Unseen: I'm here with Brian Randall, the winner of an unprecedented six Chickenball awards. Mr. Randall, is there anything you'd like to say before I begin the interview? Brian: Oh, gee, uh.... Not that I can think of, other than that it's an honor to be here. Unseen: mm-hmm... Mr. Randall -- can I call you Brian? Brian: Please, do. Unseen: Brian, as the winner of the Best New Author award, what obstacles have you had to face in your entry into fanfiction? Brian: Hmm.... Obstacles, I think would be trying to become a better writer in general -- there's so many things that you can do wrong, sometimes it's daunting to try and get it all _right_. I mean, at the basic level you've got spelling and grammar, and at the higher level you've got stylism that allows you to break nearly every rule you've learned so far. Learning to combine and use these elements successfully is very difficult. Unseen: Interesting. And speaking from experience, is there any advice you can offer budding authors regarding the combination of those elements? Brian: I'd say it's best to find someone who writes with a style that you like, and see if you can write the elements of it that appeal to you, and learn how to use them. Of course, the warning I have to give here is that you should expect to make mistakes, but that's not bad. We learn from mistakes, after all, and if someone thinks they've never made a mistake... well. Unseen: True. On the topic of "styles that people like" -- what style do you like, what did you start out by emulating? Brian: I like more abstract styles -- I'm a big fan of Eric Hallstrom and Mathew Lewis would be two of my favorite authors. I started out trying to write in the style of Eric Hallstrom, which I never actually managed to do, but I ended up with something that I think worked fairly well in the end. Unseen: Your first fanfic was "Unbroken Circle", correct? Brian: Well, the first one of any real length. My 'first' fanfic was never actually posted, you see.... Unseen: Er, right. Looking back on the UC now, what do you think you could have done different? How far do you think your style has evolved since then? Brian: Hmm. Well, I started writing the UC after I finally finished the manga, and the style was a very simple attempt to tell the story. Obviously, it has a lot of flaws in it, though. For one, the old 'more tell than show', which is bad, for another, cliche... ah, well, I didn't know as much about writing then as I did now. I suppose while the theme of Process of Elimination is similar in places to the UC, you could look between the two for contrasts. Brian: In the UC, Ranma spends a lot of time running around, learning about his heritage, and from the begining, everything is very black and white -- there's a good and an evil. When I finally began writing PoE, I tried to capture black, white, and the infinite shades of gray that lay between. Oh, and commas. As a style, I abuse commas horribly. Unseen: It's better than me -- I abuse dashes. Brian: I've begun doing that too, lately. Unseen: Anyway, out of all the fanfics you've written, which is your favorite? Brian: Of my own? Well, there's quite a few... but really, I think the one of my own I like the most is I am Become.... Unseen: Why? Brian: Well, that's something of a personal issue many people might not be able to understand, but it goes something like this: Until around the time that story was complete, I had Dissasociative Identity Disorder -- that is, Multiple Personalities. That story was a catharsis for me that allowed the various facets of who I was to become a single persona. I imagine a lot of people couldn't really understand that, and it's somewhat selfish, but... I like it because it means a lot to me. Unseen: Nothing selfish about that. Brian: Well, that's reassuring. Unseen: Moving right along... What are your thoughts on the fanfic community as it stands now? Brian: Well, the fanfiction community is a pretty large and divided thing -- you've got the RAAC, the FFML, then there's the EVAML, the Tenchi ML, and so on. But if you're asking about the FFML, then I think the community is in one of the stages of evolution where the way things are written -- and _what_ things are written -- are changing. Unseen: How so? Brian: I seem to recall there was a long period where most fanfiction was from people who knew Japanese, and imported their various manga. Maybe it wasn't quite that way, but looking back on what was there before I arrived on the scene, that's what it looked like. Now... now we have very face of fanfiction -- let's use Ranma 1/2 for our example here -- changed by great and wonderful authors like Zen, with his Bitter End, or Richard Lawson, who managed to define canon for people who could never (at the time) obtain copies of the manga. Brian: But now, nowadays it seems like anyone with a cable modem and an IRC client, or USENET access is able to find copies of fansubbed anime or fantranslated manga -- so that more and more people are 'in the know' about series before they even get publically released! Of course, with fantranslations, you get a lot more arguments about canon, too. Especially with, for example A!MG. It's not a good idea to even try to write A!MG fanfiction and post it to the FFML unless you're very brave, because there are list members who have fantranslations and expect that everyone else should, too. Brian: And that's one of the areas where things begin to get tricky, because if you're writing a series based off of what's released domestically, and someone else has the entire thing fantranslated, then you could be stepping on what's already been written -- and you just don't know