#Author Interviews

[interact-if]

Pride Month Feature #3: Under Our Skins

Game: Under Our Skins

Author: Rowan (@if-underourskins)

Tags: Urban fantasy, romance, action (kinda)

Being hunted isn't for the weak. You've been on the run for the majority of your life, though it seems to only get more and more frequent as you age. You're a shapeshifter, whose bones, muscles and skin twist and stretch to transform, and it's why you've been looking over your shoulder all this time. 

You’re forced to flee when Officers from the Agency of Public Safety and Threat Containment (PSTC) came knocking on your door. They're who you've been running from all this time, the reason why you're alone...That is, till you end up in the town of Arden Grove and meet other shapeshifters like yourself. Do you trust them? Will they stay? Or will you end up alone once again?

Tell me more about yourself!

I’ve mentioned this a couple of times, but I’m a huge fan of the Spiderverse franchise, and I am in a lot of different fandoms. My favourite colour is red, which is really funny because the colour scheme of Under Our Skins is blue and grey, and I’m ethnically Chinese, which is actually why Elexis (one of the ROs) is Chinese. 

I am also pansexual and genderqueer, and there are elements of that that can be seen in my characters, especially Elexis and Seraph.

2. Can you tell me a bit about what you’re working on right now and your journey into interactive fiction? What inspired the game/story you’re currently writing?

I am currently working on a shapeshifter IF, aka Under Our Skins! I started with visual novels first, back in my 2024 exam season, and quickly got hooked. The first IF I ever played was Wayfarer and that led to many ranting sessions about it (my poor friends were stuck with me raving about how much I loved the game for days) and from there, I scoured itch.io for more games like that, which is how I stumbled across interactive fiction! For the next few months, it was just me falling in love with multiple interactive fictions before deciding I wanted to try my hand at writing one. 

What inspired Under Our Skins was just a car on Pinterest, and with a lot of time on my hands and a writer’s brain, I daydreamed a scene with my first character (and said car). I liked the scene so much that I then proceeded to think about how it’d make sense and what sort of a world it’d be set in and boom, I had the (rough) settings and systems of Under Our Skins. 

Read on for the full interview!

3. How does your work feature aspects of your queer identity / experience? 

I think that my writing will be influenced by the things I experience and observe in real life no matter what, and though there aren’t direct correlations, there are parallels in the way shapeshifters are treated and the way they adapt to society with the way queer people adapt to “pass” and more. 

Not all of them are purposeful, but when writing about the oppression of shapeshifters, I do take “inspiration” from the oppression that queer people face. There’s also the fact that the way shapeshifters cope with it, whether hiding or just dampening it to be more “normal” (and the fact that there’s a “normal” at all, when so many of them are born shapeshifters) just reminds me of what queer people have to do irl. 

The whole IF is not meant to be a commentary on queer people but I’ve definitely taken inspiration or been influenced by queer experiences.

4. What does your writing process look like? Any rituals or habits? Any tips, tricks, philosophies or approaches that have worked very well for you? 

My writing process is a mess. Right now, I have a planning doc, a writing doc and a google sheet with many different sections split to help me juggle the work of writing everything while stimulating my brain enough to get to work on the IF. It’s honestly pretty scattered, but hey, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

For the specifics however, it’s mostly just three phases that I constantly go back to. I use an outline to roughly plot out the chapter, which I then refer to when writing. Sometimes my writing veers off the path of my outline, sometimes parts of my outline doesn’t work with what I had written before, and I leave that to the editing part to polish everything up and just hope that it turns out alright. 

As for tips and tricks, there are two very important things that I try to keep in mind when writing: a. Your first draft is going to suck and b. Know what your other characters are doing and their motivations.

For the first, when writing, I often find myself hating whatever words I was typing – to me they all fall flat and miss their mark. This ends up with me hating writing and procrastinating continuing because if it sucks, why should I continue? But here’s the thing: it’s better that it exists and sucks, then to not exist at all. Your first draft is not supposed to be perfect, it’s job is to just exist, to pave a way for your next few drafts to improve on. If it doesn’t exist, there’s nothing to refine. So yeah, my first draft is going to suck, and I need to let it suck as long as I write it.

