| 'What are the Owls, really?' The Meriades Rai Interview |
[Nov. 13th, 2006|08:54 pm] |
I first came across Meriades Rai through a link either of Derrick's or Dino's LJ. Said link said in a round about way to definitely check out this 'new' guy that seemed to have something to say and a rather unique way of saying it. I checked out 'The Owls Are Not What They Seem...' (which I thought was a Blade Runner reference)and Derrick or Dino (whichever) was right.
Meriades Rai is a helluva writer and has a damn lot to say. As you are about to learn, he's all over the place in Fanfic, with an impressive number of stories to brag about, and an even more impressive bit of content. I haven't had a chance to work with Meri on anything yet, but I hope that will change. We've been playing e-mail/LJ tag for awhile now. Hopefully we can kick it up a notch. For now though - Enjoy!
To start, tell us a bit about yourself; family, job, things like that. Whatever you would like to comfortably share…
H’okay. I’m Meri, I’m 32 (33 on January 5th), and I’ve been married to the lovely Emma for 7 years. I have one daughter, Francesca Rose, who is 18 months old. She’s wonderful beyond words, but in the interests of sanity we’re stopping at one. I’ve worked in bookselling since I was 18, at times at management level, but I’m currently taking some time off to care for Frankie (Emma is also a bookshop manager and she was on a far better salary so I had to be the one to take the plunge as main carer). It’s interesting, but I get less time for writing than when I was at work and I’ll be happy to get back to the real world next year some time, if only so I have some money to start buying comics again…
I have a motley collection of siblings, nieces and nephews, and my parents are great. I’m lucky in that I come from a very stable background. I’m abysmal at staying in contact though; I keep myself to myself. Miserable old git that I am.
Where about do you live? Be as specific as you like or as vague: town, state, time zone, continent, etc.
I live in a arsehole town called Northampton, located mid-way between London and Birmingham, England’s two biggest cities. Northampton is actually about as close as you can get to the middle of the country, geographically, which is a shame because I love the ocean. Then again, England’s pretty small compared to the US – we’re only talking 100 miles or so away from the coast in any given direction.
I lived in and around London for 8 years, working in the West End – Piccadilly, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street. It’s an expensive city, but great when you’re young and single. Not so much when you hit family and mortgage stage. I’m more of a country lad and will probably never go back to living in a city, but I’m glad of the experience. Unlike Northampton, people in London aren’t in-bred fuckwits.
What other things do you do in your spare time? Any special hobbies or interests you care to share?
Spare time? Yeah, right.
Aside from writing and reading I love football and support Wolverhampton Wanderers, a team who were the best in the world back in the 50s but who haven’t really achieved anything in 20 years or more. They currently play in England’s second tier, below the level where the famous clubs such as Manchester United and Arsenal compete. I enjoyed the World Cup, even though England were crap, because I was also rooting for Italy, the eventual winners.
There’s comics, of course, but I haven’t had the money or space to collect seriously for a number of years now. I was a huge collector back in the 80s, twenty-plus titles a month for 10 years.
I’m also a bit of a Rain Man. I love numbers and number puzzles. Give me any kind of Su Doku or bastard derivative and I’ll crack it.
I used to play a lot of computer games – we’re talking original PlayStation era, not PS2 – but I’m looking forward to Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Final Fantasy XII.
How did you get into writing Fanfic? Through comic books, or some other media? What Title/ Site was your first in Fanfic?
Definitely comic books. I went online for the first time in 2002 and started hanging around various comic message boards, and in March 2004 saw a post on one advertising for new writers for a site called Alternate Marvel. It all looked very nice, but the choice of characters to write for was severely limited. I submitted a handful of issues of a Silver Sable series and was accepted. Joel McCrory thought it was boring, but he came around eventually, possibly when he realised I was just as abusive and foul-mouthed as he was.
How long have you been writing stories - Fanfic or otherwise?
I started writing stories when I was about 7 or 8. I was always creating superheroes and villains and built my own universe that I was still tinkering with 10 years later. I also wrote a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, including a series called The Space Demons, inspired by Star Wars and Doctor Who, about a band of renegade space pirates on the run from the intergalactic militia. I loved those characters, especially one called Harry, who was a raving Cockney lunatic in a trench-coat, very similar to John Constantine actually although it would be a good decade before I read any Hellblazer. I eventually killed them all off and felt really sad about it afterwards.
I’ve written six novel-length stories, all between the ages of 14 and 27, all of which were good in some ways but arse-clenchingly awful in others. I need to get disciplined and try again; I think I could do better this time.