about it. Unseen: So would you say it's harder to be a fanfic writer now than it was before? Brian: In some areas, yes, and in some, no. Certainly, a lot of the old guard isn't nearly as present as it used to be, but they still have a presence. And, on the other hand, with some series, the standards are relaxed. Unseen: So, what do you think is the best part of the FFML/fanfic community? Brian: I think that it's the fact that you can expose your work to a large group of authors, many of whom you might already be familiar with. So it's a great place for feedback. Recently, people would claim that it's actually meant for distribution, so I would mark that as a point against it, but it still does serve in its intended capacity, generally quite well. And, of course, it gives you what you put into it, so if you comment on other people's fics, they're more likely to respond when you post a fic of your own. With rare exception, it's a good system. Unseen: ...And the worst? Brian: Well... some people don't put anything in, and still expect to get something out of it. And some people put a lot of effort in, and don't get anything in return. It's not very fair, but usually it works pretty well. It's only when it doesn't -- or when someone tries to ignore the purpose of the list -- that I think things go bad. Luckily, Mr. Sommer, Mr. Lewis, and the other moderators are usually pretty good about taking control of threads that slip. Unseen: What series, do you think, deserves more "fanfic attention" as it were? We all know about Ranma, A!MG, Sailor Moon, et al, what series would you like to add to that? Brian: Hmm. I'm not sure, really. Some series are just fine the way they are -- they have very satisfactory conclusions. Some are more open than others, or the ending left too many loose threads, so people want to see if those ends can be tied up by the author themselves. Some of them are just too good to let go of where the author let them stop. Asking which one deserves more attention is kind of tricky -- personally, I'd love to see more well written Love Hina fanfiction, but I'm not sure if that's what you meant. Unseen: No, no, that works. And what series are you sick of? Brian: Haha! Well, that one's not tricky at all. I don't much like the way most Cowboy Bebop fanfictions are handled, if that means anything. Sure, there are a few good ones, but the main body of the CB fanfiction scene seems to run counter the point of the series. Unseen: I'd expound on that, but some people haven't seen the series yet. We're all no-spoilers here. Brian: Of course. Unseen: So, now that "Process Of Elimination" is finished, what do you have planned next? Brian: Well, mostly a break from focusing on a single series. Diamonds in the Rough is stealing a lot of my attention, but I'd like to finish up one or two series before I move on to the second book of PoE -- among those projects the UC. Unseen: Anything you'd like to add before we wrap this up? Brian: Well, not much more to say than thanks for taking the time to interview me! Unseen: You're welcome. Pleasure having you. Okay, you know what? I'm tired of asking the same old pablum questions. It's time for the hard-hitting news media that the other networks won't touch, the events and happenings that THEY don't want you to know! So, Brian, what's your favorite episode of "Gilligan's Island"? Brian: The, uh, first one. Unseen: LIES! Minus fifty points! Brian: EEP! Unseen: In a fight between the Robot from "Lost In Space" and Maximillian from "The Black Hole", who wins? Brian: Maximillian, of course. Unseen: There is no correct answer! One hundred bonus points! Does this dress make my butt look fat? Be honest now. Brian: Yes. I mean, uh, no! Unseen: Correct! You've now enabled MULTIBALL mode! Now... who put the "bop"... in the bob-shoo-bop-shoo-bop? Brian: Sho-Nuff! The Shogun of Harlem! Unseen: No, no, no, you're not thinking fourth-dimensionally! Brian: Obey the timecube. Unseen: TIMECUBE! Jake, tell him what he's won! You win a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat, two mopeds, and a poorly-built catamaran! Brian: What? No copy of the home game? I smell RIP-OFF! Unseen: You can keep it, or you can risk it all and trade it in for... THE BOX OF MYSTERY! Brian: Oh... Red Snapper... very good. I choose... the BOX! Unseen: Now, you have the Mystery Box. You can stop here and open it, or you can risk it all and trade it in for whatever is behind... THE DOOR OF MYSTERY! Brian: Box... door... box... door... DOOR! Unseen: Are you sure? That sure is a nice box, made out of mahogany and everything... Brian: But... but... but... yeah, the door. Unseen: Now, let's open it, and see what is behind... THE DOOR OF MYSTERY! Brian: Yes! Unseen: It's... It's dear God I cannot believe my eyes! Brian: Yes? Yes?! Unseen: It's... THE BOX OF MYSTERY! Brian: YE-- waaaaaait... what's in the box? *A drumroll is heard offstage.* Unseen: Inside the Box Of Mystery is something so amazing, so incredible, that we advise the faint of heart, the elderly, and any pregnant women to leave now, as the strain may very well be too much for them to handle. Brian: Oh-uh. Unseen: Inside the BOX OF MYSTERY is none other than... *The drumroll builds to a climax* Unseen: It's a FISH! YOU WIN A FISH! Brian: Is it... a Red Snapper? Unseen: Why yes it is! We've taken to calling him "Hal" around the studio. Brian: O_o? Unseen: I hope you have many hours of fun playing with your new aquatic friend! We'll see you next time, when Roy Flagellate of Medicine Hat, Canadia, tries to recite the Declaration of Independence whilst being devoured by killer tripe rations! You won't want to miss it!