<Host1> Okay, guys. We'd like to change tatics here a little.

<Host1> We are going to have each writer step into the spotlight and accept questions specifically for them

<Host3> Spotlight on each single writer now!

<Host1> So, first up is MJ

<MJ> who, moi?

<Host1> MJ, as you know is the infamous author of Pencils and other wonderful stories.

<Host1> What questions do you have for her?

<Guest4> yikes..haven't read them ;-(

<Guest15> Who does Mulder really love, MJ, Skinner or Krycek?

<DMilan> I just loved how you wrote Skinner's admiration for Mulder and how it related to his management style. "An island of gems in a sea of mediocrity."

<Host1> So, MJ, who does Mulder love? Krycek or Skinner

<MJ> Okay, my scandalous and aol-crashing answer - the backstory tho Pencils is that Alex is Mulder's ex, and Mulder THINKS Walter doesn't know it.

<MJ> Mulder would probably still be with Alex if it weren't for that little business with Scully...

<MJ> but BEFORE Alex, there was painfully evident alter UST.

<DMilan> Yep, Alex just beat Walter to the punch.

<MJ> And if Alex hadn't shown up with those puppydog faces when he did, Mulder woulds have run off with Skinner ages ago.

<Host2> MJ, I have a question for you from Te: who is Langly to you, and when will you write more for Te?

<MJ> Langly, Te, is my fiendish alter ego, and get your patootie on line with me asap.

<MJ> After all, he hasn't seen Byers in -- minutes?

* Host2 imagines MJ as Langly

<MJ> And he's sorry he didn't pay his AAA's membership this year, sorry about the car...

<Host3> Strip Byers naked, will ya?

<Te> Every damned day, Mulder.

<MJ> My psych studies on M/K are actually unrelated to the fic, really truly.

<MJ> Honest. I mean it and everything.

<Guest15> I loved the issues you brought up in those essays, would like to see them explored more in fiction... <hint, nudge>

<Guest10> That's interesting... so writing and watching the show are two different worlds?

<MJ> I'm making big big huge note on that, Guest15!

<Guest15> Maybe we can sort of nudge each other into writing. I refuse to be the only one. ;-)

<MJ> I don't think you are

<Guest10> When I looked at our site for descriptions, I thought that you inspire each other a lot.

<MJ> Wel, Guest10 -- the XFU essays were based omn a read of M/K slash and a tron of books on codependency -- they are a bit of a practical joke of sortsd

<Guest4> i read those essays ,they were interesting..

<MJ> the stories are quite separate -- no jokew there except Walter's excellent dream adventures...

<Host2> MJ: Is Skinner's formality bone-deep in Pencils, or do you see him loosening up, if gradually?

<MJ> the psych in the essays is accurate, I took it from the basic question of "why on earth does the universe want this couple?"

<MJ> Okay, Host2 -- Walter is learning to deal.

<MJ> Everyone has to grow; this is Walter's chance.

<MJ> What's happening is that he doesn't want the same thing to happen here that happened with Sharon, so he's got to do some work on himself

<Guest4> and u get that from the show MJ or just personal to u?

<Guest10> I like that... most stories igonre sharon, but she was there, for many years, due to canon.

<MJ> You CAN read it from Avatar, yes. It's part-canon.

<MJ> "Cosmopolitan Life" however is my nose-thumb at the same thing.

<Guest10> It's that "silence is strength" thing.. he needs to get rid of this:-)

<Guest4> i just see skinner shrugging those sexy shoulders and not caring one squat if mulder came out to him..lol

<Guest4> i think he will still find mulder annoying..

<MJ> But hell, isn't that Mulder?

<DMilan> Not with his mouth stuffed full of humpy marine cock, Guest4.

<Guest15> There's a story I'd love to see. Mulder: "Sir, I'm... gay. And I have a crush on you." Skinner: "That's not a good reason not to turn in your expense reports on time, agent Mulder."

<DMilan> Yeah Guest4, then get to work and write my sequel like you promised.

* Te wonders who *wouldn't* be distracted by humpy marine cock

<Guest4> i can't beleive i actually am writing a m/sk

<Host1> MJ, One of the audience is curious about the ages of our writers. Would you be willing to share your age?

<Host3> so true, so true, Te ....

<Guest4> i think the effort took a few tcells away from me..

