Alright. Let's get the interview started. This month, it will be one of my favorite authors, Lirenel. She is incredible. Go to fanfiction.net and look her up. You will not be disappointed.
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So why did you choose Lirenel as your pen-name?
I was in my Lord of the Rings (LOTR) phase at the time, and my friend and I decided we needed Elvish names. I made up 'Lirenel' from the song Aniron that was in Fellowship of the Rings: I saw the phrase "I 'lir en êl luitha 'uren", saw that 'lir en êl was supposed to mean 'song of the star' and mushed it together. When I joined FF.net and needed a username, that was the one I decided to use.
Was fanfiction.net the first site you ever joined?
The first fanfiction site, yes. The first website…hmm, not sure. I may have been on councilofelrond.net before that. But no, ff.net was probably first.
Are you on any other websites?
thelionscall.com, narniaweb.com, christianforums.com. Used to be on mcweir.com, but haven't been there in a while. I'm not on councilofelrond anymore either.
Do you write original stories as well as fanfiction? Are any of them published?
I have a few in my head, a few outlined, and a few paragraphs written. My goal one day is to write a published novel, but I am a bit of a perfectionist – I need to have every detail write, and a lot of background facts about my subcreation written down before I can even start. It's why fanfiction is so nice – the world is already there, I just need to write the plot.
I would like to point out here, though, that fanfiction is not necessarily not 'original'. Some of the greatest works of history have been 'fanfiction', so to speak. The Aeneid is simply The Iliad fanfiction, Virgil having taken a character from the original 'Trojan War' fandom and expanding his story. Most of the ancient playwrights like Euripides and Sophocles simply wrote play-versions of ancient myths, or wrote their own version of an earlier play. And what did Sir Thomas Mallory and T.H. White write if it wasn't Arthurian fanfiction based on Gregory of Monmouth and Chretian de Troyes?
What were some of the first stories you wrote on fanfiction.net about?
Ugh, don't remind me of my LOTR stories. I deleted some of them, but I kept up my one-shots and my longer Faramir fics, both because people like them for some strange reason, and because they are a bit like 'penance': I remember how I used to write and it encourages me to write better. The stories I deleted were really bad Legolas fics, because I was (ashamedly) an Orlando Bloom fangirl when I was younger; my Faramir fics were based more on the books, but I misread the characters based on the movie and so my Denethor is so OOC I can't stand it.
What is your favorite fandom to write for on fanfiction.net?
Chronicles of Narnia. Books of finished series are easiest to write because there are fewer of them than TV shows, so less 'canon' you have to deal with. Narnia also lets me write to explore my Christian faith without going too far out of canon and annoying people, since people expect Christian themes in Narnia.
Do you have any favorite characters you prefer to write your fanfics about?
As you may tell by my stories, I enjoy writing Edmund. I connect with his spiritual journey, and his snarky demeanor. I'm also partial to Susan as well.
Can you describe your writing style to us?
I don't really think I have one 'style'. I mean, I wrote a fic based on Greek tragedy in play form, I've written stream-of-consciousness fics, one-shots, full-length stories. I've tried to dabble in different styles, actually, which I think is good practice for any aspiring author.
What is your favorite book and who is your favorite author?
I have too many favorite books and authors, but if I were forced to have only one book for the rest of my life, I would chose The Lord of the Rings (which is so one book and not three – it was only split into three volumes on account of the cost of printing it as one, plus Tolkien's publisher thought no one would read it as one volume.). Favorite author would also have to be J.R.R. Tolkien, because he was just awesome.
What is your favorite story and who is your author on fanfiction.net?
Thole by elecktrum. I actually wrote a college paper on Thole, about its connection with Beowulf. And elecktrum was incredibly helpful with that, and is just such a talented writer, that she'd also have to be my favorite author.
Do you believe that your fic, Terror Gold, is one of your most popular fics?
Yes, mostly because people keep asking me to a) write more about it and b) if they can write about it. At least two people have written fics based on it, and there have been drawings as well.
Are you surprised at how popular Terror Gold has become?
Incredibly. It has a dark theme, and is basically Lucy telling a story, not even showing the actual "real" story of Edmund's capture by the Telmarines, violating the "show don't tell" rule of writing. It's rough, and I think some of the sentence structure is confusing. While I am personally fond of it, unlike some of my stories, I can't quite figure out what has made it so popular compared to my other fics.
Can you give us any inside info on how you first came up with Terror Gold?
Well, I wrote the rhyme first, months before the actual story, though honestly I can't remember the inspiration for that – though it might have been the generic "Edmund gets captured and tortured" plot that was rolling about in my head. The actual story was an off-handed thought about how I could explain Peter's attitude in the Prince Caspian movie. That's really it. I figured Peter might hold a grudge if his brother was nearly killed, and so fitted that into the Prince Caspian movie. If you want a few more thoughts on the story, you can read my commentary on it at my livejournal community "thelibraryofanvard".
Can you tell us how you came to know Christ?
I was raised in a Christian home, so I've basically been a 'Christian' my whole life. Originally we went to a Methodist church, but then ended up in the evangelical Baptist church so I was "saved", with the altar call and stuff, in high school, though I wasn't baptized until college (I had been christened as a baby, though). My journey closer to Christ led me through some dark patches, where at one point I was clinging to the Silver Chair and "I'll believe in Aslan even if there isn't any Aslan to believe in". In college, I realized part of the problem was that I didn't feel that the Protestant churches I attended were the True Church. Even the Presbyterian church I attended, which I loved and which taught me my first real theology, was too different from the ancient church I read about in the early Church Fathers (I'm a classics major, so reading early Roman writings is fun for me). After a lot of reading, crying, and soul searching, I came to the conclusion that the Eastern Orthodox Church was the True Church and was chrismated (confirmed) into the Church this last Easter, after a year of preparation. So I found the fullness of Christ only recently, though he has been leading me there my whole life and will continue to lead me closer into eternity.
Has fanfiction.net played a huge role in developing your writing?
It's had an incredibly huge role. When I look at my early fics and my most recent ones, it's like two different people wrote them. Reading fic has also introduced me to different styles, different ideas, and the 'tropes' of writing that authors often use and that I have tried to avoid. It gave me an area to explore writing styles and ideas on my own, in a safety net where I didn't have to create my own world and characters.
New authors on fanfiction.net have come, and they are now facing the horrors you yourself have faced when you were on that site. What is your advice to them?
Be wary. Analyze what you are reading and how it affects your ethics and beliefs. Examine what you like about other authors and try it yourself. And most importantly, remember that what you read can never be un-read: don't be afraid to stop reading, even if it's by a famous author or one of your friends, if you feel uncomfortable.
Also, don't write Mary-Sues. The best thing I ever did was never upload the stupid self-insert fic which was my very first attempt at fanfiction. In fact, I wouldn't write an original character at all until you've written at least five fics with only canon characters.
Do you think fanfiction.net is something that you'll always remember?
Definitely. It's what got me really writing instead of scribbling. If I'm ever a world famous author, you can bet that I'll mention fanfiction as what got me started.
Now that you got a career, do you think you'll ever be writing anymore fanfiction stories, or have you since retired?
I have definitely found my time to write hindered, but I am still working on a sequel to "Letting Go", which may take me a year to write since I basically get a paragraph done a day. However, after that, I'm not sure how much more I'll write, unless I'm very inspired. I have a few odds and ends that are almost finished, so I might finish those up as well, but I need to concentrate on my job, my spiritual life, and perhaps some original works.
