The first fanfic scribblings I recall writing were for GI Joe (the cartoon show) and Star Trek (the original series). I had this thing for being Scarlett and was desperate to walk around like Lt. Uhura. Scarlett had the really cool hair and the love affair with Duke (but TV got it wrong, right? Snake-eyes was the man) and Lt. Uhura lived in the best of all possible worlds.

My passion for things Trek -- which I'll admit was beyond reason -- engendered a passion for mini-skirts (the passion for sci-fi and science-fiction was separate, if only barely) that I didn't relinquish until embarassing myself as an undergrad hiking up the hills of my alma mater (backpacks and mini-skirts don't mix). The passion for things Trek became dormant as I pursued a life at least as interesting to me as Trek stories. My intrest in "GI Joe" and Scarlett waned when I discovered "The Uncanny X-Men" comic book title. At university, school was punting my gluteus maximus hard and I didn't write for pleasure. I didn't finish a single short story in four years of undergrad, not a novel, or a novella. I think I cranked out the beginnings of two poems.

I first wrote fanfic for "GI Joe" and Star Trek, but I was barely sentient then. I dunno where the "GI Joe" fic is and I like to pretend that I don't know exactly where the Star Trek: TOS story is stored. I never finished either of them.

The second time around, I wrote fanfic for the The X-Files. I also managed to finish X-files stories - imagine that! I was fascinated by Mulder and Scully's relationship. There were so many possibilties. Many of the ones that were explored in fanfic were, back then, extreme; whether romantic or focused on the Mythology or on things File-ish. I started writing fanfics with the following words always in mind, 'what if?'

I'm of the opinion that the best fanfic convinces readers of the extreme possibilities. It takes the familiar and makes it strange, but truer and maybe even more convincing than the inspiring canon.

Mark of Battle of the Planets and Joe of Gatchaman. I suspect that my first crush was Jason, though.

Susan. I don't remember much about her. Therefore, she is my least favorite.

I had ideas that were interesting enough to me that I wanted to see them on paper. Also, I wanted to know if I could finish a story. I had never before finished a story and I tried to finish little ones with the X-Files. Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets fic? Well, I first started writing Gatch fic because there wasn't enough Jun-centric Gatch fic at Lori's archive to satisfy me. Also, I could only reread Ennien Ashbrook's "The Battle of the Planet's Arc" and Alara Rogers' "Jun's Journal" so many times before I started having ideas of my own.

Yes. My all time favorite is the LoneGunGuy, writing out of X-files fanfic land. I can't recommend him enough.

My favorite Gatchfic writer? It's a toss-up b/n Naa-Dei Nikoi and Lori McDonald. Lori writes everything - romance, character studies, farces, action-adventure. Some of her stories have changed the way I look at people, relationships and right and wrong. Dei, well, her works have me clawing at the air, they move me so. She's true to her vision. I always feel smarter after reading something by Dei.

You want the names of more authors that consistently kick my wordwhore, storyhound sit-upon? Thing is, I read in many fandoms.

If I was to name all the authors who I'm aware of as having taught me something about story, this'd be a too-long-for-your-purposes list, but here goes a short-ish list of other authors who've entertained, taught and challenged me the reader and me the writer in Gatch/BotP fandom - in no particular order:

Gloria Oliver - I never pass up one of her stories. I save those for later, when I'm not sure if I'm going to find another good story to read right away. Oliver stories are like strawberries to me, I'm reluctant to eat them because the sooner I start, the sooner I finish and that's bad.

Jane Lebak is technically faultless. She's a good and thoughtful and very engaging writer. The woman writes with heart, and sometimes her stories are good weird in addition to good.

Ennien Ashbrook, Alara Rogers & Kathleen Coventry knocked me for a loop with the gender-flip, Joe-Kates 'ship, otherwhere stories. Those three really push the envelope. At times I'll remember their stories and think to myself, go there, go as far as you think you can and convince yourself first.

And I've got to credit Dan Rush's devotion for Jinpei. His tribute page really opened up possibilities to me. I wouldn't like that kid so much if it weren't for Dan.

Other writers who've schooled me.

Livengoo' & Amperage (X-Files "Oklahoma" & "Corpse" -
http://fluky.gossamer.org/)
Jane St. Clair (Voyager and "the Authority" -
http://www.angelfire.com/sk2/mirrorgirl/warning.html)
MaybeAmanda ("So Simple" is thoroughly cracked. It I do adore. -
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Omega/1440/index.html)
Dr. Benway ("X-Men" - http://home.att.net/~lubakmetyk/)
Kassia ("X-Men" - http://www.fanfiction.net/)
Eric Hallstrom (Ranma 1/2 - http://www.kawaiikunee.com/slp/index.html)
John Duffin ("X-Men" - http://liesl.sharecom.ca/poet/xpage.html)
evan como (Angel:TS - http://members.xoom.com/angeljournal/index.htm)
Bridget Cochrane (Star Trek: Voyager - http://www.geocities.com/~jupiterstation/)
Wildcat (Star Trek: TOS - http://members.tripod.com/~TSU_Campus/Wildcat.html)
Rebecca J. Bohner (Dr. Who, X-Files - http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj/)
Kelli Rocherolle (X-Files - http://home.earthlink.net/~krocherolle/)
Macedon (Voy - http://www.trekfanfiction.net/index.asp)
K.V. Wylie (Buffy tVS - http://www.angelfire.com/id/riordan/stories.html)

