THE FELLIP NECTAR STAND Meet the Author Series: Annigmatic Author: LeatherGirl and Annigmatic Disclaimer: I do not own Farscape or anything associated with Farscape. All commentary by Annigmatic is unedited and straight from the author herself. Thanks to Annigmatic and congratulations on winning the Best Author and Best Overall Fanfic in the Farscape FanFic Awards 2001! ***** [Annigmatic enters into the stand with a thermos of coffee and scans the small crowd. She swears she spots Scorpius grinning at her, blinks, and realizes it was just a wall carving on the other end of the bar. She spots Lt. Braca at a booth and makes her way over to him. He smiles upon seeing her and offers her a seat.] Lt. Braca: [Smiles at Annigmatic, admiring what he sees.] "I'd do the regular rank and regiment routine but that's getting a little old. Who are you, really?" Annigmatic: [Raises eye brows at the straightforward attitude of Lt. Braca.] "I'm afraid only those of Captain's rank and higher are authorized for that information." [She unscrews the thermos she brought along and pours coffee into a metal cup. Despite the assurances she has received, she is far too cautious to consume anything that the Peacekeepers may have tampered with. She takes a sip of the hot liquid as she collects her thoughts.] "What I can share with you is the cover story. Ann Harrington, aka Annigmatic, is the pseudonym of a published writer, who wrote her first fanfic story at age 12 (an incredibly bad Star Trek script). I set that story aside, and then went on to start a number of original stories over the years. Finally, after turning 30, I became serious about my writing, and with patience and perseverance, eventually sold my first novel, a historical romance. I've since gone on to sell a half-dozen romance novels, and begun work on a fantasy trilogy." Lt. Braca: [Notices Annigmatic has stopped talking and tries to recover from staring at her by clearing his throat.] "Star Trek? Interesting. Some kind of mission I suppose. What is your motivation for writing fan fiction? How did you get your start?" [Leans forward, now becoming deeply interested in what Annigmatic has to say.] Annigmatic: [Notices Lt. Braca's strange behavior and brushes it off nervously.] "For me, writing Farscape fan fiction came about purely by accident. I lay the blame entirely on the long gap between the broadcast of 'A Clockwork Nebari' in September and the airing of the final four episodes of season 2 in January of 2001. During this time, I read some of the fan fiction available on the Internet. The stories were entertaining, but none of them were 'the story' that I wanted to read. So I set about to write that story, which was 'Return to Sender'. This story represented my thoughts on one way that the John/Scorpius/Neurochip story arc could be resolved. I wrote only the first part, which ended with Scorpius recapturing John. E-mail from folks who had read the story convinced me I needed to continue the theme, and eventually 'Return to Sender' turned into a seven-part novella. It took me about three weeks to complete it." Lt. Braca: [Nods at someone behind Annigmatic. Annigmatic turns to see no one behind her and looks back to Lt. Braca suspiciously.] "Hehe. Scorpius? Haven't heard that name in quite a while. Huh. I liked the story, really. Just wish I could have been more of a central character." [Smiles at Annigmatic, almost lost in her eyes. He then focuses back on the matters at hand and continues to interrogate…oops, I mean interview Annigmatic.] "So, what other stories have you written?" Annigmatic: [Notices how strangely Lt. Braca is acting, and wonders whether or not this is a trap.] "I hadn't planned to write any more fan fiction, but about a month after I finished 'Return to Sender', the idea for '24 Hour Pass' came to me. I'd read a few fanfics and a number of postings on the theme that John Crichton could return to his old life on Earth with minimal disruptions. I'm not that much of an optimist, so '24 Hour Pass' is my version of the most likely scenario for his return. My most recent story is a post-DMD vignette entitled 'Bent'. It's a very dark story, outlining about one possible future for our hero. This story came to me in a flash of inspiration. I kept hearing in my head the opening lines: 'I want to hate him. I need to hate him.' I let the idea percolate for a few days, and finally I sat down and wrote the story in a single evening." Lt. Braca: "Amazing." [Annigmatic scoffs.] "No really. I am truly amazed by your work. Scorpius doesn't encourage us to be influenced by data from unknown or un-researched sources. But I just couldn't help myself. What are your inspirations for your stories?" Annigmatic: [Looks questioningly at Lt. Braca as she realizes he must either be smoking something strong or drinking a Hezmana of a lot of Raslac to be acting like he is. And folks call Crichton unstable, she muses.] "Each story came from a central piece of inspiration. For 'Return to Sender' the inspiration was the scene in 'Beware of Dog' when Scorpius tells John that he's already trapped, and just doesn't know it. 'You'll never see it coming', Scorpius promises him, and I wondered to myself just what that meant. I started with the premise that Scorpius had allowed John to escape, knowing he could recapture him at any time. From there on the rest of the story naturally flowed." [Annigmatic notices Lt. Braca once again looking off behind her, this time rubbing his ear with his hand as if to signal someone. She has noticed that every time she mentions Scorpius's name, Lt. Braca twitches. But perhaps she is being paranoid, for there is no one behind her as far as she can tell!. She gives a mental shrug and continues on with her answer to his question. ] "For my second story, I had been discussing with a friend of mine whether or not John could ever return to Earth. I realized once John landed the Farscape craft on Earth he would be imprisoned, for his own protection, of course. He can't afford to land, I thought, and then from there I began thinking of how he could return and still be safe. I let this idea simmer for about a week, and then I wrote '24 Hour Pass' over the course of a