For the second, this just helps me more in the planning aspect. Knowing what the characters are doing helps me make sure that the timelines all line up, and to help me establish certain things even though the plot doesn’t require it just yet. It makes things feel real and more logical, and it can definitely come in handy when you cross-refer back to it.

5. How do you go about portraying queer characters, queer experiences, or queer storylines in your IF? 

I think the most important part for me is that the character’s queerness is a part of their identity, and is not their only, or most notable trait, while also acknowledging it and the way it has shaped their life.

With Under Our Skins, everyone is queer – 4 out of the 5 ROs are pansexual, one RO is trans and another is a lesbian. These are a part of their identity, and while sometimes it is just what it is, it has also impacted the way others treated them throughout their lives, and in the IF. 

I think the way I write – or will be writing, since the IF is still relatively new – is entirely linked to my queer experiences and the experiences I’ve observed. Parts of my characters I take from my own experience, others from my friends and people online, and there are also parts where I have to take creative liberties almost, like writing accepting parents and homo/transphobia.

6. Do you have favourite interactive fiction games, characters, scenes or authors that you’d like to recommend?

Here’s a list of IFs I love and adore (in no particular order):

(the famous) Infamous

Press Play

Children of Cain

Wayfarer

When Twilight Strikes

Apt 502

The six that thrive

Stygian Sun: Total Eclipse

Drink Your Villain Juice

Love After Death

The Advisor's Game

Disenchanted

and a lot more I can’t remember off the top of my head!!

7. If you were to say one thing to your readers, other authors, and/or the interactive fiction community: what would it be? 

To my readers, I’d say thank you <33 They’ve been so kind to me and the love that they’ve shown for the IF and characters is honestly so heartwarming and motivating!!

To other authors, y’all are honestly amazing and I hope that your projects work out and that you have nice lives (that sounds like a threat, help). I love so many of your works and it’s honestly an honor (?) to be an interactive fiction author when these are the people I’m standing with.

To the community, please, please be kind. Your comments, whether anonymous or not, are all directed to a person behind the screen – a person who is usually juggling their writing project alongside many, many irl responsibilities. There was a weird influx of hate recently and now that it’s mostly died down (that I’m aware of, anyway), let’s try to make it stay that way. Constructive criticism can be helpful but sending straight up hate is not and can oftentimes undermine an author’s motivation so, yeah, be kind.

[gollancz]

Fresh off the back of their WODEHOUSE PRIZE NOMINATION (did we mention that HIGH VAULTAGE was shortlisted for the 2024 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction? The prize where you win a giant bottle of champagne and a pig? The prize that Sir Pterry - GNU - himself won? The prize that didn't run in 2018 because they judges didn't think any books were funny enough? THAT Wodehouse prize?), Chris and Jen of @victoriocity have interviewed each other for THE NERD DAILY!

Of course this happily married couple approached the assignment of "interview each other" with complete seriousness and gravitas, as is only appropriate for such hard-hitting journalism:

Jen: Hello, Chris.

Chris: Hello, Jen.

Jen: I just want to say what an enormous pleasure it is to interview you, my husband.

Chris: I’m sure it is.

Jen: Thank you for being here.

Chris: You’re welcome.

[bookspotlight]

Interview Master Lists

updated my author interview list! over 160+ author interviews and growing! 📚💙

HERE

there is also a very new (and thus very small 🥰) artist interview page

HERE

more artist interviews are coming as well!! 🎨💛

[zillanovikov]

I'm from a poor rural part of Oregon, originally, and boy-o one just doesn't see that world in fiction unless it's romanticised by people who haven't lived it. So why NOT have the chosen one live in a trailer and treat it like its normal to live in a trailer, actually.

