I'll be 31 next month - July 15. Put it on your calendars. *g*

I love to read [favorite authors include Faulkner, Ellroy, Vachss, TR Pearson - I've got more unread books sitting in my living room than ought to be legal for one person].

I'm a huge sports fan - Rangers [hockey], Mets [baseball], Giants [football] and Knicks [basketball]. I also love music - Bruce Springsteen, U2, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, 80s alternative stuff - I have a huge CD collection and love making mix tapes [or CDs now, I guess] for people.

I like to hang out with my nieces and nephews -- 3 nieces and 2 nephews -- they range in age from born just two weeks ago to 11 years old.

Other fictive obsessions include Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Homicide: Life on the Street, and The West Wing. I also love The Sopranos, though I think it was weaker this season, and I've still got a soft spot for the X-Files.

If you're interested, there's a picture of me out there on the 'net [which should disturb me more than it does] at http://hellmouthcafe.com/denizens/victoria.jpg - my hair is shorter now, but all else remains the same.

My mother says I've been telling stories since I could talk, so writing is just an extension of that. I can't imagine *not* doing it.

I think I began writing fan fiction in my head as a child - when I read "Little Women" and Jo didn't marry Laurie. I was scarred by that. That was just *wrong*, so in my head, I had to make it right.

Much later on, a friend and I tried to write a story based on "Interview with a Vampire." Oh, man, that was such a Mary Sue. How embarrassing to think about it now - her name was Jasmine, she was dying, and Louis fell in love with her and offered to vamp her, but she was noble and didn't want to live forever like that, so she said no. ::shudder::

I tried writing Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fic, but couldn't get the voices down. I've still got an Angel fic I started last summer. Now that I've gotten more secure in my writing abilities, I'm hoping to finish it. It's a comic "La Ronde" type of thing, almost.

Then I saw X-Men: The Movie. Oh good god, I was hooked. Kate Bolin [goddess of fic!] directed me toward "Safety in Numbers" by Elizabeth, and "Distinction" by Molly, and Kielle's movieverse archive at subreality. I was in heaven. Then I was home sick a couple of days last August, and I couldn't get this scene out of my head -- how I thought Logan would come home and what his conversation with Rogue would be. Thus was "Enough for Now" born.

And I haven't looked back.

After writing X-Men stuff, I've been able to finish a few Buffyfics, three of which I think are pretty good. I'm also working on a BtVS/X-Men crossover, but who knows when it'll ever be done. All I can say is, sparks fly between various members of each group.

I occasionally write Buffy or Angel fic. I'm a huge Xanderista, and also a Cordy/Angel shipper. That's it, though. I'm trying to figure out Aaron Sorkin's dialogue style so I can write some West Wing Josh/Donna fic.

Here's this man who's only half-a-person, he can't remember most of his life, he's got these horrible physical reminders of this *thing* that was done to him -- this violation of his body, and he's living hand-to-mouth, never caring about anything or anyone but himself.

And there's this girl who can never touch another living being again. So she's been betrayed by her body.

Somehow they come together, and it's so poignant and perfect that she gets under his skin, as it were, and he gets into her head.

And they just deal with it. There's no histrionics -- no "We must - but we can't - but we must!" like other epic/tragic couples [Buffy/Angel comes to mind here ].

You may notice that I rarely write Rogue as being able to control her power -- to me, it's integral to the character, that lack of control. Both she and Logan have had their situations thrust upon them, and they have to handle what life has dealt them. How they handle it is what really interests me.

I think that's one of the reasons I think Scott/Rogue works, too -- that inability to control their gift.

The chemistry between Paquin and Jackman didn't hurt, either.

Each day, I look at the files in Word and see which one inspires me. There's a point in every story where it will suddenly take over and almost write itself. Getting to that point is the hard part, so I write a few lines on Hooker!Rogue, work on the next Achin' to Be, etc. until that point hits with one of the stories and that moves to the top of the list.

Sometimes I'll see something on television -- "Their Little Game" came from an episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

Sometimes other fic inspires me. Shana's "Prefect Ring of Scars" and Sare's "No Secret at All" gave rise to "Things Change" - I'd been rereading those two fics, and suddenly Rogue had to tell her version of the L/R/S/J story.

"My Time Is Gonna Come" grew out of my distaste for Jean's arrogance in "All of the Animals" by Jane St Clair - it's a hot S/L fic, but I was terribly vexed by Jean. So I had to fix that in my own head.

Reading is also good. I'm slowly working my way through the cliché plots of the romance novel genre. And fairy tales.

Random things people say can get me started. "Inside Me" was written because my betas and I were discussing how much of Rogue would still be Rogue if Logan kept touching her to heal her. And how much was he in love with her, or was he in love with the idea of molding her and turning her into an extension of him?

Do I think Logan's that much of a narcissist? No. But it was a fun idea for a short fic.