"Thicker than Blood", "Never Give Up" and "Beer Night" by Lori McDonald.
"Interlude" by Sparrow.
"Mischief" by Naa-Dei.
"Silver Nutmeg" by Jane Lebak.

When I wrote "Between" it did turn out to be what I'd hoped. It was vivid and evocative. I like to think that it's a different sort of hurt-comfort story. I can read through it with a minimum of wincing. I really enjoy the prose - mostly.

"Ash" is my personal favorite. It gives Jun a personality that I don't think directly contradicts Gatch canon. It's all about the relationships on the team, including Joe. Jun is mostly silent and mostly quiet, but it implies her loyalty, her strength, her brokeness, her questioning and her anger. When I reread it I think of the saying, that a woman's life is filled with a thousand silent disappointments.

Between II: The Long Walk.

There are several reasons it was so hard to write. The first being that I was intimidated by how good I thought "Between" was.
"Between" was very well received. It generated many responses. Most of those responses were highly laudatory. I was afraid of disappointing my fans (how's that for pretentious)? I was afraid that the people who liked Between wouldn't like 'The Long Walk'. I met a wonderful writer who reminded me to write what I wanted to read. The writer, ev como, reminded me to write for the purpose of pleasing myself. It was hard to write because Joe and Jun were also very real to me. They were always in my head (boy, was it crowded in there, what with my brain and all), and they were squeezing out my other stories. It was also hard to finish because it meant killing Joe, and I was attached to him. Or he to me. Neither one of us wanted to let go.

Between. I'll marvel that I wrote it. I marvel that I still like it.

I've wanted to rewrite the following: Between, Between 2: The Long Walk, Sustenance and Mistled.

Hate first, then onto the nice stuff.

I will stop reading a story whenever I see that a person consistently fails to set off the name of the person being addressed - within dialogue - with a comma. What kind of idiot goes to school in North America and fails to know how to do that basic? Oh, I know, a lazy one. What's most disgusting, these lazy people aren't always idiots, either.

What else do I hate? People who can't be bothered to use paragraphs.

What do I love? Technically faultless writing and innovative diction. Not the, 'look at this, aren't I a fantastic writer?' kind of literary show-stoppers but fresh and original language.

I also enjoy sly-humor and originality.

Joe and Jinpei because Jinpei's a great person and Joe's a thinker. Joe is always Joe. Aside from the growliness and the anger I think we could chill, talk food, and eat it. Actually, forget that, I'd like to meet Ryu, provided he'd take me out on his boat. Also, I'd love to have a series of dinners with Nambu.

Not a single one of them. Their lives are too hard.

Actually, if I *had* to be someone I'd be Jun. Or Ryu. They're the anchors. They hold things together. Also, they've got lives outside the teams, so it's not like they'll 'splode when war ends.

I don't know. I've always been drawn to speculative stories and futuramas.

If I hadn't gotten into Gatchfic I probably would have concentrated on writing XFiles fic, and I probably wouldn't have met the neat people I've met or learned the things I have through the people and stories I've read in Gatchdom -- no, wait, I think I would have learned the things I have through reading other stories and meeting other people.

Maybe the details of my life would be different, but not the themes.

Come-on, that crazy long list I typed for you? It's got all the shows that have attracted my interest in the last three years.

Okay, shows I currently watch:
Roswell
X-Files
Nikki
That 70's Show
Angel the Series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Will and Grace

Favorite comics:
The Authority
The Uncanny X-Men


Last really good books:
The White Boy Shuffle - by Paul Beatty
'Tis - Frank McCourt
The Dreaming Jewels - Theodore Sturgeon
The Basque History of the World - Mark Kurlansky

Last really good movies:
The Ideal Husband
Unbreakable
Charlie's Angels
Ponette
Fight Club

Reading, Writing, Walking, Dancing, Stand-up, People, Film, Psychology, World News, Money.

As an online avatar, not much. Offline, I collect stories and help people make sense of their own.

I give great e-mail.

Ah...All the fanfics? Or all the Gatch fics?

All the fanfics I've considered fit to print are available @ http://ebonbird.tripod.com/ and http://www.fanfiction.net/
All my completed Gatch stories are at Lori's archive.

In order that they were written my Gatch stories are:
Between
Sex and the Single Swan
Sustenance
Mistled (stand-alone)
Between II
Ash (3rd in the Between Arc)