<MJ> I'm 93 but remarkably well preserved... actually, 37

* Guest15 admires MJ's state of preservation

<DMilan> I'm 35.

<Viridian5> 25 in RL years, anywhere from 5 to 93 depending on what mood I'm in mentally

<MJ> make that 37, has grad degress, owns house and Volvo, single...

* Guest15 invites the rest of the world to admire the mutual admiration society

<Viridian5> as long as its mutual

<Guest4> do u think age matters in the writer??

<Viridian5> mental age does

<Guest15> Seeks same, because no one else can really *understand* us...

<Guest4> how old you are , how your writing will be..

<Te> I'm 22, and I'm ready for an older woman.

<MJ> Yes. Check the MSR/genfics written by teenyboppers.

<Host1> MJ, do you have any questions for your readers?

<Guest2> oh, heavens yes! apparently you have never read an msr written by a 15 year old

<Guest15> Te, everyone is older than you...

<Te> I *know*

<MJ> Questions for this wonderful audience?

<Guest10> Vididian: dito.. it's only mental age that matters... or mental mood:-)

<MJ> Okay... what's the place of humor in slashfic, to a reader?

<Viridian5> I enjoy it when it's done well, just like with serious fanfic or novels or...

<Guest15> I love humor in slash, whether it's the occasional amusing line, or a constant sarcastic subtext, or an out and out parody.

<Host2> I love humor in fanfic - even in serious stories...life is funny, let's accept that! ;^)

<Guest10> I love humour in slashfic... Ethan Nelson is one of my heroes!!

<MJ> When I wrote Cosmopolitan Life, friends were afraid I'd get murdered

<Guest4> i like humor too..i think mulder is a joker

<Guest15> I live for those moments when you get humor that's in character. When someone's sense of humor corresponds exactly to how you see that character...

<Guest4> i don't care much for parodies or the way out there stuff

<Te> I think humor requires a huge amount of skill and timing... and I will stroke people who write it again and again and again.

<DMilan> I think it's much harder to write than the heavy stuff.

<Guest4> ditto

<Viridian5> Death is easy, comedy is hard

<MJ> As David Garrick said on his deathbed, "Dying is easy; it's comedy that's hard"

<Guest10> Guest4, I don't mean parodies... good humour IS very much in character.

* Guest15 agrees with DMilan--humor requires skilll and concentration

<Host3> Yes, after Ethan we checked out any single Denny's on the westcoast

<Guest4> oh ethan wrote the denny's series now i know..who u r talkinga bout

<Host2> But, IMO, a parody can be very hard to balance - to not go way out there, just give that slight twist on the character's and shows qualities.

<Guest10> And you MUST read "Cyanide and Astroglide".. or was that Astroglide and Cyanide...?

<MJ> All hail Ethan!

* Te thinks way the fuck out there makes for a nice change, and will never forget Mulder singing along to electronica in Skinnertorture

<Guest4> i think he is ok..

<Host1> My favorite of Ethan's Walt :)

<DMilan> My favorite humorous story is Slinging Woo at the Slash Cafe.

<Host1> Okay. Are we ready to move on to our next author?

* Host3 chuckles at the memories of these stories and r/l Denny's location scouting

<Viridian5> Or M and K being *Ultra* nauseaatingly schmoopy in Woodinat's Pendrell's not dead story

<Host3> SPOTLIGHT ON JiM

<Host1> JiM is being channeled by MJ :)

<Guest4> he writes the boat series Jim??

<Host1> Yes, JiM of the wonderful Boat series :)

<MJ> No Common Senses (my fave)

<MJ> Last Train to Clarksville

<Guest15> JiM, when are you going to write more sex scenes?

<MJ> JiM meditates on this sex scene problem (she's been told to add rimming)

<MJ> JiM: "Never!" <calms down> "when they have qa timer and place in the story. Or when I can't get out of it."

<MJ> a time and place, whoops

<Guest15> Sex with a timer!

<Guest14> I like the timer idea.

<Guest15> "YOu have fifteen minutes."

<DMilan> Just for rimming.

<MJ> Sex scenes take twice as long as everything else for Jim. Discomfort?

<MJ> JiM: "Slash: Therapy or Hobby?"

<Guest14> Who is it has the wonderful thing about safe sex, read erotica? It's in their sig, and now I've gone blank.

<Host2> That's so true, Guest14. Sooo true!

