Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with NYCityGurl (3/13)

Don't let those nice answers fool you. Shaindl's evil. And it's not just because she's Canadian. Her zodiac said so!

 

Wahoo!


I beat up my younger cousin so I could play Princess Leia. She was cool because she was a girl who got to boss around boys and shoot a gun. Apparently, I had some issues with male authority?

Her evilness began at such a tender young age.


To look busy I started playing on the internet and looking intently at the screen. I think I was looking for pics from the prequels, and I fell into a fanfic page.

How many jobs have you loafed on?


one vig I?ve written was done solely because of the teasing I got for being Canadian.

We have no clue what you're talking aboot. Give us a break eh?

Having Palpatine there also had the added downfall of leaving me without a suitable villain should I ever write Roads 3.

Don't worry! Something will get worked out.


Nope, that?s still the one I?m most proud of.

And well you should be! You're best writing to date.


I want to say that writing with OE has been one of the best experiences I?ve had on these boards ? to find someone who inspires my writing and will also listen to me whine about anything has been incredible.

Awwwww! I feel the exact same way. You inspire me daily.

Great interview you two. Not enough people recognize the brilliance of Shaindl's writing ability.

 

We have no clue what you're talking aboot. Give us a break eh?

Hahaaaaaaaaaaa!! Get oot of town, hoser!

All hoserness aside, that's definitely my favorite. That and the Evil Obi vig.

 

She's not evil, eh. She just like to torment Garen and I don't know why she wants to do that to such a nice young man.

Good job with the questions, KD and I loved the answers, Shaindl - especially that you are going to do a Roads 3! But then, I love your work anyway. Write more, please.

 

Great interview K_D. Shaindl is not evil. And Shaindl, you must write more! I'm especially looking forward to the next post on Pushing Me Away.

 

Wonderful interview KD and Shaindl!!!

I loved your story Turning into Myself. It was so well written and very captivating. I also love your Chewie stories. Love how you write Chewie.

 

What an entertaining interview.

 

Great job you two! Great hearing about your writing style Shaindl Hope I don't have to die now!

 

Maybe she just doesn't want people to know that she's actually not Canadian.



I lied - my favorite is the Aalto vig. Though that probably goes without saying.

 

OK, I'm embarrassed. I read that over like a zillion times and still had a typo (well more like a paste-o or really actually a cut-o) in there. I had the wrong link in for Shaindl's WIP reference (and I for one find it highly encouraging that she is calling it a WIP since I was worried it was finished). I have fixed the link. Sorry, Shaindl. I think I'll be looking into that witness protection program now... (do the bunny hop hop hop)

My only excuse is that my kid has been sick and I keep getting interrupted before I can finish even a small thing like a single sentence.

KD

 

Great interview, you two. Roads 3? Woohoo! Can't wait. You'll let me know when you start it, won't you?

And, Jade, I don't think Shaindl is truly evil. She's just realised that everyone likes villains so much better than the nice guys.

 

Just wanted to bring this back up so that more folks can read about this entertaining and prolific author.

And then go read her work.

KD

 

And here we have a first-ever, JC exclusive interview with the up-and-coming queen of OCs, an "Easterner at heart" from Cincinnati, our very own ViariSkywalker.

Ish: So...give a little background on yourself: name (if you want to), birthday, sign, age...

ViariSkywalker: Well, my real name is Natalie, but I chose Viari because I wanted to be a cool writer with a cool alias. I used one of those random baby name generators and, behold, a name was born.

I'm currently 18 years old and a senior in high school. I'm a Libra, and I only know that because I looked in Seventeen magazine once when I was younger. (I have looked at girly magazines since then, but not frequently. ;-)) I come from a stable, suburban, white, Christian family. I have one older half-sister who is married and has three adorable children. I also have a 16 year old brother and a 12 year old sister. My younger siblings and my parents all love Star Wars, but I am clearly the winner when it comes to devotion.

I am also dating a young man named - ironically - Luke. I love him deeply, and we are both convinced that one day we will be married.

Apart from all that, I swim year-round and am fairly competitive. My best events are the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, and 100 butterfly. And of course, I love to write, and it is my dream to one day be published.

Ish: Wow, I'm slightly intimidated. A well-rounded girl destined to be Mrs. Luke. Now, did you meet him before or after you became obsessed with Star Wars?

ViariSkywalker: Oh well afterward. I met him this summer. I've been obsessed with Star Wars for much longer. ;-)

Ish: Since what age?

ViariSkywalker: Well, I think I've grown up liking Star Wars. My parents taped it off of TV when I was very little, and I can remember watching it late at night with my mom. I think there was a brief period of time where I found A New Hope to be the most boring, and at age 6 I insisted that Star Trek IV was better. My little brother argued against me. (So maybe it's partially his fault that I ended up a huge fan - I wanted to spite him.)

But in all seriousness, when the original trilogy was re-released in preparation for the Special Edition, (I guess it would have been around 1995,) we bought the boxed set and I fell in love. Of course, that love had not reached maturity. As the hype surrounding the Special Edition reached a climax, I found myself increasingly intrigued by the galaxy far, far away. I was so excited to see the Special Edition, and at the time I thought it was so awesome to see Star Wars on the big screen. I knew I still liked the originals better, but hey, I took what I got. I watched the George Lucas interviews on the Original Trilogy so many times, and I began to realize what it meant to have the prequel trilogy in production. I watched the OT countless times, and by the time The Phantom Menace came out, I had at age 12 declared the Star Wars movies to be my favorite movies ever.

