Jewelsverne
In case you've never heard the term used, The Great Migration of Autumn '09 occurred when brigits_flame was spotlighted on LiveJournal. This was an incredible event, to say the least - an unprecedented influx of newbies! Week 1 of October '09 consisted of ... check this out ... ninety-nine entrants. Among all the terrific new members that month, we were introduced to today's featured writer's unique humor. Turns out, she had plenty more where that came from!
If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Jewelsverne 's entries, I encourage you to do so. Brace yourself for chuckles.
Note: The interview began with lots of apologies from yours truly, because I was almost an hour late! Jewels was incredibly gracious and forgave my absentmindedness. After some giggling about our mutual abuse of AIM emoticons ;);) and both confessing that we don't really wink so much IRL, I finally got started.
Kathy: Tell me about your username.
Jewels: Oh, this fabulous question. Well, I write a lot of fanfiction, and my pen name is Jewels12, so naturally I wanted a similar lj name, but Jewels12 was taken. I guess I was feeling particularly creative that day and decided to add a 'verne' to the end. I'm a sci-fi fan, so it made sense.
Kathy: Jules Verne was an early influence of yours?
Jewels: Not really, I've never actually written anything sci-fi related, strangely enough, but I've been tempted many times. Maybe someday...
Kathy: So you're just a fan of his work? Would you say you have a favorite?
Jewels: I wouldn't say that. I honestly can't say that I do have a favourite, though. I'm not sure I've ever read multiple stories from one author. I like to test everyone out. The writers I enjoy reading the most happen to be fanfiction writers. I'll be plugging fanfiction a lot, I think.
Kathy: Tell us when you first became interested in fanfic and about the fandoms you follow. (Wow. Say that five times fast.)
Jewels: I first became interested about 8 years ago when I stumbled upon a site called bored.com. On it was a link to fanfiction.net - one of the largest, if not THE largest site for fanfiction on the web. I've always been 100% absorbed in Gilmore Girls fanfiction. It took me about a year after reading fanfic to decide that I wanted to give writing it a try, and that's really how I developed my true love of writing - through fanfic.
[me chattering about hubby's fangirling over Lorelai and her funny, funny parents]
Kathy: Do you write for particular characters or several?
Jewels: I focus primarily on the Luke/Lorelai 'ship'. I was always so drawn to their relationship on the show. It was unconventional, their witty banter was second to none, and their sexual chemistry was off the charts, so I was hooked from the start.
[me fangirling over Luke]
Kathy: So, once you were inspired to branch out beyond the fanfic, you came to the FLAME, or was that much later?
Jewels: I haven't abandoned fanfic entirely, but I saw the FLAME in the lj spotlight, and it took me maybe three or four days to bite the bullet and join the community. I was intrigued by it. I don't think I necessarily had plans to branch out, but the FLAME inspired me to, and I'm so, so glad it did. It just made me believe more in my writing and realize that I had ideas that reached beyond Stars Hollow.
Kathy: Which of your entries are you going to let me feature?
Jewels: Oh, that's something I've been thinking about. I think the entry that most reflects my personality as both a writer and an individual is my 'Cue' story:
http://jewelsverne.livejournal.com/23719.html#cutid1
Kathy: I remember this! Please. PLEASE tell me the process that led to you writing about Scrabble - it's so inventive!
Jewels: Thank you! It all came from a conversation I had with one of my good friends. I should say that often my ideas are inspired by friends. I find it very helpful to brainstorm with people - especially fellow writers. I think she came up with the idea to make Cue about the letter Q, but it was my idea to turn that into Scrabble. I guess that's just immediately where my mind drifted. I haven't often played the game, so I actually had to do a bit of research, but I could so clearly picture the scene in my head, and it was one of the easiest entries for me to write. I find dialogue comes most easily to me, and this was mostly dialogue.
Kathy: Some writers find dialogue the most difficult part of the writing process - why do you think it comes easily when you're composing a story?
Jewels: I'm not really sure. I think maybe because that's the first thing I hear in my mind. That's often where my ideas spring from - one little piece of dialogue. If I can get a good sense of the characters, then the dialogue just flows. It was particularly easy for 'Cue' because all the letters had such unique personalities in my mind, and I just knew how I wanted them to sound and what I wanted them to say. I can almost see the words before I write them.