I’ve been writing fanfic for 2 ½ years and have been fairly prolific in that time. In a year-and-a-half at AltMarvel I wrote Silver Sable (7 issues), Brother Voodoo (15), Amazing Spider-Man (15), Spectacular Spider-Man (9), Topaz (12), AltMarvel Fanfare (3), Slyde (3) and a fill-in issue of Uncanny X-Men. I’ve also written Dansen Macabre (6) at Avengers 2000, Batman (8) and Doctor Who (4) at DC Omega, and Ghost Rider (6) and Ultimate Avengers (6) at Marvel Omega. That’s 95 issues in 30 months, which (if you couldn’t already tell) I’m extremely proud of. As someone who used to procrastinate terribly when it came to writing, fanfic has really helped get me moving.
How did you find our Fanfic community? What led you here?
I was lucky enough to receive a couple of good reviews from Derrick Ferguson and Des Davies, for Brother Voodoo and Silver Sable respectively, and that led me to the Heroes Yahoo group. My first experiences there were pretty awful, though. One week in and I decided to respond to a message posted by Mick Edwards in which he had made some derogatory remark about AltMarvel and one of the writers there, Kenn Beck, with whom Mick had issues. I was promptly scolded for airing dirty linen on the board. Then, being under the impression that Heroes was similar to AltMarvel’s Yahoo group, where banter was the order of the day, I made a few light-hearted posts and was promptly told off again. I thought, “Fuck you, then,” and didn’t really participate for a few months after, other than to post release information. Looking back, I can see that the regulars were just annoyed (understandably) that posts about writers’ work were being buried beneath frivolous crap. Fair enough. It’s just a shame no one at the time thought to themselves, “Hey, wait a minute, this guy’s new, we’re an intimidating crowd, and he doesn’t know how we work here,” and had taken a moment to explain. But, whatever. I didn’t run away for good, although I spend far more time on LiveJournal than Yahoo these days. And I always try to be nice to new writers when they join the community.
'The Owls Are Not What They Seem...' is a definite stop on the LJ trail. Tell us about that title, and your experiences with the LJ interactivity. Any other Internet activity you would like to share?
The title’s a quote from Twin Peaks, an early-90s tv show (for those miscreants who don’t know) that has governed far too much of my life to be healthy. I’m a Twin Peaks nut. I bore people to tears about it, but I don’t care. I love it. I quote it. I breathe it.
My LJ was originally supposed to be just for my comments on writing, comics and fanfic, but sometimes I post personal stuff there. I don’t bother with much else on the Net in terms of interactive stuff, although this time last year I attempted to run a RPG-type game on LJ called Cougar Ridge. Set in a small, strange US town where there had been a murder (the Twin Peaks influence again), I invited fellow LJ users to create characters and participate anonymously by posting replies in the voice of their character to the main LJ I was writing. Most of those who played seemed to really enjoy it, although lack of participation saw it tail off after a month or so. Unfortunately, only a tiny fraction of those who I thought might be interested in such a project – ie, writers – decided to play in the first place, which was extremely dispiriting. Still, at least I tried. And, if I could somehow rouse interest in another similar game I’d definitely try again.
Do you write for any Sites outside of Fanfic, or our group of Fanfic Sites, i.e. other types of Fanfic, Writing Clubs, etc.? And DO tell us about Revenance and Castavel. Now's the time to drop a LINK...
Unfortunately the sites you mention have reached a hiatus. I set up meriades.co.uk back last February with three imprints: Revenance, a shared universe for superhero and adventure series, Legends of Castavel, a shared world for sword and sorcery fantasy, and Diabolique, for erotica and romance. I thought there was an opening for an original fiction project, but there was little interest initially, with a lack of time on the part of prospective writers being a key flaw. Diabolique died quickly because it was met with awkward silence and I lost my nerve, but a handful of writers – Kenn Beck, Kim J, David Wheatley, Mark Walsh and Brent Lambert – all produced some good work for the other two imprints.
Unfortunately, during the summer my enthusiasm waned when I had zero time for writing and editing (the huge amount of time I ended up investing in this surprised me). It may have been different if more writers and readers had been interested but the site just wasn’t on the radar. It sounds defeatist – well, it is defeatist – but I gave up; when you have such little time for writing you need to feel it’s worth it and I was struggling with that by the end.
What Sites are you currently writing for? What Titles are you working on?
My current haul:
Supervillain War is a 16-issue series for Avengers 2000, telling the story of forty classic and underused villains kicking the crap out of one another on a faraway battlefield world at the behest of The Grandmaster. The series is 95 per cent finished, I’m just going through each issue with a final edit, making sure there are no snags or loose ends.
Ultimate Avengers is being published at Marvel Omega, although it was originally released on my own site under the name Avengers Regeneration this summer just gone. The first arc is six issues (the last to go up at MO was # 3, I believe) and I’m currently working on the second. This is my re-imagining of The Avengers, very different from The Ultimates.
