Dear Readers,
Welcome, I hope you will enjoy this week's L&C Writer's Showcase. At the bottom of this web site you will find links to past featured writers. Just click on the any writer's name you might have missed or want to read again and you will be taken to their interview.
This week's Featured Writer was not only a 1999 Kerth Award Nominee but she is a good friend who I write with at the IRC RR group. She is a very talented lady who can think very quickly and eloquently during even the most complicated RR fanfic. I admire and respect her outstanding writing abilities. I hope each of you enjoy this interview from someone I call a "Friend".
Now without further ado I am proud and honored to present this week's Writer in the Writer's Showcase ...
Personal Information
Author name
Melissa (Misha) Hall
Email addresses mhall@sound.net
Residence
Smallville, Kansas (no, really I live in a small town in Kansas!)
List, AOL, or web affiliations
The Lois and Clark List, Lois and Clark Fanfic List, Fanfic Writers List, due South List, due South Fanfic List (I'm a sucker for a hero in primary colors ;)
I'm occasionally on AOL's Instant Message thingee as UnMisha and I IRC primarily as Misha.
Lois and Clark or Superman Status
How long have you been watching L&C?
I managed to catch a few of the third season episodes in college, but
didn't start watching it until the end of the fourth season... and well, we
all know what happened then. I was thrilled when TNT started reruns, and I
taped every episode I could get my hands on. I'd race home every day, slam
the tape in the vcr and spend the next hour enthralled. So, um... however
long that's been.
How long have you been a fan of Superman?
I don't really consider myself a Superman fan. I'm a FoLC, instead.
Of the three-dimensional Supermen, I always liked Christopher Reeves. I couldn't stand his Clark Kent, so I never thought much about it until L&C came along. I'm still sorta partial to Christopher Reeves, but Dean did a marvelous job of making the Superman/Clark Kent personality seamless.
As far as the comic incarnation of Superman, well, I'll have to admit that his is the one set of titles that I don't buy. Batman by the hordes, Wonder Woman, yes, and a half dozen other minor titles, but not Superman. His comics tend toward cosmic scale events, and I prefer to read about the characters, not the superpowers.
How long have you been writing?
My earliest memory of writing is from kindergarten we melted crayon
shavings onto waxed paper, and pretended they were constellations, and we
had to make up a myth about the constellation. Then I won a prize for
poetry in first grade, so I've been playing with words for a while now. I
think I still have the poems running around I rhymed pie and sky and fly
and had fun doing it.
I will admit that I'm not a terribly prolific writer. I'm horribly lazy, and I'd much rather read fiction than write it. I've also always been surrounded by friends who write, from high school on, and I'm always thrilled and honored when they let me read some of their work.
How long have you been writing L&C fanfic?
Not very. I started writing with the IRC Round Robins in July of '98, and
everything just snowballed from there. I started a dozen fanfics, only a
few (the shortest, of course) of which are finished.
What types of Fanfic have you written?
I've got the one vignette, a couple of Nfics and I've been one of the
writers on a whole slew of round robins most everything written by the IRC
group since about August.
Most recent story posted? Where?
On March 21st, the RR "Edge of Darkness", at the Archive. Just this past
week "Love Me Tender" on the L&C Fanfic listserv.
Favorite story you have written? Why?
Hands down, Soul Mates Chronicles: The Tai. I was completely new to the
Round Robin thing, and I asked beforehand if I could join in. I'd watched
one session previously (and probably made a pest of myself), and I dove in
head first without checking the water level.
It was such an experience, I'll never forget how encouraging and supportive the RR group was. I'd brushed up on my Japanese history, I had a vague idea of what was going on, and I jumped right in. I was shaky, nervous and scared, but I had so much fun that day, it was all worth it.
I still squirm when I see the first few sentences that I wrote in that story, because they seem so awkward to me now, but the wonder of being a part of the group creation process is something that I'm amazed with to this day.
Current project/projects?
A collaborative fic with Julie Mack, an AltLois story and the next
generation of SuperKents have most of my attention right now... when I'm
not engulfed in another Round Robin.
Personal picks of other Fanfics you have read?
My absolute most favorite would have to be Meet Me in Kansas City by Chris
Mulder. I can read it over and over and over again and never get tired of
it. It seems so obvious to me how much love and attention was put into it,
that it can't be anything but heart touching. It was the first fanfic that
I actually wrote the author about and I'm still proud of that fact. :)
There are so many wonderful authors out there, I can only begin to list them: Georgia Walden, Crystal Wimmer, CC Malo, Zoomway, Nekanuq, Chris Patterson, Pam Jernigan, Kathy Brown, LabRat, Julie Mack, Wendy Richards, Phil Atcliffe, Margaret Brignell, to name a few... ALL of the RR authors, with whom I feel extremely privileged to work...