[wishingicouldfly]

Archive of Fic Author Interviews

Over the last year or so, I've had the great pleasure to interview a few of our amazing Larry Fic Authors. It's lovely to get a glimpse into their processes, and as an author myself, really inspiring to hear their origin stories in the One Direction and Larry fandom.

You can check them out here:

Author Interview BananaHeathen – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview Itsmotivatingcara – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – CuckooTrooke – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – _Lilyblue28 – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – Green_Feelings – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – BoosBabyCakes – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – KingsofEverything – No Stunts Magazine

Podfic Interview – Wood_sparks – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – Jacaranda_Bloom – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview Sunflouwerhabit – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – Outropeace – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – Lovelarry10 – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – Superglass – No Stunts MagazineAuthor Interview: ImogenLee – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – wildestdreams – No Stunts Magazine

Rosann’s Writing Room with Athena (@Sunflower728369) July 2024 – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview – LittleSpoonStyles94 (50shadesofMags) – No Stunts Magazine

Author Interview - ShimmeringEvil - October 2024

Cover Art by: @jumbiart

[ettawritesnstudies]

I'm taking a break from doing book reviews and interviews in 2025 to focus on promoting and publishing Runaways, so this is the last call for applications I'll be doing for a while! If you want to get your books in, sign up now! If you want examples of my work you can check out my YouTube channel or my blog.

Tagging some friends who have done interviews with me in the past in case you're releasing stuff before the end of the year, or you'd like to vouch for me on behalf of the Writeblr community lol. I promise this isn't a scam, just here to help boost other authors and share some cool work!

@ashen-crest @abalonetea @writeblrfantasy @yvesdot

[gretahayes]

Chuck Dixon’s reaction to Tim coming out as bi btw. He’s so full of shit and such a loser.

[clarislam]

Hello! I'm currently putting together a masterlist of websites and/or podcasts that are seeking authors to interview.

Author interviews can be a great way to get awareness of authors' work out there. This is something I want to do for both myself and my fellow authors!

I'm not sure when this project will be "completed" but I'm hoping to have this ready by the end of the year (sometime in Dec. 2024) or early next year (2025). It'll probably be a google sheet of some sort that, after its initial creation, will be updated occasionally.

If you know of any podcasts and/or websites that do author interviews, let me know! Thanks in advance! Bonus points if said platforms interview indie authors!

If you'd like to follow me for more about the progress of this masterlist, subscribe to my newsletter: https://buttondown.email/clarislamauthor

Want to learn more about me and my work? Check out my Carrd for links to my books, website, and more: https://clarislam.carrd.co

[inkcurlsandknives]

So happy to present this exclusive Of Stardust Launch Day Interview with Avrah C Baren @avrahwrites the anthology Editor and Author of the story “Unbury Yourself”

If you have any questions for Avrah feel free to write them into the comments or head to my stories to ask general questions to the authors!

HAPPY PRIDE Y'ALL AND HAPPY LAUNCH DAY to OF STARDUST!!! No better way to start off Pride than with an anthology of queer stories by queer authors! Thank you to everyone who pre-ordered! We so hope you enjoy!!!! .

@toesmary @_lowpH @taliagreerbooks @avrahwrites @gabriellabuba @SoLillianBarry @kataraqui @valo_wing TB Wright .

On Amazon! https://tinyurl.com/zfys5xmr .

And Barnes & Noble! https://tinyurl.com/zhu79wf7 .

Cover Design by @fantastical_ink

Head to my linktree page to find out more about other fun pride events coming up on the #SaintsOfStormAndSorrowPrideAdventCalendar to celebrate the Launch of mydebut novel Saints of Storm and Sorrow coming out June 25th with @titanbooks Preorder your copy today!

Buy link: https://linktr.ee/gabriellabuba More info at gabriellabuba.com

[veronicaleighauthor]

Some of you know that I have an upcoming story that will be published in The People’s Friend. Alan Spink, of The People’s Friend, recently interviewed me. If you’d like to check it out,  follow the link above!

