The Examination: Nightdog_Writes
I’m stealing a modly moment here, so forgive me for this. I hope you folks are enjoying the author profiles. We’ll have more coming up, but don’t forget that the Hall of Fame can always use nominations. We’ve got one pending right now. When there are at least four I’ll start those up again.
And ... shutterbug12’s second banner has been selected in a tight race. Now if someone could email me and let me know how to put it up, I’d appreciate it. (I’m not very good at the LJ thing sometimes.)
Now ...
When I was putting together the questions for Nightdog_Writes she mentioned that she “feels funny” talking about herself. “I just can’t imagine that anyone would be particularly interested.”
Who wouldn’t be interested in someone who can turn House into a Roman centurian and Wilson into a slave and make it all sound perfectly plausible? Who can weave together bits of an alternate universe version of House, of Wilson, of Earth itself that somehow leaks over into ours? Who can take the most mundane of objects, and create something that just fits both House and Wilson?
A Button, A Feather, A Grain of Sand
A cocktail napkin; used, by the look of it. There's an amber ring where the condensation from a glass of something iced has soaked in. James lifts the napkin and gives it a slight sniff; catches the familiar burnt-peat smell of Scotch. Faint black lines crisscross the small square, and Wilson turns it over. Black ink, probably from a gel-tip pen, has bled through the soft paper and it takes him a few seconds to realize he's holding an anatomically correct drawing of the human liver.
So what’s to know about Nightdog, other than the fact she’s also known as Nightdog_Barks and Plaindog? She’s a 49-year-old Texan, who grew up in what she terms an areligious, liberal home in a “lower-lower-middle-class” neighborhood.
“My mother’s friends all thought she was raising a little heathen,” she says. “I did get sent to Methodist Vacation Bible School when I was about eight, where I remember distinctly
how odd I thought it was that I had to bring a dime for Jesus every week --
wouldn't Jesus already have enough dimes, being the Lord and Savior and
all?”
They were known, Nightdog says, as the “strange family with all the books” and the books led to reading, which led to writing. “Just give me the printed word and I’m happy.”
Or, apparently, give her a chance to take the essentials of House and Wilson, and re-create them in another time or place, and she can make everyone happy.
"You're a healer, and I'm in need of an assistant. The last one seems to have ... run away." The surgeon stabbed at the ground with his staff, the dark wood gleaming in the torchlight. "You've been requisitioned, for the good of Rome. Your former owner will be fairly compensated, as if you would have any reason to care." The Roman's unblinking eyes held him locked in place. "I'm your new master." From Part One of The Annals
Find links to Nightdog’s fics at her journal here.
Why Rome? What about House and Wilson said to you: Roman surgeon and slave?
Why Rome? I'm afraid this is going to sound terribly anti-climactic somehow, but it was a case of me asking myself "What if?" I do that a lot, and sometimes something sparks. House as a Roman ... just seemed to fit. And after that I just started asking myself questions -- "What would he have been? Would he still have been a physician? How would he have injured his leg? How would he have met Wilson?" The master/slave relationship seemed to me to spring naturally from the show -- Wilson may be a Department Head, but very often he would drop everything to take care of House. Plus it's just more interesting for the story -- Gregorius must learn to open up and trust someone who is his social inferior, while James (who was born a free man) must adjust to his situation and try to trust a man who should be his mortal enemy.
What's the hardest part about historical fic AU? The history? Or keeping an AU in character?
The history. House and Wilson, I think, stay pretty much "in voice" in their alter egos -- one of the few things I've done is have them use fewer contractions and avoid slang and modern terms of speech. But the history ... for Annals II I had to research Roman transport ships, ancient Gaulish seaports, internecine tribal warfare in Britain, who wrote what when so I could have either James or Gregorius quote something -- oh, God, the list just goes on and on. I really couldn't have done it without the input and assistance of the Classics scholars and historians on my friends-list -- I think the discussion about what kind of material Gregorius would've used to make playing cards went on for about two pages.
Have you thought about AUs in other time periods?
