Author Interview: Nightdog_Barks
Author Interview: Nightdog_Barks
Nightdog_barks is a prolific writer within the "what-if" genre and has more pieces on the House "What-If" Rec List than any other author. Some were written in collaboration with blackmare, and one as part of the black_cigarette collective. Nightdog's own rec list is on her LJ. You can find her online as nightdog_barks [LJ] [AO3] [DW] / nightdog_writes [LJ] [DW] [SQ] [audiofic] / Double Dog [FF]
Please give her a warm welcome and interact in the comments section below.
What-If Genre
As a writer and/or as a reader, what draws you to what-iffy fic?
I would say the concept. Is it interesting? Is it an idea I've heard of/read before? Those can still be a great read, because everyone's take on House, Wilson, and whatever the situation is are all different. If we all had the same tastes and wrote the same thing then life would be pretty dull. Ideas that sound nuts at first glance -- House and Wilson battle dinosaurs! Wilson dies and comes back as a box of breakfast cereal! -- can be terrific in the hands of a good writer. Imagination is everything. Back it up with decent spelling and grammar and I'm hooked.
As a Reader
What was the first House fic you remember reading, and why has it stuck with you?
Ha, I had to check this -- I couldn't remember if it was Lost Causes, by ducks_in_a_row, or Pesach, by pwcorgigirl, and it looks like it was Lost Causes by one month (October 2005). Both these stories showed me that fanfic could be just as good (or even better) as "real" fic. They had real plot lines, the characters were well-drawn and believable -- they just worked. They opened up a whole new world for me. As a Writer
What do you struggle with as an author?
Keeping the characters from stopping the action to make a speech. I know I've done this in more than one story (the one that comes to mind most readily is Nor Any Voice of Mourning, my WWII fic set in Italy, where House brings the story to a dead halt in order to talk about what life will be like after the war). This is something I have to guard against -- sometimes I want to tell the reader too much, and not let them envision it for themselves. You really have to trust the reader.
Do you plan to continue writing House fic? (Please say yes.)
Yes. :-)
What is your favorite/least favorite part of the writing process?
Finishing a fic. Lately I find myself writing the scenes I really want to get down and then just stopping. It's not that I've lost interest in the fic; it just gets harder and harder to actually sit down and do the hard work of creating a finished story.
How have you grown as a fanfic writer?
I try not to use epithets anymore. I looked at something recently that I wrote when I was just starting out, and it was FULL of epithets -- "the older doctor," "the young oncologist," etc. etc. It was terrible.
Also, I think I've learned to be patient. I used to worry that I was writing too much, but you know what? It's better than not writing enough.
What genres/works outside fandom have influenced you as a writer?
I think one of the biggest influences has been Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. Wolfe showed me that it's really okay to write dialogue the way real people talk. His written conversations between cops and judges and overworked district attorneys was like a master class in communication. Then there are the books that have actually sparked stories, like Richard Powers' The Echo Maker, Drew Gilpin Faust's Civil War history, This Republic of Suffering, Rick Atkinson's WWII history, The Day of Battle.
What are you currently writing?
There are several irons in the fire, as it were, but most currently Blackmare and I are collaborating on a story. It involves House and Wilson going antique-ing and encountering something unexpected.
What's one of the most memorable comments/reviews (sentiments) you've ever received?
A reader told me that The Annals had inspired her to major in Classics at university.
What is the strangest/most interesting thing you ever researched for a fic?
There are so many things, it's hard to choose just one! Viking outposts on Baffin Island. Death and funeral customs of the American Civil War. The botanical properties of white snakeroot.
Canon
Favorite House episodes? When did you start watching?
I watched from the beginning, but I don't think I was really a fan until episode 6, "The Socratic Method." That's the episode where the writers wove a poem by Yeats into the story, and it was just so well done. Some of my other favorites are "Three Stories," "House vs. God," "Son of a Coma Guy," "Frozen," "Baggage," lots more.
Personal headcanon(s)?
The sailboat trophy on Wilson's bookshelf is Wilson's, and it's really for sailing.
Other
Did you write fanfic before you got into the House fandom? What/when were your first fandom(s)?
Ha, I did. I was in my teens and twenties, way before it was called fanfic, and I thought I'd discovered something that nobody else was doing. My very first fandom was probably Star Trek (the original series), and I wrote Kirk-Spock friendship. I also wrote fic for Star Trek: The Next Generation (stories about Data) and for a few TV shows that I doubt anyone remembers now (Hec Ramsey and Nichols, both Westerns). I wasn't writing slash -- I don't think I would have known how back then.
Do you make fan vids or other non-fic fandom endeavors? Where do you post them?
