Dear Readers,

Thank you, so much for making this web site a success. I was very happy you came and enjoyed reading about my first featured writer, Crystal Wimmer. I hope you will enjoy learning more about this week's as well. This week's featured writer is a remarkable lady who among her many talents is a renewed writer of L&C fanfic. Her stories are well-loved and enjoyed by her legion of fans. She is admired and respected by her fellow L&C fanfic writers as well.

Now without further ado, I am proud and honored to present this week's Writer, in the Writer's Showcase ...

Personal Information

Author name
Sheila Harper

E-mail addresses
sharper@cncc.cc.co.us

Homepage
none

Residence
Colorado (4 hours from Dean's home outside Aspen :)

List affiliations
LOISCLA discussion list
LOISCLA fanfic list

Lois and Clark or Superman Status

How long have you been watching L&C?
Since the Pilot--loved it at first sight.

How long have you been a fan of Superman?
I used to watch the black-and-white series during its first run before I could read comic books. I can still remember a comic book cover with Lois Lane's gravestone on it 1939-1969! A far cry from Lois's gravestone in T,A? 1967-1993.

How long have you been writing?
My second grade teacher tells me that I was writing stories about a mama horse and daddy horse and four little baby horses when I was in her class.

How long writing have you been writing L&C fanfic?
I started my first L&C story within two weeks after I got on-line and realized that there was a place to "publish" such stories.

Types of Fanfic written
With one exception, I write my stories in both NC-17 (nfic) and PG-13 versions. I tend to write dramas with some amusing moments, but with strong A-plots (action plots) and very emotional B-plots. Anyway, that's how I outline them. You can decide if I succeed or not :) I also get involved in the odd round robin if I'm on-line and in a writing mood when one's going on. Actually, that's happened quite a few times

Most recent story posted
My most recent solo story was the 2 part TUFS episode, "Mxysplit" and "All Mxyed Up" (as well as the nfic version). Since then, I've been involved in several round robins, both fanfic and nfic. The most recently posted nfic was "Plan 69 from Outer Space," and the most recent fanfic is the TUFS finale, "Full Circle A New Day," for which I wrote the Superman A-plot.

Favorite story you've written
No real favorite; I like my three major stories equally "A Shot in the Dark," "Faster Than a Speeding Bullet," and "Mxysplit/All Mxyed Up." Readers seem to like "A Shot in the Dark" best, but I think that's because it's the most deeply emotional of all my stories, and by chance, also has the weakest A-plot.

Current project
An elseworld Lois & Clark story for a fanzine, in which Clark doesn't come to Metropolis until after the Daily Planet is blown up and Lois is married to Lex. Don't worry, it ends well. I love happy endings and can't seem to write any other kind.

Personal picks of other Fanfic you've read
I have a lot of favorites, but most of the time, I like particular writers rather than particular stories. I love everything I've read by Zoomway, Chris Mulder, Kathy Brown, Demi, Pam Jernigan, Phil Atcliffe, and more recently, Carol Malo, Wendy Richards, and Crystal Wimmer.

Interview Questions

What attracted you to writing Fanfic and what about it do you enjoy?
The possibility of getting feedback other than "Sorry, your submission does not meet our needs at this time" attracted me most, but I love being able to create new stories about Lois and Clark. I love the characters, and I think they have tons more stories in them than the TV writers ever gave us. Besides, when I'm writing, I really live the characters, so it's like I can be Lois, married to Clark, for a little while.

What about the L&C and the characters do you like the most?
Clark is what I first loved about L&C. I never really related to Lois, but Clark has a lot of my own personality traits, and he has that "Superman" complex--being a compulsive helper. I have such a soft spot in my heart for these guys who try to change the world one person at a time, especially when they're nice people and simply delightful to look at, too. :) But I really, really love the romance, and I used to watch eagerly (even 1st season) for signs that Lois was starting to soften toward Clark, that Clark would stop being an idiot and just tell her who he was. For me, the series went from strength to strength. I loved 1st season when it was on; then I loved 2nd season as the romance heated up. During 3rd season (until the argh :) I didn't think anything could be better than that; but 4th season stole my heart. I adored Lois and Clark being married, and my favorite episodes explored different parts of their unique relationship, really looking at what it would be like to be in a marriage with a third member who happened to be a superhero. Talk about fulfilling the original premise a triangle built for two.

Their marriage has *so* many possibilities for a writer, and it's a wide-open area that I can explore without mucking with the show's continuity. I started my first fanfic when their first wedding was only a couple of weeks away, and I wrote about them as a married couple. Since then, I've always written them as a couple, either engaged (post-argh) or married.

How do you interpret them in your work?
I run a strong A-plot in my stories, so I make both Lois and Clark really smart, letting them take turns making progress on the problem. Since I normally have Superman necessary to resolving the situation, I usually have Lois come up with the solution.

My Lois is definitely softer than 1st season's, although she still babbles and makes brilliant leaps of logic. I normally write about L&C after they're married, when she's had a chance to mature some, so she and Clark don't get into stupid fights. They usually argue over seeing different solutions or causes to problems, as in "Sex, Lies, and Videotape". My Clark has matured, also. This is the man who simply takes Lois into danger with him, as in "Through a Glass Darkly", rather than trying to protect her and force her to stay behind, although that can change if their circumstances change radically enough (see my "A Shot in the Dark"). He still has a habit of making unilateral decisions for Superman that affect both of them, but he's trying to do better.

