Q&A with redcandle17
Get to know one of SanSan fanfic’s earliest writers, @redcandle17
Q- How long have you been writing fanfiction?
A- I started writing fan fiction when I was twelve years old. Fan fiction was the first fiction I ever wrote. At that age I was a huge fan of L.J. Smith's novels, especially the Night World series. I was a member of a LJ Smith fan mailing list that included fan fiction, which was also my introduction to fan fiction as a thing that existed. I distinctly remember the very first fan fic I ever wrote: I was sitting in the school cafeteria during lunch and I was thinking of Greek mythology and the Night World series and suddenly I began writing it down instead of just letting it play out in my imagination.
Q- Do you still have a copy?
A- No, I tore up the hard copy years ago, and the copy I had on my angelfire.com webpage disappeared into the ether.
Q- How did you choose your username?
A- When my family switched from AOL to another internet service provider, I needed to create a new account. I couldn't think of anything, so I looked around my room and I noticed a red candle. I needed to add a number to it, and since I was 17 at the time, I went with that number. I'm actually quite attached to 'redcandle17' as my online identity since I've had it for almost seventeen years. I've been redcandle17 for literally half my life.
Q- When did you first get into SanSan?
A- I first read ASoIaF in the fall of 2006. I was in a very bad phase of my life and GRRM's amazing world gave me a place to escape to. While reading A Game of Thrones, I didn't like Sansa at first and I didn't care about the Hound - right until the night of the Hand's Tourney. The Hound's backstory and him choosing to tell Sansa made him much more sympathetic and interesting, and Sansa's reaction to it made her more likable and interesting. By the end of A Clash of Kings, they were my favorite characters.
Of course, I had some qualms about shipping a character Sansa's age with an adult character, but the pseudo-medieval setting and the fact that GRRM used so many romance tropes with Sansa and Sandor assuaged my guilt. ASoIaF in general and SanSan in particular consumed me.
At that time, however, there were fewer than five fan fics in existence in English-speaking ASoIaF fandom. I began writing ASoIaF fan fiction because I wanted to read ASoIaF fan fiction. I made the acquaintance of other female ASoIaF fans on Livejournal and together we basically said 'fuck you' to the anti-fan fic sentiment that had predominated in the fandom.
I created the LJ communities asoiaf_exchange and sansaxsandor in the spring of 2007. Fanwork exchanges are a great way to encourage new content. It's very effective in a fandom as small as ASoIaF was at the time. And sansaxsandor was a place to ship SanSan in peace, safe from harassment from fanboys who looked down on shipping and were disgustingly misogynist towards Sansa.
Basically, I shipped SanSan like it was my job. :D
Q- Is there a SanSan fic you’re particularly proud of?
A- I'm especially pleased with Songbird. I worked very hard on it and I think I succeeded in conveying what I was trying to convey.
Q- Anything you’re embarrassed of or wish you hadn’t written?
A- Not for SanSan. There are things I've written for other pairings and other fandoms that I think I didn't do a good enough job with, but I'm pleased with all the SanSan I've written.
Q- Any SanSan fic of your own that you wish got more attention?
A- A Walk In The Garden. I really loved the unexpected emotional intimacy and the sexual tension that Sansa isn't yet aware that that's what it is of Sansa's and Sandor's scenes together in AGoT and ACoK, and I wished there had been even more scenes like those. A Walk In The Garden was me trying to write one of those scenes for myself.
Q- Any comments you’ve received that stick out, even now?
A- The best comments I've received on my ASoIaF fics over the years were the ones that praised my fidelity to canon. I've been told a couple of times that a fic could have been a missing scene from the books, which is the greatest compliment I could ever receive as a ASoIaF fan fic writer.
I also like it when people enjoy my SanSan crack!fics. I am very fond of my silly little crack!fics and I like knowing they amuse other people.
Q- Are there tropes/styles/genres you struggle with? Any that are almost too easy?
A- I'm good at darker fic and at humor, but not good at all the stuff in-between. That's true of me for all pairings and fandoms, not just SanSan. I basically have no middle ground as a writer. I think it's probably due to my lack of patience. I like the immediate gratification of fluff/funny crack!fics and the emotional intensity of dark!fics, but I just don't have the patience for long, plotty drama.
Q- When you start a fic, do you know where it will end? Or do you figure it out along the way?
A- Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Usually it's just a general idea in my head. I'm very much not the type of writer who writes an outline before they write a story. I just do it.
For a period of time when I was much younger, I did try using outlines since I was taught that was the correct way to write. But I found that once I had a story plotted out in a formal outline, I lost interest in actually writing it.
I want to be entertained while I am writing, I don't want it to feel like work.
I like just writing and seeing where the characters will take me. That's what works for me.
Q- Do you have any rituals/conditions for ‘getting in the mood’ to write?
A- There are some songs I find inspiring, so I'll put an inspiring song on repeat and try to write. Sometimes it works, and sometimes nothing works.
I'd put Sarah McLachlan's "Possession" on repeat while I was writing Songbird.
Q- Any tips for overcoming writer’s block?
A- The one that usually works for me is this: write what you *want* to write. Don't censor yourself, don't try to write what you think you should write, don't hold back from writing what other people tell you that you shouldn't write. Just write what you truly want to write.
Q- Any tips for nervous writers looking to post their first (or second, or twentieth) fic?
A- Even if it seems like no one will be interested in reading your story, there will be at least one person. It's a huge internet and no matter what you're into, there will be at least one person who shares your interest in a given AU scenario, pairing, or tiny obscure canon. Write for that unknown person.
Just don't worry about the people who may not like your fics, and focus on the people who will like it.
Q- Aspirations of publishing one day?
A- Nope. Writing is something I do for fun. Turning it into work would add too much stress and strip it of all enjoyment for me.
I would like to start writing more original fic though. There are some story ideas I want to read that won't exist, so I'll have to write them myself if I can.
Q- Will you be posting your original fic?
A- Yes, I'll probably post the original fic. But I've got to write it first and before I start writing it, I want to finish the fan fics I currently have in progress. So that's years away.
Q- Did you make any friends in SanSan that you still talk to today?
A- I've met some great people through our shared shipping of SanSan and although I'm no longer really active in ASoIaF fandom, I've remained acquainted with some of them.
Q- Anything you’d like to say to the SanSan fandom at large?
A- Just keep in mind that HBO's show is essentially an AU of ASoIaF at this point and that whatever happens or doesn't happen on it doesn't mean anything for bookverse SanSan.
Q- Anything you’d like to add?
A- SanSan forever! I may no longer be active in the fandom, but Sansa/Sandor will always be my OTP.
Check out redcandle17’s SanSan fics here
And redcandle17′s LiveJournal for even more SanSan here
And check out redcandle17’s ASOIAF fics here