[arimeghlen]

Interview With Author Andrew McDowell

I decided I wanted to do shout-out posts for some of my friends who have recently released or are releasing new books. So today, I welcome author Andrew McDowell to the blog for an interview following the release of his newest book. Check out the interview below and don’t forget to visit his links. Q01 How did you come up with your book’s title? It’s hard to really pinpoint how it came to…

[briggsonbooks]

Author Tina N. Katamay featured on the talk show Briggs on Books

[chicklitbookcafe]

The Melancholy Strumpet Master by Zeb Beck

The Melancholy Strumpet Master by Zeb Beck Every weekend, Gilmore Crowell crosses the border into Tijuana’s redlight district. He’s not there for sex; he’s there to save his failing academic career. Gil’s anthropological study of Tijuana streetwalkers had his dissertation advisor cheering him on. But that was years ago, before his best sources up and vanished. Now, with no connection to the sex…

[bookspotlight]

Author Interview with Jen Desmarais

Author Interview with Jen Desmarais

[zillanovikov]

Kind of a grim fella but I promise you there’s a sense of humour under there, not too far beneath the spiky surface.

[wishingicouldfly]

Author Interview: Featuring @ShimmeringEvil

Rosann’s Writing Room with Nadia (@shimmeringevil)

October 2024

This month I’m featuring Nadia - who dropped a really amazing historically bent A/B/O (siren calls me home) this summer to great acclaim. 

I’ve done regular interviews of Larry fic authors for a couple of years for No Stunts Magazine. if you’re interested in reading more, I keep a list on my pinned page here: (2) Archive of Fic Author Interviews – @wishingicouldfly on Tumblr

If you like this feature, want to chat, or give me suggestions for future profiles, please hit me up on X. @Rosann_1986.

Handle: @shimmeringevil

Pronouns: they/them

Works: Play By the Rules, Siren Calls me Home, Your Memory over Me, and more.

Rosann: Thank you so much for being part of my author interview series! What do you like people to call you?

Nadia: Nadia is fine :)

Rosann: How did you decide to get started writing fanfic for the 1D/Larry fandom? How long did you write before you published for the fandom?

Nadia: I was an avid fic reader for about a year before I ever considered writing. I remember doing a search to find fics with very specific tags and not finding anything that fit the criteria (I later found out that there were fics with said tropes and I was just terrible at searching, but the idea to write was already in my head by then). 

It was a bit daunting for me to get started because I’d actually never written anything outside of school papers before. There were many aspects of writing that were a lot more difficult than I expected, and some aspects that were much easier! I never thought writing something novel-length was in my realm of abilities but here we are :)

Rosann: That’s amazing! You’re a natural! I don’t want you to out your anonymity, but can you tell us if you’ve written under other names, or if you’re perhaps traditionally published? Are you professionally trained?

Nadia: No, this has been my first foray into publicly posting my writing in any way! I’m not professionally trained in the slightest, and I think one of my favorite aspects of fic is that it’s not necessary. I love how people of all ages, all levels of experience, and even different levels of comfort with the languages they write in can post work as they please. Some of my favorite stories have come from people who fall into the former categories, which isn’t something you typically see in traditionally published writing. So no, not traditionally published, but I’m very happy where I am.

Rosann: You’ve hit on my favorite thing about fics as well. What’s your favorite trope (if any) to write?

Nadia: I love any trope with angst and conflict, especially when it’s borne from character flaws. Betrayal, bitter breakups and the like - I think it’s a great exercise for me in emotional processing, and I love the complexity of imperfections. I enjoy exploring what it takes for someone to do a bad thing but still be a good person at the end of the day. It’s also important for me to write characters who are flawed but still worthy of love. To make mistakes is to be human, and I think in today’s day and age there’s too much pressure on this unachievable idea of perfection. I think that my work explores those situations where not everything is sunshine and rainbows all the time.

Rosann: I love that nuance. I really love how you explored that in your most recent fic. How do you handle writer's block (if you experience it).

