Do you remember your first introduction to fan fiction?
One of my friends in high school introduced it to me sophomore year. We'd sit in French class and instead of studying, pass around round-robin style a story usually centering around people like Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and U2 members. (Don't ask.) I'd dabble around with it and add to it, but it wasn't until my sister started her anime phase - a little later after my initial introduction - did I really start writing fiction revolving around TV shows like Buffy and Charmed.
What main character that you've written femslash for, would you most like to hit upside the head?
Sam McPherson, from Popular, without a doubt. She is perhaps one of the dumbest people when it comes to matters of the heart, and many times while watching the show I just thought, "Seriously, Sam, come on now! You should've seen that coming!" She's the most physically involved yet emotionally uninvolved character I've ever seen on TV.
Is your fan fiction writing limited to femslash or do you also write gen, het or male slash? If so, is there a difference in style or content (besides the obvious) between them?
I mainly write femslash now, but I do dabble in het fic occasionally or when something outside subtext moves me. In high school, I used to write male slash with my friends, but I grew out of that as I started writing Popular a year or so later.
Have you ever been tempted to write a Mary Sue?
Not really. Most Mary Sues are perfect, just look at Wesley Crusher, but I know if I ever weaved myself into a story writing me as some Mary Sue just wouldn't do it. I'd have to write in every single flaw and character defect, it just wouldn't work otherwise.
Are there certain genres you find easier to write for?
I write angst like I was meant to write it. It's easy to write the bad things that happen between characters for me, I suppose. It's much harder to write fluff; sometimes, it makes me ill.
Do you research subjects before you write them and, if so, in how much detail?
Depending on the story, I do research to add to the descriptive details of it. When I wrote Charmed fan fic back in the day, I'd do a lot of research to make sure the spell I wrote fit within their world. When I wrote Buffy fics, I tried to stay true to the events that were or had already taken place, and I'd look up the history and time line of episodes to be sure. If I'm writing about a place or an event, I'll do research to make sure I get as many of the facts as I can right, because I think it enhances the story I'm telling.
What's your preferred length of story to write and read?
When it comes to writing, I like to stay within the 1000 - 2500 word range. I tend to get distracted easily when I write, and the one longer story I've attempted to write in the All My Children realm is going into almost two years of work in progress. As far as reading goes, I'm up for anything that tells a good story, word count, be damned.
Can you touch the tip of your nose with your tongue?
Sadly, I can't. But it's the Internet, I could write a story that said I could, and people would believe it.
Are you, yourself, a fan of other fan fic writers and, if so, who are they and what is it about them that appeals to you?
I am a fan of certain writers, and they know who they are, but I don't usually go around and announce it. It's just not my style. I'm a fan of a story, I don't care who writes it, but if I do like, I'll let them know, and I'll continue to read even if they don't know it.
Ever wanted to head butt another fan for dissing your pairing?
Not really. I've seen my fair share of shipper wars being an All My Children fan the last few years, and I'm pretty much thrown my towel in for tolerating it. When it comes to subtext, pairings can be life or death for some folks, but that's just not for me.
Do you have a favourite cliché, one that you'll read with joy even though it's been done to death?
I must say that Sam pushing Brooke out of the way of Nicole's oncoming car from the realm of Popular is my favorite cliche when it comes to my fandoms. No matter how many different ways I've read about Brooke nursing Sam back to help, I can't help but smile when I come across a different way to tell this potential story.
Would you lend me twenty pence if we were stuck at Charing Cross station and I was dying for the loo?
Yeah. But if you were a cute girl, I'd give you my number, too.
If you've written real person slash how does it differ from writing about fictional characters?
Except when I was learning about fic in high school, I've never touched RPS. It just seems a tad bit... creepy to me now.
Do you find you're more inspired by subtext, maintext or barely there text shows?
I'm definitely more inspired by subtext in most of my fandoms. I like getting inside of the characters' heads and trying to figure out just what a certain look or touch might've meant for them. I think that's one of the beauties of subtext. On the other hand, since maintext is my primary guide within my All My Children fic, I find it a bit more of a challenge trying to maintain a character's dynamic within situations and relationships, because you're playing within a set standard of how they'd react in certain situations and with certain people. I find maintext more challenging to work with than subtext.
Where do you get your inspiration for specific stories; missing or extended scenes from the show, ideas from other shows or real life situations?
It depends, most of my inspiration comes from the shows themselves. I love to write within the context of a show, and I think it brings out some of my best writing. I very rarely write outside the confines of a show's run. The nice thing about writing within a soap fandom is that you can recreate the show in any fashion you like, and it's perfectly acceptable to do so, because the staff writers of soaps do it all the time.
Do you like cheese?
Yep. Some would say I was addicted to it...
Every read over one of your stories months or years later and thought 'What the hell was I thinking!'
Oh, yes. There's a fic sitting in a binder in my closet that I wrote my junior year of high school called "Hathor's Revenge" set within the Stargate: SG-1 universe. It's a Hathor/Sam and Hathor/Janet fic that whenever I go back and reread, which is rare, just makes me cringe. It's not shoddy writing, it's just a bit graphically violent throughout, and I've never posted it because of that.
Why do you write fan fiction?
I write fan fiction for the same reason I write anything else, I enjoy it. It helps me foster my creative talents into something a little bit more out there than traditional short stories (though I do write my fair share of those, too.) Fics are the only thing I share for the most part with the rest of the world from the creative side of my brain. It helps me escape, and it helps me see a side of characters I always thought could do more with themselves if pesky things like canon could be tossed aside.