Welcome back to another interview with the author.
Minutes, hours and weeks have passed but we are back with another mind boggling and interesting interview. This time we dive into the mind of Jewelz, author of Living ghosts, Almost, several poems and short stories.

So here she is, give her a warm welcome!


Personal

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well, I’m from a boring town in the Central Valley (of California), where I spent the first 20-something years of my life. However, I recently transferred to one of those insanely expensive private Christian universities in SoCal- which has been pretty…interesting so far. I’m crazy enough to label myself as an English major, with a writing concentration, possible psych minor and love for weird movies that I can’t seem to stop telling people about, hehe…

When and why did you decide to start writing fan fics? Did you have any sort of experience in writing before this?

Honestly, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing myself into other people’s stories. I know for sure that I was “writing creatively” by fourth grade (the infamous project entitled “The Princess Cat”- scenes of which I directed during recess). Official fanfics probably didn’t start until my junior year of high school, (nearly four years ago), with Tickertape. I guess I’ve just always wanted to be a part of the things that I loved (books, movies, etc), and taking a part of them to make my own was the best way I knew who to do that.

What authors do you admire? (Real life and on this site)

My gosh, I’m not sure you’d want to sit through a list of all the authors I admire, haha! There’re the classics: Salinger, Lewis, Austen, Shakespeare- not to mention Huxley’s BNW, Bradbury’s F451, Vonnegut’s SH5 and the infamous Oscar Wilde. I also love Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation (the college in LG is named after her), Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupetd, and about a zillion others.
As for the site- there are so many talent authors here that I’m only afraid I might forget one! [The Amazing] Amber, of course *laughs* Mena, Skilos, Han, Pat, and my good friend Celly- just to mention a few. Really though, in the years I’ve been on the site I’ve seen many develop their talent in amazing ways- and I just love that!

Writing

How big of a place does writing have in your life?

Not a big enough place! Especially given my major. It’s just so easy sometimes to put off the next chapter, particularly if your excuse is that I haven’t worked out all the weird details. I have so many stories I want to tell- I just need to sit my bum down and do it! But even when I’m not writing anything down I wander around seeing things through the eyes of a writer; always thinking of a story, getting ideas and developing them, describing my surroundings in my mind. I just wish that I could download some of the stuff in my head to the computer and skip the typing part sometimes *laughs*

Other than writing, do you have any artistic sides?

I’ve attempted several instruments, to no avail- which really irks me because I love music beyond reason. I’ll sketch sometimes, or take photographs, or ballroom dance- but I’m not very good at any of them. At the end of the day I’m still just a writer, hehe. Guess I’ll just have to learn to live with that, hehehe…

How does your writing make you feel? How important is it to you?

I love watching words form on a page, and when a reader appreciates something I’ve worked hard on. There are few things that make me feel as good as getting something substantial created through my writing; it makes me feel like I’m adding something to the world rather than just taking it all in. Writing is very important to me, which isn’t so great when I don’t have time for it (I swear, I go through withdrawls sometimes *laughs*).

What different genres, if any, would you like to attempt writing? What do you feel would challenge you the most?

I would definitely like to write something with a little more action and a little less melodrama to be honest, haha. I think a thriller or end-of-the-world fic would be fun to work with, since I love reading that sort of thing and watching those sort of movies so much. I think something that required a lot of description of surroundings would really challenge me, because when I brainstorm for stories my focus is so much more centered on the relationships and events, rather than where they are taking place. It would be good for me though, to grow as a writer in all genres (which is a big part of why I wrote A Thousand Drops of Rain; no dialogue and lots of descriptions, and it only took me a year to write five pages! Ha!)

The story

Are the characters you create inspired by people you already know or are they just a creation of your mind? Basically, what shapes them?

Well, each of my characters generally has a bit of me in them, in my attempt to keep them realistic. Because, really, the only person any of us really know is ourselves (and even then sometimes…heh). But yes, many of my characters are also based on friends (characters like Beth, Skye, Kevin, Anna and so forth from the original version of Living Ghosts). Music also plays a big role in the shaping of my characters, and my overall story really. If I hear a song that I love, I start trying to work it into a story, changing little details along the way- I just love that sort of challenge, and the chance to incorporate something great (like song lyrics) into my own work. It’s fun times.