Nope, I am nowhere near that talented.
Nightdog_barks is a prolific writer within the "what-if" genre and has more pieces on the House "What-If" Rec List than any other author. Some were written in collaboration with blackmare, and one as part of the black_cigarette collective. Nightdog's own rec list is on her LJ. You can find her online as nightdog_barks [LJ] [AO3] [DW] / nightdog_writes [LJ] [DW] [SQ] [audiofic] / Double Dog [FF]
Please give her a warm welcome and interact in the comments section below.
What-If Genre
As a writer and/or as a reader, what draws you to what-iffy fic?
I would say the concept. Is it interesting? Is it an idea I've heard of/read before? Those can still be a great read, because everyone's take on House, Wilson, and whatever the situation is are all different. If we all had the same tastes and wrote the same thing then life would be pretty dull. Ideas that sound nuts at first glance -- House and Wilson battle dinosaurs! Wilson dies and comes back as a box of breakfast cereal! -- can be terrific in the hands of a good writer. Imagination is everything. Back it up with decent spelling and grammar and I'm hooked.
As a Reader
What was the first House fic you remember reading, and why has it stuck with you?
Ha, I had to check this -- I couldn't remember if it was Lost Causes, by ducks_in_a_row, or Pesach, by pwcorgigirl, and it looks like it was Lost Causes by one month (October 2005). Both these stories showed me that fanfic could be just as good (or even better) as "real" fic. They had real plot lines, the characters were well-drawn and believable -- they just worked. They opened up a whole new world for me. As a Writer
What do you struggle with as an author?
Keeping the characters from stopping the action to make a speech. I know I've done this in more than one story (the one that comes to mind most readily is Nor Any Voice of Mourning, my WWII fic set in Italy, where House brings the story to a dead halt in order to talk about what life will be like after the war). This is something I have to guard against -- sometimes I want to tell the reader too much, and not let them envision it for themselves. You really have to trust the reader.
Do you plan to continue writing House fic? (Please say yes.)
Yes. :-)
What is your favorite/least favorite part of the writing process?
Finishing a fic. Lately I find myself writing the scenes I really want to get down and then just stopping. It's not that I've lost interest in the fic; it just gets harder and harder to actually sit down and do the hard work of creating a finished story.
How have you grown as a fanfic writer?
I try not to use epithets anymore. I looked at something recently that I wrote when I was just starting out, and it was FULL of epithets -- "the older doctor," "the young oncologist," etc. etc. It was terrible.
Also, I think I've learned to be patient. I used to worry that I was writing too much, but you know what? It's better than not writing enough.
What genres/works outside fandom have influenced you as a writer?
I think one of the biggest influences has been Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. Wolfe showed me that it's really okay to write dialogue the way real people talk. His written conversations between cops and judges and overworked district attorneys was like a master class in communication. Then there are the books that have actually sparked stories, like Richard Powers' The Echo Maker, Drew Gilpin Faust's Civil War history, This Republic of Suffering, Rick Atkinson's WWII history, The Day of Battle.
What are you currently writing?
There are several irons in the fire, as it were, but most currently Blackmare and I are collaborating on a story. It involves House and Wilson going antique-ing and encountering something unexpected.
What's one of the most memorable comments/reviews (sentiments) you've ever received?
A reader told me that The Annals had inspired her to major in Classics at university.
What is the strangest/most interesting thing you ever researched for a fic?
There are so many things, it's hard to choose just one! Viking outposts on Baffin Island. Death and funeral customs of the American Civil War. The botanical properties of white snakeroot.
Canon
Favorite House episodes? When did you start watching?
I watched from the beginning, but I don't think I was really a fan until episode 6, "The Socratic Method." That's the episode where the writers wove a poem by Yeats into the story, and it was just so well done. Some of my other favorites are "Three Stories," "House vs. God," "Son of a Coma Guy," "Frozen," "Baggage," lots more.
Personal headcanon(s)?
The sailboat trophy on Wilson's bookshelf is Wilson's, and it's really for sailing.
Other
Did you write fanfic before you got into the House fandom? What/when were your first fandom(s)?
Ha, I did. I was in my teens and twenties, way before it was called fanfic, and I thought I'd discovered something that nobody else was doing. My very first fandom was probably Star Trek (the original series), and I wrote Kirk-Spock friendship. I also wrote fic for Star Trek: The Next Generation (stories about Data) and for a few TV shows that I doubt anyone remembers now (Hec Ramsey and Nichols, both Westerns). I wasn't writing slash -- I don't think I would have known how back then.
Do you make fan vids or other non-fic fandom endeavors? Where do you post them?
Nope, I am nowhere near that talented.