Is there anything you'd like to share about yourself? (i.e. where you live, your profession, hobbies, interests, etc.)

Well, let's see. I live in New York, and I'm a medical student, so that'll be my profession eventually. Hobbies other than writing? My husband and I are very into wine tasting, and I love the theatre. I actually used to be an actor-there's an odd bit of past history. Did more extra work on "Law & Order" than I care to remember. I'm a huge baseball fan and I adore reading. Other things I'm a fan of-I love Firefly and the new Battlestar Galactica, but I haven't written anything for them. Yet.

Do you have a webpage/live journal site?

I do, but it's fairly boring: http://www.livejournal.com/users/artemis2050/. I don't have a site for my own fic, but I may add that when I have a chance.

When did you first become interested in writing? what made you put that first story down on paper?

Writing in general, or writing fan fiction? *g* Writing in general, I was about five. I was always a huge reader, and it was fascinating to think I could make up stories of my own.

Fan fiction definitely goes directly back to Star Trek. I'm not old enough to remember the original series when it first aired, but I became a fan of the show when I was about ten. At the time, no one happened to be rerunning the episodes, so I read my way through James Blish's novelizations and then I discovered that there were actually collections of original stories-things people had written all by themselves, just because they loved the characters and the world so much. And I was off.

My earliest stuff was ST, Battlestar Galactica (the first one, that is) and one pretty good ripoff of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." (I should post that. It was kind of fun.) But I never published before this.

How did you become a Logan/Rogue fan?

I found this website, see…*g*

I actually found another website first, one that was Wolverine-centric but didn't devote itself to any particular pairing. I read a number of different pairings, but the ones I kept coming back to were the Wolverine/Rogue ones. Then I did another Google search, WRFA popped right up at the top, and the rest is history.

What is it about them that inspires you to write?

I think it's the combination of their individual strengths and fragilities. I also like how, in different ways, they're both on journeys of self-discovery.

Logan was a favorite character from 'way back (more on that later, I see there's a more specific question coming up), so writing him was a no-brainer. And the 'shipper aspect…I mean, I've been reading this character since the early 80's and no girlfriend has ever stuck for him. What does the poor guy have to do? One desires to be of assistance. *g* And I loved the portrayal of him in the movie, and the interaction just flows so naturally between the two characters. It's great fun to explore.

You've written three series consisting of 18 stories and only 2 stand-alone stories. Do you prefer to write series, or do stories evolve into a series all on their own? :)

Heh. Noticed that, did you? It gets worse. There's some stuff in the pipeline that hasn't actually been archived yet, and yes, all series. And are you counting Battles/Alea as "stand-alones"? Because frankly I thought I had a perfect record of never being able to stop at just one. *g*

Yeah, 'evolve' is a good word to use. It's not really intentional. I just don't seem to be good at vignettes, thus far. (I wish I were. It would be nice to finish things faster!) And when I try for one, there always seems to be more of the story that asks to be told, somehow. So what can I do? You gotta listen to the little voices.

Are the individual stories just breaks in writing sections/sessions after which you want to post what you have done, or is there more planning involved?

Now there it is intentional. They're not just breaks-I almost never post anything before it's complete. I'm always in awe of the people who can start something up and then continue it on the fly, but I just can't write that way. Things will keep changing on me. These days, I try to plan for sections to be consistent in length and such, but I don't post until the whole thing is finished, or nearly so.

Shakespeare, for example, was originally intended to be just the one story, but it was too long for a single post. When I asked about length limits, DD told me she always suggested keeping any single post to around 50KB. So I took a look at it and realized it broke up fairly naturally into six pretty even chunks, so I did that, and that's the pattern I've followed ever since. So it isn't so much that each "series" wouldn't work as a single story, I guess, but that they need to be in readable portions. That was also when I came up with the individual titles.

