Interview_Lilith

1/ How would you describe yourself?

I call myself the blond engineer for a reason. The implicit contradiction in terms is quite deliberate. Most of my friends here at school call me Chaos and there’s quite a good reason for it. I’m disheveled and organized, hard-working with a love of procrastination, and intelligent while being very blond. To say I’m scatter-brained would be a serious understatement, but I’ve never yet forgotten anything important. I’m weird and strange, but so are most of my friends, so it’s all good. :)

2/ What is it about Star Wars that you love?

What’s not to love? I love the story, good versus evil. I love the characters, so real and so fun. I love that the galaxy is so rich and so alive and that there are large portions of it that we fans can play in without disrupting Lucas’s stories.

3/ Do you have a favourite original character from SW?

I assume you mean besides my own? I love An-Paj. I know he’s just basically a transplanted andorian from Star Trek, but he’s so real-seeming. He’s everything a good healer should be: smart, sarcastic, strong, humorous, kind, stern and caring. And with everyone who’s written him since he was first invented he’s become very much alive.

4/ If you could change one thing from the SW films, what would it be?

Oh gosh, only one? I think it would be to change TPM from a children’s movie to a more adult one like the original trilogy was. I know that would involve far more than a single change, but I think the result would be worth it. That was my only real gripe about it, that it pandered to the children rather than being adult friendly the way the first ones were.

5/ Why write fan fiction?

Why not? I’ve been doing it since before I can remember, though I didn’t know that’s what it was called. I’ve been sticking myself or my own characters into my favorite books and movies for simply ages. All you have to do is ask my little sister. I’d lull her to sleep at nights with tales of us helping Batman solve great crimes, of our friends baffling even Sherlock Holmes, of saving Superman’s life or stealing something from under the nose of James Bond. Plus, as an aspiring author, I find that it’s great practice. I don’t have to come up with worlds or even characters of my own if I don’t want to, and my audience is ready-made. Everything I need is already there waiting for me. The only thing I need to provide is a twist to the plot, a scene that was obviously left out and needed to be filled in, a what if that is begging to be written. It’s like playing in someone else’s sandbox: great fun until you can finally get one of your own.

6/ What story has given you the most satisfaction to write and why?

That would have to be Crash Course, I think. It’s my longest story ever, but more than that I honestly think it’s my best to date. The characters all felt very real to me, like they were telling me the story instead of me making it up as I went along. Crash and Shael and Mason drove the story instead of it driving them. And the setting, the city streets and the various gang houses were vivid in my mind. I hope they were for everyone who read Crash Course as well, but I won’t hold my breath. I know I’ve still got a long way to go before publication becomes a serious possibility.

7/ What attracted you to the Jemmiah Chronicles ?

Honestly, the humor. There’s not enough humor in the world and entirely too many SW fans take themselves and the movies too seriously. If you can’t poke fun and laugh then you aren’t a fan, you’re an obsessive fanatic and you need to get your head examined. That’s how I know I haven’t gone overboard with writing fan fic and sewing my own Jedi robes. I can still joke and make fun. When I find I can’t do that anymore it’ll be time to set it aside for a while until I can relax and enjoy it again.

8/ How did you decide on Lilith’s character and background?

I’m a huge Han Solo fan. Lilith was originally just a female Han Solo, but once I started talking to her she grew into much more. I first came up with her for a SW RPG I was in, but it flopped after only a single game. I liked Lilith too much to let her die there, so I slipped her into several different group fics until I found where she fit. As far as her background goes I seldom have characters with normal backgrounds. She was just supposed to be estranged from her family at first, but that was before I found the proper time-line for her. She’s been post-ROTJ, pre-ANH, and Ep2 contemporary before I discovered that she’s supposed to be pre-TPM.

9/ What do you have in common with Lilith and Crash?

Not much and a whole lot. Both are smart, strong women in their own way (and so am I , I like to think). I don’t bear any real physical resemblance to either, but that was sort of deliberate since my very first fan fic character was me. I try not to be too Mary Sue with my characters, but it would be impossible to create a character that doesn’t incorporate at least a tiny aspect of my own personality. If they weren’t at least a little like me I’m not sure I could write them well.

10/ How did you come up with the concept of M1-CK?

Childhood dreams. He’s essentially an imaginary friend come to life. I didn’t purposefully design him that way, but that’s what he is, now that I think about it. He’s snotty, smart, sarcastic, and utterly loyal, but best of all he’s portable and doesn’t need to be fed.

11/ Does being an engineer influence the way you write?

Heck yeah! As an engineer I’m very detail oriented. I need to know the why and the how of everything, even if I don’t end up putting it in the story. As long as I know the background and history of every character I know how they will react because of it and it makes the people all the more real to me. I hope that makes them more interesting to read about as well. And then there’s the detail and description I like to put in. Yeah, I’d say it influences me a lot.

12/ Who (on this planet not the galaxy far away!) would you like to be compared to... as in being touted as this century’s _________ (fill in the blank) and why?

In all honesty, my mom. She works full time, was going to school full time (kept a GPA of 3.9+), and still was always there for any of her kids that needed her. She was never too tired or too busy to help us or anyone else and she never shirked any of her duties. If I’m favorably compared to my mother in my life-time I’ll be just pleased as all get out.

13/ What is your most prized possession?

My black cotton belt with those two gold stripes at the end. I worked for over five years to get it and I’m not sure there’s anything I’m currently prouder of. Once I graduate it will probably be my diploma. ; )

14/ When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?

Which time? I went through phases like any other kid. For a short while I wanted to be a firefighter or a policeman. I even entertained the idea of joining the military. I wanted to be an astronaut, a pirate, a spy, a teacher, a biker gang (not a member, but the entire gang), and somewhere in there I wanted to be a ghost. I’m not sure when it solidified in my mind that I wanted to be an engineer, but I know it was earlier than most people manage to settle on what they want. I’ve always liked knowing how things worked and why. Of course now that I’m very nearly a fully trained engineer with the diploma to prove it I think I want to be a writer. ; )

15/ What’s your favourite book of all time, and what was the last one you read?

Favorite book of all time? Only one?! Umm, will you accept a tie? The top two would have to be Louis L’Amour’s Last of the Breed and David Weber’s Honor of the Queen. The last one I read (finished it this morning at about 12:46) was David Weber’s Mutineer’s Moon.

16/ What are you hoping the next year holds in store for you?

Graduation.

No, really, if that’s all I get next year that’s enough. I’ve been waiting for it for way too long and now that it’s finally within reach I can’t really focus on anything else. Other than that, finishing my sequel to The Right Place at the Right Time would be nice and getting out a draft of an original novel would be pretty dang cool as well.