Kathy: Well, it's definitely a strong point for you. Since you've branched out and have been enjoying the FLAME, have you been inspired to write larger pieces? Or maybe submit?
Jewels: Yes, as a matter of fact. I'm currently working on something that I hope to be able to submit for potential publication. When it comes to fanfiction (yes, I'm mentioning it again), I've been known to write several multi-chapter fics, but I've never really written anything of significant length outside of that. So this will be a big step for me, but I'm keeping to a very disciplined writing schedule, and it seems to be working for me thus far.
Kathy: Glad to hear it! Disciplined writing schedule? *mournful moans* If only i could ...
Jewels: You wanna know my secret?
Kathy: DEFINITELY. Are you rather disciplined in other aspects?
Jewels: Yes, I tend to be. I'm disciplined in regards to my health - eating and exercising and so forth. My secret ... I write with a buddy - or multiple buddies. We have what we like to call 'writing sessions'. Each of us will write whatever it is we're working on for 20 minutes, then immediately share what we produced with the group. We'll do that maybe two or three or four times a night. I find 20 minutes is the perfect amount of time to get the creative juices flowing, and not too much time to become distracted or lose focus. It's genius, I tell you!
Kathy: Terrific idea! So, you're very health conscious and have an exercise regimen? Tell us what else you do IRL. You're a student, correct?
Jewels: That's correct. I decided to return to my alma mater in January to work towards completing a second degree - this time in Physical Education. When I'm not at school, I like to dance, sing karaoke, juggle, wear toe socks (though I do that at school, so that doesn't count), read, write, watch tv, play sports, uh ... etc.
Kathy: What was your first degree in?
Jewels: It was in Recreation Management. It didn't quite open up the opportunities for me that I thought it would, and the job market was especially tough when I was looking for work. I always wanted to be a Phys-Ed teacher, though, so the decision to go back to school was a relatively easy one.
Kathy: You said earlier that you like to try a bit of many authors, kind of like sampling a buffet? Read any good ones lately? And feel free to tell us about any of your absolute favorites.
Jewels: Oh boy, the dreaded question. Um, I tend to go for smutty books. I really like Megan Hart and Lauren Dane, Jaci Burton too.
Kathy: I've never read any of those authors. Are they truly smutty, or do they involve varied storylines?
Jewels: They have actual storylines, but the smut is very well-written. That's what I look for. It's not all about the hot, sweaty smut. They're not trashy writers, let's just put it that way.
Kathy: I've never actually read any good smut. That was actually my main motivation to write some. So, I'll have to check those authors out.
Jewels: Yes, definitely do that! Megan Hart's stories have lots of emotion, while Lauren Dane's are more scorching.
Kathy: Okay, fun stuff. You've got your two favorite actor of all time (please name them), your favorite band of all time (them too) your favorite dinner , in your favorite place to just hang out and be relaxed. Now, what happens?
Jewels: My two favourite actors - Lauren Graham and Carol Burnett - would climb aboard my fun bus. It's a bus I plan to buy when I win the lottery some day, and I'll call it the fun bus because there will be disco balls and bright spotlights inside, and dancing and games and happiness. While we're driving to my parents' house (my favourite place to hang out and be relaxed), we'll stop and pick Jann Arden up along the way - my favourite singer of all time. She's a one-woman band, damn it. We'll all get to my parents' house and have a karaoke dance party in a relaxed fashion while eating lime-flavoured tostitos with cheese sauce and coconut sprinkled on top, and drinking champagne. And we might read some smut. And Carol might do her 'tarzan call'.
Kathy: HAHA! *emulates Carol's Tarzan call*
Next :) If there was one destination in the entire world that you could have an extended vacation, where would it be, and why?
Jewels: Hmmm. I'm gonna have to say Brazil. I've been wanting to go there for an extremely long time. I'm a huge soccer fan, so that weighs heavily on my decision, but most importantly, it's the atmosphere that I crave. From what I know of Brazil, there are the party people, and I'd like to party with the sexy soccer men there and play beach soccer with them and pet them and stuff.
Kathy: Oh, gosh :) *goes to make your banner*
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