Author Interview: Featuring @ShimmeringEvil
Rosannâs Writing Room with Nadia (@shimmeringevil)
This month Iâm featuring Nadia - who dropped a really amazing historically bent A/B/O (siren calls me home) this summer to great acclaim.Â
Iâve done regular interviews of Larry fic authors for a couple of years for No Stunts Magazine. if youâre interested in reading more, I keep a list on my pinned page here: (2) Archive of Fic Author Interviews â @wishingicouldfly on Tumblr
If you like this feature, want to chat, or give me suggestions for future profiles, please hit me up on X. @Rosann_1986.
Works: Play By the Rules, Siren Calls me Home, Your Memory over Me, and more.
Rosann: Thank you so much for being part of my author interview series! What do you like people to call you?
Rosann: How did you decide to get started writing fanfic for the 1D/Larry fandom? How long did you write before you published for the fandom?
Nadia: I was an avid fic reader for about a year before I ever considered writing. I remember doing a search to find fics with very specific tags and not finding anything that fit the criteria (I later found out that there were fics with said tropes and I was just terrible at searching, but the idea to write was already in my head by then).Â
It was a bit daunting for me to get started because Iâd actually never written anything outside of school papers before. There were many aspects of writing that were a lot more difficult than I expected, and some aspects that were much easier! I never thought writing something novel-length was in my realm of abilities but here we are :)
Rosann: Thatâs amazing! Youâre a natural! I donât want you to out your anonymity, but can you tell us if youâve written under other names, or if youâre perhaps traditionally published? Are you professionally trained?
Nadia: No, this has been my first foray into publicly posting my writing in any way! Iâm not professionally trained in the slightest, and I think one of my favorite aspects of fic is that itâs not necessary. I love how people of all ages, all levels of experience, and even different levels of comfort with the languages they write in can post work as they please. Some of my favorite stories have come from people who fall into the former categories, which isnât something you typically see in traditionally published writing. So no, not traditionally published, but Iâm very happy where I am.
Rosann: Youâve hit on my favorite thing about fics as well. Whatâs your favorite trope (if any) to write?
Nadia: I love any trope with angst and conflict, especially when itâs borne from character flaws. Betrayal, bitter breakups and the like - I think itâs a great exercise for me in emotional processing, and I love the complexity of imperfections. I enjoy exploring what it takes for someone to do a bad thing but still be a good person at the end of the day. Itâs also important for me to write characters who are flawed but still worthy of love. To make mistakes is to be human, and I think in todayâs day and age thereâs too much pressure on this unachievable idea of perfection. I think that my work explores those situations where not everything is sunshine and rainbows all the time.
Rosann: I love that nuance. I really love how you explored that in your most recent fic. How do you handle writer's block (if you experience it).
Nadia: The best thing for me to do when I find myself staring at a blank page for days has been to take breaks from both writing and the fandom. I just completely put writing out of my mind (at least consciously) for days, and itâs so much easier once I get back to my story. I think whether writerâs block is caused by anxiety, overthinking, mental fatigue, or just a lack of being able to get the story to flow the way you want to, taking care of yourself is a really underrated solution.
I also think visually mapping out your story, working through plots with a friend, or listening to music that gets you in the mood for your story can help a lot when youâre stuck!
Rosann: Great advice on writer's block. Your most recent fic (Siren Calls me Home) was a serialized fic (one that you dropped in regular installments), do you plot/outline before you write or do you just fly by the seat of your pants?
Nadia Iâve historically flown by the seat of my pants and I do not recommend it! I recently did this for Siren Calls Me Home and my friends had to be subject to my panic, confusion, and breakdowns about it every few days. For weeks I had no idea where the plot was going or how to make all the loose ends I created tie up neatly, and I just ended up using the pressure of weekly updates to try to produce something. Iâm trying to be more organized and do pre-planning now, and I think itâs improving the quality of my stories.
Rosann: Well, you did a great job - it came out really well! Iâve noticed that a lot of writers include people from the boysâ real lives/situations. What are your thoughts for including personal things like that or not?
Nadia: I generally prefer writing OCs to including people from the boysâ real lives, for a multitude of reasons. And Iâve been having a lot of fun with this, because creating original characters is a really interesting exercise. It feels less limiting, and I really enjoy creating characters that are completely mine. Thereâs full control over their appearance, name, background, and personality which opens up a lot of possibilities. Iâve seen the fandom move more towards using OCs rather than celebrities or other people from the boysâ lives as a whole, so I think a lot of writers might agree with me on this.
Rosann: What are the hardest scenes/tropes for you to write?
Nadia: I have so much trouble writing smut! Itâs funny because Iâve always written stories where smut has been very prevalent or a driver of the plot, but I canât stand writing it. I think itâs one of those aspects of stories that can be difficult to get ârightâ - is it realistic? Is it cringy? Is it easy to picture? Do the positions make sense? Am I describing too many physical actions without actually adding anything to the story? Do their characterizations stay consistent during the scene? There are so many questions that run through my head and itâs hard for me to know if itâs hitting correctly. Especially since smut can sometimes get a lot more depth in the description of the actions than most other things in fic.
Rosann: Smut can be so nuanced! Lately there has been some discussion on stan Twitter about what authors of fanfic âmustâ do (for example, provide trigger warnings). What do you think a writer has responsibility for to their readers? Conversely, do you think readers have any responsibility to writers (for example, leaving kudos or comments)?
Nadia: I think fanfic is heavily reliant on community, and itâs important to look after one another in a community. Tagging a fic properly feels like an important part of this in order to give readers the tools to make a decision on whether or not a fic is safe for them. Beyond that, I disagree with most discourse around what fic writers should or shouldnât write about. This is a creative space, and I can personally not be a fan of a fic or a trope without thinking that it shouldnât be written.Â
Similarly, in the interest of community, I think readers should keep public comments about fics positive. It should be done for the sake of it being the right thing to do, but I donât think everyone realizes that all fic suffers from hateful behavior, not just the specific tropes that get targeted. Writers are reluctant to share works in a hostile environment. Keeping things positive helps writers flourish.
As far as kudos and comments go, I donât think readers have to do anything. I do think they should be aware that they are consuming work that is given for free, and that most writers are working off of praise and encouragement for motivation. So with that in mind, I would highly encourage readers to interact with works they enjoy in some way.
In essence, I think the fic space survives and thrives as long as we look after one another, so thatâs what we should be doing :)
Rosann: Such an important point. I definitely agree. Thanks so much for answering my questions, Nadia! I look forward to more of your work!
Please go follow Nadia on X (@shimmeringevil) and read their work on AO3 here magazine, here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shimmeringevil/pseuds/shimmeringevil