How did you begin writing in general?
Umm...by learning to read? :) I know that sounds facetious, but I've been writing almost from the moment I began to read. Not, of course, that I write normal things, like letters to my relatives. I write stories...ways have. I went to college and majored in Mass Communications (writing for TV and film) and minored i n English (creative writing emphasis) just so I could write. However, for 10 years after I graduated, all I did was care for my pre-schoolers, so I kinda threw away my 20s when it came to writing. After I went back to work, I picked it up again, but slowly. It wasn't until I started writing fanfic that I got going on my other writing, too, so fanfic has been a real blessing for me.

What are you working on now and where do you see it going?
I already mentioned the elseworld story for the fanzine, which arose from an idle thought after reading one of the SoulMates Chronicles in all of time past, what would have happened if Lois had been married before she had a chance to meet Clark? Putting that thought together with a suggestion on the fanfic listserve about Clark coming to Metropolis later than he did in "our" universe gave me a workable story idea.

I'm brainstorming right now on the story I'm writing for the Season 6 group next spring, coming up with character reactions, bits of scenes, all the clutter and rubbish that goes into building a story once I have the A- and B-plot premises in mind.

And in my spare time ;) I'm working on a non-L&C romance novel that features some on-line fans, which has been fun to write.

What is your opinion about the following types of L&C fanfic's?
Action?
I love it. I wrote the Superman in California scenes for the final TUFS episode, "Full Circle A New Day," because I love to write about Superman and how he uses his powers to help others as well as the limitations he faces and has to think his way around. However, I'm not wildly keen on action for its own sake, not without a subplot that develops L&C's relationship or characters in some way. The show always tried to have both, and I don't like action stories that don't do the same.

Drama?
My favorite kind to write. Life is pretty dramatic, especially Lois & Clark's, and drama gives me a stage big enough to explore their characters and the way outside events can impact their relationship.

Humor?
Humor is darned hard to write, but I love to read the well-written stories or scenes. Zoom is a master of it, especially witty, amusing word play, but Sandra McDermin can write some scenes that make me ROTFL (the dinner scene with Ellen, Clark, Lois, and Ellen's gentleman friend in "Love As a Blonde" comes to mind). Recently, I read Carol Malo's 2nd "Recognition" story, and she had one scene that had me laughing out loud--even though the story was a drama rather than a comedy. I enjoy funny stories, but I also appreciate funny scenes to lighten heavy storylines, and I try to include them in my own work.

Nfic?
I always write an nfic version of my stories. For me, lovemaking provides another canvas to display the finer details of L&C's relationship. While I enjoy well-written nfic (and we have some really inspired writers in this group ;), I prefer it the way I write it as an integral part of a large story. Most nfics are little more than vignettes, with no real change in the characters from the beginning of the story to the end, and reading to many of them in too short a time is like eating honey too sweet, not enough substance.

Has *everything* been done in your opinion, and if not, what is left?
Has *everything* been done? No. Even if the basic idea has appeared in another story, there's always a fresh way to approach it or something new to mine from it. And since L&C is premise-driven rather than plot-driven, it's very likely that several writers will come up with the same premise, but the way they interpret it and use it to explore L&C's relationship will vary from person to person. That's not to say that I don't try to come up with original ideas, but I don't agonize over it. Even if the idea isn't particularly original, the way I handle it *will* be. ("There are no new stories only new angles" :)

What do you think makes the best story?
For me, the best story has a good A-plot (action plot) that is tightly integrated with and drives a B-plot that illuminates something in Lois & Clark's relationship. The language is a pleasure to read; the narrative is scenic (i.e. the story is told in scenes that the reader can visualize rather than in long stretches of introspection); and humor laces either scenes or dialog. There is enough suspense of one kind or another to keep the reader turning pages, yet the author also has a good sense of pacing and gives the reader a break after some really intense scenes. The dialogue sounds natural to the ear and either moves the story along or illuminates character in some way. And the story's got to end well and have enough WAFFs that readers aren't left feeling depressed. My personal preference is for stories that have some kind of WHAM in them, too, just to make the WAFFs sweeter in contrast.

For the most part, what I think makes the best fanfic is the same thing that makes any good story. However, fanfic demands that writers use existing characters and/or situations, so part of what makes a good fanfic is adept use of those characters. That is to say, L&C act in ways consistent with their characters, they talk in a way that is believable for them and that doesn't violate their established character. For me, the best stories maintain continuity--or immediately establish themselves as elseworld stories and make these different characters and situations believable, with a strong flavor of Lois & Clark (like what the Soulmates Chronicles are trying to do). When I read a story and immediately visualize what is happening and can hear Teri and Dean (or Eddie, K, Lane, Justin, Beverly, or Harve) saying those words and doing those actions; when the story moves me to laugh or cry or sigh; when I can get caught up in the action without feeling bored or restless; when I finish the last page and hate to see it end, then I know I've read one of the best fanfics. Which just happens to be the kind I try to write :)

Sheila Harper
sharper@cncc.cc.co.us