Oh, and don't forget dreams. I woke up with the idea of "Soiled Dove" - literally. Woke up and wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it -- "Logan as Bud White, Scott as Ed Exley -- X-Men do LA Confidential."

Depending on which idea of Rogue I use, I know what kind of story I'm going to get. I like my world-weary Rogue from "Untouchable Face." She's made some mistakes, but she hasn't let it break her. I also like the Rogue from "All of Heaven Away."

I have a harder time getting into Logan's head. I can easily write him from the outside, and I sort of know why he's doing what he's doing, but writing from his point of view - especially first person - is more difficult for me. Not so much his motivation, but his voice.

I love writing Scott, too. My personality is an odd combination of the three of them, but especially Scott and Rogue.

Jean is the hardest for me to write. When I see her as the perfect, former-model-turned-doctor, perfect woman, yada yada, I just *don't* *get* *that*. In "32 Flavors" and "Alone Again Or..." I tried to make a less perfect past for her, and have her air of confidence be hard-won. That I can understand a lot more easily.

I also have difficulty with Xavier. He's very opaque, very saintly. I like to think he's less than a saint or a superhero. He's a powerful man, and he's probably done things that are a little shady. But I'm never sure. So I just throw a dash of him in now and then. He has a sense of humor, which is too often overlooked.

And it's much nicer for her to have that big brother thing with Scott, so Logan can be the romantic relationship. I mean, can you take Bobby or Johnny, as we saw them in the movie, as anybody's big brother? Hell, Bobby looks like *I* could beat him up. And I've always had at least one guy friend in my life who fills the role that I see Scott filling for Rogue, someone older, on whom she might have a slight crush, but who's taken, so he's safe to practice on. And I have an older brother who's really cool.

There's also the fact that, if you have a Logan/Jean/Scott triangle, Rogue really is the unmentioned fourth in that. Regardless of what anybody says about Rogue/Logan, Rogue obviously has a crush on Wolverine by the end of the movie. She's going to be jealous of any flirtation with Jean, just as Scott is. So that's another bonding thing they have going.

If I make Jean bitchy I have to have a reason. I don't like fic that just makes her a man-hungry bitch who gloms onto Logan for no reason and thinks she's all that. Why is she like that? I need the "why." Jean's a lot of things, but evil and mean don't seem to fit. Thoughtless, needy, and wanton, I can buy. Evil and mean? Not really. She has it in her [doesn't everyone?], but I think she's basically a decent person.

Good!Jean is harder, but more rewarding to write, because she's a deeper, more realistic character. From the movie, this is my take on her: strong, confident, very influenced by the male gaze - i.e., likes being the center of male attention - well-meaning, but somewhat condescending.

In Achin' to Be I like to think I've captured that Jean -- she has to help everyone out with their problems, or she thinks she does, and she thinks she knows best. She's not "evil", just a little patronizing. I don't think that's far off character, either.

"32 Flavors" and "Alone Again Or..." are my attempts at understanding Jean.

Right now, I'm sitting on the story. I'm going to have to totally rewrite/revamp it to accommodate Scott's strange version of morality in this little slashy world I've got going. Not Logan/Rogue technically, so y'all may not be interested. But jenn wrote something totally unrelated in an email to me, and now I think I know how that one's going to go.

"Enough for Now" was supposed to be a stand-alone. My one contribution to the world of X-Men movie fanfic. Then I thought about how Logan had come to the decision to return to Westchester, and why he acted like he did in "Enough for Now." So "Turning Toward Home" got written.

By that point, I had four people beta'ing for me, and one of 'em asked what Bobby's reaction was to the events in "Enough for Now." And you see what the results were, eh?

"All of Heaven Away" was originally planned as two stories: "No One Is to Blame" and "The Ghost In You." Colleen asked me about Storm's POV on the whole L/R/S/J thing, which led to "Invisible," which was remarkably easy to write. I could so totally relate to Storm's feelings, having been in that position more than once. But then I had to resolve the Scott/Jean/Ororo triangle.

"Alone Again Or..." wasn't planned, either. I had already started "Love Will Tear Us Apart" when Jean sort of poked me and let me know she had something to say.

Originally, Scott was supposed to take Jean back and Ororo was supposed to move on and fall in love with Kurt [that's why he's the only rescuee named in LWTUA]. Pete, one of my betas, convinced me that Storm should get the man of her dreams and Jean should be alone. Of course, Pete regularly wants to eviscerate Logan for the way he treats Rogue, but that's neither here nor there at the moment.

Once I had Storm/Scott, I had to do something with Jean. And poor Hank needs a little lovin', so I made him pine tragically for her. And that situation will be resolved in the next fic in that series. Then I think I'm going to do a wrap up from Xavier's POV.