<Host1> JiM: You write such beautifully emotional stories with both M/Sk and M/K. Do you have a preference?

<MJ> JiM: 156 min., Guest15? That's time for one nipple chew and starting to contemplate a rim job

<Guest15> 15 minutes per erogenous zone, JiM, and that's just for the foreplay.

<Guest14> Hey, I'm not complaining, I like slow sex scenes. I always tease Goo that it takes her forty pages to get through foreplay.

<MJ> I am to tell you of the torment she wqent through trying to write a M/Sk/K three-way in a story we're workin g on...

<MJ> JiM: M/Sk is preferable because they're a more stable couple

<Viridian5> personal pronoun hell?

<MJ> "Secretly I adore M/K but I see little joy in it"

<Guest14> Yeah, those pesky pronouns. I get around most of that because I keep it to one viewpoint. <g>

<Viridian5> If you're into stability

<Guest2> blindfold one of them... that always makes it easier :)

<MJ> For JiM it wasn't just the pronouns...

<Te> Who needs stability when you have leather and angst?

<MJ> JiM does NOT ENJOY wroiting smut. Believe it or not. There's a M/K stalled right now by that very thing.

<MJ> and by the rationale, too.

<Guest14> I do, and I have a great knack for it, alas.

<Guest10> Leather is for amusement... stability for relationship:-Þ

<Guest15> She doesn't have to write smut. She can leave the smut out if that means we get more stories.

<MJ> JiM: "I'll keep soldiering on and ovrcome my embarrassing weakness"

<Host3> (question from the audience) JiM: Will there be a sequel to "Last Train..."? Will we get to know what happens after that...?

<Guest14> Oh, that one was WONDERFUL!

<MJ> Nothing's come to mind in the way of a sequel.

<MJ> JiM: doesn't like sequels, has only done "NCS" series and "Shadow of the Rock" sequels

<Guest14> I think I'm going to retire. <sighing>

<DMilan> Don't you dare.

<Guest14> No, I mean from slash.

<DMilan> Oh, you can go, just keep writing. <wink>

<Guest14> I'm not leaving....

<Host3> Guest14, dare you! ;)

<Te> Aw hon, just write for the people who appreciate you...

<Host3> ©¤¤©s Guest14 to slashdom

<MJ> JiM: has been down lately; disappointed by lacxk of feedback. Loves hearing this. Send many letters to her!

* Guest14 giggles

<Guest14> Oh, heavens, I am AWFUL about feedback.

<Host1> That's a shame. Such wonderful stories should get lots of feedback!

<MJ> The lists she's on have been failing to send back sufficient admiration, and we all know what slashwriters need to live... FEEDBACK!

<Te> Hell yes. Feedback is KEY.

<Viridian5> we all need more feedback

<DMilan> Almost as much as sex.

<Guest10> Okay... will try to be better on feedback, too.

<Te> Where's Beth? Beth needs love for being the Best Feedbacker Ever.

<Guest12> hi

<Guest12> <blushing>

<Guest14> Beth DOES deserve kudos.

<Host3> SPOTLIGHT ON DMilan

<DMilan> Uh oh.

<Host1> DMilan's written two M/K's.

<Guest4> oh darn it..i just may have to stay now..lol

<Host2> So, DMilan, what got you to write slash?

<DMilan> See, I knew no one has read my shit.

<Host1> DMilan, while we're waiting for questions for you, do you have any questions for your readers?

<MJ> DMilan's stuff rocks

<MJ> I met this woman in DC at the XF Expo -- if you haven't read it, get to MKRA now.

<DMilan> Thanks, MJ. The feeling's mutual.

<DMilan> I'm very new to this, having written only 2 stories. Feeling pretty humble amidst all these writers I admire so much.

<Host1> DMilan, when we talked, you said you had some questions you'd like to ask readers. Do you want to ask them now?

<DMilan> Yeah, but to get an answer, somebody has to read my stories. Basically I want to know if people think my stories are too sappy.

<Host1> Well, are you equating happy endings with sappy? :)

<MJ> I'm a M/K mushcake myself on occasion...

<MJ> I have no problem with the idea that happy endings are good endings.

<MJ> So by that standard, DMilan, keep on rolling

<DMilan> Reading some earlier comments on likes and dislikes, I couldn't help but wonder if I fell into the category of writing m/m disguised as m/f (unintentionally, of course).