The feeling has only increased since then, and I firmly believe that Star Wars will forever hold that place in my heart.

Ish: So you've at least been obsessed with Star Wars (despite your dabbling in the Dark Side of Star Trek) longer than I have. How long did it take you to get into fanfiction? What was your first inspiration/plot bunny?

ViariSkywalker: I got into fanfiction without even realizing it. I've been writing stories and creating complex games since before I can really remember.

Maybe a year or so after TPM came out, I remember sitting down and being inspired to write a Star Wars/Earth crossover fic with none other than myself as the main character. I think it had something to do with God giving me Force abilities and letting me get dumped right into the Radiant VII with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. I was supposed to be the mysterious Jedi who knew about the future. They all thought I was prophetic. I didn't tell them that I'd watched Star Wars way too many times. I got as far into the story as Tatooine, and then it got put

 

Great interview, Viari!

 

VI!!!!! Excellent interview, to both Vi and Ish!

 

All through that interview, I wanted to give her a huge, auntly hug. She's so cute and well-versed.

 

I think there was a brief period of time where I found A New Hope to be the most boring, and at age 6 I insisted that Star Trek IV was better.

Blasphemy! Nice interview!

 

VI!! *tackles*

Fantastic interview. Its good to see you popping in on the Boards again.

And its ALWAYS good to know that the Dark Fire Chronicles still has life and breath *bounces excitedly*

Love your OCs, always have, but you know that. I still have a soft spot for that spitfire girl, Aari

You hail from OH? Very cool, so do i. Currently a sophomore at Miami myself, but my hometown is Sandusky, way up on the lake.

 

*My apologies about the lateness about this, I had totally forgotten until I got a budge from sj to post it*

The recent winner of several WFFA awards, she has been around the boards since 2002, and writing fanfiction ever since then. An extremely sweet girl who manages to put up with some rather crazy readers, her stories have become a bit more well-known on the boards as of late. So here she is, ladies and gentlemen, NYCitygurl!

1. Hi Natalie! Could you share some background information about yourself with us?

Sure. I live in the middle of nowhereÃ?¢ââ??‰â?¬ï¿½I mean, Indiana. I've got two sisters, one of whom got me interested in fanfiction. I enjoy reading, especially fantasy, and I play soccer. I really like History class and I do Academic Competition. I'm in high school and I'm usually pretty quiet. My favorite movies are . . . well, that would take too long to list, but Troy and Doctor Dolittle are at the top.

2. When did you first get into Star Wars?

When I was 9 and The Phantom Menace came out. My dad wanted to take me to see it, and he made me watch the old movies first. I fell in love with them, especially Return of the Jedi. My mother says that she regrets the day she let me see them.

3. And what about fanfiction? When did you first start writing it and what drew you to it?

Well, my older sister hung out around here. She introduced me to it and I really liked that people could choose what happened to the characters and what they said. Some of the stories I read were better than some of the books. I used to get on her name and try to write things. I failed horribly, and she always ended up locking them. She set up a username for me (and thus the name; I don't actually live in NYC) and I started writing. My first post here on my own name was the beginning of my story Trickster Twins.

4. What has influenced your writing style the most? Other books? Authors? Fellow Fanficcers?

All three, actually. Sometimes a reader says gives me an idea for the story I'm writing, so it changes from what I had planned. Natasha Fel was one of the most major, I was going to kill her in Family Ties, but she ended up married to Ganner Rhysode.

I read quite a lot, mostly fantasy, and so my stories have developed fantasy elements. For one story I pretty much stole an idea from my favorite author (it probably isn't very recognizable yet, though). I've also stolen names, such as Nyda (Sal-Solo) and Kari and Fryan, though I changed the latter two slightly from what they were in the book.

5. Alright, on to fanfiction then. Your main work seems to be your Jaina/Jag trilogy. Where did you first get the inspiration for it and did you ever think that it would be as long as it currently is now?

I can't remember where I got the original inspiration, but I think I got the idea for the beginning of Family Ties from a fic I read here years ago. I can't remember what it's called and who the author is, though. Most of the storyline just came along the way or what influenced by other things, Zena Fel got her ears pierced the same day I did.

No, I didn't plan on it being this long. When I started I knew it was going to be a trilogy, but I had no idea that Family Ties would get to be so long, and I only decided a few months ago to write a sequel trilogy. Also, each story fleshed out along the way, and I added a bunch of OCs and characters who hadn't originally been in there.

6. Which book has been your favorite to write so far?

Probably Family Ties. It went from being a shorter story to being an epic, and it was really fun to invent new characters and mess with the Solo and Fel families. Also, I've gotten more readers on it than anything else I've written, and its fun seeing them enjoy the story and even the complaints about how evil I am. I've also improved my writing over the years, and it's easier to get through Family Ties because there isn't too much bad grammar.

7. Okay, I have to ask this; what on earth was going through your mind when

 

Nice interview! "Reasons Not To Babysit a Jedi" looks interesting.

 

My first post here on my own name was the beginning of my story Family Ties.


Oops, my mistake I meant to put Trickster Twins.

Nice interview! "Reasons Not To Babysit a Jedi" looks interesting.

Thanks It's completed and kinda short.

 

Great interview with a great author.

 

Thanks

Are we going to open nominations for authors we'd like to see interviewed?

 

Last time I checked, no.

 

Upping this great thread with the question of "Is it going to happen again?"