#w000ly

I think a lot of what they were talking about was that I'm quiet, sarcastic and fail pretty spectacularly at expressing what I really feel... and also, before I met my current partner, had a pretty bleak outlook on love. I also kinda react with pretty volcanic anger to social injustice, and I was known for being deeply political. 

Do you agree?

I do see a lot of similarities between myself and Katniss, I that has been really important for me, because I never saw myself in another character before, so I guess I agree.

You said the ending resonated with you. How so?

As weird as it sounds... it gave me something to want. It made a normal life look achievable. I had a rough childhood, long story short, and it takes energy, strength and courage to face all that stuff. I never thought it would be worth it, so I just kept using escapist strategies to deal with it. At the end of MJ I bawled for four hours straight. I think a lot of people cried for one reason or another at the end of MJ, but I had never seen someone actually deal with their PTSD instead of just live with it.

Do you suffer from PTSD? I think a lot of people relate it to war and military mainly. If so, can you give us a little bit of what it entails?

I do have PTSD, from several separate incidents, none of which were war/military related.

Do certain things trigger it and how do you deal with it?

I have a few triggers, and dealing with them mostly means I avoid certain situations and places. I can't watch movies with gratuitous violence, explosions, rape or torture in them, or read about them graphically in a book, and I try to avoid those kinds of things in fics too. I'd honestly appreciate it if people could be better about tagging their rape/dub-con fics. They're a really nasty surprise for me, and because of that I have started to read only authors I trust from Tumblr... which is limiting. And frustrating. There's no good way to deal with being triggered. It sucks. Some people think it's feeling uncomfortable for a little while. Boy. Is it ever nothing like that at all.

(Wooly and I talked about this a little bit more, but the answer above is all that’s going into this interview. It may seem like an abrupt change in direction, but it’s not!)

So you're a student, yes? Do you have a job as well? What commitment level does it take to balance life, school, work and write Fanfiction?

I am a student, and I work part time binding books for a gallery! I adore my job, and I love being a student, but my first love will always be writing! I do it nigh on constantly on my phone- outlining, rewriting, editing... google docs is the reason I carry a portable phone charger in my backpack. For me it’s not about commitment. I would be writing fic in one form or another no matter what, even if it was just in my head. Sometimes there's no balance, I have a tendency to go overboard and wake up really early just so I can keep writing, or working on homework. But I wouldn't give up any of it.

What's your major?

I'm majoring in Civil Engineering with a focus on sustainability (known at some schools as Environmental Engineering).

Cool! How long until you graduate?

It's my second degree, so even though I've just started, it should only be two years, give or take a semester. And then it's on to grad school!

Impressive! So tell me about your first Everlark story. What is it and what inspired it?

EEE! My first first fic ever written for everlark hit my garbage can as soon as I reached 500 words. This was before To The Victors, the post-mj fic I'm too emotional to finish. I don't remember too much about it except that 1. it was awful, 2. had spider-mutts? and 3. President Snow wasn't really dead.

Spider mutts and back to life Snow?? Was he a vampire? It sounds fantastic! I wish you would have kept it. You know sometimes those trash cans keep files for years. ;)

A faction of Capitol elitists secretly rescued Snow after Katniss shot him and the fic opened with a come-back scene of his face popping up on holo screens all over Katniss's house. Now that I'm talking about it I feel like it was less stupid than I thought it was lol! Who knows, I may pick it up again ;) *AFTER* Radio though. Radio is my whole life right now lol.

Do it! I'd read it. Since you brought it up, let’s talk about Radio - I've been very excited to ask you about it!

Ask away!

I happened upon it through tumblr and decided to give it a try, not really knowing what it was about. I’m not sure if I didn't read the summary or what... But I was hooked in the chaos of what was happening and couldn't put it down! What was your inspiration for the fic?

I LOVE ZOMBIE MOVIES. Seriously I have watched more zombie movies than any other type of movie, and every single chapter of Radio has a shout out to at least one other piece of zombie fiction. My favorite movie by far is 28 Days Later, and I wanted to incorporate some of the elements of that film into my writing for Radio. Terror, euphoria, isolation, desperation, loss, and... well. Rage. ;)

You succeeded! Lol I'm terrified! But it's so great I can't not read it. How much longer will it be and do you have an update schedule or just post when you can?

My last day of class is next Wednesday. I'm taking Thursday off to get my affairs in order so I can disappear down the rabbit hole of fic writing for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. My beta is on speed dial, and I should be ready to post by Wednesday. I may also have a RADIO!Odesta thing I'm working on ;)

Radio will be 17 chapters including the Epilogue, but... but... I'm not sure I want to leave this universe. And I'm sure there will be people who won't be *totally* happy with the ending. If that's the case, I'm on hand to write more lol. After school ends, I should be back on my Friday post schedule ;)

What's been your favorite response to the story so far?

Honestly it's been the sheer amount of people who have told me they have dreamed in the Radio universe. That was pretty deeply moving.

Is there anything else you want to tell the fandom?

Being an author in the Everlark fandom is a blast. You guys are awesome. <3

Agreed! Thank you so much for being part of this!

Thank you for doing this!! I had fun!