I had the sad duty to inform starbeam that his anti-campaign tactics failed utterly and he was selected as this month's Member of the Month. Who'd have thought that the threat of utter cookie deprivation was the way to win the hearts and votes of his fellow FWOers?

Who'd have thought indeed, my fellow FWOers should have taken the free cookies.

You have no one to blame but yourselves.

Interview with starbeam

- or -

We Gave Up Free Cookies for This?

Warning:  some questions may be answered by the voices in my head, not all of whom type as well as I do.

1. What led you to FWO? Why did you begin your search through the wilds of the internet and how do you feel about what you've found?

My journey to FWO began on the edges of this wilderness called the internet. I sent a missive with the messenger known as Google. Memory fails me as to the exact words, though I believe there were only three: "fantasy", "writers"( or "writing") and I believe "community"(though it may have been "organization").

FWO was the first destination that appeared on the list and reading Google's brief accoun t of it, I decided to pay it a visit.

As for why I did it, well I had fancied myself a weaver of tales for many years, most of them unfinished, and decided to seek feedback from like-minded inidividuals. who shared my interest in reading and authoring stories of this rich and varied genre known as fantasy. My ultimate objective was, and remains, to see my work displayed on the shelves of libraries and purveyors of literature as well as in the ethereal wilderness of the Internet itself..what..put down that mallet..(THUD!)

Forgive me, that was Roland, he tends to be a bit verbose and flowery. To answer the last part of your question, I am very pleased with what I have found. This is a great supportive, community with a wide variety of people who bring all manner of perspectives and backgrounds who are willing to share their knowledge and experience. I feela as though my writing, if not my typing, has improved tremendously since joining here. Most importantly, I feel I have made friends within the writing community, people who have gone through similar s truggles with their craft as I have and never flinch in offering understanding and moral support in addition to their advice, insight and the talent of their writing. Plus I have never encountered so many people who can make me laugh on a consisistent basis. There are some wicked senses of humor here.

2. You seem to have managed to post a couple of stories per month so far. What sort of things inspire and influence you to sit down and write?

Well, writing short stories has never been my forte or really even my interest. I have pretty much always been an epic novel or serial type of author, though I have only really "finished" one and that one is in a rough draft.

Thanks mostly to the monthly challenges however, I've written more short stories in my time here than I had in my previous years. I've participated in every monthly chalenge since I've joined the site, the February diversity challenge and the latest "who wrote that" challenge. Of course I'm usually getting the challenges in just under the wire because I have tried so many different versions or takes on each story that by the time the deadline rolls around I am struggling to get a semblance of a completed story in under the wire. And, as those who have read and reviewed them know, I have virtually no time to edit them.

I'm currently working on revising a number of these short stories, including a complete re-write of my January challenge which barely qualified as a story, basing it loosely on the Medusa myth but with a futuristic setting.

I have to give credit here to you Erika as a post of yours led me to The Story Tree by newm,a brilliant piece of second-person perspective that inspired me to challenge myself to write a story from that POV. The first version of that story, The Webs of Myndri is under revision as a third-person perspective story.

As far as keeping up with NiPs, well that is difficult because I have a lot of them and even though Daughters Of Methiri (formerly Chain Of Hope) has been the one I've posted and (re-posted) the most on here, it is one of I'm not sure how many that are in various stages of completion.

Put it this way, by the time I am done on this earth, I will have either submitted dozens of novel manuscripts or I will leave behind countless unfinished epics on whatever storage device we will be using.

3. There are some rather dark and grisly elements in the work you've put up, and as we've seen in the recent poll, Dark Fantasy is a popular choice. Any thoughts on why this is? What about it appeals to you?

Interesting question in that I don't usually sit down at the computer and think "I'm going to write something dark or grisly". Nor am I thinking "I want to torture my protagonists and watch them twitch and bleed." Maybe it seems that way, but that's not my intention, honest. I do think, however, that adversity and suffering connect readers to protagonists and the more dire the danger, and the crueler the suffering the greater the triumph the reader feels when the character perseveres and overcomes the tribulations.

I really think that it's about what the story dictates. I don't consider Simaron's Choice or The Langauge Of Doubt that dark at all. Language Of Doubt even has what I would consider a hopeful ending even though there is much suffering in the story. Sometimes, though a story that was supposed to be light and humorus takes a dark turn at the end. No rhyme or reason for it.

Now the Webs Of Myndri and A Mind's Eye View as well as the intro to Demonseeds that I've posted on here all center around antagonists and so they definitely tend to be dark and that holds to true to the intro of Daughters of Methir as well. I will fully admit that I want my villains and the threats they represent to frighten, unnerve and outrage the reader and if some find them intriguing on some level, that's ok too, However, I want them to, at some point to, understand why they are how they are. Developing multi-layered antagonists is one of the many aspects of my writing I am working on. Actually I'm pretty much working on every aspect of my writing as I am nowhere near where I want to be.

