So I got a surprise, kjwrit contacted me everyway she could find…
And she agreed to the interview!!! I admit, I squealed, and when I got it back, I read it. Yes, I am a fan like so many of you… This is my way of getting to know my authors.
Basic information.
Can you please tell the people reading this your name?
Kjwrit
Where do you like to post, and can you give us the site of your preferred medium?
I started out on fanfiction.net and while I will continue to update any incomplete stories already posted over there, I’m choosing to post everything else exclusively on my wordpress site. Kjwrit.wordpress.com
What do you prefer, Tea or Coffee?
Coffee. Definitely coffee. Seriously, don’t come near me in the morning until I’ve had my coffee.
Unless it’s Nestea iced tea with lemon. Then it’s tea. Definitely tea.
But only after I’ve had my coffee.
What is your favorite beverage of choice? And if alcoholic and mixed, what are the ingredients?
My favorite? Is water too lame of an answer? And knowing the ingredients are two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, is probably lame too, right?
So…uh…whiskey. Straight up, eleven fingers, and with none of that namby-pamby ice in it. Or cognac, in one of those PetSmart beta fishbowl snifter things.
That’s what a real writer would drink, right?
But then again, it’s not like I’m rolling in the dough from writing – just PlayDoh because I like the smell and it’s just fanfiction – so better make that a bottle of MD 20/20.
But poured into a nice flask. I have SOME dignity.
What is your funny story about trying something to drink and it rocked your boat and/or sucked?
I tried kamikazes for the first time when I was 19 years old.
I tried a whole pitcher of them.
It was great going down, but “resting my eyes” while lying down on a water bed wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.
What foods do you love?
Philly cheesesteaks. Whatever the rest of you outside of the Philly area are being subjected to when ordering one is NOT a Philly cheesesteak. I’m sad for you.
What is your go to food for comfort?
Chocolate. With more chocolate. And a side of chocolate.
What do you like to snack when writing?
Marlboro menthol gold. Don’t judge.
Is there a scent that says home to you?
Anything Gain or Downey scented.
Is there a scent you wish you never smelled ever?
I assume you don’t mean something like decaying roadkill in the dead if summer or a highway rest stop restroom (they’re surprisingly similar). So I’ll say someone who has chosen to bathe themselves in perfume or cologne, rather than taking an actual shower/bath. Eau de B.O.
If you could visit a place, anywhere, where would it be?
I would do the Eat, Pray, Love tour. Italy, India, and Indonesia.
If you could go at any point in time, which would it be?
The Middle Ages at the time of the Crusades with the Knights Templar. One too many Dan Brown novels and a hardcore love of Game of Thrones, I suppose.
What music do you like?
Pretty much anything, but as a general rule the radio in my car is set to a Top 40’s pop music station and Maroon 5 is currently in the CD player.
Is there a genre or song you hate?
If there is, I must not hate it enough to remember it. Or I hate it so much that I’ve blocked it out and could conceivably have seizures when I hear it again.
Tell us something about yourself that you think your fans would love to know about:
Honestly, I can’t even begin to imagine what anyone would want to know about me. I’m just plain old me.
Thanks. That gives us some basic information. Now, about the writing – I know you’re excited…
Why did you start writing?
After finding fanfiction and consuming every SVM story written, I started imagining my own. I was too afraid to write a vampire Eric and Sookie story at the time, so I went all human, wanting to “see” Eric as a SWAT team member. ‘Cause that’s hawt. Which led me to publishing my first hot mess of a fanfiction Law and Order Shreveport. (<- see how imaginative I am? Not.)
Next week’s review is this actual story in fact!
What do you enjoy the most about it?
Definitely the feedback from the readers. As a fanfiction writer, reviews are our only form of “pay” for lack of a better word. I go to work because they pay me for the job I do. In the beginning, had no one left a review, I never would have posted anything again because there would have been no incentive for me to do it. I’ve been at it for long enough now that if everyone disappeared, I would probably move on to writing the three different original fiction stories that are sitting on my laptop. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to quiet the “voices” in my head now that I’ve opened the Pandora’s box in my brain.
What do you like least about it?
