Posted in Posted by Violet Tsirblou

Greetings all!

Most of you probably already know me, possibly because of my fascinating reputation traveling ahead of me... but more probably because I've been a pretty constant un-member here for a good four months now.

The normal join up tag is not going to be very helpful in introducing myself as most of the questions are about the story I am currently writing... which is actually non-existant. See, I am a chronically lazy writer and have not even worked on a novel since NaNoWriMo last year. Mostly it's either been short stories or... nothing. And mostly the latter.

But anyhow, as I can't bear not to talk about myself, I shall now proceed to interview myself on my favourite subject... uh, myself.

(Or you can just scroll to the bottom for the short version)

Who/what are you, and where do you come from?

I am mostly human, female, the eldest of seven, and hail from New Zealand. I have been in my time a complete Tolkien maniac, I am now and forever a MacGeek, and I shall never crack my addiction to New Zealand chocolate (aka. the best in the world). I love food, trees and mountains and climbing all three (ever climbed a mountain of food? Yummy...), as well as driving fast, bouncing on beds and talking about myself.

Around here I am known by a vast variety of names, including Altariel, Gaby, Slt, Hérincë Tulu-caurë, Gabrielle, Meanie-Poo, Altari, Gabygator, YOU!!! and now, of course, Violet.

What led you to join this glorious society?

Well. I've been a good friend of Heather's (aka Jack) for many ages of Inklings, and have lurked here on and off for pretty much it's whole existence. I figured it was time I became official.

Besides, it might possibly force me to write a bit more...

How long have you been writing? When did you start? What was the first book you ever wrote?

I've been writing pretty much all my life. My first story was written (dictated to Mum) when I was about two and featured princesses and hedgehogs repeatedly dying and being brought back to life, back in the "olden days that turned into olden nights".

My pirate story was the first novel I ever properly attempted, and took about five years to finally complete. Looking back it is rather an atrocity beyond compare. Quite an impressive atrocity, in fact.

How do you usually write? Are you a planner or do you dive right into the middle? Do you write every day or just when inspiration strikes?

I have always been a horribly disorganized writer, generally diving into a story around about the middle and writing whatever scenes came into my head whenever they occurred. This method never proved very effective, however, if I wanted to actually finish a story or give it a cohesive plot.

NaNo pretty much changed everything. For the first time ever I wrote an outline for the story - just a basic one with the general idea of each chapter - and mostly stuck to it. Perhaps predictably, I found it brilliant! It kept me on track the whole way through and reminded me of the plot when I was getting lost and off-track. Far from destroying all inspiration, as I had feared, it actually helped me find it. I was amazed and delighted, and resolved never again to start a story without an outline.

Which is perhaps why I haven't started a story since.

From whence do you draw your inspiration?

My inspiration is about as unreliable as Windows. Weird things trigger it, like some minor character in a book or one line in an otherwise dumb song.  Often badly written books will inspire me more than the classics. It usually comes late at night when I'm overtired, and often hits and runs in a vague sort of flash that goes before I even have the chance to get anything out of it.

Generally, though, I can find it at about 4am if I have been writing all night and have a story already well planned out. I generally only resort to this method when desperate, however.

My muse hates my guts, possibly because I tend to blame him for my own laziness. Although he says it's because I'm stupid, I can't write, my sense of humour is awful, I never listen to him and I have messed up every one of his brilliant ideas.

Hmm. Either way, he is no help at all. Unless, of course, I want to write the most tragical of angsts; he thrives on that undigestible stuff. He and I are at constant odds over whether true writing genius lies in humour or tragedy.

Tell about your characters. Do you have a favourite? Have you found any of them particularly challenging?

So far they've been mostly heroines. Possibly the most challenging was Meg, my NaNo novel heroine. She was just nine and told the story in very immature first-person present-tense. It was rather difficult, and I have to admit to giving up and changing tenses a few chapters before the end.

I don't think I've ever had a favourite character. I loved writing my dragon, and enjoyed dabbling in pirates also. Basically, though, they're all just characters to me - they don't really speak to me or become alter-egos or self-inserts or such. I've never quite known whether to be relieved or disappointed about that!

Having said that, though, I must admit to a soft-spot for one of my pirates. He was the first one of all my characters to develop a mind of his own, and I am still in awe of it.

What is your favourite genre? Are there any themes that seem to keep coming out in your stories?

So far it's been pretty much neck to neck between historical fiction and fantasyish stuff, with quite a bit of humour in there as well. Fantasy as in other-worldly stuff; no high fantasy as of yet. Most avoided would have to be romance. *shudder*

As for themes... one of them would have to be the difference between good and evil. In most of my books I haven't actually had clear cut villains and heros; the good and evil is more in the choices of each character than inherent in their personality. Well... that's my ideal, anyhow. In practice it's very easy to slip back into easy and clear-cut bad-guy mode.

What are your goals in writing?

At the moment I'm not really trying to write a publishable book, I'm just trying new things and exploring different styles. Basically I'm trying to improve as a writer rather than actually produce anything much.

At the end of the road, though, when people read my books, mostly I want to make them think. I don't just want to write a great story, I want to write something that will leave people with something to take with them. I want to change the way people look at the world, even just in a tiny way.

When I reach that point my stories will become worth writing.

Thank you, Gabrielle. That should be all.

It's been a pleasure. You're a great interviewer.

Hmm. I could ask some questions about favourite books and all that, but this thing has topped 1000 words already.

In short: Greetings, good Inklings. Another weird writer joins your ranks.