Interestingly, as I was polishing Shakespeare up so that each part stood alone, another whole section popped into my head, and that's where the "Time's Fool" chapter came from. Jubilee was suddenly standing there yanking at my sleeve, saying "Hey, what about me?" Which is ironic, really, because the Jubilee section is far and away the most commented-on chapter of the whole thing.

See? Little voices.

How do you choose titles for your stories, particularly within a series? Is there usually a theme you like to carry through all of them?

Ooh, great question. I absolutely love picking out titles. I do like to carry a theme through any particular grouping-I'm sure that's not a surprise. As far as how I pick them…it's a combination of thinking through favorite quotations, poems, songs, anything I might draw a title from, and then finding something that I feel reflects some aspect of the story. I like them to have a slightly-veiled connection.

It's great fun. And I really like it when someone catches onto it, or gets an "in" reference.

Could you explain the title "Alea Iacta Est"? and how it relates to the plot of the story?

I can indeed. I studied Latin for a while, and I loved it, so it's fun to throw it in now and then. "Alea iacta est" is Julius Caesar's famous statement on crossing the Rubicon-it means "the die is cast". The implication of taking a step from which there is no return-I think the relationship to the plot should be pretty clear.

My working title for "Alea" had been "Win The War", which is just the continuation of the title of "Lose All The Battles", but that always seemed a little weak (and too obvious). So when I thought of that quotation, and how it related both to war and to the story…

Which is your favorite story title?

I think you just asked about it. *g* I loved all the Shakespeare titles too, and the Whimsy Series (not yet archived) titles were fun to use.

Are you an X-Men movieverse or comicverse fan?

Both, in different ways. I don't read the comics much any more, but I did when I was a teenager. (I have a very good friend who fulfilled a lifelong dream about a year ago and opened a comic store, so he's slowly drawing me back in.) The first movie, in fact, really reignited my interest in the X-Men in general. My ideas overall about the characters were probably pretty outdated, but fortunately it seems to me that the movie was really targeting the characters from around that time-I started reading around issue 115 and quit around 250. I was reading when Frank Miller created the first Wolverine mini-series, which is what really made him that group's "Dark Knight". So I connected with the movie Wolverine right away.

I know Rogue is with the good guys in the comicverse now, but my memories of her were of course totally at odds with that, so my views of her as far as the fiction is concerned are pretty much entirely drawn from the movies.

I think the movies (at least the first one) could be considered AU versions of the comics. Could you tell us what *you* consider to be an AU story in fan fiction?

Heck, everything's an AU these days. Marvel's reinvented the universe more than we have. *g*

I suppose a true AU would put the characters in an entirely different world, or change them significantly in some way. Maybe the absolute classic is "Arabian Lo'gan" by Dark Ferrett or the incredible "Jus Ad Bellum" by Jenn. (Which both drive me absolutely *nuts* because they were never finished! Arrgghhhh. I hate that!) Although I tag a lot of my stuff as AU, I use a softer definition-they're basically the same people in the same world, things just happen differently. I guess I consider it to be AU if events happen that diverge from canon, whatever that is. So in Shakespeare, even though I think the characters are consistent with the movie, they meet differently and the story proceeds differently, so it's an AU. In Fighter/Artist, the whole scenario is different, so AU.

Movie!Rogue is quite different from the comics or cartoon. How did you come to your version of the character for your various AU stories?

She certainly is. I never saw the cartoon, but like I said, as far as I was concerned, she was always one of the bad guys. Speaking of AU, the Rogue in the movie is so AU as to really be a complete reinvention. I've always been personally convinced that the original movie script must have used Kitty Pryde, not Rogue-she's the obvious "new girl" of that age from canon. Then at some point, someone decided that Rogue's powers would be more useful to the plot, so they changed it. Logan in the comicverse that I remember was always very protective of Kitty-I know I'm not the only one who remembers him calling her "punkin", 'cause Joss uses it in the "Amazing" series-so I think that's where it all came from.