What is your idea of the perfect story? What do you dislike reading most in a story?

Definitely something well rounded; a little romance, a little adventure, mystery, drama, etc etc. And I love it when writers research their stories and make little references throughout their work, particularly when I catch on to them *laughs* Stories that start dropping subtle hints (that few people really figure out) from the beginning in order for the reader to pull an “Ohhhh! I get it now” when it all fits together in the end are great too. I really can’t stand the main character worshiping that can happen in a fan fiction (though I know I’ve been guilty of it more than once); when the girl is perfect but doesn’t know it and the guy falls madly in love with her right away, letting them both to think that nothing else matters but their weak attempts at Romeo and Juliet love sans the tragedy. Yuck. I’m also not a fan of unnecessary smut, I mean, it happens, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder why all of our heroines feel the need to sleep with everyone, heh. It’s different when the actions fit the character, but, believe it or not, a couple does not have to sleep with each other to show that they’re “in love.” I just get tired of it acting as a lazy way of showing this so-called “in love”-ness. Sorry, I’m rambling now… basically I just wish that writers would take pride in their work, and simply *not post it* if they don’t have time to take it seriously.

When you read something, what makes you tell whether it's good or not?

Writing style has a LOT to do with it; if the sentences flow and the characters have depth then sometimes I’ll read a story even if I am not super fond of the subject matter. I would rather read a well-written, detailed, researched, thought-out piece of work that challenges my belief system a bit than a stream of consciousness mess with lots of “cute” going on. Characters that have brains behind their actions is also pretty important, because the world shouldn’t just disappear when people fall in love- I just can’t relate to stories that go there.

Last but not least

Is there anything you would like to share with us, you think is important/ funny/ handy to know?

When it comes to writing and editing your work: don’t be afraid to trash huge chunks of your work if a better idea comes along. I know it hurts *laughs* but it’s pretty much always worth the extra work. Keep your eyes open, there are stories everywhere just waiting to be told, and listen, because there is a shocking number of songs that are just screaming to have a fic inspired by them. And I’ll never have time to do them all, hehehe…
Other than that… I adore you all, and thank you so much, Dana, for choosing to interview me Hopefully now I'll find the motivation to jump back in to writing Living Ghosts or something *laughs*

hehe *applauds* very well done. that was interesting :)

(*facepalm* I can't believe I didn't mention you as one of ewac's great writer's! I mean, many people here are good, but you totally should have been on my list...*laughs* My bad...)

Squuueeeeeeeeek Erin, babe, love the interview..

You are so smart LOL, can I borrow some of your intellect?? But seriously, I loved getting to know you a little more and to discover what writing means to you... and the fact that you have mentioned me reallly flattered my ego.

But you should get back to LG... it has been one of the first stories I read on this site and the sarcasm, realism mixed with humour and drama gripped me from the first page..

Oh and we have the same thing, focusing on describing feeling instead of surroundings.

Love, Moon

haha no worries, I forget to mention people who'd deserve to be mentioned all the time.

Oooh, another excellent interview.

Jewelz, yay, I was so excited that you were the featured author. It was a great interview and it was really interesting to get a glimpse of who you are and your thoughts on writing.

Good point about keeping your ears open and taking the time to listen, for you are correct, there are a ton of songs out there that have a story to tell. ^_^

Yay Jewelz! It's about time you had an interview, lol. ^_^ And I knew...well, most of this, but it's still fun! Good to know your views of writing and what's going through your head (because I can't hear it as often anymore! *sniffles*). And I'm your good friend Celly, huzzah *dances* not that it came as a surprise, but I assume I fall under a different good friend category than, say, our good friend Phil Collins. ;-)

Amen to that fris, haha, I wish my brain had a printer! :lol:

Great job as well, Dana, this was an awesome interview!

OMG, totally! I must have overread that. *dies laughing* SO TRUE! how many times are you just too lazy to write because you know you can't even type half as fast as your brain works? :lol: