AS: TelegramSam, First spotlight 3/17/05

[rtlemurs]

Welcome to the Author Spotlight! This is the first one out of the box and TelegramSam has graciously accepted the challenge of being the first author to step into the glare. Thanks Sam!

As with any writing project the best place to start is with a little background so here’s a brief author Bio

Sam is a 20 year old undergraduate student from, and I quote, "The backwards state of Georgia."

She attends the University of Georgia and is currently studying Geology.

Pet fandoms (besides House) include Lord the Rings, Harry Potter, Smallville and sundry minor interests.

Sam is one of our first members here at House T&M but a later contributor in our FanFic arena. Her first contribution was “The Proper Care and Feeding of Young Ducklings”. For those of you who have not had a chance to read it yet here’s a short excerpt;

“House tread lightly now; the game was over. The ice was thinner out here over the water. No point in pushing a duckling in before it was ready to swim; you’d only drown it after all. And that wasn’t very funny, really. Just kind of pathetic.

His duckling swallowed thickly and glanced furtively back over his shoulder and opened his mouth, hesitating at first before he spoke at a fast clip as if afraid of being interrupted.”

And a few of the comments from our members

“Great fic! I also really like the duckling theme. Poor Chase.”Jackie

“Sam- Great fic! Very sad...Chase needs some serious hugs after this one. Loved it.” Taruia

"Okay, I've read this through about 10 times. It has grown on me and is becoming one of my favorites. I love it when a piece creeps up on me like this! Great work!"rtlemurs


Her next contribution was a piece entitled “Carrot or Stick?” and is the first one here to take a look at things from Dr. Cuddy’s point of view.

“She remembers what he used to be like. He’d never been particularly cuddly at any point in his life, but he was never like he is now. He used to laugh often. He’d always had a sarcastic sense of humor and joked around with patients and other doctors, but it wasn’t in the scathing and condescending manner he was currently so fond of. He’d once been athletic and active, one of those men who never stood still and fidgeted constantly. Dr. Wilson told her that he used to play lacrosse in college and afterward on weekends with some buddies, before the infarction. He still had a frantic energy about him, but now it was more like a bee buzzing around futilely inside a jar.

The guilt still niggled at her occasionally. They should have seen it before the damage was permanent. She’d had her best doctors on him the second the pain finally brought him down to his knees in the hallway that morning. If only he’d said something sooner! It was too late now to second guess though. Nothing would change what happened.”

And once again some praise from our members;

“I like it. Cuddy is far more sympathetic than I think some people give her credit for, and I liked how you handled her POV.”Auditrix

“Nice ficlet, Sam. The only comment I have is, could it be a little longer with some more detail? I don't think I've seen a reading of the backstory where House's infarction occurs while he's working under Cuddy. I rather like it, having someone's perspective other than Wilson's about how House was before his leg got messed up, so along those lines, more would rock.”Sy

"I think this is why I picked you first. I love it when I can read something and pick up different little things each time. Different emotions, insights and direction. Both in this and 'Care and Feeding' I find different things each time I read it. Please, please please keep writing. I absolutely love all the little subtle things you have picked up on and blended them into your work."rtlemurs

If you’re new here and have not had a chance to read either of these wonderful stories just click on the links below and you’ll be magically transported to a House fic readers paradise! If you’ve been here a while and have not read these, what are you waiting for?! Click away and enjoy. Just remember to come back for the interview and to FEED THE AUTHOR!!

[The Proper Care and Feeding of Young Ducklings Carrot or Stick?

Okay, I know this is the part I’d be waiting for…

And now the interview with the author.


rtlemurs:
I'm here with TelegramSam and we're going to do a little interview for our first ever Author Spotlight.

TelegramSam:
Awww

rtlemurs:
So Sam, is it okay if I call you Sam?

TelegramSam:
Sure.

rtlemurs:
Okay Sam how did you find us?

TelegramSam:
I think there was a link up on the fox message board (that was subsequently deleted in their usual fascist despot manner).

rtlemurs:
I noticed in your bio that you have several other fics that you write. How long have you been writing?