The trolls. The anonymous asshats who think nothing of berating someone else’s work because they can hide behind their computers and their mondo-sized bag of Cheetos.
There’s constructive criticism, which is fine. But shit-hating is NOT okay.
Then there are the entitled asshats. They may or may not remain anonymous, but they too presume to feel as though me and my fellow writers owe them something. But we don’t. We do this for fun. We do it for free. I currently have just shy of a frillion works in progress posted, which I’ve heard from anonymous asshats really gets their panties in a wad. To them I would suggest, quit reading incomplete works if they bother you so much. Or do what I’ve done in that same situation (Dead Ahead by Ann Madison, anyone?) and say to yourself, “And they all lived happily ever after…”
That first time hitting publish, how did you feel?
Nervous. REALLY nervous.
Where do you get your inspiration?
From anything. A song. A movie. The Venefica & The Vampire came from me hearing the word venefica on an old episode of Law and Order Criminal Intent.
What is your writing area like do you use computer or paper, or both? Or another medium?
The majority of my writing gets done on my laptop at home, either on the couch or on my back patio if it’s above 40 degrees. But I’ve been known to do a little in my spare time at work. I try to limit myself from doing it there often though because I don’t want to have to one day explain what a Sookie is or why I’ve typed her name so often onto my work computer.
Do you use an outline, rough draft or just write?
I just write. When the story grows in my mind at a fast pace, I’ll write out a very basic outline, but as a general rule I just write what comes to me in that moment or jot down notes on my phone if writing isn’t convenient at the time.
What do you do while you’re writing (listen to music, TV in the background, etc.)?
I am the most productive when I sit out on my back patio. The only distractions come from the legion of squirrels who have trained me to give them peanuts whenever they want.
What annoys you the most when you are trying to write?
When someone tries to talk to me. Unless the house is on fire at that very moment and you need help getting our personal petting zoo outside, I don’t care. Whatever it is can wait until I’m done. That doubly applies to calls from telemarketers and texts from my mother, demanding that I come over her house to be her personal Best Buy Geek Squad slave. Her preferred appointment time during those texts is always yesterday.
If you have finished a fic, what was your feeling on it?
Relief. Pure relief. (Probably because it’s such a rare thing, like TB Sookie not being a twat.)
What are your favorite fandoms to write?
I’ve only written Eric and Sookie fanfiction, but I’ve pulled things from both the SVM and TB universe.
Who are your favorite characters to write?
It depends on what story I’m working on, but mostly I prefer to write from Eric’s point of view.
Why?
His “voice” comes to me easier than most of the Sookies I’ve written.
Who are your least favorite characters to write?
I don’t really have any.
Why?
Every character I include in any story I write serves a purpose. Be it to play the role of the villian, the comic relief, or the dupe.
What is your favorite scene or story you have written and why?
I have two.
All In – The scene in the hospital waiting room when Eric’s dad and Pam arrive to when he finally meets Lilly. Something about the way Eric swings back and forth from devastation to elation gets me every time I’ve reread it.
And The Debt – The scene where Eric wakes to find a vulnerable Sookie in bed with him, wondering if she matters. She’s so much of a badass and yet she feels so unworthy on a personal level. And Sookie sees no reason why she shouldn’t feel that way. The way Eric can tell when he’s seeing Sookie versus Susannah is very much like how I feel when writing her.
What is the most difficult story or scene you have written, and why?
The first chapter of Bonds because it was angsty and I’m not good with angst, even if I’m the one writing it. I haven’t read it since I first wrote it, so god only knows how bad it really is, but I have no desire to reread it and fix whatever I would undoubtedly find wrong with it.
Do you see any characteristics in the characters you write?
Of myself in them? Absolutely.
Which ones and whom?
They’re too numerous to say, but generally speaking most of “my” Eric’s can be very black and white in their viewpoints. I can be the same way. Like I have zero tolerance for racism of any kind on any level. I can’t find any justifiable excuse for it in my black and white world, so that is my most easily flipped uber-bitch button.
But on the flip side, in my rainbow-hued world, I find the most childish things ridiculously funny and have a potty mouth of epic proportions. So, so do a lot of my characters.