Yes. I know I said at one time (actually, probably more than once) that I wouldn't because it required too much research, but I'm thinking very seriously now about doing another (much shorter) one set in the 18th century.
Does writing a contemporary, more canon-based fic seem easier after a historical version? Or is it harder? Do you approach writing those fics in the same fashion as one based in the Roman Empire?
It's usually easier, just because I don't have to do as much deep research as for a historical fic. I feel as though sometimes I'm doing the same amount of research -- I want to be able to at least have a reference for anything I mention in a story -- but it's usually easier to find than the historical stuff.
What drew you to writing House fanfiction?
Reading the wonderful stories already out there and thinking "Maybe I could do that." I was one of those nerdy kids who always had a book close by, and I actually wrote some fanfic when I was ... oh, gosh ... probably thirteen, fourteen years old, for the original Star Trek. Kirk and Spock, of course. Hee.
How does a story start for you? A specific scene? A plot? A snatch of conversation?
Yes, yes, and yes. *smiles* Sometimes all three at once. Sometimes the source is the "what if?" machine in my head, sometimes the spark is from something I'm reading (as Duck Duck Goose was a direct result of Richard Powers' great novel The Echo Maker), sometimes it's a song verse (A Time to Gather Stones Together). Sometimes I just start writing and have no clue as to where it's going -- The War Against the Gabes actually started life as a fragment in which a crazed zealot walks into the clinic with a shotgun and shoots Wilson, and when House gets there the clinic is full of drifting feathers from Wilson's wings. But that fragment didn't want to become a story, so the root of it became War Against the Gabes.
What's the hardest part of writing for you?
Having a story just "die" on me. The characters won't talk to me and I suddenly have no idea where the fic wants to go. I've learned by now that I can't force a story onto a path it doesn't want to travel, so I have to either just leave it alone for awhile or give up on it and use some of its dialogue, scenes, situations, etc. for other fics.
That, and the (I hope) irrational fear that one morning I will wake up and not be able to write ever again.
What's the easiest?
Dialogue. House is such a blast to write -- he has absolutely no qualms about saying whatever pops into his head, and it's just so much fun to have him being an ass and getting away with it because he's House.
What's been the hardest fic for you to write?
That's an easy one. Slipcovers, definitely. Once I figured out what had happened -- what David had done to his brother -- it was two days before I could write it. It upset me quite a bit, and I know it upset some readers.
What's been your favorite of your fics?
Oh, gosh. I like most of my fics ... I really like Damascus -- I think the level of trust there between House and Wilson comes through well. I like the images I used in A Fine and Private Place, where they get in the car and steam rises from their coats, and I love the weird little AU details I put in Letters of Transit. I think, though, that the story that's closest to my heart is The Annals, in all its incarnations.
Don't you have any sympathy for poor Wilson? You sure give the guy a hard time, after all. I kid, I kid … sort of. Do you think we can learn more about the characters when they're under stress?
Heh. When this email arrived I was fully expecting this to be the first question. I actually have lots of sympathy for Wilson -- he's House's best friend, after all. And yes, I do think we learn more about the characters when they're under stress. A stressed-out House showed he was capable of breaking his own hand (a scene that's always reminded me of an animal gnawing off its own paw to escape a trap), and a stressed-out Wilson revealed he had two brothers, not just one. Stressed people very often do and say things they wouldn't otherwise -- they're stripped down to their essential nature. Therefore, I poke the characters and put them into stressful situations to see how they'll react
How do you overcome writer's block?
I don't always. My LJ is littered with fragments -- half- and quarter-stories, stories I've gotten almost all the way through and then realized either I didn't care about them or really didn't know where they wanted to go. One thing that helps sometimes is to just start writing. If I'm lucky it will lead somewhere, if not it might at least give a kickstart to something else that's stalled.
Walking away for a while also helps -- literally getting up and doing something else, like going to the grocery store, or running the vacuum or playing with the dog. Sometimes breaking my concentration on a blocked story is the best thing I can do.
You usually work with a number of betas on each fic, don't you? What do you look for from a beta? Do you use different people for different writing aspects?