<DMilan> Happy for me isn't necessarily M/K living happily ever after, just getting together.

<Viridian5> That's fine!

<Host1> Have you found it difficult to break inot the slash community, as a new writer, DMilan?

<DMilan> Sometimes it seems that way. It's a tightknit community from what I can see. But I don't feel excluded, per se, just not on the same talent level as many others.

<DMilan> People have been very nice to me.

<Guest14> Wait a minute, DMilan, I have a thing about this talent thing. Maybe you don't have the polish yet, but that doesn't mean you don't have the talent!

<Host1> I agree with Guest14, DMilan.

<DMilan> Thanks. It's hard to know if you're any good. I want to be.

<DMilan> How do you develop the polish?

<Guest6> That's true -- it's not nearly as easy to tell whether you have talent as whether you have skill...

<Guest14> You just keep writing, DMilan. That's the only way to polish.

<Host2> DMilan - I think reading a lot, and challenging yourself with writing - to stretch your boundaries.

<Guest14> I had two years of writer's block a while back.

<Host1> I think that getting feedback is important. Slash isn't always the best genre for feedback. See JiM's complaint :)

<Guest14> And the only way, as my dad always said, to become a writer is to write. <g>

<DMilan> Thanks for the encouragement, everybody. I was thinking about quitting this due to lack of feedback. You've inspired me to keep trying.

<Te> Oh, DMilan, if we all quit because of feedback...

<Viridian5> we all sometimes wonder at a lack of feedback, wondering if people are reading...

<Host1> Sometimes a well timed comment is all that it takes :)

<Guest14> Oh, my, no!!

<Guest6> OK, I'm curious -- why did you decide slash isn't always best for feedback? Too much else determining the reader's enjoyment?

<Guest14> You just need to keep writing.

<Host2> Compared to feedback for MSR, slash feedback is waaaay low.

* Guest10 puts head into drawer, will take time for feedback in the future

<Viridian5> I'm just swamped by all the writing I do and the lists I'm on

<Viridian5> There's so much good out there right now

<Host2> But I think it's just the number in the readerships.

<Guest14> Yeah, well, let me tell you, I wrote an MSR last week that was simply vomitous.

<Host1> I think that there are less readers of slash so the feedback goes down expontially.

<DMilan> Some of you have been doing this for a long time, and the quality is obvious in your writing. Some of my favorite authors are here. I appreciate that you are all taking the time to talk to me about this.

<Guest6> Hmm. Are people embarrassed to feedback, anyone think?

<Guest14> And I agree with Host2, it's the number of readers and their expectations. If Mulder and Scully do the Screaming Poodle, you hear about it.

<Guest10> You wrote vomitous MSR, Guest14?? Want to read it;-)

<Host2> maybe we should have an award for feedback writers.

<Viridian5> Sometimes I'm afraid I'll say something obvious or dumb. Stupid, I know

<Guest15> Yeah, I think I might say I'm embarrassed to send feedback. I can never think of anything intelligent to say.

<DMilan> I can't imagine anything you write being vomitous, Guest14.

<Guest6> Wait, Guest14. What do you mean by that? I'm probably taking it too seriously, but...

<Guest14> <giggling> It was, ask Alicia.

<Host1> Guest15, don't even go there - you send great feedback and constructive criticism :)

<Host3> Oh my god, Guest10!!!

<Guest10> I read EVERYTHING... didn't you know;-))

<Guest14> Well, I admit, it was intentionally vomitous, it was an experiment.

<Guest6> Well, Guest14, if you thought it was awful, why didn't you rewrite it? Ohhh...

<Host2> Guest14's MSR is one of the very bst, IMO. Head and shoulders above the vomitous!

* Guest14 shrieks in evil glee

<Guest6> Well, what have we learned from this? :-)

<Guest14> You haven't read it, have you?

<Alicia> And, Guest15, I hope you don't mind when I blither inanely at you. Lord knows I *live* for the day you send me feedback.

<DMilan> Send feedback.

<Te> EVERYONE SHOULD SEND FEEDBACK. There.

<DMilan> Don't write MSR unless you're joking.

<Guest14> Well, I wasn't joking exactly, I was being evil.

<Guest12> Wait I think I saw that MSR and wondered if it was CiCi at it again

<MJ> MSR is evil... I keep telling you...

