03/30/01: Missy makes good
by Pieter van Hiel

Before we get into this month's celebrity interview, I'd like to offer a sincere apology to everyone. Last month, I promised an exclusive interview with the late Enid Blyton, of Famous Five reknown. As you all know, Ms. Blyton mysteriously disappeared in 1968 while penning the ground-breaking children's novel, The Five on a Smashing  Adventure with Cthulhu, and...

Oh, who am I kidding? That's all a lie. I was really busy this month, and couldn't find a celeb to talk to until a few days ago, thus making the zine very late. But it was worth the wait, my friends. I found us a doozy of a interview guest, a woman who will surely be an inspiration to you all. Yes, faithful readers, I found Missy Good, a SF/Fantasy Computer Nerd who writes fan fiction! Ta dah!

Wait... wait! Come back. Not only does this month's featured celebrity write fan fiction, she does so professionally. She's a script writer for... wait for it... Xena: Warrior Princess. Missy's a geek made good on a grand scale. She was nice enough to allow your obdient editorial servant to pose a few questions...

The Guide: First of all, the usual question. What did you want to be "when you grew up?" Was writing
always an aspiration?

Missy: Um... not exactly, no. I've always been technically inclined - my college degree is in lighting design for the theatre. I got involved in computers just as I got out of college and they were entering business use - and I've been in the technical field ever since. I never considered being a writer in the least.

The Guide: How did you become a professional script writer? Was your route into the profession typical?

Missy:  I think it's about as far from typical as you can probably get and still be on this planet. I got a phone call from Steven Sears (ex producer and writer for Xena, now Exec Producer of Sheena) one day at work, asking me if I was still a fan of the show. I said yes, he asked if I still watched, and I said yes, and then he asked if I was interested in writing a script for it. Naturally, I passed out, but not before I said yes again. Rob Tapert had apparently decided he wanted to get a fan involved in writing an episode, and I was the name Steve gave him. It sort of progressed from there. Given that I live in Miami, and do all my submissions over the Internet - I would
have to say I'm not quite the traditional screenwriter. I sort of dropped into it off a cliff, in fact.

The Guide: Would you describe yourself as a fan fiction writer? And what are your thoughts on fan fic? Is a fan writer a better choice than a traditional contracted pro writer?

Missy: I think there are pros and cons both ways. A contract pro writer can step back and be dispassionate about the characters, and that will sometimes help a story to get told. As a fan writer - I am by nature invested in the show's characters, and as a fanfic author who has written over 7,000 pages about them, it is hard for me to view them as simply words on a page. On the other hand - I am comfortable interpreting how one or the other character will act in a particular instance because I am so familiar with them, and their background, and their history - and that makes writing action and dialog for them very easy for me. I will also remember things about what they've done, and the impact of things that have happened to them that an outside contract writer can't, because they don't have the same investment.

The Guide: What's your favorite episode? (As in one you've written.) And do fans of the show agree? Of course, I can't ask that one without asking about your least favorite episode, as well.

Missy: I like both of the produced ones very much, and the musical that almost got produced as well.  When they first came out, it was very hard for me to watch either of them - it was just embarassing. But after a while, I went back and rewatched them, and found I enjoyed them both very much. I like Legacy for it's message, and
for the wonderful performances of all the cast, but Lucy and Renee especially - and I like Coming Home for the great job Kevin Smith did (a favorite of mine) and for the fun the cast had in performing the script. I got both positive and negative reactions on both scripts - from two very different segements of fandom that are usually quite opposed to each other. I enjoyed that. Of the three scripts - I can say that at the very least, they were all very, very different from each other, and I had a lot of fun with all of them.  If I have to pick - I would pick Legacy
as my favorite, because it was the first. (g)

The Guide: You have a sizable fan club online - a fan writer with fans. Was this a surprise to you? And is this attention always welcome?

Missy: Shocked the dickens out of me, thanks. I had no idea what to do about it at first, and it's a sometimes scary, sometimes overwhelming thing to have to deal with. But over time, I've learned to adjust to the attention, and I try to have fun with it.  As for being welcome -I'm a very low key, laid back person. Adjusting to a fan club was a mental shock of high order, I can assure you. But they are great people, who do wonderful things, and I've
been very lucky in that respect because I know some other fan authors who also have clubs have not been as fortunate.

The Guide: What's in the future for you? Do you have any personal worlds or characters you're hoping to see developed?

Missy:  I have two published novels with Dar and Kerry, my contemporary ubers, two more in pre publication, and two after that in planning. I'm also working on a science fiction novel completely unrelated to Xena that might turn out interesting. I'm also very interested in continuing to write Xena fanfic. hmm.. oh, and I'm getting certified as a CCNP shortly but that's not quite so interesting.

Next month... Comic book uber-god Neil Gaiman. Maybe. I'm trying. :0) If not, fantasy author Dennis Jones!