Also, "Gilded Cages, Broken Wings" killed me. I lost all perspective on that fic - I couldn't tell whether it was good or not by the time it was done.

My two angsty stories, "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell" and "Keep It Like a Secret" were difficult, emotionally. I like Logan and Rogue. I just want them to shag and be happy. I'm *so* not an angst girl. So putting Rogue through a rape and a miscarriage was *hard*. Especially because I didn't want it to be "Logan comes home and makes it all better and now they're so in love." Because that's not how those types of situations resolve. Both take time to heal from, and both leave deep, deep scars.

I had some very nice feedback on both, telling me I dealt with both situations well. That meant a lot to me, because I know both carry a lot of baggage. I personally don't go for "torture" fic or hurt/comfort, unless it's done really well. I mean, a character doesn't go from being raped to happily shagging the hero in a week or a month. That's not realistic. The recovery is what's interesting, especially for someone like Rogue, who absorbed her attacker.

The most fun? "Faculty Follies" was a blast to write - quick, funny and short. I'm having a great time writing "The Mutant Bride" simply because I adore that movie so much, though I'm in the Pit of Despair right now, both plot and writing wise. Sigh. I had fun with "The Best-Laid Plans" too. Especially the Rogue-Daisy confrontations. And, of course, "A Harbor in the Tempest" was a joy to write, because I got to use all those famous, famous lines.

Seriously? I love "The Soiled Dove", just because if I'm ever published, that type of noir/detective novel is what I'm interested in writing. It's got action, drama, characterization and - hallelujah! - a real, honest-to-goodness plot. Have I mentioned I suck at plot?

I also love "The Best-Laid Plans" because of the Scott-Rogue friendship, and "The Envious Moon" because of the sheer poetry of it. I'm a poet at heart.

Other sentimental favorites include "Enough for Now" which is the first thing I finished, and "Piece of My Heart" because it's endearingly foofy. I like all my fics, even the really flawed ones that I occasionally get the urge to disown. I mean, I can tell the ones that were just sort of half-hearted from the ones that really mean something to me. I don't know if others can. I'd hope not.

Of course, honestly, Scott and Jean would have been better as Victor and Ilsa, but you know I wasn't going to write a Logan/Jean romance. So Bobby got the promotion. I dig Bobby. Have I mentioned that?

Um, other films that have inspired me? Well, I'm working on "The Mutant Bride" which is the X-version of "The Princess Bride," with Scott as Westley and Rogue as Buttercup.

I'm also kicking around ideas for a "My Fair Lady/Pygmalion" type fic, a "Don Quixote" type fic [Rogue as Don Q and Logan as Aldonza], and an AU based on "One Fine Day."

Since the mutations are really just another metaphor for differences (color, sexual orientation, race, religion etc.), it shouldn't be that hard to work backwards from them, but sometimes it's a real challenge.

Don't get too acrobatic, either, I don't want to be wondering "how'd they do that?" or "*where* is her leg?!"

With Rogue, especially, remind me if she can touch or not. Having her touch Logan (or vice versa) is such a shock if I haven't already been told she can control her powers. It pulls me right out of the fic, which is never good.

Also, and this is just me, I dislike those romance novel euphemisms "His throbbing staff of manliness," "her sopping womanly center" - eeww! It just makes me laugh and breaks the mood. Stick with short Anglo-Saxon terms - it may feel dirty at first, but it reads better in the long run. I mean, I'm guilty of "velvet folds" and "hard, heavy length" myself, but I try to keep it from going over the top. I mean, I laugh while I'm writing smut anyway, but "turgid man rocket o'love" is going to make me lose it.

And maybe Logan could drink from the Stanley Cup.

I listen to music, bitch and moan a lot, and generally make life miserable for anyone who comes near me. Oh wait, that's no different from how I usually am.

Seriously, I've usually got enough stories going that I can work on something, even if it's just rewriting the same sentence three thousand times [an or the? an or the?].

Or I edit other people's stuff. When you beta for four other people, plus random one-offs, there's always something that needs editing sitting in my inbox.

I've got no cure for it. Just keep plugging and eventually it goes away.

If someone has an issue with my fic, and they're enough of an adult to include their email address, I'll write to them and see if I can't start a conversation, even if we don't agree. If they're not brave enough to include their email address in a review, then their concerns aren't worth my time.

If someone flames me, well, depending on my mood, I'll either delete it, forward it to friends for general amusement, or decimate the flamer with my own scathing wit.

At least, that's what I've done with newsgroup flames. I've never been flamed for a story on a mailing list. I hope I never am.

Find a beta reader [or three] who suits you. Listen to them. Probably a good 80% of the time, they're right. Spell check. Being technically sound is the first step. Characterization and plot take time [god knows, I'm horrible at plot], but the fundamentals never change. Making sure your stories are technically sound and readable is the barest minimum you can do, and it shows respect for your audience.