<Guest14> I am, after all, a wicked bad naughty evil Guest14.

<Guest6> Hmm. But do people really want to get feedback that says, "This story was pretty good, but didn't really work for me, except this bit here"?

<Host3> SPOTLIGHT ON Te

<Host2> Te, now, dear...I do see all these "re: Te's billions of stories" posts on the list...you feel a dearth of feedback?

<Te> Any and all feedback. I save it all, with the names of the people who sent it attached.

<Host1> Question for Te: are you a romantic at heart?

<Guest6> And Te wants lots of intense, passionate feedback with Alex? What, written on his nude body?

<Te> Yes, I feel a dearth, becuase with those "Te's billions of stories" I never know *which* stories they liked

<Te> I do consider myself a romantic. I've written two stories where I wasn't absolutely positive that M&K adored each other deeply and desperately, and they damned near killed me.

<Host1> NEW QUESTION: Is the hook a phallic symbol?

<Te> The hook is not a symbol of anything.... Sure, both Alex and Mulder are fully aware that the lost arm represents the physical manifestation of Mulder's marks on Alex, but that's just too easy... for me *and* the characters.

<Te> It did feel appropriate for Alex to use it on Mulder.

<Te> And Mulder saw it entirely differently, of course.

<Te> Right. As always there are a lot of answers to that question:

<Te> Right.... how M saw the hook:

<Guest6> But I was gonna say: how many readers reward the infliction of (vicarious) grief and pain?

<Te> 1) He wanted ALex to hurt him, because there was just *too much* there. Reducing it to pain makes it easier to reduce everything else to just fucking.

<Te> 2) He allowed ALex to mark him--even forcing him to get the ash to make it permanent-- because he did, finally, accept the fact that Alex loves him. Also, he knew that Alex knew that he couldn't just say:

<Te> "Yes, Alex, I love you right back, and that's all that matters.

<Te> 3) Guest6 came up with a wonderful theory about Despair-- for those of you familiar with Sandman-- and the clarity of focus the hook provides.

<Te> Mulder's world is filled with pain and unrealities, like Despair, he needs something--someone-- to anchor him, make it all right at the end of the day.

<Guest14> I don't think I want to comment on the notoriously self-centered thing.

<Viridian5> grrr, me either

<Guest14> But I will say that as dark as it was, I loved that story.

<Te> Witness Despair's, well, despair, at the loss of Destruction and her wonderful relationship with Desire.

<Te> Whew. There's more, but I'm lost in my own convolution. Next question?

<Guest6> <g> Allow to cut = I know you love me, and I love you; insist on the ash = forever, forever, forever...

<Host1> NEW QUESTION: What are your moist issues?

<DMilan> Only Te could make a scar into a thing of beauty and a symbol of love.

<Te> Precisely. Witness their unwillingness to look each other in the eye, spit it out... They *want* they're own safe little worlds.

<Te> MOIST ISSUE: I don't like any of the words used for the female genitalia. While I can enjoy (a lot) f/f visual erotica/porn, reading it is a chore. The words squick.

<Viridian5> They do. Takes me right out of the story

<Guest6> And the male words don't, not as much -- because they're used more often? Because words for the female versions of things are always opprobrious?

<Host1> NEW QUESTION: Q for Te: your writing is often very subtle and full of poetic imagery and understatements. Do you worry that readers will miss the nuances or do you just not give a damn? :-)

<Te> Umm... Both. Sometimes I mean to be ambiguous, sometimes I just like a phrase too much to clarify, sometimes I was just really, *really* high.

<Host1> Te, do you have any questions for your readers?

<Te> For the people who've been following (as much as I've made that possible, sigh.) my Dead Things stories, which was your favorite, and why?

<Viridian5> "This Night" I loved ther imagery and emotions

<Guest6> I can't remember which title goes with what, though you tried to make it clear...

<Alicia> I think Time is still my fave. Though it's a tough call.

<Viridian5> I'm talking the deep pool at night story

<Guest12> Hmmm... hard question. "This Night" or "Time"

<Te> That was "Never So Alive", chica

<Guest6> Yup, V, that has the very most spectacular Teimagery.

<Guest14> Yeah, I like the deep pool story, too.

<Guest6> And love...

<Te> The puppyfic.... <giggling>

<Alicia> Yes, the love in Never So Alive was pretty special.

