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This was for the over-30 thread on theforce.net. 2007 Interviewing the oldest first. Good plan...LOL. Get 'em before they die off. 1. Which came first reading fanfic or writing fanfic? How long have you been writing and how did you find TF.net? I've been writing since late 2000. Reading has always been my first love,
though. I've read science fiction all of my life. When I fell hard for
Star Wars with the first film, I devoured all the books I could get my
hands on (which wasn't much at the time). But I didn't realize there was
Star Wars fanfic for many years after that. As for writing, I never thought that I could write but during a discussion on the mailing list, I came up with a plot bunny that wouldn't let go. I was quite surprised to find that I could actually put together a story that wasn't terrible. When the people who read it encouraged me to write more stories, I was frankly astonished but willing to try. I wrote a couple more and friends of mine suggested that I try to get my stories into the juried TF.net Archives. Since I'd never heard of TF.net at that point, I didn't realize the depth of fanfic on the site. But I tried and succeeded in getting one of my very early stories into the Archives. It was only later that, after poking around the main page of TF.net that I found the boards. I've been here ever since. 2. Most of us know of your affection for Qui-Gon Jinn, so tell us what it is about him that captures your imagination. He's hot. LOL, no, that's not why. Although he is. He's such a fascinating character - intelligent, flawed, vulnerable, strong-willed and complex, stubborn, fierce. All of those and more. Balanced between passion and serenity, he is the perfect Knight. He has complete faith in the Force, enough so that he was willing to defy the Council, the Code and his own apprentice to see the Force's will done. Never mind that he could have used a bit of finesse about it. I think he would always try to do the right thing no matter how it appeared, even to the point of hurting himself or the people he loved. I think, too, that he wanted to be accepted as he was and was probably frustrated with the Council for their collective bureaucratic blindness and hurt when the people around him didn't understand him. Then he'd retreat into that stoic, Jedi persona to avoid more pain. Foolish, wonderful man. He is such a great character to write. I adore him. 3. You are well known for your sparkling wit around here. Do you enjoy writing humor? I am? I know that I love being silly and I have a fairly dry wit. Sometimes it just comes out when I least expect it. I do really like writing humor but I find it much harder to do than angst. You have to get the idea across with just the right timing or it can all fall apart too early or else drag on far too long. Plus you have to pull your readers into increasingly absurd ideas without them realizing it. It's a lot of fun to play, though. 4. Do you read Star Wars pro-fic? Have any favorite SW authors? Absolutely everything I can get my hands on, book-wise. I'm not so much into the comics although the latest series, Legacy, is amazingly good. But I buy the books almost the first day they are available and read through them pretty quickly. I've been very lucky that I've been able to met several of my favorite authors at various conventions that I attend - Matt Stover (the man is a genius, imho), Tim Zahn, Mike Stackpole and Aaron Allston. I've talked to both Mike and Aaron at length about writing at Dragoncon and they are always very helpful. Aaron tends to like to play with his readers' heads so when I was talking to him about the latest post-NJO books, he kept giving me hints that are likely not to be true but that's half the fun of it. After all, fanfic writers do the same thing. LOL. 5. Do you read other fiction genres? Which ones? Any favorite authors? I'm an avid reader, less so now that I'm writing but I do love murder mysteries, sometimes those stupid bodice ripper romance novels and historical fiction. My favorite author of all time is Jane Austen. She was just a brilliant writer. I also love most of Mary Stewart's work - her Merlin series was awesome - and I pattern my writing style after hers. She has a mixture of description and action that is just gorgeous. I hope that I'll be able to write like her someday! Murder mysteries - has to be Agatha Christie. For plays, I like Sophocles (Oedipus series) and Richard Sheridan's 18th century works (The School for Scandal is hilarious). 6. I am amazed at the beautiful quilts you have on your website. How did you get started quilting? Do you have any other hobbies? Oh, yes. I blame Star Wars. I do. In 1977, when the first movie came out, I wanted to find a picture of the opening scene. Looked everywhere but, other than small photographs, there was nothing. So I taught myself to paint. I still have that opening scene painting in my den. Painted for a number of years. Then, in 1983, I fell in love with costumes. I've been doing them ever since. I have done science fiction and historical costumes as well as recreation costumes from different movies. I used to compete a lot on stage, won awards at Worldcon (science fiction convention) and CostumeCon in the Master class but I don't do much any more. No time. I do still judge occasionally at our regional conventions. I also am on costuming panels a lot whenever I go to conventions, teaching beading, ribbonwork and, of course, quilting. If you are curious, my profile picture shows me in one of my historical costumes. As for the quilts, I sell them at science fiction conventions. Mostly art quilts. I've won a number of awards with them as well. Problem is that with this hobby, since I make money at it, when it comes time to decide whether to write or quilt, money wins. 7. What personal information would you like to share with us? Married, job, college, etc. I'm 56 years old, married for 36 years to the same guy. I have two kids, one daughter in her freshman year at art school (her stuff is amazing) and a 12 year old daughter who wants to be a scientist. I have degrees in Anthropology and Chemistry and I work as an analytical chemist for a multi-national chemical company. Been there for 33 years and hope to retire in a couple of years. My husband teaches High school Physics. I love to travel. I've been to 48 of 50 states (still missing North Dakota and Louisiana), about a third of Canada, most of the western European countries, the Caribbean and China, Japan and Hong Kong. I love doing unusual things so I've flown in hot air balloons and white-water rafted in Alaska, camped all over the country, been on archaeological digs, gone rock-hounding... 8. If I were queen of the world….(fill in blank)…. Oh, if I could but I have quite a list. Warning - Serious stuff ahead. If I were queen of the world, I'd want people to stop fighting. Try to promote peace and understanding throughout the world. Try and get people to see the need to treat the Earth with respect. Find ways to use energy wisely. Get people to realize that the Earth is overpopulated and that systems are breaking down even as we speak. Help people to think outside the box. I did say I had a list. Sorry! End of serious rant. 9. Anything else you’d like to share? Write from your heart. Accept that others might not love your story but if you do, that should be enough. I try hard to do the very best job I can with all my stories, even the silly ones, but, in the end, if I don't please myself, it's not worth the time. And, if nothing else, grab onto life with both hands and enjoy the ride.
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