trouble.

So as long as he's RELUCTANT about it . . . I'll take the slightly whipped version. (He can still growl and prowl, right?)