<Guest15> Either the puppies or the underwater one. (Yes I have a problem w/ titles.)

<Guest14> Oh, I did love the puppies, too.

<Guest15> But I don't think I could say *why*.

<Guest6> Time may be the most perfectly written -- so balanced between love and pain.

<DMilan> I wanna know what music you were listening to when you wrote that series.

<Te> Hmmm... musically I'm all over the map.

<Te> Most times I'm listening to the local rock/alternative station. If a story gets bogged down I'll thros on some hip hop or R&B.

<Guest6> <laugh> The music of her heart <ducks and runs>

<DMilan> The emotional spectrum of your writing is so broad, I've wondered whether your musical tastes were eclectic as well.

<Host3> SPOTLIGHT ON ALICIA <Alicia>

<Guest6> OK, Alicia. Who's your favorite character :-)

<Alicia> Gee, um, I'll have to think about that for a while ... LMAO!

<DMilan> I have a question, Alicia. Do you enjoy writing solo or collaboratively better, and why?

<Guest6> Well, that's a sensible question <grumble>

<Alicia> As I think everyone here knows, my fave character is Alex, or whoever else Nick is playing at any given time.

<Guest6> Especially those little moments when he seems to be playing himself (there is no preposition between the last two words.)

<Alicia> DMilan, hmm. Collaboratively is a helluva lot easier. If I get stuck, I hand it off. But I do seem to have a bit of a problem (shuddup Te) with taking credit for things I co-author. I always feel the other person(s) wrote all the good bits.

<Alicia> So I get more egoboo out of my (meager) solo stuff.

<Guest6> Well, objectively speaking, I can tell Alicia she's wrong about who wrote the good stuff.

<Guest15> It's not meager, but I know what you mean--I feel the same way about the only co-written story I've done. (And Guest6's right and you're wrong. <g>)

<Guest6> My very first feedback, eagerly petting the other author, to hear "No, tell that to Alicia, she wrote that part."

<Te> What would it take for you to feel that you deserved credit, Alicia?

<Te> Do you think there's a cure for Rampant Mulderism, Alicia?

<Viridian5> define Mulderism, Te

<Guest14> What the hell is Rampant Mulderism?

<Alicia> Heh heh. Alex seems to enjoy rampant Mulder...

<Guest6> (Those who don't know me, and/or missed earlier bits: Mulder is my instinctive darling and I identify with him, so am willing to tease.)

<Host1> Alicia, do you have questions for your readers?

<Te> Rampant Mulderism is the "How can anyone love me?" riff

<Guest6> You mean, Mulder's ability to destroy possible relationships because they might feel good and he knows that's a bad sign...

<Viridian5> I'd love to know if there's a cure for that

<Alicia> I guess I empathize enough with Depressed!Mulder that that doesn't bother me too much, most of the time. As long as I don't listen to DD whine too much.

<Te> Wait wait... I wanna know about how she deals with Mulderdepression, and what she wants to write...

<Guest15> No real cure, but with enough sweet nothings and regular sex, he can improve enough to be let out in public.

<Alicia> Questions, hmm. I guess I'd better. Well, given that I'm pretty much a one-trick pony (PWP), do people still enjoy that? Is it worth writing more?

<Alicia> How I deal with Mulderdepression ... well, not very well at the moment, as you know. Let it go 2 is languishing.

<Alicia> And I *want* to write plot, but I can't think of any.

<Viridian5> That's cause you're never happy with the plot, Alicia

<Guest14> She does wonderful plot, but won't believe it.

<Guest15> Alicia, the plot is just an excuse to let the schmooping go on for a longer time.

<Guest14> YES!

<Guest6> I think one can distinguish between plots that enhance a story on the grand theme of sex/love and plots that actually take the characters away from each other to run around and shoot things.

<Viridian5> I like running-and-shooting plots too...

<Host3> pwp - why not, if the characters are true, the "between" talk is true, thoughts are true...

<Te> And I happen to enjoy riding your ponies.

<Guest14> Well, sometimes, Guest6, there's no division between the two.

<Guest6> I'm desperately impressed by torch's ability to write both, but I'm quite happy with stories that have none of the latter, and only consider them plotless when they're mine.

<Guest14> In out of the dark, there were a number of things going on, and plenty of schmoop, too.

<Host3> 55 SPOTLIGHT ON VIRIDIAN5

<Te> Who is your favorite Mulder, Viridian?