Ghost Rider has one issue left to be written and released at Marvel Omega. This is the story of FBI agent Rebecca Lockwood, the latest innocent to fall under the curse of Zarathos.
Doctor Who has just started at DC Omega-Vertigo and will be ongoing, featuring adventures of the 10th Doctor (David Tennant from the tv series) and a new assistant, Audrey.
The Brother Voodoo series that was originally at AltMarvel is being heavily re-edited two years on and will be re-released at Strange Tales. It’s Hellblazer meets Walter Moseley, with a heavy noir feel.
Is there any certain Title that you would like to write down the line, or any specific Site that you might want to write for?
I love comics and comic characters. Honestly, I’d write anyone and everyone if I had the time (Marvel, at least. I have very little knowledge of DC characters, apart from Batman, so I tend to steer clear of them). Every six months or so I post a whole list of ‘proposed projects’ on my LJ, some of which I get around to but most of which I don’t. I’ll most likely be writing something else for Avengers 2000 after Supervillain War, and maybe something for their Other World or Marvel X imprint, most likely a Victorian-era ‘Elseworlds’ Spider-Woman series. I’d also like to do more for Strange Tales, original fiction rather than fanfic. There’s a Catwoman series I’d like to do, which would have a home at DC Omega (thanks, Dino).
At some point, years from now, I like to think I’ll have written Hellblazer, some form of X-Men (my one issue at AltMarvel was a lot of fun), Femmes Fatales (a Marvel version of Birds of Prey / Charlie’s Angels with Silver Sable, Black Widow, Elektra and Mockingbird), Doctor Strange, and Captain Carrot And His Amazing Zoo Crew (honestly, I would). Maybe Ultimate Spider-Man, just so I can re-imagine all those classic villains…
Any dream assignments in Fanfic that you would love to tackle like a massive crossover or reinventing a character?
I’m lucky in that I’m already working on my two dream projects, Supervillain War and Ultimate Avengers, and that I’ve previously written my two favourite characters, Spider-Man and Batman. Although Ultimate Avengers has had a stuttering start I’d really love it to be my magnum opus, my equivalent of Pendragons, maybe even reaching the magic 100 issues mark in a few years time. We’ll see.
Dream assignments otherwise would be in original fiction. Despite Revenance failing I still believe there’s an original superhero universe project out there waiting to happen, with up to a dozen writers all chronicling the old-school adventures of their own heroes and villains just as Marvel and DC did when they started out. I’d kill to be a part of that. Mike McGee was also once pondering the notion of a group of writers working on an original series split into ‘episodes’ like a virtual season of a television show. I’d also kill to be involved in that kind of project. Hell, I guess I’m happy to kill to get what I want…
We assume that you enjoy the writing and Fanfic, but are there things you would like to see done differently or changed in Fanfic?
The sheer number of different sites is mind-boggling, especially as so many writers write for more then one of them. One day I’d like to see some merging going on, to consolidate the talent, but it’ll never happen.
I’d also like to see a greater influx of new writers on a regular basis and less titles with a release schedule of one issue every six months or more, which can look a bit tatty.
I’d like to see a greater diversity of titles, especially solo female series. There’s Black Widow, Silver Sable, Elektra, Mystique, Spider-Woman (Jessica or Julia), Catwoman, Black Canary and The Huntress all waiting for a major new series somewhere, off the top of my head. More villain-centric series would also be good, and more with a crime or espionage bent.
What’s your favorite color?
I’m an ex-Goth (ex because all my hair fell out and because I had to remove all my jewellery so the child couldn’t yank it out and eat it). So, black. I also like blue and green and the whole turquoise spectrum in-between.
Outside of Fanfic, what are your reading habits? Who’s your favorite author or series, or book?
I have oodles of favourite books. In fantasy I would choose the original Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, anything by the late David Gemmell, especially the Jon Shannow trilogy, Robert Rankin and Neil Gaiman. In crime I like Robert Crais, Caleb Carr, Fred Vargas and Michael Connelly. In horror I read Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Poppy Z. Brite and James Herbert. In modern fiction and non-fiction I like Nick Hornby, Mark Haddon, Matthew Reilly and Bill Bryson. In kids fiction I like S. F. Said, Justin Richards and the old Three Investigators books. Then there’s Charlotte and Emily Bronte and Arthur Conan Doyle in classics…
My favourite book ever is High Fidelity by Nick Hornby.
What book are you reading now?
I’m just about to start Mark Haddon’s A Spot Of Bother, a tragi-comedy about a man who believes he is dying and his dealings with his dysfunctional family .
How about in comics - do you have a favorite Title, author or artist?