What do you like most about your preferred fandom?
The camaraderie. Even though we all don’t really “know” each other, we still look out for one another. Be it by donating to the surviving children of an author we all felt the loss of, or raising our “voices” in outrage over another beloved author’s work being plagiarized for profit. Without each other, none of what we do would be worth the trouble.
How would you describe your fics?
Unfinished.
What story would you recommend of your own for a new fan to start first?
I know a lot of new readers to the SVM/TB fandom shy away from all human stories. I get it. I came here for the Viking’s fangs too. But when I ran out of those and had no choice but to do housework or read an all human version of my favorite couple, I chose the latter and it opened my eyes to the unlimited potential of those two.
That being said, my favorite completed (not many to choose from there) story would have to be Tales of the Dead. I love that it’s only told from Eric’s POV, so we only know what his thoughts are and his perception of events. He’s a lot more vulnerable than how Eric is normally portrayed. No swagger. Just sweet.
Now the HARD questions:
If you could offer a suggestion to someone who is thinking of publishing their first story, what would it be?
Be like Nike and just do it. I know it’s scary, but you’ll never know if you don’t try. Fanfiction.net has the most visibility when you’re just starting out, but beware of the anonymous trolls. However, there’s going to be a new WordPress directory coming online soon for our fandom, so you could go the WordPress route instead. If I can figure out how to manage my own site, anyone can.
If you could go back in time, and give yourself one word of advice, what would you say? (No Lottery numbers or anything like that!!!)
One word? That’s all I get? Umm…okay.
Do.
What 5 stories would you recommend someone read? Please list fandom, sites and name with pairing.
All stories will be Eric and Sookie pairings because that’s just how I roll. And since a lot of new readers prefer their fanfiction to have fangs, I’ll stick to that side of the fandom house. That being said, in no particular order…
Pretty Kitty by Ficlit78, True Blood. Complete. On both Fanfiction.net and ficlit78.wordpress.com
Selfless to the End by My Universe, True Blood. Incomplete. On Fanfiction.net and myuniverse424.wordpress.com.
The Multiverse Series by EricIzMine, SVM. Some are complete. Some aren’t. I still love them all, with my faves being Intrepid and Nuclear Winter. Ericizmine.com.
The “Un” Series by California Kat, True Blood. The first two of three installments are complete. On Fanfiction.net and californiakat1564.wordpress.com.
Let Love In by Terri Botta, SVM. Complete. On Fanfiction.net.
Is there something you wished I asked, and if so, what as well as the answer.
I wish you asked what it’s like to be married to Alexander Skarsgard, like you had a legit reason to ask, because there were rumors or papzz photos or the sharing of a hamburger at Madison Square Garden. But, alas, we all know you had NO reason to ask, so never mind.
Here is something I do for the Non-Canon Awards, I ask the author to interview a character of their choice:
Name of Character: Godric
Story he is in: Playing God
Is (s)he an original Character or a series known? Series known.
Are they in character or Out of Character? Out of character, definitely.
Nickname(s): Binary Boy, Pinocchio.
Date of Birth: December 31st, 1999
Occupation: House boy; DJ; AI sidekick
Stats (Aka Height, hair color, eye color, and so on): N/A, N/A, N/A, and N/A.
Significant other(s): The chick who lives in the Starship Enterprise, until he dumped her for Siri.
Best Friend(s): Eric Northman.
Enemies(s): Magnets.
Any noticeable Scars, Tattoos, or other markings: Not even a scent.
If they could have a Theme Song, which would it be? The Star Wars theme song.
What is their favorite Movie? The Terminator. <snickers>
What is something that the fans don’t know about your character? While he is very much like a robot without a body, he wasn’t programmed with the Three Laws, also known as Asimov’s Laws.
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Feel free to draw your own conclusions about that.
OMG!!! I had such a ball with reading her responses, and I hope you did too.
Just a reminder, ballots for the nominations on the Non-Canon Awards for Twilight and Twilight Crossovers will be closing soon. Make sure your voice is being heard!
Thanks for reading!
The Non-Canon Awards 