I have to say, I’m very envious of everyone who was in this fandom during my Underneath era hiatus. I sincerely regret missing out on Rhoda Nightingale’s stories; luckily, she has returned to grace us with her presence again, and of course I had to interview her.
You can read her newest addition to the small genre of horror hanfics on AO3, and check out her various pop culture reviews and opinions on LiveJournal. Read on to see what she had to say in our interview.
Why did you start writing hanfic? How long have you been writing?
“Why” is such a difficult question. I’ve been making up stories about my favorite actors, musicians, and fictional characters for as long as I can remember. When I was really little, I called them “imaginary friends” and went on make-believe adventures with them. When that changed into me writing things down and calling them “characters” instead, I couldn’t say. My first Hanfic story probably got rolling around 1997, although that one was never posted anywhere, and it eventually turned into this sci-fi epic that barely resembles what it once was.
You’re working on some original fiction as well. How is that different from hanfic?
Well in my case, the biggest difference is no one sees it except my writing workshop, betas, and the agents and publishers I send it to. Also, original fiction can go slower because there’s no one commenting on individual chapters and pushing me to know what happens next. In both cases I have trouble with procrastination, having way more ideas than time to actually flesh them all out, and getting distracted by “research.” (I’m procrastinating on another story RIGHT NOW.)
What are your favorite hanfic stories and authors?
“The Quiet One” still holds a special place in my heart, as does Krystal. She was one of the first people to actually read my stuff and give me feedback, and I loved that her imagination was as twisted as mine was. She’s one of those rare people who can blend horror, humor and everyday slice-of-life stuff. There’s always “Walls/Roads”–a classic by most standards, I reckon. And one called “Death and the Rock Star” that’s a crossover starring Death from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman graphic novels that I liked a lot. As far as the more recent stuff, I haven’t been reading widely, but I’m really digging Asphodelia’s “Innocents” series. The world-building she put into it is phenomenal.
What is your writing process like?
Step 1: Have idea.
Step 2: Sit on idea until I have time to pay attention to it, because this usually happens when I’m in the middle of writing something else.
Step 3: If the idea is still there when I’m ready to write something new, jot down whatever seems important in whatever notebook I have on me at the time.
Step 4: Waste way too much time gathering “research” and “inspiration” in the form of putting together fake book covers, graphics banners, playlists, etc.
Step 5: Actually write the damn thing.
Step 6: Sob over how much it’s not like whatever was in my head when the idea happened in the first place.
Step 7: Edit, edit, edit.
Step 8: Say, “Actually, this isn’t bad?” and hit POST, hoping someone else will like it enough to say so and ask me to post more chapters.
Step 9: Have new idea and ignore it until I’m done with the existing one.
I may or may not be successful in following any of these. It’s just kinda what happens in my brain when I’m trying to write something. This is nearly identical to the original fiction writing process, by the way, except swap out Step 8 for the submission process, which involves lots of betas, query letters, digging through dozens of agencies and publishers and figuring out how many sample pages they want, etc. Then wait for the rejections to pile up and try again. 🙂
Where do your ideas and inspiration come from?
So many places: album covers, comic books, my own nightmares, a cool-sounding word or phrase that I can’t get out of my head, trailers to movies I’ve never seen OR the story I thought was going to happen based on the trailer but the actual movie turned out very different from what I imagined. A lot of it comes from the very simple but limitless question “What if?” For example, the idea for “Cracks In the Wings” came from watching that one FUTY episode and asking, “Wait. Where did those ‘cracks’ come from? And in so many planes? Are there monsters outside?” It’s also kind of inspired by Stephen King’s short story “The Langoliers” and that one episode of The Twilight Zone with William Shatner. My stories tend to be a mish-mash of several different pieces of pop-culture, usually involving monsters and/or magic.
Which stories are you most proud of having written?
Easily “Fire, Dreams & Mirrors.” The four-parter that got me nominated for Best Newcomer in the Various Artists awards back in the day. Reading it over again recently, I can really tell I had just discovered Neil Gaiman when I was writing this. Big chunks of the Hellscape are shamelessly ripped from the Sandman comics. However, there are also parts of it that are still super-creepy and engaging that are more original. I remember people telling me that they were scared to keep reading, but couldn’t stop reading, at the same time. Hell, there are a couple chapters that were really difficult to edit because they made me uncomfortable. As a horror writer, that’s what you want. So yeah–that one makes me happy.
Favorite songs to listen to while you write or which inspire your writing?
See Question 4, Step 4, viz. “playlists.” It depends on the project. Although I tend to listen to heavy metal when I’m brainstorming. Because it’s so EPIC! Otherwise, I’m usually listening to a combination of Nine Inch Nails, The Beatles, My Chemical Romance, Nightwish and Taylor Swift. And of course, Hanson.
Thank you, Rhoda, for being the September spotlight! I’m so glad you’re back in the hanfic world.