Nadia: The best thing for me to do when I find myself staring at a blank page for days  has been to take breaks from both writing and the fandom. I just completely put writing out of my mind (at least consciously) for days, and it’s so much easier once I get back to my story. I think whether writer’s block is caused by anxiety, overthinking, mental fatigue, or just a lack of being able to get the story to flow the way you want to, taking care of yourself is a really underrated solution.

I also think visually mapping out your story, working through plots with a friend, or listening to music that gets you in the mood for your story can help a lot when you’re stuck!

Rosann: Great advice on writer's block. Your most recent fic (Siren Calls me Home) was a serialized fic (one that you dropped in regular installments), do you plot/outline before you write or do you just fly by the seat of your pants?

Nadia I’ve historically flown by the seat of my pants and I do not recommend it! I recently did this for Siren Calls Me Home  and my friends had to be subject to my panic, confusion, and breakdowns about it every few days. For weeks I had no idea where the plot was going or how to make all the loose ends I created tie up neatly, and I just ended up using the pressure of weekly updates to try to produce something. I’m trying to be more organized and do pre-planning now, and I think it’s improving the quality of my stories.

Rosann: Well, you did a great job - it came out really well! I’ve noticed that a lot of writers include people from the boys’ real lives/situations. What are your thoughts for including personal things like that or not?

Nadia: I generally prefer writing OCs to including people from the boys’ real lives, for a multitude of reasons. And I’ve been having a lot of fun with this, because creating original characters is a really interesting exercise. It feels less limiting, and I really enjoy creating characters that are completely mine. There’s full control over their appearance, name, background, and personality which opens up a lot of possibilities. I’ve seen the fandom move more towards using OCs rather than celebrities or other people from the boys’ lives as a whole, so I think a lot of writers might agree with me on this.

Rosann: What are the hardest scenes/tropes for you to write?

Nadia: I have so much trouble writing smut! It’s funny because I’ve always written stories where smut has been very prevalent or a driver of the plot, but I can’t stand writing it. I think it’s one of those aspects of stories that can be difficult to get “right” - is it realistic? Is it cringy? Is it easy to picture? Do the positions make sense? Am I describing too many physical actions without actually adding anything to the story? Do their characterizations stay consistent during the scene? There are so many questions that run through my head and it’s hard for me to know if it’s hitting correctly. Especially since smut can sometimes get a lot more depth in the description of the actions than most other things in fic.

Rosann: Smut can be so nuanced! Lately there has been some discussion on stan Twitter about what authors of fanfic “must” do (for example, provide trigger warnings). What do you think a writer has responsibility for to their readers? Conversely, do you think readers have any responsibility to writers (for example, leaving kudos or comments)?

Nadia: I think fanfic is heavily reliant on community, and it’s important to look after one another in a community. Tagging a fic properly feels like an important part of this in order to give readers the tools to make a decision on whether or not a fic is safe for them. Beyond that, I disagree with most discourse around what fic writers should or shouldn’t write about. This is a creative space, and I can personally not be a fan of a fic or a trope without thinking that it shouldn’t be written. 

Similarly, in the interest of community, I think readers should keep public comments about fics positive. It should be done for the sake of it being the right thing to do, but I don’t think everyone realizes that all fic suffers from hateful behavior, not just the specific tropes that get targeted. Writers are reluctant to share works in a hostile environment. Keeping things positive helps writers flourish.

As far as kudos and comments go, I don’t think readers have to do anything. I do think they should be aware that they are consuming work that is given for free, and that most writers are working off of praise and encouragement for motivation. So with that in mind, I would highly encourage readers to interact with works they enjoy in some way.

In essence, I think the fic space survives and thrives as long as we look after one another, so that’s what we should be doing :)

Rosann: Such an important point. I definitely agree. Thanks so much for answering my questions, Nadia! I look forward to more of your work!

Please go follow Nadia on X (@shimmeringevil) and read their work on AO3 here  magazine, here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shimmeringevil/pseuds/shimmeringevil