My Rogue, again, is very definitely based on the movie version, but what she's like from story to story does change somewhat. Sometimes she's tilted a little more toward the tough-girl Rogue from the comics, sometimes she's older when they meet, but I've never made her the flat-out raging outlaw that she initially was in the comics-though some people do that very successfully. I recently began posting the parts of (yes) another series in which I did incorporate such comicverse elements as her having Carol Danvers' powers, but I didn't deal with how she got them-that seems too inconsistent with who she is now.

It makes sense that secondary characters in an AU story would also be original characters. Which of your own creations in which story do you like best?

Well, there's only one original character I can think of worth mentioning: Toby Devereaux from the Fighter/Artist series. (He doesn't actually have a last name that's mentioned in those stories, but he's making another appearance soon.) I love Toby. He's such a good ol' boy. And it's kind of nice that he's a "normal" human who's nonetheless sympathetic-Logan is his friend, so the claws and such just don't matter to him. Southerners are funny like that-the stereotype is that they're a mass of prejudices, but when it comes down to it they're fiercely loyal to their friends. I like that. (Funny story about Toby-when I was fishing around for a name for him, I thought I'd take it from one of my favorite movies set in New Orleans, "The Big Easy". If you go back to it, and think about Dennis Quaid and his brother's characters, you will realize something amusing about why I decided to just come up with a name on my own.)

Hmm…that's about it for original characters. I mean, who else is there? The kidnapper in Shakespeare? He did have a name, if anyone cares, but it got cut: Jake Sampson. I only gave him a name because of the detail about his having cut his initials into Marie's arm, but in the end it never really mattered who he was, and it actually seemed scarier for him to remain anonymous. But now you know. *g*

"Lose All the Battles" and "Alea Iacta Est" are companion stories, one from Rogue's POV and the other from Logan's. Whose POV did you prefer writing from, or didn't it make a difference?

Yeah, how shameless can I get? I write my *own* remixes.

I really liked writing both. Battles/Alea are very close to my heart, because they're set in my hometown-all the places I mention in the stories really exist, including Sweet Melissa's, which is owned by a friend of mine I used to wait tables with, and Logan's apartment, which belongs to some other friends.

Of the two, though, I think I like Logan's version better. It took longer, but that's Logan for you-never likes explaining himself.

Did you always plan to write both POVs, or did feedback for the first story sway you into writing the second?

I didn't need much swaying on this one, but yeah, the feedback certainly didn't discourage me. Feedback is always a joy. We're all writing for the love of it, so hearing from people who like what you've written is the payoff. And the best feedback is specific. I love hearing what parts people really connected with.

What was the idea and inspiration behind the Fighter series of stories?

The idea was just that, after Shakespeare, I wanted to write something completely different, something that revolved much more around the simple humanity of the characters instead of their mutancy or Grand Evil Plans. So I was like, we usually start when they meet in a bar. Supposing it was a different bar, under totally different circumstances. What if…

And speaking of titles, "The Boxer" just instantly sprang to mind when I was thinking of Logan in that bar.

As for inspiration, there's no doubt in my mind that Macha's "Gravel" series had a lot to do with the setting. New Orleans is just such a great place to set anything.

Why did you decide to continue the storyline with the Artist series?

Well, because every other person who commented demanded to know what happened next. *g* See? Feedback rocks. And I thought about it for all of ten minutes, and the storyline of Artist just sprang into my mind practically full-blown. Especially the moment when Marie sees Logan in her apartment, when he comes back. I just had to get him to see the inevitability of it all. *g*

Did you have the help of a beta reader with these two series?

I did not. I don't really use a beta, though I sometimes bounce things off friends for general comments before I post. I'm more anal than anyone I know about proofreading, so I don't really need one from that standpoint, and hopefully I forestall any inconsistencies there might be with comicverse canon by the AU tag. I have had some great input on my latest epic (yeah yeah, another series) called Scripture. It's set in the South at the onset, and I'm very much a New York girl, so props to MJules and Carolina Jay for all the technical advice. I didn't want to sound like too much of a Yankee. *g*

If so, what kind of help did they give and are the series different in any way because of them?

