Next up in my Getting to Know series, I've interviewed another amazing Outlander fanfic writer, @owlish-peacock36!
Owlish Peacock, a.k.a. Ali, was born and raised in Kentucky, U.S.A. She has a very diverse background, being mostly German, Irish, Scottish, French, and English, with a little bit of Native American—though, you couldn’t tell it by looking at her. She can only speak English, although she did take Spanish for four years in high school, so she can understand a bit of it. She is now 25 years old and has only been writing Outlander fanfics for a little over a year. In school, she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Education and is currently working on her Master’s in Higher Education Administration. She is also currently a full-time substitute teacher for her local high school, teaching English for the rest of the school year. For fun, she enjoys reading, writing, playing video games, baking, plus being an amateur makeup artist. Her unique talents include being good at memorizing and being a surprisingly decent dancer. Her boyfriend says her talent is compassion—how sweet! If she could travel through the stones, she would go to either Colonial America or the English countryside in the 19th century.
Read on to see the full Q&A.
What inspired you to start writing Outlander fan fiction?
I had gotten into Outlander after watching the first episode of season 1. From there, I was hooked. I read the books, I watched the show. Around Fall/Winter 2016, I became curious about the online presence of Outlander. I began searching for blogs and fansites. That was when I began reading Outlander fanfiction. I had read fanfiction before, but had never written it. I had always loved writing, so I decided to take a stab at it. I had ideas, and I wanted to share them. I contacted gotham, spoke with her a bit, and she boosted me. That’s that, pretty much. I’ve been writing ever since!
What are some of your favourite quotes that you have written?
That’s a tough question, honestly. I can give you a few that I like, though:
“Wide awake, Jamie painted without abandon, and without thought. He had no outcome in mind for this cacophony of color and texture, but he knew that he had to do it. He had to put these…these feelings down on canvas.
He surveyed his colors.
Orange? Yes, orange. Fiery. Flames. An accurate depiction, he thought. His body radiated warmth, all centering around his core. His heart.
He wondered if he could recreate Claire’s skin. A soft pale color with a light, peachy glow. Long, ivory lines: her legs wrapped around his…
Red. For his hair. His colors melting into hers. His fires setting her earth ablaze.
More of her. More of him. Movement. Collision. Explosion.
Love?
Perhaps.” – Alla Prima: Chapter 5
“He couldn’t stop himself though, couldn’t turn back. His body would not allow him. So, he trudged behind this spectral being, guiding him through a valley of death.” – Ghosts in the Daylight: Chapter 3
“She seemed to glow, as if lit from within by a candle. The world around them darkened; she was the only light.” – Seek, and You Shall Find: Chapter 7
“He rolled over, then, pinning her beneath the weight of his love. He tickled her with stubble and lips, and she adored him in kind.” – Imagine Reality: Chapter 5
What is your writing process when writing your fanfics?
When I begin a story, I usually have a clear beginning and end in mind. From there, it’s a matter of filling in the blanks. I usually have a good idea where I want a story to go, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never veered off and taken a story completely off course!
I don’t have a specific writing schedule; I’m sort of a temperamental writer! I love writing, but if the mood doesn’t strike me, I can’t churn out a story. When the mood does strike me, though, I’m writing like crazy! Sometimes I’ll write at 2 am, sometimes I’ll write during a break at work. It just depends on the day!
I’m not a huge editor of my writing. I’ll proofread it, but most things I post are first drafts. For me, editing can take some of the “in the moment” emotion away from my writing. I’ll nitpick until it isn’t any good anymore. So, I just leave it alone.
What is your favourite genre to write and why?
I always feel more comfortable writing modern fics. That way, I can take some snippets from life and sneak them in there. However, I always tend to add fantasy or supernatural aspects to my writing, whether they are set in the past or in modern times. In that way, I sort of create my own world inside this existing Outlander world.
What has been your favourite season of the show so far and why?