<Viridian5> Manis and depressed and violent and loving and...

<Viridian5> Even Alone in the Dark Mulder, who needs a hug desperately

<Host1> NEW QUESTION: I worry a lot about Pendrell, are you going to finish the "To Have..." series?

<Viridian5> I want to, but I'll miss the guy and CiCi threatened to flay me alive if I killed him

<Viridian5> I already have another non-death fic in the mental pipeline

Guest15 breathes a sigh of relief

<Viridian5> I couldn't let Danny die after To Have 5!

<Viridian5> OK, though I'll probably refer to it in the next Weaknesses installment

<Viridian5> Next one is Tunguska/Terma tie-in

<Te> Does Mulder ever upset you, Viridian?

Guest6> I *could* ask, "How the hell do you guys all write so fast," but I guess you'd say, "What do you mean, fast?"

<Guest6> (and for us)

<Guest15> Guest6, I'll ask that for you. How *do* you guys all write so fast? I feel like a glacier creeping forward...

<Viridian5> Everything inspires me lately

Guest15> ...while around me happy streams race towards a sea of smut.

Guest15 examines that image and wonders if she'll have her writing license revoked

<Viridian5> To Te: sometimes I feel appalled by his violence. It's mine, and we try to control it, but...

<Guest6> No, because it's uncovered a hidden fact: the streams are generated by the motion of the glacier.

<Viridian5> It's a compulsion. HAVE to write

<Viridian5> If I don't, it just jangles around in my poor brain along with 4 other ideas for fics and everything else

<Guest6> <subject switch> Yes, I sometimes forget that identifying with a character isn't all fun and games.

<Guest6> Well, if a character tells you something you didn't know about yourself, it's terrifying. But if it's something you already knew, but thought set you apart from everyone, it's reassuring.

<Viridian5> Talking to other writers has been really inspirational for me

<Guest6> I mean, I already knew I had a temper and that that could be Bad. And I already knew that I could bully people into things without meaning to, just by arguing them down.

<Guest10> Can being a writer be a curse?? (sayeth he who'd beg the fairy for talent and endurance...)

<Viridian5> It can. there's the compulsion you have sometimes

<Viridian5> then sometimes your family won't leave you alone and let you write

<Host3> all I know I'd really like to start writing, but can't even cross the first border :(

<Viridian5> There's a feeling that you're sitting back from life, sucking it in to use in your stories, instead of living it

<MJ> MUST write... MUST write...

<MJ> must kill people who interrupt...

<Viridian5> Just write something. Anything

Viridian5> White paper or screen is intimidating, so just fill it with anything

<Viridian5> Once you start, it gets easier

<Guest10> That does sound like a curse, allright! But I must say I am quite happy you guys have it upon you ::grins shamelessly::

<Alicia> Host3, just do it. I've never written before, but people seem to tolerate my stuff fairly well.

<Viridian5> I was almost killed at a concert, and it scared hell out of me

<Guest15> Alicia, we don't *tolerate* your stuff, we enjoy it.

<Viridian5> But I used some of the things I felt and learned for my writing

<Viridian5> But I find writing very atisfying too

<Viridian5> a form of immortality

<Viridian5> I write by ear, then let the lovely and talented Alicia and Te pound it out a bit

<Host1> Viridian, do you have any questions for your readers?

<Host1> Guest15, give us a moment and we'll wrap up the spotlight portion and move into group questions

<Viridian5> Well, I'd really like to know why so many people confuse me and Te for one another <g>

<Viridian5> Even down to Turnabout being misattributed at first on ArchiveX

<Viridian5> Ok, but ther are lots of sick puppies writing...

<Guest15> I wouldn't say your styles are similar exactly, but there are elements that you have in common.

<Viridian5> We are not the same person

<Guest14> Yeah, but those sick puppies don't have the same quality.

<Guest14> You have a kind of darker view.

<Guest14> Now, I don't mistake you for each other, but I can understand why some might.

<Viridian5> Hmmm, sure

<Viridian5> I guess part of it is having everyone write Te about The Slumber Party!

<Host1> Before moving on to open up the floor to questions for all our authors let me take a moment to say Thnak you to allour guests today.

<Alicia> Where did all that dark part of Danny come from in Fault Lines?

<Host1> Thanks to *all* of you for taking your Saturday to talk about your work.