(I didn't answer this one, because I didn't have a beta for F/A and I figured I'd kind of answered the intent of the question above.)

The first story, "The Evil That Men Do", is a very dark beginning to the Shakespeare series. After such a traumatic beginning and meeting, how does Logan and Rogue's relationship develop over the course of the series?

Dark it certainly was. I was sort of worried when I posted it that it was too dark and might put people off. Anyway, Shakespeare was my version of one of those stories I guess we all have to write at least once: How They Met. I think in this case the nature of their meeting intensified the way Logan is so immediately protective of Marie, and also makes her trust in him much more meaningful. Given that, the development of their interest in each other romantically became problematic in interesting ways.

Logan's never been one to overestimate his own worth, the big lug. He generally needs a little help along the way. (Fortunately, Jubilee is such a fun little busybody.) He sees himself as her protector, and the idea of changing that is incredibly unsettling to him. Marie is a lot more open to the idea, but she isn't sure she knows how to go about getting what she wants.

I think most women have very fond memories of that time in their lives, when they first discover the power they have over the opposite sex-or the same one, come to that. I really like writing Marie as she passes through that phase, and that was my first shot at it.

I was nervous about posting it, though! The first time is always nerve-wracking, and I was very grateful to people for responding to the new kid on the block. I actually started it three different ways-one became Shakespeare, one eventually evolved and is being finished as Scripture, and the third…I don't think the third is ever going to go anywhere.

But who knows? *g*

Which of your stories is your favorite and why? Least favorite?

I am so going to cheat on this one. My favorite? Whichever story I'm working on at the time. I don't think I've yet written my favorite-at least, I hope not. It would be nice to think that the best is yet to come.

Least favorite? Man, that's mean. It's like asking a mother to pick her least favorite child. Okay…let's just say…I would sleep just fine without having put the third part of the Games series out in the world. There's just not much excuse for that sort of bad behavior. I was pandering to the demand for smut.

It sure was fun, though. *g*

How do you most often deal with writer's block?

When I get writer's block, it always turns out to be one of two things: either I'm trying to make the story go in a way it doesn't want to go, or I haven't figured out what's interesting about the scene-you know, when there's some expository part that doesn't seem all that thrilling.

My usual solution to the direction thing is just to put it away for a while and keep running through it in my head, whenever I'm on the train, or showering, or making dinner, or supposed to be studying…eventually I realize what it is I'm trying to impose on the story, or catch on to what the characters are trying to tell me.

With the exposition stuff, the key is usually either finding a particular voice in which to write, or figuring out the real reason that scene needs to be written. I enjoy playing with different voices-it can be a great way to bring out some aspect of the story that everyone might not be aware of. Alternately, if there's no reason to write it, maybe it shouldn't be part of the story and someone can just let us know what's happened instead of being all written out. If it bores me, after all, I can't expect it to thrill a reader.

Which part of writing do you enjoy most and why?

The planning. I always plot a new story out in advance, running the key scenes over and over in my mind before I ever put pen to paper-and I almost always write in longhand first. Playing out the scenes in my head is the most fun. The writing is just transcribing, when it's like that. And listening to the voices. *g* That's always enjoyable. I get an idea, and I say okay, tell me what happens. Who's involved? What did you say and what did you do?

And they tell me, and I write it down.

What is the best advice you have ever received in regard to your writing?

"Publish."

Thank you so much for this opportunity! It was great fun to do. I'd like to take a second to thank the wonderful writers whose work piqued my interest and made me want to write as well. I won't ennumerate them, because I'd be sure to leave someone out and then I'd feel terrible. *g* But their work has given me many hours of pleasure, and undoubtedly contributed to my lousy grade in Musculoskeletal last year.

I can only hope to do as much for others. *g*