Strawberry's Field (SF): Give us your particulars: hobbies, what you are/what you want to be, your fanfiction, websites etc.
Lissa: Hobbies?…That would be hosting and running pages online, embroidering (which I haven’t done in a long time), and collecting Beatles stuff. I could never call writing and acting and all things musical that I am involved in hobbies because they are so much a part of me and of who I am.
I’m a Writer, Dreamer, Actress and Musician to the core. That’s what I really am and just those four words convey a lot about me, even though they don’t say everything. I would like to be the lowercase versions of those words as well…it’s kinda hard to explain their capitalization…you either know what it means or you don’t…I’ve never been much of one for explaining.
SF: What do you think about the online Beatles fan fiction world?
Lissa: The people are really nice, really lovely. I’ve made a couple friends that are just as important to me as my offline friends.
It’s surprisingly a bit close-minded even though it embraces the theme of fan fiction, which “normal” people (whoever they are) cannot truly comprehend. One author of my acquaintance wrote a story about John and Paul being homosexual and it was quite an amusing and witty story. But a few people didn’t have their minds open when it came to that story and that author has had to take it down. I’ve always thought the Web had free speech, same as in the real world. But if authors feel threatened enough to take down their pieces, then something’s surely wrong here. It’s not like anyone’s forcing them to read any of what they may be offended by…but they choose to and then pester the author about it! That’s what I don’t agree with in the fan fiction world and if an author comes to me, asking to be hosted and says that I might like to put a rating on their work, I don’t, out of sheer principle. I feel that people will see what they want to see, be it good or bad or both. It’s better to let people discover what they think on their own instead of influencing them beforehand.
SF: How do you feel about Beatles fan fiction in general?
Lissa: I think it’s really fab, gear and all that. =) Seriously, I think it’s a really cool concept and I’m glad that there’s so much of it out there. I admit, when writing my first sort-of fan fic (Lindy’s Legacy), I was too shy to say the names straight out…I hadn’t heard of Beatles fan fiction yet when I began writing it. It was really a tribute fiction and also therapeutic in a way…changing the names let me see the whole situation in a new light.
I was too embarrassed at first to come out writing fan fiction that I wrote pieces of a fantasy going ’round my head in a passworded file of a computer journal that I used to keep. It’s a story that will never be online, but it expresses my own Beatley thoughts when I thought it was too weird to let everyone know what I was writing about. I mean, Beatles stories that aren’t true?!? I liked the idea but was too shy. But I got over it when I came back online after losing my service for a few months and read all the fan fiction out there and got my story published on Anna’s Houseful before it closed down…and even while I submitted my story to her, I still didn’t realize that I had already joined the infamous ranks of Beatles fan fiction writers.
SF: Does age matter in writing fan fiction in your personal opinion?
Lissa: Yes, only because of experience. If a ten-year-old is trying to write a story about two young lovers, it won’t be as believable as something that has some experience (or at least imaginative hormones) behind it. Other than experience, no, it doesn’t matter---it’s the talent and style that matter.
SF: What are the most hackneyed plots to your mind?
Lissa: A lot of the stories that have to do with a hyperventilating fan and a Beatle in 1964---quite overused. The romances where a Beatle and a girl want to hook up but family prevents it or there’s problems or Paul cheats on the girl---also overused as well. I sincerely believe that you can get away with using hackneyed plots as long as you can put your own spin on it. Into My Life is the original---the story being up is a twist in itself. Jane’s In My Eyes and its sequel both have their own unique spin as well as a clear, mature writing style. And I think that my Dear Friend, the Love of My Life is unique (or weird, whichever) in itself because even though it’s basically a romance and there has to be some kind of problem---the climax of the story---it’s kind of odd that the relationship happens to be between a 20-year-old girl and a future almost-sixty Paul and even what happens between them isn’t what everyone expects. The trouble with these romances is that there has to be a climax and having the relationship break is the only one that seems to be used and it just isn’t sewn into the story properly---too many people’s stitches are showing when they should be hidden.
SF: What advice can you give to new authors?
Lissa: Love your story when you start it. If you are writing a story that you only seventy-five percent like, chances are it won’t come out honest to yourself if it’s even finished at all. You’ve got to love what you’re doing or else how will you get anyone else to love it as well?
Write at your own pace. Take fans’ clamoring for more as a compliment and don’t let it bother you…just keep on writing your own way in your own time.
Don’t let others tell you what should happen. It’s your story; write it yourself. Tell your suggestors, “Thanks, but I already have it planned out” and go on your merry way.
And another thing…proofread your story! A spellchecker won’t catch everything and it won’t catch a silly sentence either. Write your chapter, wait a day or so, print it out and then edit it. Waiting a short time will give you a fresh view when you look at the story and if you don’t trust your judgement, ask someone else to edit it for you and let them ask you questions so you can clarify any muddy parts.
Get your story known. If you have your own page, get that page known so everyone will know, “That’s where So-and-So’s story is” and if you are hosted, put in a request to be ‘plugged’ a little bit so people will know what’s going on.
If you’re a hosted author: ASK QUESTIONS!!!! There are some sites out there that take the copyrights to a story as soon as they place it on their page. Places like the Beatles Embassy, Project Neptune, the Blue Sub or my page Strawberry’s Field host free of charge…money and copyright-wise.
