FanFic Ask Me Anything ~*~ Version 3.0 Daily Questions (See list on pg 164 or 1)

What types/genres of fan fiction do you enjoy reading, both in and out of SW? Any favorite or recommended fanfic authors? (Since I'm still a newbie here, I'm glad of any recommendations more experienced users may have.)

 

Is Mira your name in real life? (A name of which I've always been fond—it was the name of my maternal great-grandfather's sister, who was a field medic in the Russian army.)

 

It is so much fun being the victim - erm, participant. Now . . .

I am a landscape designer a few short years away from moving up in the world as a landscape architect. I do everything from designing and implementing landscapes, hardscapes, and waterscapes, to taking care of the weekly maintenance for both residential and commercial properties. I do everything from trimming bushes, to planting trees and putting baseball-field-esque stripes on lawns - the latter of which is a particular talent of mine. Then, during the winter time, I make a living by plowing snow at those same properties. Yes! I get to drive the big trucks and everything. I work for my family's business, so it is a great way to stay active outdoors, utilize my artistic capabilities, and bond with the family all at once. Although, that said, I hope to someday be a published author, and make at least a partial living off of that. You never know, it could happen!

As for my favourite character, I will answer that below with Deb's question.

I LOVE comics in every form. I would even go so far as to say that superheroes got me interested in the world of sci-fi, and then fantasy after that, from a very young age. I used to read comics a lot more than I do now, but I am a Marvel girl through and through. You don't get any better than that beautifully complex and chaotic world. Comics as a whole are hard to follow, so I do not pretend to have a great comic knowledge, but I do try to check in on the various X-Men series, and any Avengers comics I can get my hands on - so the latest X-Men vs. Avengers series was quite the treat for me. Thor in particular is a favourite of mine for the tie-ins to mythology and Loki in any form. Standalone tales like House of M and Age of Apocalypse are a few of my favourite plot arcs to return to, and I still read them often. When I do read DC comics, I like the Batman tales - especially anything Jeph Loeb has his hands on. Besides his work on AoA, his Batman: Hush series is still one of my ultimate comics to recommend to others - even if you don't like comics to begin with. After that, the Star Wars world was blessed with the Legacy line of comics - they were a breath of fresh air after the mess that was the NJO on.

In high school, I went through the required anime phase, to boot. Inuyasha and Saiyuki were my favourite manga to read, and they still have a special place in my heart.

First off, that is so neat!

And to answer your question, my name in real life is Miranda, so Mira was close enough to my real name for me to choose to use as a pseudonym. I chose my screen-name when I was fourteen and just reading TTT for the first time, upon where I was introduced to the fabulousness that was Mara Jade. As a result, I merged the two to create my name.

Gah, Deb! Hello to you to!

I think that this may come as a surprise to you , but my favourite characters in the Trek fandom are your more half and half characters. Spock, Seven of Nine, B'Elanna Torres - I was drawn to each of them for their struggle with their human and more alien halves, and their ultimate learning to find the best of both worlds in themselves. Spock, in particular, was a favourite for me for the development of his character, and his relationships with Kirk (and Nyota in this new reboot series - which I just adore to pieces for how they compliment and complete each other) remain some of my favourite things to explore in writing, and see explored on screen.

As for Star Wars, my favourite character is Mara Jade, hands down. I love her development and complex growth from a bitter and rigid woman, stewing in her deeds of old and longing for her 'glory days', to her end result as a redeemed, confidant, and happy Jedi Master, wife, and mother. I tend to have a soft spot for 'grey' characters as a whole, so when you couple that with a fantastic streak of sarcasm and fire covering up a truly good and caring core - there you have it! It gets me every time. Beyond Mara, I grew up wanting to be Princess Leia - really the Star Wars 'verse as a whole is just brimming with fantastic female characters, and I love it for that.

 

Before I answer, I have to thank-you for answering my New Zealand questions back in this thread. I just realized I never said that until now! When I finally get that trip together, I will have to PM you for more.

As for me . . . I have done a lot of traveling in the United States - from Texas to Florida to camping all over my own native and drop dead gorgeous Michigan. And yet, besides leaving the states for Canada, I have only ever crossed the ocean to visit France. I spent two weeks in Paris with a friend, where we rented an apartment off of the Seine, just overlooking the Pont Neuf. We did our own grocery shopping and cooking and tried to live like Parisians as much as we could. And we walked everywhere. The inner artist in me had a blast in that city, and I hope to return someday soon. Outside of wanting to visit everywhere else in France, from the Mediterranean to the Alps, I want to travel to Scotland and Ireland - heck, I'd like to backpack those two countries if I can, especially to visit my Scottish roots. Australia and New Zealand also have a big tug on me, and I would love to visit there when I can.

