Wax Jism discovered fanfic "by chance" in 1999 and has dabbled in Buffy, X-Files (Mulder/Krycek), Sentinel and due South before heading to the land of hair dye and synchronized dance moves. (Her site also has a Hard Core Logo fic.) My personal assessment of her writing: balls out, original and not what you'd expect from boy band slash. She's also very coherent for answering questions at 7 a.m. To check out her fic, visit Shame is Good For You.

I know everyone hates this question, but how do you get inspired? What would you recommend for people who have trouble finding story ideas?

Okay, hmm. I'm perpetually teetering on the brink of writer's block. Every idea I have feels like the last. But. Chatting helps. A lot. I bat ideas around with other people. Someone might just hand me a ready-made bunny, or I might have an embryonic idea that just needs to be slapped into shape. Basically, we'll talk about it and "turn it on". Prime it, if you will. That helps, immensely.

Sometimes I write alone, too, and then it's just a question of biting the bullet and toiling on. But basically, talking about it helps. (having intelligent, inspiring people to talk to is a plus).

2. When you're reading, are there any aspects that can make or break a fic for you? What impresses you and what turns you off?

I'm extremely picky, to the point of being a horrible, pretentious snob about what I read. Typos and bad grammar will put me off, at least if there isn't brilliant prose to be glimpsed between the misses. I really hope I'm not lying or deluding myself when I say I demand the same thing from my own stories, though. but I want good writing, dammit. A good idea or a good *story* isn't enough if the writing is flat. Of course, my taste in good writing might not be the same as everybody else's.

What impresses me: quotable lines will get me. good use of descriptive language. Snappy dialogue. Good, multi-dimensional characterisation. Somewhat believable plot (I am pretty willing to suspend disbelief if the writing is beautiful, though).

What turns me off: bad language (really bad language makes me absolutely rabid; I'm not a native speaker, I had to learn this language through hard work. There are no excuses for a native speaker to have poorer English skills than the dumb foreigner, okay). cardboard-cutout characters, use of clichés without irony or awareness. Some words, like 'orbs' (can't explain that, but it gets me frothing), 'cum'. Oh, epithets: 'the older man'. Fear of the word 'said'. The usual stuff, really. But mostly it's a question of whether the author has 'It' or not. and defining 'It' is beyond me. I just know, man.

What do you struggle with when you sit down to write, and how do you overcome it?

Apart from not having ideas? Hmm. Dialogue isn't my strong suit. I overcome that by having people stare at things and say 'um...' a lot. Heavy silences. That works.

Sex scenes are tough, since I can never tell if my own scenes are hot or not. I tend to send them paragraph by paragraph to a friend, basically hopping up and down, going, 'do I suck yet? Do I suck yet?' at them. they bear with me, the darlings.

Do you ever get "blocked?" How do you deal with it? Any idea what causes it?

If I'm blocked, I just do something else. fiddle with my site, go cruising teeniebopper sites for hot pics of the Infant, stare at my posters. Watch a video, read slash. Keep myself occupied and not thinking constantly of my inability to write. Then it comes back. Usually before I have a nervous breakdown. I have no idea what causes it. I have up days and down days. I'm not good at writing on command, so I've basically had to go with the flow.

What are some common mistakes that you see new writers make in your fandom?

Hmm. Well, if we're talking writers who are new to this fandom, but not to slash in general, it's mainly the facts. Easily researched details. That gets better. writers just starting out make the usual mistakes: too much exposition, telling instead of showing, slips in POV. I don't think that's any different from any other fandom I've been in.

How do you select what to read and what to feedback? Do you mainly read stories written by your friends or do you branch out a bit?

I mainly read stories written by my friends, because I have (on purpose, I might add) befriended most of the cool writers in the fandom. Call me a starfucker. Sometimes I will dare tread new paths, and sometimes I am pleasantly surprised. If I find someone I hadn't read or heard of before, I immediately pimp her/him out to my friends. And write feedback. I'm not very good at writing feedback, I confess. I tend to hit people up on AIM and tell them they rock on a regular basis, though. also, if something catches my attention, I will put a link in my livejournal.

What common mistakes do you see in your fandom in terms of characterization?

Ahh. See, this is tough. I write RPS, so the characterisation issue is a little more ... fluid than in character slash. I suppose the most common problem seems to be fleshing out the characters from the narrow, one-dimensional media image to something more closely resembling a human being. How to do that and still stay in a recognisable character.

I think I don't have a very good answer for this question, because mostly I read only people whose view of the boys agrees with mine. I'm not a daring reader.

What advice would you give someone who is just entering the fandom?

Talk to people. We're a friendly bunch. Get a livejournal, I guess. most of the action seems to be there, at this point. I don't know. I got my place in the fandom by being noticed by a popular writer. That works, but it takes a bit of being in the right place at the right time.

I try to be supportive of new writers, as long as I think they have potential. Hmm. That made me sound like a bit of a snob.

How would you summarize the state of writing in your fandom? Are you generally impressed with the fic you see, or does it make you want to bang your head against the wall?

I am in *awe* with some of the writing here. we have lured over a bunch of incredible writers from other fandoms, and they are going places with their stories. Prolific bunch, too.

There's a lot of really horrible stuff, but I think the good is good enough to cover a multitude of bad fic.

Any other pet peeves/advice/general thoughts?

Hmm. I guess... Come on over, the water's fine. I think I covered most of it already. I'm not a profound person.

Wax Jism's recs:

"Oh, crikey. That's tough. Basically, I have a list of authors whose work I always read, regardless of pairing or subject matter. Picking favourite stories is hard.

But. Helen's JC stories kill me: What You Wanted All Along, Be Able to Stop, & The Way You Do It

Calico's horrifying, excellent Cuisine

Synchronik: And You Can Tell Everybody

Rhys' Montana. Beautiful.

Oh, and Jericho's Dizzy Up The Boy. Dangerous Liaisons in boybandland. Crossover.

Melvira's A Map Of The World. Epic.

And Georgina's Hackery AU, cause it's got smart boys who Do Math. Hey, it's a crossover, too.

These were just the first stories that came to mind. There are tons more that I reread on a regular basis."