My favorite season has probably been season 1. It seems to have that perfect mixture of romance and adventure and humor. Plus, it’s the first one, so obviously it’s going to hold a special place in my heart.
Have you read any of Diana’s books? If so, which ones? Do you have a favourite book?
I’ve read the main eight a couple times, but I’ve never read any of the spin-offs/novellas. I don’t necessarily have a favorite; I have multiple favorites! Outlander is always fun to read, simply because it takes me back to the very beginning of this adventure. But, I also love Voyager, and seeing how the characters have/haven’t changed with age. And then there’s Drums of Autumn which is great for a couple reasons:
1) I love seeing Jamie, Claire, and Brianna together and
2) I live on the eastside of the US, so I see places every day that make me stop and think, “Fraser’s Ridge could be here…”
Lastly, A Breath of Snow and Ashes just makes me super emotional. Those are the top four!
Do you read/write fanfics for any other fandom?
I’ll read some every now and then, but I only write for Outlander.
What is one random fact about you that you have never revealed on Tumblr before?
I was Prom Queen my senior year of high school. It’s trivial, but kind of cool because I didn’t expect it.
I also met Jack Antonoff (musician) one time.
And there you have it. A deeper look into the mind of yet another one of our beloved fanfic writers. I haven’t added her stories to my archive YET, but you can check out her fanfiction master list on her blog.
Are you guys enjoying learning about our wonderful fanfic authors as much as I am enjoying interviewing them? I hope so!
This week, I interviewed the amazing @takemeawaytocamelot.
Known as Sam in the offline world, she was born in Riverside, California and grew up in the Mojave Desert where it’s stupid hot in the summer and a little less hot in the winter. She is second generation Californian, though she doesn’t live there anymore. Her grandmother’s family on her mom’s side originally immigrated from Russia to escape Jewish persecution while her grandfather’s family came from Isle of Man. Her dad was adopted so she doesn’t know much about his family history. With regards to languages, she can only speak fluent English. Although, she knows a little bit of Spanish but not enough to really count. Interestingly, she is teaching herself Klingon because she’s just that kind of nerd. She also wants to learn Tolkien’s Elvish and maybe Black Speak. She is currently 27 years old and has been writing Outlander fanfics for 2 years now. In school, she majored in English with an emphasis on Writing Studies. Her hope is to become an English tutor to help kids see that writing something isn’t terrifying. It was something that didn’t come easy to her when she was younger, but she had a tutor that changed her life. So, she wants to impact other kids the way she was impacted. Currently, she works as a delivery driver for an auto parts store, which basically means she gets to listen to a lot of audiobooks. Driving around 8 hours a day 5 days a week lends itself to audiobooks. In her spare time, she likes to cross stitch and do some reading. Currently, she’s reading a collection of books about the Inklings of Oxford, which included JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. She also likes to crochet and make steampunk-ish jewelry, though she’s not as talented in either of those things as she’d like to be. She also loves collecting things like stamped pennies, souvenir spoons and Funko Pop! figures. Her unique talent is that she can read books upside down! She once decided to read Great Gatsby upside down because she couldn’t get herself to finish it otherwise. She needed the challenge to stay focused. If she could travel through the stones, she’d like to go back and see some famous thing, like a battle or play or something, just to see what it was really like. Although, she thinks she’d prefer to travel like Doctor Who rather than Outlander, so that at least she’d have the Doctor there with her to make sure she didn’t get into too much trouble.
Keep reading to learn more about this amazing mind!
What inspired you to start writing Outlander fanfiction?
Well, honestly it was @gotham-ruaidh. I’ve been writing fanfic for years (before I even knew there was a term for what I was writing). But I watched the OL series, got addicted (sexy Scots in kilts, how could I not??), listened to the entire book series on audio and then needed more. I applied for a mod position at Imagine and didn’t get it, but that was my first try at writing anything for Outlander. Later, Gotham listed me in a post about awesome new writers or something like that and I decided to actually post my work. I haven’t really looked back since.