TelegramSam:
Um, I think I wrote my first fic around ‘01 or ‘02-ish. So three or four years.

rtlemurs:
If House were a fruit what do you think he would be and why?

TelegramSam:
er, um... (long pause) He's a little bananas, does that count? (pause) As my grandfather would say anyhow. A lot of people are "a little bananas" according to him. Maybe a lemon, he's kind of a sourpuss.

rtlemurs:
What inspired you to start writing?

TelegramSam:
Boredom. That's my reason for doing most things I do.

rtlemurs:
Ah, boredom is good for something then!

rtlemurs:
Who is your favorite author and what book of theirs would you recommend?

TelegramSam:
I don't really have one favorite. I read a lot of stuff. Harry Potter (so that's Rowling), Lord of the Rings (there's Tolkien). I also went through a huge James Joyce phase my senior year of high school. Still never finished Ulysses, though I did get through Dubliners and Portrait. I can't recommend Finnegan's Wake to anyone though the rest are good if you're not too confused by his style of writing

rtlemurs:
Mmm Tolkien!

TelegramSam:
I don't remember the author's name, but "Flowers For Algernon" is a book that's always really stuck with me. I read it in middle school first, 7th grade I think. I've re-read it a million times. Daniel Keyes, that's it. Should be required reading for everyone.

rtlemurs:
So what's with the duck obsession?

TelegramSam:
They're cute. I have a mild kawaii complex.

rtlemurs:
Mild?! Ducks and Hugh in the same tub, Hmmm. A psychiatrist dream! LOL

TelegramSam:
kawaii is Japanese for cute, and if you know anything about their culture, there's a big kawaii complex thing over there. Grown businessmen buying Hello Kitty home appliances and stuff. I don't buy hello kitty refrigerators!

TelegramSam:
That and I just love the analogy. House does care about his underlings, and I don't think some people really get it. Most of us fangirls do, but I mean the general population. They just don't understand sarcasm in general, so they think House is really mean and awful. But he's not, he's just sarcastic. I'm the same way, and a lot of peole don't like me for the same reason. Too bad for them.

rtlemurs:
People just need to lighten up!

TelegramSam:
Yea

rtlemurs:
So what's your favorite House moment?

TelegramSam:
Ooh that's a tough one. The asking-out-Cameron scene was precious, even though I'm not a shipper really. Actually that whole episode. He was like a little kid XD, Monster trucks!

rtlemurs:
It was nice to see the little boy in him and Cameron well, being Cameron.

TelegramSam:
The scene with the funny little old lady who had a crush on him too. Actually got him to smile. The one in the hall, not the clinic room. "I took a cab!"

rtlemurs:
Ah, my personal fav!

TelegramSam:
And he called her Georgia instead of Mrs.Whateverson

rtlemurs:
Favorite House-ism?

TelegramSam:
That's a long list. "Humanity is overrated" is one I wholeheartedly agree with.

rtlemurs:
Pickles?

TelegramSam:
Dill only, I hate sweet pickles and those nasty bread and butter things!

rtlemurs:
Hugh Laurie or House? or in your case Bertie Wooster?

TelegramSam:
Do I have to pick?

rtlemurs:
No, you can have them all! I just thought I'd ask! LOL

TelegramSam:
If I were going to take one home in a box, I'd probably grab Bertie. House would be interesting, but he'd be too hard to take care of. Wooster would be fun.

rtlemurs:
So what do you want to be when you grow up?

TelegramSam:
A kid.

rtlemurs:
Cool, me too. That old Peter Pan complex!

TelegramSam:
I dunno, I'm studying geology but I'm not sure if I'm going to spend the rest of my life poking at rocks. Interesting as they are, I think I'll be sick of it in a few years.

rtlemurs:
After that you can start throwing them.

TelegramSam:
lol

TelegramSam:
I want to buy a farm in the middle of nowhere, Ireland and raise Alpacas

rtlemurs:
Oooo Ireland, Alpacas I knew I liked you!

TelegramSam:
Aww

rtlemurs:
Any new story ideas? When can we expect more?

TelegramSam:
I honestly can't tell you. I write when the bunnies nip, and you can never really predict them. I'm not a very prolific writer, honestly.

rtlemurs:
You write for several different shows. Which do you think is the easiest /hardest?

TelegramSam:
Up until House came along, I've written basically one fic per fandom, or else a couple small related drabbles. I dunno. I'll get one big impression from a certain movie or series, and then it kinda sputters out.

TelegramSam:
Harry Potter is the easiest. There's so much to play with, and none of the readers give two flips about AU stories. They'll read those just as much as the canon pieces.

rtlemurs:
Ah then it's true love over in the Harry Potter world?!

TelegramSam:
I dunno, the Harry Potter world is a strange place. Harry Potter in particular (and fantasy in general) is just so flexible in terms of what you can do with it. You can stretch out the canon much further without breaking it than you can with realistic material. You get all sorts of crazy ficcage.

TelegramSam:
I'm hoping I'll be able to hash out some more Housefic. I'd like to write a long plot-driven piece but I just don't have any bunnies at the moment.

rtlemurs:
We'd all love you to write that too!

rtlemurs:
How many monkeys with a bottle of Motrin would it take to fix FOX?

TelegramSam:
An infinite number of monkeys flinging an infinite number of pills and eventually you'd get Shakespeare, or so I've been told.

rtlemurs:
Or the works of Beethoven.

TelegramSam:
Maybe both!

rtlemurs:
If you could be any item in House’s office what would it be?

TelegramSam:
Can I be House?

TelegramSam:
Um, the weird paper weight is cool or maybe the chair. House has a nice bum.

rtlemurs:
Sure, whatever you want. Chair is goooood! No pinching though, he'd get rid of you!

TelegramSam:
Of course not! I'd never do that.

rtlemurs:
So what was your first fanfic written for?

TelegramSam:
Harry Potter. Awful little thing, I don't even remember what it was about I've long since deleted all traces of its existence.

rtlemurs:
I’m sure someone remembers. We'll have to find them!<evil laugh>

TelegramSam:
I cannibalized material from it and another early potterfic for the potterfic that's currently housed on my ffn account but the original stories are in fanfic hell where they belong.

rtlemurs:
So which of your works is your favorite? Which would you recommend?

TelegramSam:
Um, I dunno. I think my best writing is probably the Pirates of the Caribbean fic I did. But I don't know if it's my favorite. My favorite is usually whatever I did last.

rtlemurs:
Who is the easiest /hardest character to write?

TelegramSam:
Character? Well, characters similar to myself are easy to do. House is quite like me in numerous ways, so he wasn't hard. Getting into Agent Sands' head (from Once Upon a Time in Mexico) was a little tricky. I'm nothing like him, so it was a little more of leap of imagination.

rtlemurs:
Two more questions. Do you still have time?

TelegramSam:
Sure.

rtlemurs:
What initially drew you to House and has that changed as the series has progressed?

TelegramSam:
What initially drew me to House was my mother saying "sit down and watch this crazy doctor show". What kept me there was the fact that the characters are realistic and the writing is exceptional by contemporary TV standards. I mean, I like fluffy crap like Smallville, but I can only take that once a week.

TelegramSam:
Actually House and Smallville are the only TV I watch anymore. TV in general has gotten so cruddy. It's nice to see a decent show on the air. Fills in that empty spot in my heart left by the X-Files.

rtlemurs:
Last one. I'm gonna put you on the spot here.

TelegramSam:
Gee thanks.

rtlemurs:
What is your favorite fic here at House T&M?

TelegramSam:
Hrm...

TelegramSam:
"Intervention" is very good. Well I'm going to settle on "Intervention" as my current favorite fic with "The Tide of Time" as a second. Both excellent examples of fanficcery.

rtlemurs:
Well that’s all we have. Thank you so much for your time and for being the first one in the spotlight.

TelegramSam:
Well good luck with the spotlight thingy.

rtlemurs:
Thanks! If you have any questions for TelegramSam you can post them below. Please keep them to either writing or House. Most of all, please remember to feed the author!

For those of you who are interested in reading more of TelegramSam’s writings here are the links to her off-site work.

Fanfiction.net LiveJournal Homepage LJ Pirates of the Caribbean RPG

Now for the obligatory legal stuff…

**Disclaimer: We at House T&M are not responsible for the content of works that are not posted here.** not that we found anything objectionable just gotta cover our butts.

