This month's featured author is Judith, also known as Odogoddess. Judith writes DS9 fanfic and five of her stories are featured on this page.

If you're a fanfic writer and would liked to be featured on this page, please drop us a note at [email protected] We'll also gladly take recommendations for writers whom you think deserve to be "in the spotlight."

Name: Judith

Website: Tales By the OdoGoddess

How long have you been a writer?

�I've been writing since I was 8, poems and song lyrics and such. I started seriously writing at 13 after I entered high school and began to devour the science fiction/mystery/horror sections of the school library. I'd finally found my place!

How long have you been a Trek fan?

From the beginning. My grandfather liked TOS and he used to have me sit with him so we could watch it together when I was a child. I avidly watched the re-runs in the '70's and was seriously jazzed about TNG and DS9 when they aired.

What is your favorite series to watch? To write for?

DS9, hands down. TOS is close to my heart and TNG had fascinating concepts, but I had trouble identifying with any of the characters on either series. Then DS9 came on, and as I watched "A Man Alone", and heard Odo admitting to Quark that he didn't understand the humanoid need to couple, followed by his dismissive cautionary tale on the compromises people in relationships need to make -- I was caught.

A lot of fans chose to take what he said at face value, that he was this alien who didn't understand humanoid behavior. However, thanks to having lost my fiance to cancer back in '91, I just *knew* that Odo wasn't grousing -- he was *lonely*. I could relate to that. And with each passing week and episode, I became more and more fond of that blue-eyed, gruff-mannered, but soft-hearted constable. :)

What type of fanfic do you like to write?

Hurt/comfort. Not physical so much as emotional, although I've written both.. I like angst fanfic, but with eventual assuagement of the turmoil. I also enjoy writing 'what-if?' fanfic. As in: what-if Odo and Kira had gotten together after the events of "Way of the Warrior". That's the what-if I posed in "Unexpected".

Have you done any other type of writing?

Sure. I've written a couple medical magazine articles. I never got paid for them, that being the reason I dropped my agent. I also write scripts, occasional poetry, parodies, even song lyrics. Yes, I'm looking for a new agent!

How did you get started writing fanfic?

I actually started writing Star Wars fanfic back when I was all of 13.

Leia's plight at being the sole survivor of Alderaan, coupled with the fact I felt neither Han Solo nor Luke Skywalker were good enough for her , made me write what I recognize now as being very romantic and full of angst fairy-tale type stories where Leia meets a badly scarred or handicapped man hiding from the Empire who turns out to be a native of Alderaan.

Of course, they fall in love, but he feels unworthy to marry a princess when he's just a (gardener, horse-trainer, pottery worker, you name it) plus he's horribly maimed. Naturally, Leia shocks everyone by marrying this fellow. :)

What is your favorite fanfic?

As in - whose fanfic do I enjoy reading or which of my own did I enjoy writing most? I enjoy reading good what-if stories, good hurt/comfort, good erotica and slash. I won't name specific authors or stories, because I always forget someone and don't want to hurt anyone's feelings!

As for the story I enjoyed writing the most, that would be "Fevered Imaginings". The story premise was bubbling over the minute I finished watching "Broken Link". I began writing it immediately after "Broken Link" and finished it three weeks later.

I'm really glad I gave in to the urge to write it, too, because DS9 never really did devote much time to the enormity of the experience Odo went through. I mean he went from one way of life to another, and it was barely touched upon! I still get a lot of feedback on that story from DS9 fans who appreciate what I was trying to show. That means a lot to me.

Is there someone who inspires your writing, be it a famous person, one of the actors or another fic writer?

Odo, of course. :) Seriously, the cast of DS9 and so many of the episodes are my first, best inspiration. I never watch or discuss DS9 without getting attacked by fic notions. Since I imagine fic notions as being these nasty, scaly, little beasts with claws and fangs that sink their teeth into you and won't let go, that can be serious. What's worse is a fic notion will keep gnawing on you if you try to ignore it. The only cure for the symptoms they cause is to write, write, write!.

What is your favorite book? Why?

That's one I couldn't really answer, because I could go on for days. I'm a bookworm of the greatest order. :) However, I can admit that my favorite writer is Dean R. Koontz.

Do you have any advice for other fanfic authors?

Always get someone else to proof your work. Always ask your proof-reader to let you know if there is any place in your story where they become confused or find their attention wandering. Those are the places where you have extra work to do! Don't assume everyone will understand your character's motivations. Don't assume everyone sees the characters in the same way you do.

Remember that while beta-readers are nice, they're only human and they tend to ask you to change things to what *they* prefer reading. Remember no one has your tastes and no one but you understands just what tale you're trying to tell. In the end it's your story and you have to feel good about having your name on it.

Segue to a great piece of advice I received recently from another writer in the DS9 universe, Armin Shimerman. I got a chance to talk with him backstage at a recent performance of "Love Letters", and his words resonated with me. In a gist, what he said was: you can't really listen to critics. Read your critiques, by all means, to get an idea of what is being said about you or your work, but *always* apply your own consideration to it. Discard what you clearly disagree with, try to change what you do agree with and when in doubt, always listen to your own gut instinct. In the end, it's what you still have when the critics have all gone on to critique something else. If you try to change things in your work to make others happy it never works out, because you aren't being true to your own instincts.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Yes, and this is more for the new or wannabe fanfic writers: don't expect feedback as a reward. Not everyone will read your story and not everyone that does will like it. It's all part of life.

Just remember there is an audience for *everyone* out there. After all, how many books by professional writers have you gotten bored with or disliked? Yet someone liked them enough to pay them to write it. So there's *always* hope.

To paraphrase Rene Auberjonois: Try to channel your anger and disappointment into something *creative* and ... reach for the stars!

Note: Each story opens in a separate window. Close the window to return to this page.

Unexpected An alternate view of the Odo/Kira relationship taking place after the events of "Way of the Warrior." Rated R.

Shaken After the shattering revelations of "Heart of Stone", how was Odo able to achieve even a small amount of peace again? Winner 1997 ASCA DS9 Romance Story Award - 3rd Place. Rated PG-13.

Riptide Spanning from "Ties of Blood & Water" to after "Children of Time", this 'what-if?' gathers the loose ends between Odo and Kira...and ties them. Rated R.

Behind The Barriers A look at some of the scenes we weren't shown from "Treachery, Faith & the Great River." Rated PG.

If These Walls Could Talk A few days in the life of a bulkhead by the turbolift near a three-way junction on the Habitat Ring of Deep Space Nine ... whew! ;) Winner 1997 ASCA DS9 Regular Story Award - 1st Place. Rated PG-13.

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