couple of evenings." Lt. Braca: [With a large smile.] "What is your favorite fanfic that you've written? Is there a favorite quote as well?" Annigmatic: [Pauses before answering.] "I love them all, for different reasons. I do have a favorite quote, and that is the line 'Is it live or is it Memorex?' from 'Return to Sender'." Lt. Braca: [Presses thumb on a flat PeaceKeeper data bank in front of him and looks at Annigmatic once again.] "What is the hardest part about writing a fanfic?" Annigmatic: [Tries to see what is being displayed on the data bank but sees only a blank screen. ] "The hardest part of writing was trying to nail the characterizations. In my own writing, I know my characters from the inside out, so the story grows naturally, driven by the characters' unique experiences and motivations. Fan fiction requires a different approach, since you are working with characters that were created by others, whose motivations and backgrounds are not always clear, or consistent." [Eyes Lt. Braca who appears nervous as she says the last statement.] "In a sense you are trying to work from the outside-in to understand each character. In 'Return to Sender' there were some characters that I did not feel I had a good handle on, and thus I used them sparingly." Lt. Braca: [Sweat beads begin to form on his forehead and he fidgets in his seat.] "What is the most enjoyable part of writing?" [Forms a fake smile but Annigmatic knows something has him spooked. She is now convinced that this is a trap, and surreptitiously lets her right hand drop to her pocket, making sure all is in readiness.] Annigmatic: "Besides actually writing, the fun part was doing the research. For my first story, not only did I need to learn the spelling of all the Farscape character names and technical terms, but I also researched wormholes, solar flares, binary star systems, and galaxy types. For '24 Hour Pass' I researched the International Space Station and the X-44 space plane." [Lt. Braca immediately straightens at the mention of wormholes and grows extremely fidgety at this point. Annigmatic hides a smile, at this confirmation of her suspicions.] Lt. Braca: "Wormhole research? You said wormhole research?" [Almost shocked by what he has heard. Looks off again and then back to Annigmatic with a refreshed look and continues on.] "Are there any more fanfics in the works?" [Annigmatic senses this question has deeper meaning than Lt. Braca wants to let on. It is clear that she has surprised Lt. Braca by openly mentioning wormhole research.] Annigmatic: [Smiles as she begins to play along.] "I don't have any plans to write more fan fiction, but, as Sean Connery once said, 'Never say never again'. Who knows what the future holds? In the meantime I enjoy reading other author's Farscape stories as we wait for season 3." Lt. Braca: "Sean Connery? Who's Sean Connery?" [Seems disturbed and suddenly stiffens to attention. Annigmatic looks at him strangely and Lt. Braca continues with the interview, his voice almost quivering.] "What advice would you give to aspiring fiction writers?" Annigmatic: [Desperately wants to glance back to see who's spooking Lt. Braca. The hairs are rising on the back of her neck and she dares not to think of the alien who might actually be behind her.] "There's lots of good advice out there, and the Farscape Fanfiction links page has a Fanfic writers resource links page, which can be found at their web site at: http://www.oocities.org/anne29_1999/. My personal advice is to write a story you feel strongly about, one that you will enjoy writing. Your passion for the story will come through in your writing. And always have a bet reader. They are worth their weight in gold…or chocolate!" [Annigmatic smiles at the thought of chocolate.] Lt. Braca: [Frowns at the mention of the foreign chocolate and nervously smiles at Annigmatic.] "I am greatly honored to meet you and the high council will be happy to know this meeting went well." [Stands up and Annigmatic follows suit, wondering what might happen next. Lt. Braca reaches his hand out, nearly startling her but she realizes he wants to shake hands. She wonders where he learned this Earth custom.] "A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Annigmatic: "I enjoyed our little chat." [Lt. Braca's eyes slide away from her face and fix on something behind her. He swallows nervously. She can feel the presence of someone close behind her, and as she turns she catches a glimpse of black leather. Annigmatic gives a choked-off scream as she realizes that Scorpius is standing within arm's reach of her. There is no time to think. With her right hand she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a handful of magnesium flares, cracking them open and tossing them in the air. The explosion of brilliant white light and heat cause both Scorpius and Lieutenant Braca to step back, giving her a precious few seconds head start. She begins running towards the entrance of the bar. Annigmatic: "O'Neil! Carter! Get me outta here!" [She skids to a stop as she reaches the corridor outside the bar.] [Scorpius and a squad of Peacekeepers are in close pursuit. Scorpius reaches the entrance in time to see his quarry grin as a series of concentric metal rings appear around her, creating a column that spans the height of the corridor. "There's more than one way to skin a wormhole" the human female says, and then both she and the metal rings vanish. ] ***** Whew! That was close. Meeting up with Lt. Braca has to be dangerous but if there's one Scaper who can handle him, it's Annigmatic! Especially if she enlists the help of the other wormhole specialists from SG-1. Is old Scorpy up to his tricks of trying to get information out of us Scapers? How evil of him. Thank the goddesses that Annigmatic got out of there and didn't give them any information they wanted! Visit Annigmatic's website to read her fanfiction: http://members.aol.com/ngma607 Feedback from her work can be sent to: NGMA607@aol.comOther places to find Annigmatic’s fanfiction: www.farscapefantasy.com and many other Farscape FanFiction web sites Thanks Annigmatic for surviving the Fellip Nectar Stand.:) We can't wait to read your next fanfiction!