Thank you again Sam for being the first up and I hope the general membership here has enjoyed your writings and the Author Spotlight.

Please remember that feedback is a great motivator and in case I haven’t said it enough… Feed the authors. Even if it’s just a brief “good job” we really appreciated it!! I’ve posted links below to the Feedback area so you have no excuse now… go post!!

Feedback for The Proper Care and Feeding of Young Ducklings Feedback for Carrot or Stick?

Finally a little teaser for you all....

TelegramSam is starting research and work on a new fic that will be a through-House's-POV account of the infarction episode. So keep an eye out for that.

**Update** Check out Sam's new story "Houses Who Live in Glass Hospitals Shouldn't Throw Stones" now on the main webpage. Here's the link!

Houses Who Live in Glass Hospitals Shouldn't Throw Stones

And the link to feedback for it.

Feedback for Houses Who Live in Glass Hospitals.

Hope you enjoyed this little peek into Sam's work and we'll see you in two weeks!

If you have any questions for the author about any of her works, writing, or House please feel free to post below and TelegramSam will try to get you an answer.

[cathyNH]

Well done!

[TelegramSam]

I feel special.

[Sanlin]

You *are* special... LOL

Great interview, TelegramSam and rtlemurs. I really enjoyed it. I look forward to catching up with the rest of your work, TS. Thanks for being first in the 'Author Spotlight' series. I think this is going to be a really great feature for our resident authors and members. Good job, all! And, thanks again for all your hard work on this, rtlemurs--you rock.

Hugs,
Sanlin

[Pradon]

Wonderful interview. I felt like I was watching an old Dick Cavett show - really in-depth and interesting and funny - more like listening in on a conversation between two friends. Great questions and great answers. Thanks for sharing with us TS and rtl!

Keep on a-writin'.

-Pradon

[Jackie]

Great job, and congrats Telegram Sam!

[sy_dedalus]

That interview was hilarious! Sam, I totally share your love for HP and for Joyce, short-lived the last one may have been. JJ has that affect on people.

And I didn't know you went to UGA! My goal in life is to teach there, settle down in Athens, get a house with a back porch, a big helping of tenure, piss off the freshmen, dig on the music scene, that kind of thing. I applied to the university I go to because about half of UGA's English faculty came from here (Indiana Univ.)--seriously, that was the only reason I applied here. You and I must talk. About the English profs there, the campus, the general feel, living in Athens, etc. If you don't mind, that is. *g* I'll PM you.

Oh yes, and have I said lovely fic? I have not? Lovely fic! "Houses Who Live in Glass Hospitals" is my favorite, followed closely by "Proper Care" and "Carrot or Stick?," which tie for me.

Also, I still love that cartoon you made of Papa Duck and the Ducklings. Who knew ducks could be so expressive?

I hope the plot bunnies keep nibbling away. A long piece with plot? Yes, waiter, I'll have two and a water with lemon.

Cheers,
Sy
*hearts* Uga, though my undergrad's bulldog mascot, Tech, is way cuter

[asil]

Fantastic! Great interview! Now, off to read Glass Hospitals...

[rtlemurs]

Okay, since no one else has asked any questions I will!

You were that first here to write something from Cuddy's point of view and in "Carrot or Stick' you started to examine her view and feelings about House.

What particularly in the show put those thoughts in your head? Was it a particular scene or episode?

[TelegramSam]

Honestly Lemurs, I don't really remember. I think I was just watching the pilot again and wondering how the hell he got 6 years behind in the first place since Cuddy doesn't seem like the type to put up with a lot of bullsh*t from anyone, much less her employees, without good reason. She doesn't seem the type to indulge in pity, so the only other motivation I could come up with would be guilt. Thus was born "Carrot or Stick?"

[rtlemurs]

Has that changed since the remarks in the little conversation last week between Vogler and Cuddy?

I believe it was insinuated that Cuddy had slept with House (mind you I said insinuated!!!) or at least had a relationship with him in the past.

[TelegramSam]

No, actually. It hasn't in the least. I don't think she'd be swayed by something like that either.