General Interview Questions
:
What attracted you to writing Fanfic and what about it do you enjoy?
I think I was about halfway through the Archive (alphabetically by author, of course ;), that I thought to myself, 'Hey! I could do that!' This was, of course, before I got to Zoomway and felt completely outclassed. ;) The same thing happened when I was watching the round robins, Jury Duty, I think it was.
I hopped in on the next fic and before I knew it, I was writing every Saturday and scribbling in odd moments the rest of the week.
The thing I like best in the Round Robins is the people on IRC. They make the whole process of creating a work of fan fiction enjoyable, from the brainstorming to sudden panic of 'ohcrapI'mwritingnext' to the final editting process. If it wasn't one of the best ways I could think of to spend a Saturday, I wouldn't do it.
What about the L&C and the characters do you like the most?
Lois and Clark are not perfect people, but the thought that their love inspired a Utopia is inspiring in it's turn. (Gee, can you tell my favorite episode is Tempus Fugitive?)
How do you interpret them in your work?
That depends, really. When I'm in the Round Robins, I try my best to keep as true to the show's interpretations of the characters as I possibly can.
The same goes for any projections I make on the future lives of Lois and Clark. Their children interest me intensely, and I'm always wandering off on mental tangents involved with Utopia and the path towards Utopia.
I enjoy writing Elseworlds and the Alt world because it's a challenge to keep the characters as close as possible to the originals, yet maintain their uniqueness.
How did you begin writing in general?
I have no idea. I've always thought of myself as a reader first, a writer only secondarily, and that's where my love of words and writing stems from. The written word is a game and an art and a serious necessity to me.
How do you feel about being nominated for a Kerth Award? What story of yours was nominated for a Kerth Award and could you tell about it? Have you ever been nominated for the Kerth Award before? If so, please name the fanfic and tell something about it. What are you working on now and where do you see it going? What is your opinion about the following types of L&C fanfic's? Drama? Humor? Round Robin? Nfic? Has *everything* been done in your opinion, and if not, what is left? What do you think makes the best story? Would you like to add a link or URL to your favorite fanfic for the readers to sample your writing? Where is the best place for a reader to locate your work? Open Forum For Author Comments: As a writer, I'd like to thank the IRC Round Robin community. The honor of
working with such a beautiful group of people still makes me pause in
amazement.
And as a nominee for the Kerth Awards, well, I'm still in shock. I'll get back to you in about ten years, when I finally can think somewhat coherently about this honor.
Finally, a big thanks and a bigger hug to Annie, for all the hard work she's put into the Showcase.
Misha (mhall@sound.net)
Ohwowowowowowowowowowowow....
Ahem.
Honored, thrilled, grateful, surprised.
I'm mainly a round robin author, so I thought I'd sort of languish in obscurity for a while. When I heard the Kerths were coming up, I was raring to go nominating other fics right and left, signing up to be a presenter... and then when the final list of nominees came out, my jaw hit the floor.
"It's Genetic" is my only solo work that is on the Archive, and I'm still tickled that I finally posted something. And now a Kerth Nomination! All of my other fic is either nfic or round robin. It's is just a little story about how the Lane women choose their wardrobe. Go read it. :)
Oh no... I did present one last year, but I haven't been eligible until recently.
Elseworlds and Altworlds and Next Generation and the season we're writing in the Round Robins.
Action?
I like a good action plot. These are a little more scarce in this fandom, which makes the rare find all the more precious.
This is a toughie. I enjoy drama, but give me angst and I wince, deathfic and I start running the other way.
Absolutely essential to any fic. Without humor life, not to mention fanfic, is deadly dull.
I love writing in the round robins. I don't read them much anymore because after a full day of living the fic, I need a little distance from it.
Love 'em. I worship at the feet of Julie Mack and LabRat. <g> Plot or not, vignette or full-blown fanfic, I'm hopelessly addicted. It's just another facet of fanfic. :)
Yes and no. "There are no new stories, just new angles." I think Shakespeare did it best when he took a myriad of old ideas and reworked them into something magical.
Shakespeare (Yeah, him again.) knew what made the best story everything: drama, humor, action, romance. You miss one of these, and you might have a good story, but the best have it all.
http:\\lcfanfic.actwd.com\stories2\tai.txt"SoulMates Chronicles:The Tai
http:\\lcfanfic.actwd.com\stories2\itsgenet.txt"It's Genetic
The Fanfic Archive
Anne's Little Corner of Teh World
As a reader, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each and every
fanfic author who has submitted their work to the Fanfic Archive. You have
helped me pass countless enjoyable hours. The same applies to the Fanfic
List. It's been a pleasure reading.
"Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." Gene Fowler