Again, oodles. My favourite writers over the years have been J. M. DeMatteis, Tom DeFalco, Roger Stern, Gerry Conway, Peter David, Mark Gruenwald, Mike Carey and Neil Gaiman. Favourite artists are Tim Sale, Jackson Guice, Adam Hughes, Gil Kane, John Romita Jr, Dave McKean, John Byrne, Sandy Plunkett and John Bolton. Probably others I’ve completely forgotten.
What’s your favorite comic book story, or storyline?
Favourite comic ever is a tie between three very different books: Preacher, by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon; Secret Wars, by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck; and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition by everyone. Others I’d loved are Kraven’s Last Hunt by J. M. DeMatteis and Zeck, DeMatteis, Keith Giffen and Adam Hughes on Justice League International, Hulk by Peter David and Dale Keown, Spider-Man: Blue, Batman: Dark Victory and Batman: The Last Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz’s run on Amazing Spider-Man, John Byrne’s West Coast Avengers, Sandman by Neil Gaiman and various artists, Lucifer by Mike Carey and various artists, Avengers by Roger Stern and John Buscema, PSI Force by Steve Perry and Mark Texeira… and, again, lots I’m forgetting.
What’s your favorite Title to read currently in Fanfic?
The best fanfic titles I’ve read are Supervillain Team-Up at Avengers 2000 by Steve Seinberg, Werewolf By Night by Mike McGee and Thunderbolts at Marvel 2000 by Chris Munn, which I’m currently enjoying. Strange Tales is probably the site with the highest quality of writing overall. I’m looking forward to reading Michael Franzoni’s The Fence sometime soon (I like the villains, as if that wasn’t obvious) as well as Jeff Melton’s 60s Avengers, Mike Rasbury’s Doctor Strange and Steve Crosby’s Captain America.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Reading, one hundred per cent. Be it books, comics, magazines, newspapers… stories are out there, everywhere. Also, most stories are inspired by characters and the best way to build characters is to read about them. Everything I’ve learned about writing – everything – has come from reading.
What are your writing habits? Do you write every day, many hours, once a week, or what?
When I don’t write I get frustrated and depressed and I’m hell to live with. I try and write for an hour a day, every day. Or at least every other day. I can write about 750 – 1000 words an hour, so a 7,500 word week is a great week for me.
Do you like to listen to music as you write? If so, what and which, or some other background noise, like the television or DVD’s? Or maybe you prefer silence when writing?
I always used to need complete and utter silence, but since Frankie came along and hijacked my life I’ve had to learn to block things out. It’s not ideal, but I’m getting there. Give me complete silence and I can write like a demon. The worst thing is trying to write when someone else – usually my wife – is in the room, especially if she has the temerity to talk to me! I find it impossible to concentrate then. But, hey, she’s more interesting than fanfic anyway…
Rumor is you're undertaking a new endeavour, something like the 'HEROES BOARD' of old. If the time is right, give us some hype on that project...
I’d really like to try and put together a monthly online newsletter type project that collects together the disparate releases and reviews sent to the Yahoo group board, plus a few articles from writers and editors thrown in for good measure. I have no idea if it will work but it’ll be nice if it does, especially when attempting to attract new readers and writers from outside the community.
A Question from Mick:
If you had your way exactly how would the clone saga have ended? Would there have even been one?
I never liked the idea that Peter Parker from Amazing Spider-Man # 150 onwards was a clone – that was just stupid – but I was completely in favour of Peter being replaced by Ben Reilly. When I wrote Spider-Man at AltMarvel I hated the fact that Peter was still risking his life all the time when he had a wife and kid at home. That, to me, went against the whole idea of responsibility established in Amazing Fantasy # 15 way back when. Mary Jane? Fine. She chooses to be with a guy who could be killed any second, that’s her lookout. But Peter has consciously made the decision to be a father and his first responsibility is therefore to his child, regardless of what has come before. When I finished my series I put Ben back in the suit, and Marvel should have had the guts to do the same.
Norman Osborn coming back? Second worst story ever. Worst was Sins Past. After almost 30 years of reading Spider-Man, I quit soon after that load of bullshit. For me, Spider-Man from the mid-70s to the late-80s was the real deal, nothing has ever come close to those heights.
And now's the time for closing. Any last words or Shout Outs, any Hot Links to share or whatever, now's the time.
Um… read Ultimate Avengers, if you aren’t already? That, Supervillain War and Brother Voodoo, they’re my babies. And, please, someone get that original superhero universe going (and invite me along)!
Thanks for opportunity, Curt.
Thank You Meri. That was most excellent!
Curt |
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| Comments: |
Thanks for the bump on the Yahoo list, but I think everyone who was interested *did* read - there was a scattering of comments on my LJ post that directed people here.
And, more importantly, thanks for doing the interview in the first place. It's always nice to have a platform on which to perch and waffle. Cheers, Curt! | |
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