Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I'm 33, I work as an accounting clerk in Oklahoma, I'm a mom, and I moonlight as Professor Eve for Enterprise Write Brigade. I'm also the archivist for Luminosity. I've got a bachelor of arts in English and Russian and my favorite thing to say is "I learn from experience...eventually."



How long have you been writing?

I've been writing forever, except some years I didn't put down a single word. I really got back into it 3 or 4 years ago. I started in on Enterprise fanfiction about a year ago.



Why do you write fan fiction?

I got into it for entertainment. Eventually, writing fan fiction helped teach me how to write better stories and to communicate with people in a way I didn't expect. People have told me that my stuff has made their day, or has made them cry, or even made them think. Damn, telling stories is great.



Which character is easiest to write for and which hardest?

This is going to sound a little funny, because I know people are expecting me to say Reed, but right now I'm finding Travis Mayweather easier to handle. I'm not British, obviously, so I've gotten a little anxiety laden about using Reed's voice lately. Travis, bless his imaginary heart, is pretty much a Magnadoodle that I can use to draw some pretty amusing things.



If you write ship-fic, tell us why you like that particular ship?

write ship-fic, but I don't 'believe' in any of them. Reed/Sato and Archer/Reed have been past favorites, along with Tucker/Reed and the bent triangle I've been writing of Tu/R/S, but I'm not big on undying romance right now. Who knows? Tomorrow I might try writing that T/S fic that's been floating in my head. *WEG*



What writing weakness do you think you have? How do you go about correcting this?

I haven't used a beta reader for most of the stories I posted in April. I'll tell you why, though: I would like to think that I can learn from all the beta readers who have shouted at me to use more description, to get rid of the word 'had', to bring out the clarity that I sometimes miss. Plus, I've found that in editing my work on paper, I *can* see the typos and awkward phrasing that slip into my writing when I'm just slamming the words down. I think the best part of my writing comes out of the uninhibited part of my brain--but the editing afterwards is what brings the shine to the diamonds.

EWB isn't in and of itself about making people use beta readers. It's about learning the process of getting to the point where you are posting your *best* work. I'm not sure I'm there yet, but I'm writing stories that I really enjoy.



What writing strength do you think you have? How did it come about?

I conspire with the readers to tell them stories they already know, but in combinations they might not consider on their own. Take a look at my Toolbox series. It's a spin on the cliches of the romance genre--but our helpless maiden is actually Trip, our hero is Hoshi, and Malcolm tries to rescue people with limited equipment and a complete absence of uniforms. Love triangles--sure--but they have happy endings! I adore plot twists and the unexpected. I suppose that's the outcome of all those years of reading that I've done. I don't want to tell the same stories over and over again. Plus, I'm writing first and foremost for myself. If I can't make myself think or smile or evoke any sort of emotion from a particular set of words, then I'm doing the wrong story. I'm learning to get ruthless about keeping my elephant poo from polluting the world. It's been a struggle, let me tell you.



Pet peeves when it comes to writing/reading?

For writing, I'm having trouble with finishing projects, most notoriously my novel. I need someone with a hammer to stand in my living room and tell me to get back to editing it. Now.

As far as reading goes, I pretty much don't read unfinished WIPS...I've been burned in other fandoms where people didn't update for 6 months and then put out crap! Also, I get really annoyed by people SHOUTING that they didn't get their stuff beta read. It's like telling me you didn't care enough about the story to post your best work, so I generally pass those by unless there's a good reason. Fine, don't get it beta read, just don't tell me about it. ::Shrug::



Which do you think is your best/fav work in terms of Hoshi fic?

What Your Muse Brings You. On the surface, it's about Hoshi reaching out to Archer and her redefinition of the meaning of her life, but I when I was writing it, I was struggling with my fear of writing, writer's block, and trying really hard to surpress my interest in living life outside this little box I put myself in. I've never had a story *give* me so much. It's an incredible feeling.



How do you take your feedback?

Out of 70 something stories and hundreds of pieces of feedback, there's only been one that was downright negative--and I still remember it, too. The flipside of that is that I've been able to reach people in more states, countries, and continents than I'll ever live to see, thanks to this odd phenomenon we call fandom. nostalgia has been a small bit of her time calling me a BNF (Big Name Fan//aka Evil Wanker B****) but people have told me that I've been useful to them over the last year. I like that.



Pick a fav Hoshi fic and tell us why it worked for you. Was it something particular the author did? Was it the subject matter?

I still read Solstice by downinnewyork. I really liked the way DINY handled the situation--Reed and Sato in a moment they could have had, but let go. Very angsty. Yeah, I beta read it, but I still adore the story and the writer.



Other advice for fellow writers?

Er, let's test drive a new slogan: you write for yourself first.

I've had people come to me and tell me they were stopping with the fan fiction gig because of things going on in their lives--family, boyfriends, spouses, overwhelming stuff happening at school, etc. I've sort of shouted the same thing, since my burning ambition is to be a pro writer. However, the thing is, you aren't writing for those other people. You are writing for yourself. You don't have to plaster the story all over the internet, but it's okay to let the story be born. It might be elephant poo in its purest form--but if you don't write it, you might not grow as a writer and make that fierce connection of falling in love with writing that I have and try to share.