graveshiftcsi: How long have you been
writing fan fiction?
mac: I began writing fan fiction long
before I knew what it was called. If I recall correctly my very first story
was written in fifth grade.
graveshiftcsi: How did you first get
involved with fan fiction?
mac: I first became involved with fan
fiction when I decided to continue the adventures of Peter, Susan, Edmond, and
Lucy in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. I became involved with the online
community of fan fiction writers during college by writing a story for JAG
that was centered upon the character of Jordan (one of Harm's
girlfriends).
graveshiftcsi: What was your very first
influence?
mac: It is hard to say what my first
influence was. I think it was primarily disappointment that a series of
books that I loved to read was over.
graveshiftcsi: What inspires you to
write?
mac: Hmm. My inspiration varies, hour to
hour. Sometimes it'll be the mood that I am in. Other times it could be
Mother Nature, a song, or something someone says. I never know from moment
to moment what will spark a light in my imagination.
graveshiftcsi: What author(s), published
or fan fiction, has influenced you the most?
mac: This is a very difficult question to
answer. I'd have to go with some of the great dames of mystery writing:
Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, and Margery Allingham. There are a few modern
day authors like Val McDermid and Kathy Reichs that continue to influence
my writing.
graveshiftcsi: What story are you the
most proud of?
mac: I think the story that I am most proud
of is Understanding which I wrote for the CSI fandom. It was one
of those stories that just flowed from the fingertips.
graveshiftcsi: How do you approach
writing a story in a fandom? Is it different from how you would write an
original story?
mac: Overall, I approach all of my writing
projects in a similar fashion. Fandom writing is approached with a sense of
what is already canon. I do not like to completely go AU, but sometimes
there is no choice. The characters have already been defined so in writing
I do not want to stray too far from them. In regards to an original story
there is more freedom. Characters and settings have not been set in place
yet, the possibilities are greater than those in fandoms.
graveshiftcsi: When writing a story do
you work off of an outline or "go with the flow" and let ideas come while
writing?
mac: I try, for the most part, to work off
outlines. This is especially true for the mystery stories. Introspective
vignettes tend to be freeform, no outline and often times no immediate
theme is picked at the beginning.
graveshiftcsi: How much research, if
any, do you do for a story?
mac: Research is an automatic function of
my writing. I will sit down and decide to write about a certain topic, then
I will go and google it. For the mysteries it can be as simple as reading a
map of the area of interest or it can delve into the history of a particular
company. I also rely upon what I have learned in all my chemistry and
criminal justice courses to help provide information about lab procedures.
However, if I am writing an introspective piece there is little research
involved other than to check if a quote that I am using is correctly
transcribed.
graveshiftcsi: How much of your
experience in life is reflected in your stories (i.e. how much of you is
written into the characters)?
mac: It is my belief that every author puts
themselves into their writing. Most of the time it is not noticeable and
these are the great authors. We are beings made up of experiences and
memories so it is inevitable that a little bit of ourselves is seeded into
the characters. This is how we can get the characters to seem real to the
readers.
graveshiftcsi: Do you have a preferred
level of writing (i.e. rating level)? Why?
mac: I tend to write anywhere under the
line that separates fiction from erotica. According to the Fiction Rating guide, I canvass
the ratings between K and M and usually settle in at T. As for why? I
really do not have a good answer except to say that I am not comfortable
with writing explicit scenes.
graveshiftcsi: How many drafts do you
create in the process of creating a story?
mac: The number of drafts I go through
varies depending on the type and length of the story. My current work in
progress, Zephyr, is on its ninth draft and I've only just started
writing the fifth chapter. I like to try and do a minimum of two drafts
before I send the story out to be proofread, but sometimes that doesn't
happen.
graveshiftcsi: What is your position of
the use of betas (proofreaders)?
mac: Use them! Betas or proofreaders are a
valuable resource that very writer should take advantage of. The really,
really good ones will take the time to pick at the story and let you know
if you've forgotten to close a thread or if you left out a word and the
sentence it is supposed to be in takes on a completely different meaning
than what you intended.
graveshiftcsi: What single piece of
advice would you give to someone just starting out in writing?
mac: Speaking as an author that is still
struggling with writer's block, the single piece of advice that I can give
you is to not force the writing. If you have to wrestle with each and every
word that you are trying to write, then the quality of the writing will
lessen (unless you are one of those writing geniuses that can force the
words to come and still make it sound like the rest of your story). It's
good to take a step back and let yourself recharge.