Yup, I usually work with a group I call my First Readers. What do I look for from them? I think honesty is very important -- I need their criticism, for them to tell me if a story's not working, or if they don't think it would take a particular direction, or they don't think House or Wilson or anybody else would act or react in a certain way. And to jab me with a sharp stick and point out that "remittance" is not the same thing as "remission" at all. Heh.
I don't set out to use different people for different writing aspects but it does work out that way sometimes, especially with the historical AUs. The Classics scholars and the historians, I think, tend to comment more heavily on those stories.
Ever posted without a beta?
Yes. Not often, but yes. I don't like to, but I know everyone in my First Readers group has a real life and real life takes precedence over fic. Always.
What do you look for in fic that you read?
Decent grammar and spelling. Characters I recognize as House and Wilson (and whoever else is in the story). An interesting plot, or a new twist on an old one.
Has writing fic changed the way you watch the show?
Yes. I listen more closely now for dribs and drabs of backstory -- I was delighted when it was revealed that Wilson and Bonnie's first date was in Boston. It's a tiny little detail that I might be able to use in a story.
What would you change on the show if you had that power?
More backstory, especially for Wilson. We've met other characters' families -- I want to see Wilson's family. Meeting his remaining brother and his parents might provide some insight into why he is the way he is.
Do you have any other challenges you've laid out for yourself for future writing projects?
Well, there's that 18th-century AU, plus I need to finish Annals IV (it's in a fragmentary rough draft right now) and start Annals V (I know what happens, but it's only in notes) ... there's also a big project that's been lurking in the back of my mind for a while now -- something really long, with the tentative title The Secrets of Bar Mitzvah Boys. There are two small pieces of it written. I'll have to see if I can really do anything with it or if it's destined to remain a pipe dream.
There's also a very large, cross-writing ficverse waiting in the wings that I and three other authors have been working on since ... (looks at LJ archive) March of this year.
I think I'd like to try an original story too sometime. I really do enjoy creating original characters and I've been sneaking more and more of them into my Housefic. Plus there's still a whole slate of prompts I haven't gotten to ... oy. I'll stop now. Otherwise I'll never catch up.
Now, once again, it's your turn. Ask any questions you've got, especially if you're "particularly interested."
And ... shutterbug12’s second banner has been selected in a tight race. Now if someone could email me and let me know how to put it up, I’d appreciate it. (I’m not very good at the LJ thing sometimes.)
Now ...
When I was putting together the questions for Nightdog_Writes she mentioned that she “feels funny” talking about herself. “I just can’t imagine that anyone would be particularly interested.”
Who wouldn’t be interested in someone who can turn House into a Roman centurian and Wilson into a slave and make it all sound perfectly plausible? Who can weave together bits of an alternate universe version of House, of Wilson, of Earth itself that somehow leaks over into ours? Who can take the most mundane of objects, and create something that just fits both House and Wilson?
A Button, A Feather, A Grain of Sand
A cocktail napkin; used, by the look of it. There's an amber ring where the condensation from a glass of something iced has soaked in. James lifts the napkin and gives it a slight sniff; catches the familiar burnt-peat smell of Scotch. Faint black lines crisscross the small square, and Wilson turns it over. Black ink, probably from a gel-tip pen, has bled through the soft paper and it takes him a few seconds to realize he's holding an anatomically correct drawing of the human liver.
So what’s to know about Nightdog, other than the fact she’s also known as Nightdog_Barks and Plaindog? She’s a 49-year-old Texan, who grew up in what she terms an areligious, liberal home in a “lower-lower-middle-class” neighborhood.
“My mother’s friends all thought she was raising a little heathen,” she says. “I did get sent to Methodist Vacation Bible School when I was about eight, where I remember distinctly
how odd I thought it was that I had to bring a dime for Jesus every week --
wouldn't Jesus already have enough dimes, being the Lord and Savior and
all?”
They were known, Nightdog says, as the “strange family with all the books” and the books led to reading, which led to writing. “Just give me the printed word and I’m happy.”
Or, apparently, give her a chance to take the essentials of House and Wilson, and re-create them in another time or place, and she can make everyone happy.