Here's the thing, I don't think the worst of my villains, and the darkest deeds of those in my FWO collection are necessarily posted on here, yet. And for that matter the most amoral of my protagonists have yet to see the light of day. But I don't consider my stuff dark fantasy as much as I do fantasy that has dark elements in it.

As far as what people like to read, I think there are lots of people, who on a visceral level, enjoy cringing. It's not my general cup of tea, though on here I read a lot more dark fantasy here than I do offline. I've always tended to read Sword and Sorcery, High Fantasy, Low Fantasy and crossover stories where people from our world are transported to a fantasy realm.

4. You have a custom avatar drawn by a fellow FWO member. Care to give some background on the character and the artist?

Well the starbeam handle was pulled out of thin air after my first choice, TaleWeaver or something of that nature, was already taken. So there is not a character that its based on. I generally use default avatars online so that's what I was using here. A bunch of people noted that I didn't have a true avatar and gave me good-natured grief about it. Goldy, (or pmmg to go by his handle) even PMed a couple of avatars from photobucket he said I could use (and I am very grateful and do intend to use them at some point).

Then along came Michellelynn, the Esteemed Purple Faerie Dragon and last month's featured Member, with an offer to design and draw a custom avatar for me. Well I hemmed and hawed about that, because I thought it was too much trouble for her to go through, she assured me it wasn't and I finally accepted. I'm not really a sci-fi guy, despite the handle, and so the wizard seemed like the best option. She did a tremendous job and I am very grateful and pleased with it.

As for Michelle herself, she is an incredibly positive. supportive person with a quirky sense of humor and talent oozing out of her fingers and toes. As my avatar illustrates, she is a great artist and she is a brilliant writer. Her recent string of accepted submissions is well-deserved and a great source of inspiration. She evens surprised me with her most recent short story, which, talk about dark fantasy, just shows her versatility as a writer.

I would be remiss if I didn't single out another FWOer. Kukana has read and reviewed every story I've posted here, including multiple re-writes and re-visions of Daughters Of Methiri. She is incredibly supportive, has offered tremendous advice and her extremely positive nature through in her reviews and her work. She is an extremely talented author, who I feel doesn't give herself enough criedit sometimes. I'm anxiously awaiting chapter 15 of Ariana: Blue Thera.

5. Some people snoop in medicine cabinets and kitchen cupboards, I'm always curious about the contents of other people's bookshelves. What notable works do you have on yours? Well-worn favorites? Guilty pleasures?

This might be the shortest answer I give here. What's mostly on my bookshelves is stuff I'm still meaning to get to. In terms of favorite all-time authors: Tolkien, Eddings, Piers Anthony, Douglas Adams and a whole bunch of FWO writers.

Guilty pleasures? Well The Belgariad takes a lot of heat around here but I don't feel guilty about that pleasure. I tend to buy books in bunches in paperbook form based upon a quick flip through so if I rattled some off , there might be some that people think I should feel guilty about (though I won't know if I do until I read them).

6. What other activities take up your time when you're not on-line or writing? Care to reveal a glimpse into the secret life of Carl, aka Starbeam?

The Secret Life of Starbeam sounds like a very bad reality tv show.

I'll say this, I am a huge sports fan, particularly professional football and baseball. Now, I grew up in DC and now live in Central PA so the baseball teams that I follow are the Baltimore Orioles who are working, I believe, their fifteenth straight losing season and the Pittsburgh Pirates who are in the midst of their North-American professional sports record eighteenth consecutive losing season. At least the ballparks are nice.

Football-wise I follow the Pittsburgh Steelers who , after two Super-Bowl championships in five years are now..well..I don't really want to talk about it.

I am a big classic movie fan, particularly the Astaire/Rogers and Gene Kelly musicals. Ginger Rogers, to me is the most underappreciated actress of the twentieth century and defined the words "triple-threat". Kelly was not just a great dancer and choreographer but also a visionairy who has helped shaped the way music and dance are presented on movies and in videos to this day. Astaire was simply brilliant in his elegance and while not blessed with tremendous natural vocal talent, knew how to work with the voice he had.

On a more personal note, my dad passed from cancer when I was fourteen. He was a wonderful man, who enjoyed simple pleasures and was a very devoted husband and father I miss him every day,

I genuinely feel I have the greatest mom in the world. I realize I am not the only one who feels that way about their mother but that's how I feel. She has always been there for me, always been supportive and is the nicest, most compassionate and understanding person I know. She believes in me as a writer and looks forward to reading my work, though I'm not always enthusiastic about sharing it with her because as you've noted, it tends to be edgy. I am going to go visit her Memorial Day weekend, which happens to fall upon my father's, mother's and my birthdays and can't wait. I love you Mom and Dad.