I am still a rookie in my field, and anything and everything I have yet to do has been done in tandem with older and more experienced designers. Especially when you consider the amount of money people pay for their landscaping - and we do small projects compared to the larger companies out there, at that! That said, we have had all kinds of customers - both those who know exactly what they want, and those who let you have free reign with your designs. I have helped with an Oriental rock-garden once, but nothing more elaborate than that . . . well, nothing more elaborate yet, that is. That is one of my favourite looks, though, and I will probably design something similar when I put in my own landscaping!

Oooh, as for fanfiction, when I first joined the boards there were some amazing authors going strong. Those like Mama Vader, ginchy, obaona - really, all of the fantastic L/M writers from way back in the day, coupled with my undying love for TKeira_Lea's fabulous J/J stories, all kept me enthralled and later moved me to want to write my own tales. (I am leaving so many names off of that list, it feels like. ) Since then, relationships with writers like yourself , Idrelle_Miocovani, brodiew, and Master_Jaina1011 have all inspired me to write on a more personal level. Getting to know each and every one of you, experiencing your support in return for my writing - and reading your work, at that! - has helped me grow as an author more than anything else. That is something I love about these boards - as a smaller community, the feed-back and friendships you cultivate here are more intimate than those on the larger writing sites. I have had some great feedback from FF.N and AO3, and talked to some great authors, but nothing like here.

As for professional writers, J. R. R. Tolkien, hands down, has inspired me more so than any other author I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Other fantasy authors like Ann McCaffrey, Sara Douglas, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and lately, George R. R. Martin, have all helped shape my imagination. After that, classic authors like the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo . . . all of their work has truly touched me and influenced my own writing in some way. If I can build a tenth of the world Tolkien did . . . if I can write with a fraction of Brontë 's passion, or develop a character half as rich or complex as any of Hugo's . . . well, I will be one happy camper then!

Oh, Queen Amidala in TPM, hands down. As much as I prefer the OT to the PT, that lady knew how to dress! . . . or, be dressed, at least. After that, I think that someone mentioned Lando's opera cloak earlier in the thread. I have to second that for best dressed! Classy indeed!

 

Do you know any foreign languages (speaking, reading, writing, etc.)?

 

Hello there, fellow Michigander! Alas, but I am confined to the mitten - I am closer to Ann Arbor and Detroit than anything else - but I do try to cross the Big Mac whenever I can to enjoy the UP. It is another world up there.

Oooooh, that's a toss up between cheesecake and tiramisu. (If the tiramisu is heavy on the chocolate liqueur, and not dry, that is. There is nothing worse that a dry tiramisu. )

I know enough French to get by - particularly, how to say 'sorry for my French, do you know English?' Someday I would like to be fluent, though.

I was always partial to the Chiss as a whole. Grand Admiral Thrawn snared my attention from the first, and since then their backstory as a race has just fascinated me. After that, I enjoy tales set on Dathomir and Hapes for the fascinating similarities between their cultures, even when they would first seem worlds apart. I can't say that I would want their culture for myself, but I do enjoy the tales told there.

Then, there was this one race that could use the force to manipulate the wind through chimes (or something like that, it has been years!) that I found to be particularly lovely. I like the idea of the force being used for art first and foremost, and found that just beautiful.

Oooh, that is a tough question.

My favourite thing I have ever written isn't for Star Wars, unfortunately. I have an http://archiveofourown.org/series/19125]epic[/url] Sif/Loki verse that is upwards of 200k words right now, where I mixed together my love of mythology and northern lore with the comics world, This series of stories is quite simply the child of my heart and I love it to pieces. After that, I have an ongoing Silmarillion/Tolkien collection of ficlets called http://boards.theforce.net/threads/the-silmarillion-this-taste-of-shadow-ficlets-and-drabbles-updated-6-30.50009080/][/url]"This Taste of Shadow" that is rather swallowing my muse right now. I love these tales dearly.

As for Star Wars . . . my favourite piece is a Luke and Ben post Mara's death vignette called "embers, lie sleeping," where they first encounter her force ghost. It is still a piece that I love to go back to.

As for least favourite . . . that is hard to say, because most of the things I don't like are my earliest pieces, and however much they make me cringe now, they were the building blocks that got me to where I am, and I appreciate them for that. I would say that anything where I tried to be funny before I understood the concept of basic writing principles is where I grimace the most.

That is another tough question.

I guess that the first thing that I can say is that there is a lot of brainstorming before I actually put pen to paper. I love world-building, and the more complex and rich the world, the more I can understand what a character will do in a situation and why. I think that the best thing I can say is that you can't be afraid to give your character flaws. The 'Mary Sue' exists for a reason - as authors we want to create a likable, talented character. And yet, life is rarely ever black and white - it is almost always the shades in between, and seeing a character tackle inner hurdles alongside those outer in the plot is what will interest a reader most. Or, so I have come to conclude.

Past that, just be creative and have fun. If you love what you are writing, it will show through in your words.