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How long have you been writing, and what made you decide to start writing fan fiction?
I started writing fan fiction in December 2002. After reading some of the SS/HG fan fiction, I moved over to SS/OC. That was the pairing that really caught my interest. I started with Snape In Love by Rickfan37. The fiction was well received so I decided to give it a crack. Tea with the Black Dragon was my first piece of any kind of fiction I’d ever written.
Do you have any writing experience outside of fan fiction?
Yes. I have two short stories published with a small romance press, with two more due out in October and November 2005.
Which story are you the most happy with how it turned out? Looking back is there anything you'd want to change about any particular story now?
So far, I feel I’ve found my best voice with a LotR fanfiction centered around Grima Wormtongue and an OFC. Allure of the Dark Angel has been great fun to write, and I’m proud of it more than anything I’ve written to date.
Which story was the most difficult to write and why?
An original involving pirates. I volunteered to put in a replacement for an author who couldn’t meet the deadline. I wrote and edited it in seven hours.
Do you have any favorite authors (original and/or fan fiction)?
Fanfiction – The Stars Hold Nine Serpents, Hereswith, KL Morgan, Hephastus, Geekmama2, Mantis Lookfar, Arachne’s Child, ScatteredLogic. I’ll stop there before the list grows a mile long.
Original fiction – Dorothy Dunnett, Laura Kinsale, Ann Stuart, Bram Stoker, Daphne du Maurier
What's the one topic you'd really like to tackle in fan fiction?
The age-old dynamic between man and woman. Love romance. I’m a sap. What can I say?
Do you have any advice for people thinking about writing their first fan fiction?
Jump in the water and go at it. Don’t be put off or discouraged by negativity. Write what you know. Write what you love and keep practicing. Not only is it fun, but it’s an avenue for improvement.
Do you find any particular genre (angst, romance, humor, etc.) more difficult to write? Do you prefer to write any particular genre?
Humor is very difficult to write. Comedy can fall flat or even be offensive if the writer isn’t careful.
Almost every writer at some point or another suffers from writer's block. Have you ever had that problem and if so, how do you get past it?
I keep at least two writing projects going at all time. This way, if I lock up on one, I’ll just switch to another. Right now I have three actively going, with four more on a backburner.
Do you find love scenes more difficult to write than other types of scenes?
Absolutely. A love scene can be extraordinarily complicated. The writer has to spin multiple plates all at once. You have to avoid purple prose, sterile, clinical terms, clichés or inappropriate dialogue for that particular scene. It can’t be overwrought or underplayed. You have to watch and make sure your participants aren’t multiplying appendages or forcing their bodies into positions that would challenge a yoga master. There’s always objectifying body parts lurking around the corner – and all of this is before you deal with the emotion and motivation of the moment.
Do you work on more than one story at a time? If so, how do you keep them straight in your mind?
Oh yeah. It’s the way to stave off the writer’s block. They’re easy to keep straight. All of them have a uniqueness that keeps them from merging together.
Is writing sexual tension different from writing smut?
Definitely. You can have sexual tension without the protagonists even exchanging a kiss. A perfect example of a fan fiction author turning this into an art form is The Stars Hold Nine Serpents. Her fan fiction, A Dark Herbal, is the penultimate example of sexual tension at its finest, in my opinion.
Do you usually write in a linear fashion or do you write scenes out of order? Does one method work best for you?
I write all over the place. Start in the middle, jump to the end, backtrack to the beginning. I’ve tried writing in a linear format. It just results in mental gridlock for me.
What was your first fan fiction story? What was it like to post your first story?
Tea with the Black Dragon. Don’t recall really. Probably exciting and a little nervous. My emotional investment in it was very small, as I’d just started it. I’m one of those authors who post chapters as I write them. And of course, there was no financial investment. So, while I certainly appreciated the responses I got from it, I wasn’t that worried about if I didn’t.
How do you choose a title for your stories?
I always approach this from a marketing standpoint. What grabs attention? What sounds good on the tongue when repeated aloud? And I tie it in to something within the story. That something can be very trivial or very large. It just depends on the story.
Which story was the most fun to write and why?
I wrote a squicky one involving Hagrid and Filch in the Ford Anglia. It was fun because the entire time I wrote, I just kept telling myself “Eww! Eeewww!” and laughing at the whole premise.
How has your writing evolved since you first began? Has it become easier with experience or more challenging?
Far more challenging. Writing is one thing. Telling a story is another. Each depends on the other to create a good work of fiction. Melding them together requires a lot of work, thought, patience and a willingness to accept that there is no such thing as a complete work. Everything is a work in progress.
How much research do you do before writing a story? How do you decide what to use and what to make up?
I do massive amounts of research before and during my writing process. In fact it tends to slow me down quite a bit, especially at the beginning. I prefer to research more than write.
What do you think are your writing strengths—plot, characterization, dialogue, action, etc.?
Dialogue, hands down. I build plots and characterizations around pieces of dialogue. It’s the alpha and omega of all my fiction writing.
What is the writing process like for you? Do you revise as you write, or do you prefer to get a first draft down first, and then revise?
I do both, depending upon the situation. I’m currently working on an original with a very tight deadline. Right now I’m just belching out the words and forwarding them to my betas in the most raw state because I don’t have the time to self-edit as I go. That isn’t always the case though. I often will self-edit as I go, get feedback from my betas, and then edit again.