7. What is your favorite aspect of writing? How about your least? What detours have you found to try and get around any trouble-spots? How do you think being part of an on-line writing group can help?

I have two favorite aspects, one is the germination of new ideas, and tied for first is the writing itself. I am not much of a planner or outliner, though I have notebooks of ideas jotted down and made one or two outlines, mostly at the behest of Michelle and Kukana. But I tend to sit down and write, or when its going well , let the stories in my head flow through my fingers and onto the computer. When I'm in the zone, there is nothing like it.

The least favorite aspect is not being in the zone and getting bogged down in my own doubts, which can be about my ability to translate the visions in my head into words or about the subject matter itself, particularly whether I have strayed too deep into steam and shock without enough substance. Also, I tend to get overwhelmed by the multitude of different stories that that are bubbling in my brain at any one time. They all demand attention and none of them are very patient about it.

The most important solution I've found isn't really a detour , it's to keep writing. I try to look at a troublesome story as a lump of iron that needs to be hammered until it takes its true form. But FWO is defintely a big help, both in reminding myself of that simple answer as well as providing a place to discuss the more nuanced issues. Often times, I'll find that reading or participating in a thread started by someone else seeking advice helps me deal with an obstacle facing me. Reading and reviewing other people's stories helps too.

8. What would you say is the most interesting thing you have done, or place you have been so far? Is there some place in particular you would like to visit someday, or something you really want to do? Why?

For sheer sightseeing ineterest, there is nothing like walking inside the Statue of Liberty. If you've never done so, we're talking very narrow staircases and an incredible view once you get to the top.

For sheer horror, there is my one attempt at skiing. That did not go well. I don't think I'm alllowed on the slopes to this day.

I've never been outside of the country, so I'd like to go to Ireland and the rest of Europe. I just have to get over my belief that if I attempt to go overseas, the plane or ship will crash and I'll end up getting torn apart by sharks.

9. Close your eyes and envision yourself writing the perfect story. What sort of elements do you think it would have? Would it be dark or light? High epic or low intrigue? Emotionally terrifying depths, or soaring heights?

Well that is what we are all striving for, I think and my hope is that if I reach that pinnacle it's at the end of my life...or the end of my writing career. Whichever comes last.

It would defintely be epic in nature, probably at least a trilogy It would defintely be in the fantasy genre though it would straddle multiple sub-genres. The work would spawn multiple time-frames and generations and possibly even worlds. I already have an antagonist capable of operating in multiple settings and scenarios (see a Mind's Eye View). It would be written for readers 18 and over. It would be at its core, about an evil or adversity that must be overcome, though the scale could be extremely narrow, and at least one pair of protagonists in each book (or series as it could end up being multiple series in the same world) who shared a palpable sexual and romantic tension, though they might not all end up happily ever-after.

There would be thrills, chills and steam layered by deep charcters and a vibrant enagaging story set in a world that the reader can picture vividly in their own head, whether my description is detailed or basic. The reader would share the motions of the protagonists and then get on their cyber-webs or whatever communication people are using by then and demand more of those characters, whether I'm alive or not.

Come to think of it this could pretty much encompass the totality of most of what I have planned for my major works.

10. Where do you see yourself in the future? Is writing a big part of your life, or do you have other goals and aspirations?

Writing is the biggest aspect of my professional life. In the future I see myself still trying to write the above perfect story while doing well enough with the failed attempts and shorter works that writing can be my primary occupation.

I also have ideas for video games of various genes but lack the graphic design skills to pull them off, and my programming skills are rusty at best. (Yes this a plea for help for anyone with the above skills.)

So I guess I could say one of my long-term goals is to be part of a media development company that produces at least novels and video games.

And I would certainly not be against collaborating with one of my fellow FWOers on a novel, trilogy, short story, film, graphic novel, tv series. collection of short stories...basically anything in the fantasy vein should the opportunity arise.

11. To FWO members new and old, what would be your advice for making the most of our on-line writing community?

To new members in particular, participate as much as time allows. I am gratified that we keep adding new members and many of them have jumped right in to reviewing, commenting in threads and posting their own stories Sharing talent, feedback, advice and support is what this commuunity is all about to me.

To established FWO members, just remember to give the work of a new members a chance. It's very easy to devote most or all of your reviewing time to peers you are already following, and there is a lot of talent already here, but if you can make time for either new members who have just started, and/or existing members whose work hasn't gotten full attention yet, I think you'll be rewarded by the discovery of even more talent.

And to everyone, don't get bogged down wiith doubts, or what other people think. It's your story, ultimately, As I have to remind myself often -- just write it!

I  hope that after enduring my rambling, and my typos, you still have your sanity Erika. Either way though, I want to thank you for your patience and outstanding questions.

It's sweet of you to be concerned, starbeam, but my sanity is as intact as ever -- which may not be saying all that much. And thank you for a stellar interview!