SF: How do you create? What inspires you?
Lissa: I don’t really know how I create…things pop into my head and I shape the idea within my mind until I feel it’s ready to be put on paper. It’s a strange thing about this, though…while I’m writing, sentences write themselves out in my mind and if I change the sentence slightly, some internal chord within me goes out of tune and rings in my soul annoyingly ’til I change the sentence to read exactly what it says in my mind. Sometimes I think that writers and anyone involved in the arts get their ideas from some outside force…I’m not saying anything soul-compromising, just that the sentences form a bit too perfectly within my mind…and I don’t want the force or whatever it is to stop…it helps so much…but if it is some kind of force, I hope that I am truly writing my own stuff 99.9% of the time.
I get inspired by pretty much everything: God, Nature, love, my own experiences, a label on a cereal box, the way waves nibble at my toes as I stand looking out to sea, friends, family, the Beatles…the list goes on. Feeling ‘the inspiration’ within me is something I can explain only by referring to a book I’ve read; Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Emily of New Moon. The main character, Emily, gets this thing she calls “the flash” and in some way, that is closely akin to what I feel when ‘the inspiration’ takes a hold of me. Perhaps that can explain why there are such gaps between my updates…I have to be inspired in that special way…and it can happen anywhere. I was suddenly inspired at a prayer meeting some months ago and came up with Mariel, the other main character besides the Beatles in Unexpected in Time. She originally wasn’t supposed to be a part of the story at all, but she just wandered in…now the story couldn’t be what it is without her.
SF: Tell us about your writing style.
Lissa: It varies. In Unexpected in Time I feel I use a dramatic, simplistic style…I can’t define it, actually. But when a story idea comes to me, it also comes clothed in its own style…I can’t choose a certain way I want to write it. Dear Friend, the Love of My Life was supposed to be dramatic but suddenly came out with a humorous joky feel to it. Can’t be controlled and can’t be changed. And I find myself liking how they come out. *grin*
SF: Favorite fan fics (not your own)?
Lissa: Jeez! There’s so many! The Dream is Over, Into My Life, Like Dreamers Do (formerly ‘I Call Your Name’), Let it Down, all the Ate and Fab stuff, Their Songs, The Movement You Need, In the Eye of the Hurricane, Mirror Image, With Strings Attached, I Feel Fine…
SF: What's on your mind? Let us know! Where do you stand on---anything?
Lissa: Hmmm…I stand on a lot of things, but I can’t think of them all right now! *wry smile* I’m thinking about this beautiful song on right now…one of my non-Beatle favorites called “Holly Ann” by Boston; it’s a bit of a nostalgic song and the lyrics and melody are lovely. I FINALLY found it on Napster…hee hee! My ear’s bugging the crap out of me…hey, you asked! *lol* I held an alto sectional today at lunch and it was a lot of fun…I’m also thinking about Dear Friend, the Love of My Life and Unexpected in Time and what I’m gonna write in future chapters…MUST update The Mysterious Disappearance of Paul McCartney…*laughs*
I’m really up on that rating thing, though. Ratings for movies and all that are fine, but I don’t hold with them too much online. As I previously said, I don’t put ratings on the stories I host and if an author were to ask me to, I probably would say no. It doesn’t make sense to have one rated story out of thirty other un-rated ones. People will see what they want to see. Some people don’t see anything “bad” until someone tells them there’s something there and that would be what a rating would do: influence someone’s opinions and thoughts before they can even decide what they think for themselves. It doesn’t seem right in some way. Movies and albums are one thing but literature is a completely different plane.
SF: What is your definition of the meaning of life?
Lissa: In general, I think it’s love. All you need is love, like the lads said. If you really think about it, that statement is not as simple and naïve as it seems. “Love covers all wrongs” and it seems that all we do is search for love. Why are there so many songs on love? Movies? All that…it’s the one thing we all share…wanting love.
As to the meaning of my life, as an individual, I don’t know yet. In a few more years, I hope I’ll find the answer to my complete satisfaction.
SF: The inevitable question: favorite Beatle and why?
Lissa:
Paul. Okay, so I was looped in at first because he’s so good-looking but then as I started to find out more about him, I like him because of who he is as a person. I love him (not in a Beatlemaniac way…I hope you’ll undertsand), respect him, and admire him. He’s got a great personality and many good qualities and we seem to have a lot in common. Music, a bit of the same values on family, an intense creative drive that needs to go somewhere for good or ill (in a critic’s eye, anyway)…all that kind of stuff. If people want to say, well, you don’t know Paul McCartney except for what you’ve seen through the media, that may be true but I have a problem believing that he’s a cruel person, all looks and no personality and all that stupid rubbish. He’s very talented and I consider him one of the most gifted geniuses of the century. He can stand up to Bach and all “those guys who’d worn tights and white wigs” and not just on the basis of his Beatles music. A painter, writer, musician, composer, crusader…there you go!
John comes in a bit close…I consider him a genius as well, on his own level and the Lennon-McCartney partnership is unrivalled in my mind. As much as I love Paul, I have a soft spot in my heart for John…besides, that temper sounds familiar to me, anyway…*laughs*
SF: Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Lissa: We could see we were timeless dreamers of another day.