"You're a healer, and I'm in need of an assistant. The last one seems to have ... run away." The surgeon stabbed at the ground with his staff, the dark wood gleaming in the torchlight. "You've been requisitioned, for the good of Rome. Your former owner will be fairly compensated, as if you would have any reason to care." The Roman's unblinking eyes held him locked in place. "I'm your new master." From Part One of The Annals
Find links to Nightdog’s fics at her journal here.
Why Rome? What about House and Wilson said to you: Roman surgeon and slave?
Why Rome? I'm afraid this is going to sound terribly anti-climactic somehow, but it was a case of me asking myself "What if?" I do that a lot, and sometimes something sparks. House as a Roman ... just seemed to fit. And after that I just started asking myself questions -- "What would he have been? Would he still have been a physician? How would he have injured his leg? How would he have met Wilson?" The master/slave relationship seemed to me to spring naturally from the show -- Wilson may be a Department Head, but very often he would drop everything to take care of House. Plus it's just more interesting for the story -- Gregorius must learn to open up and trust someone who is his social inferior, while James (who was born a free man) must adjust to his situation and try to trust a man who should be his mortal enemy.
What's the hardest part about historical fic AU? The history? Or keeping an AU in character?
The history. House and Wilson, I think, stay pretty much "in voice" in their alter egos -- one of the few things I've done is have them use fewer contractions and avoid slang and modern terms of speech. But the history ... for Annals II I had to research Roman transport ships, ancient Gaulish seaports, internecine tribal warfare in Britain, who wrote what when so I could have either James or Gregorius quote something -- oh, God, the list just goes on and on. I really couldn't have done it without the input and assistance of the Classics scholars and historians on my friends-list -- I think the discussion about what kind of material Gregorius would've used to make playing cards went on for about two pages.
Have you thought about AUs in other time periods?
Yes. I know I said at one time (actually, probably more than once) that I wouldn't because it required too much research, but I'm thinking very seriously now about doing another (much shorter) one set in the 18th century.
Does writing a contemporary, more canon-based fic seem easier after a historical version? Or is it harder? Do you approach writing those fics in the same fashion as one based in the Roman Empire?
It's usually easier, just because I don't have to do as much deep research as for a historical fic. I feel as though sometimes I'm doing the same amount of research -- I want to be able to at least have a reference for anything I mention in a story -- but it's usually easier to find than the historical stuff.
What drew you to writing House fanfiction?
Reading the wonderful stories already out there and thinking "Maybe I could do that." I was one of those nerdy kids who always had a book close by, and I actually wrote some fanfic when I was ... oh, gosh ... probably thirteen, fourteen years old, for the original Star Trek. Kirk and Spock, of course. Hee.
How does a story start for you? A specific scene? A plot? A snatch of conversation?
Yes, yes, and yes. *smiles* Sometimes all three at once. Sometimes the source is the "what if?" machine in my head, sometimes the spark is from something I'm reading (as Duck Duck Goose was a direct result of Richard Powers' great novel The Echo Maker), sometimes it's a song verse (A Time to Gather Stones Together). Sometimes I just start writing and have no clue as to where it's going -- The War Against the Gabes actually started life as a fragment in which a crazed zealot walks into the clinic with a shotgun and shoots Wilson, and when House gets there the clinic is full of drifting feathers from Wilson's wings. But that fragment didn't want to become a story, so the root of it became War Against the Gabes.
What's the hardest part of writing for you?
Having a story just "die" on me. The characters won't talk to me and I suddenly have no idea where the fic wants to go. I've learned by now that I can't force a story onto a path it doesn't want to travel, so I have to either just leave it alone for awhile or give up on it and use some of its dialogue, scenes, situations, etc. for other fics.
That, and the (I hope) irrational fear that one morning I will wake up and not be able to write ever again.
What's the easiest?
Dialogue. House is such a blast to write -- he has absolutely no qualms about saying whatever pops into his head, and it's just so much fun to have him being an ass and getting away with it because he's House.
What's been the hardest fic for you to write?