What are some of your favourite quotes that you have written?
Oh heavens… That’s such a hard question! I honestly don’t know. I sometimes think “oh that’s a fantastic line!” right after I write something, but I have really bad short-term memory so I can’t remember any… Some of my favorite series are Exes Au, A Wild Night in Vegas, and Red Jamie and the White Lady. RJWL brings in that fantasy element I love and is an interesting spin on things. It was also the first series I wrote that wasn’t prompted by someone else, it was straight out of my own brain.
What is your writing process when writing your fanfics?
My process… haha. I don’t know that I have a specific process. I’m awful at writing outlines because I prefer to let the story tell me where it wants to go. Most of the time I have an outline, the story goes a different way. I find that I do a lot of writing at night, but that’s because I’m a night owl. The best way I can describe the way I write something would be like this:
I have a scene in my head, usually playing like a movie (though without music in the background unless it’s needed for the scene). Sometimes it’ll be a series of scenes that fit into a particular story. I usually write out that scene without any of the context leading up to it. Once that’s done, I’ll connect it to the other scenes for that chapter. Sometimes the details in the scene I’d imagined have to be changed to make it work, but that’s okay.
I love asking for input from peers. Inside my head, it all makes sense and I know exactly what I’m saying, but sometimes my readers don’t understand it. So I like getting input from people I know, who understand my style or are very invested in the story itself.
Personally, I try not to edit while I write. I do that with all my writing, not just fanfic. Editing while writing just sucks me into it and I end up spending too much time with the edits to write something coherent.
What is your favourite genre to write and why?
Usually something with some sort of fantasy or sci-fi element to it. Outlander is probably one of the only fandoms I write for that has a very small amount of that in the canon material.
Writing, and reading, for me has always been part escape and part process. I do a lot of emotional processing through my writing, even if the scenes or subject matter don’t apply directly to my own experiences. Fantasy and sci-fi have always been the best way for me to escape. It somehow felt safe for me, because it’s so unlike real life that I’m completely transported.
What has been your favourite season of the show so far and why?
Hmm… My favorite season… A lot of people usually say season 1 because it was truest to the book. And yes, that was the season that got me sucked into this whole fandom. But I think for me, my favorite is the second half of season 3. Voyager was such an interesting book to me and there was a lot for s3 that I was really looking forward to. Not just Printshop, but watching Claire and Jamie learn how to be with each other again, watch Claire really come into her own in a way she couldn’t with Frank, watching her relationship with Jamie grow and change from what it had been when she’d known him last. I was also excited to see Bree because I love the way Sophie plays her. I also sort of love her relationship with Roger, so I was excited to see that start to blossom.
Have you read any of Diana’s books?
Yes! I have read all of the Outlander series and several of the novellas. I’m about halfway through the Outlandish Companion vol 1. I think Voyager is one of my favorites, because they all take so many voyages in different ways. I love the symbolism and the metaphor in all of that.
Do you read/write fanfics for any other fandom?
Oh do I ever. I’ve written for Supernatural, The Walking Dead, Mercy Thompson (a book series by Patricia Briggs), and a number of others that I wrote when I was younger. Teen Titans (the cartoon series that was on TV for a while), Heartland (a book series), and almost anything that had a leading man I fell for.
What is one random fact about you that you have never revealed on Tumblr before?
Hmm… I know a few of my friends know this about me, but I don’t think I’ve ever posted it publicly. I have a mild hair phobia. If it’s human hair and I have to touch it, I start gagging. I couldn’t clean out my own hairbrush when I was younger. Now I have a large tooth comb I can shake over my trashcan, so it works. But I have to wear gloves and use hemostats to pull hairballs out of the shower drain and even then I start dry-heaving. Animal hair, fake hair, not a problem. People hair? No can do.
