Visiting this morning at TCT is a woman I had the good fortune to meet this past year at RWA. A prolific writer with a brilliant imagination, our chat this moring may well reveal the partial secret to her success! Until I became a writer, it did not occur to me how many authors are avid--talking seriously avid--fans of the DR WHO series. Huge. I am in reverant awe of those who embrace the sci-fi/fantasy world. The results of their labor is fascinating! Could I write it myself? Well, its my mantra to 'never, say never', but this one would be a real challenge I think, for me.
Inspiration-no matter what you do-can come from a variety of places, experiences, dreams. And thats a big part of what TCT is all about! So, pass those danish and sip your coffee while we find out more about Victoria! Then we can pick her brain a bit more! Buuuwahahaha~
My name is Victoria and I am a Dr. Who fan.
If you've never seen the show, it began on the BBC in 1963 and continued until 1989, with a series of different actors in the lead role. The show was revived on BBC One in 2005.
I'm an outsider. Really, we all are, in one way or another. But I was especially an outsider as a kid, because I liked to be alone and to make up stories. I could entertain myself for hours by telling myself stories. To other kids, that made me a little weird. So watching a show about the ultimate outsider, a character who's exiled from his entire planet, resonated powerfully with me. Even more so because the Doctor – you might refer to him as "Dr. Who," but he's never called that, it's not his name – the Doctor is an outsider who wins. Better still, he shares his winning with other outsiders, usually human companions who stand in for the audience and refract a sense of wonder.
I was obsessed with Dr. Who all throughout high school and college, and for some time after. I memorized swathes of data about all the episodes I'd seen and many I hadn't because they weren't available. I read about the show and went to absurd lengths to see new episodes, in the days when my family did not own a vcr. Basic elements of the series live in my bones and blood, part of my intellectual makeup, and can't help but influence what I write.
It wasn't just the Doctor I loved, it was his companions, the whole long string of them: how they found the Doctor, why they went with them, what they left behind, how they departed and why. A lot of what I know about characterization I learned from Dr. Who, especially how to create tension from a disparate cast of characters. And thematically, the show influenced me even more, or perhaps it only revealed to me one the major themes of my writing: outsiders making families with each other. Outsiders winning.
http://victoriajanssen.blogspot.com/
MOONLIGHT MISTRESS, December 2009 from Harlequin Spice.
THE DUCHESS, HER MAID, THE GROOM AND THEIR LOVER, December 2008 from Harlequin Spice.
This is a great topic, because its two-fold, one we're talking sci-fi/fantasy--which is working its way again into mainstream with the resurgence of SteamPunk. And secondly, talking about being an outsider...something that everyone has experienced at some point in their lives. I think especially as a writer, this is a common thread we share.
What about you? Do you love sci-fi/fantasy? What are your fav books, movies, authors? What have you learned about yourself from these influences, or perhaps other "outsider" moments in your life?