That's an easy one. Slipcovers, definitely. Once I figured out what had happened -- what David had done to his brother -- it was two days before I could write it. It upset me quite a bit, and I know it upset some readers.
What's been your favorite of your fics?
Oh, gosh. I like most of my fics ... I really like Damascus -- I think the level of trust there between House and Wilson comes through well. I like the images I used in A Fine and Private Place, where they get in the car and steam rises from their coats, and I love the weird little AU details I put in Letters of Transit. I think, though, that the story that's closest to my heart is The Annals, in all its incarnations.
Don't you have any sympathy for poor Wilson? You sure give the guy a hard time, after all. I kid, I kid … sort of. Do you think we can learn more about the characters when they're under stress?
Heh. When this email arrived I was fully expecting this to be the first question. I actually have lots of sympathy for Wilson -- he's House's best friend, after all. And yes, I do think we learn more about the characters when they're under stress. A stressed-out House showed he was capable of breaking his own hand (a scene that's always reminded me of an animal gnawing off its own paw to escape a trap), and a stressed-out Wilson revealed he had two brothers, not just one. Stressed people very often do and say things they wouldn't otherwise -- they're stripped down to their essential nature. Therefore, I poke the characters and put them into stressful situations to see how they'll react
How do you overcome writer's block?
I don't always. My LJ is littered with fragments -- half- and quarter-stories, stories I've gotten almost all the way through and then realized either I didn't care about them or really didn't know where they wanted to go. One thing that helps sometimes is to just start writing. If I'm lucky it will lead somewhere, if not it might at least give a kickstart to something else that's stalled.
Walking away for a while also helps -- literally getting up and doing something else, like going to the grocery store, or running the vacuum or playing with the dog. Sometimes breaking my concentration on a blocked story is the best thing I can do.
You usually work with a number of betas on each fic, don't you? What do you look for from a beta? Do you use different people for different writing aspects?
Yup, I usually work with a group I call my First Readers. What do I look for from them? I think honesty is very important -- I need their criticism, for them to tell me if a story's not working, or if they don't think it would take a particular direction, or they don't think House or Wilson or anybody else would act or react in a certain way. And to jab me with a sharp stick and point out that "remittance" is not the same thing as "remission" at all. Heh.
I don't set out to use different people for different writing aspects but it does work out that way sometimes, especially with the historical AUs. The Classics scholars and the historians, I think, tend to comment more heavily on those stories.
Ever posted without a beta?
Yes. Not often, but yes. I don't like to, but I know everyone in my First Readers group has a real life and real life takes precedence over fic. Always.
What do you look for in fic that you read?
Decent grammar and spelling. Characters I recognize as House and Wilson (and whoever else is in the story). An interesting plot, or a new twist on an old one.
Has writing fic changed the way you watch the show?
Yes. I listen more closely now for dribs and drabs of backstory -- I was delighted when it was revealed that Wilson and Bonnie's first date was in Boston. It's a tiny little detail that I might be able to use in a story.
What would you change on the show if you had that power?
More backstory, especially for Wilson. We've met other characters' families -- I want to see Wilson's family. Meeting his remaining brother and his parents might provide some insight into why he is the way he is.
Do you have any other challenges you've laid out for yourself for future writing projects?
Well, there's that 18th-century AU, plus I need to finish Annals IV (it's in a fragmentary rough draft right now) and start Annals V (I know what happens, but it's only in notes) ... there's also a big project that's been lurking in the back of my mind for a while now -- something really long, with the tentative title The Secrets of Bar Mitzvah Boys. There are two small pieces of it written. I'll have to see if I can really do anything with it or if it's destined to remain a pipe dream.
There's also a very large, cross-writing ficverse waiting in the wings that I and three other authors have been working on since ... (looks at LJ archive) March of this year.
I think I'd like to try an original story too sometime. I really do enjoy creating original characters and I've been sneaking more and more of them into my Housefic. Plus there's still a whole slate of prompts I haven't gotten to ... oy. I'll stop now. Otherwise I'll never catch up.
Now, once again, it's your turn. Ask any questions you've got, especially if you're "particularly interested."