And that’s @takemeawaytocamelot! I haven’t added her stories to my archive yet, but you can check out her master fanfic list on her blog or her AO3 page.
It’s time to learn more about another one of our wonderful fanfic writers, @writtenthroughtime!
Known as Alli outside of the Tumblr universe, writtenthroughtime was born and raised in West Virginia, USA. Her background includes Scots-Irish, Native American and British descent, but her family has been in the States since before the revolution so she insists she’s resolutely American. Other than English, she also speaks some very rusty French. She can read or listen to the French language and understand it better than she can speak it at this point, but she wants to become fluent in it. She is currently 27 years old and has been writing Outlander fanfics for three years now. In school, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, with an emphasis in print/book design. She also minored in Journalism, Advertising, and Literature. Currently, she works in marketing for a commercial real estate firm where she is being trained to go into market coordinating and corporate event planning. For fun, Alli enjoys reading, rec. league softball and crafting. When asked about a unique talent, she couldn’t quite think of one, but she did mention that she can crochet and finds it very therapeutic. If she could go through the stones and go back in time, she would travel to 18th century England, during the Jane Austen days, as she’s always been drawn to that era.
Keep reading to see the full Q & A.
What inspired you to start writing Outlander fanfiction?
I’ve always loved to write and after reading all of Diana’s books I craved more. At the time there was very little Outlander fanfiction, I imagine it had been started but I didn’t see much else out there. So I wrote what I couldn’t find. At first it was just for me, then I decided to create my blog. I opened up for questions and prompts, the rest is history.
What are some of your favourite quotes that you have written?
Oh boy… I’m not even sure where to begin on picking those. I’ve written well over 70 stories and narrowing down to a few quotes, I can’t do it. The sad part is, I’ve forgotten some of the stuff I’ve written! Just the other day I was on Tumblr and read through a chapter of a fic and thought “wow this is really good! I wonder if they have more?” Only to discover it was one of my own stories and I didn’t recognize it.
What is your writing process when writing your fanfics?
It all depends on what I’m writing. For example with Briste, it was very much a stream-of-consciousness. A lot of what’s in that story is very personal, I had a very dark period when writing it so I doubt I’ll ever revisit/complete that story just for the headspace. With other stories, it’s whenever the inspiration hits! I’ve taken breaks at work to write, on the metro, the beach, even on the treadmill. I usually ask for the amazing editing skills of @outlandishcridhe and @thescarlettpeacock and the creative input from the lovely ladies I have the privilege of working with at @imagineclaireandjamie.
What is your favourite genre to write and why?
I’m a sucker for romance and HEA. But I have my streaks of wanting to write something that’ll either shock the reader or make them cry.
What has been your favourite season of the show so far and why?
So far season 1 has been by far the best season. I think it stayed pretty true to the books and showed the story we all wanted to see on screen. I was very disappointed in the majority of both season 2 and 3. Not to say there weren’t stand out episodes, because there were, but overall, season 1 takes the cake.
Have you read any of Diana’s books?
I have read all of her books including the novellas and the Lord John series. My favorite book is actually a tie between Outlander and Voyager with Drums of Autumn following close behind.
Do you read/write fanfics for any other fandom?
I do! I’m completely enraptured by the Dramione ship from the Harry Potter fandom, I read fics for that as well as other HP ships quite often. I also write for a few other fandoms, but I haven’t written anything to publish online for any other fandom but Outlander.
What is one random fact about you that you have never revealed on Tumblr before?
I’m addicted to bath bombs (especially ones with lavender, rose, or vanilla scents). There’s a huge Lush store in my local mall and I can’t help but spend an exorbitant amount of money any time I go there.
Check out writtenthroughtime’s page on my archive now. I’ve already added some of her work there (I’ll be working on adding the rest soon). It’s a great way to get a glimpse of her stories and easily choose the perfect ones for you. You can also visit her master fanfic list or her AO3 page.
