Dear Readers,

Welcome to the Lois & Clark The New Adventure of Superman Writer's Showcase. At the bottom of this web site you will findlinks to past featured writers. Just click on the any writer's name you might have missed or want to read again and you will be taken to their interview.

Now, in keeping with Annie's famous words, without further ado I am proud and honored to present this week's Writer in the Writer's Showcase ...

Annette, Labrat, Kaethel, Avia

Personal Information

Author name
CC Aiken

E-mail addresses
CCAikenFanfic@aol.com or AikFree@aol.com

Residence
In the foothills of north Georgia, small town, USA

List, AOL, or web affiliations
Hmmm....I have no idea what that means. (Yikes, that's only the fourth question. Let's hope they don't get harder.)

Lois and Clark or Superman Status

How long have you been watching L&C?
Ok, a confession. Not long and not often! I remember it's original run, sort of, and that I enjoyed it. I found it again on TNT last year and started watching it each day after dropping my oldest kids at school. I have seen all the episodes! But not more than once or twice. And I don't have any on tape or anything, so...my L&C pedigree is really weak, which is why you'll never see detailed dialogue or episode adaptations from me.

How long have you been a fan of Superman?
I am a lifetime fan of super-anything. Loved Batman and Robin as a child. I was Batgirl for a million Halloweens in a row. I watched the old Superman show as a kid when I was home sick from school. Always loved it. Watched the Super Friends - Superman, Wonder Woman, Aqua Man, etc...- on Saturday morning cartoons, never missed them. The Superman movies, check. The comics, check. L&C, of course. And now, Smallville.

How long have you been writing?
You know, my whole life, though it's only recently that I've come to call it that. I have kept a journal since I could write. I wrote my first "story" story in the second grade. `Sam the Ham.' A little ham (not a pig, mind you, a ham) is horrified to learn he is not the family pet, but is rather their planned-for Sunday supper. (I liked angst even then.)

For as long as I can remember my head has been full, sometimes too full, of words, words, words...

How long have you been writing L&C fanfic?
I wrote `Lois Unbuttoned' in February. So, (doing the math) nine months. This is still very much a new playground for me. And a new idea, which I love, just making stuff up about established characters. Genius!

What types of Fanfic have you written?
This is it.

Though I can see now that I have been writing it, mentally, for some time. I have always watched TV with an eye towards what I would like the writers to do, and how I might do it differently. I am forever pronouncing, "Now, I would write a slow-build love story for THIS couple..." So, in a way I was a fanfic writer, just didn't know it, as I had no idea what fanfic was. I have to admit, lately I've been giving the `Smallville' fanfic a look. An earlier Clark Kent could be fun...

Most recent story posted? Where?
I'm in the middle of the longest one I've ever written, `And Back Again.' It's being posted on the l&c fanfic mbs as I type this.

Favorite story you have written? Why?
Hmmm....you know, I don't have a huge catalog to choose from. I've only written 5! I know! Kick me out of Writer's Showcase, what am I doing here?! But I'm going to have to say `Lois Unbuttoned.' I wrote that just to see if I could. I sent it to the archive with butterflies in my stomach. The next day I get an email from Wendy Richards(!) whose stories I had been devouring for months. And then, once it was added to the archive, I got mail! Lots and lots of it. I don't know what I was expecting. I don't think I was expecting anything. But I must have gotten ten emails a day for weeks telling me what a nice story, etc... Absolutely floored me. And of course, I was totally sucked in and addicted in no time.

Current project/projects?
I have this small something. I set a goal for myself, to see if I could write a legitimate short story. A ten page story with good development, beginning, middle, and end. That is not as easy as it seems it would be! It's 14 pages now and it wants to grow, even as I am trying to chop it down. I really want it to fit into one post.

Personal picks of other Fanfics you have read?
Yvonne Connell has a great way of torturing the reader and her characters mercilessly before giving you a happy ending. `Purity' and `Misery' are two of my all time favorites. After I read `Purity', in fact, I started to get serious about trying this myself. Also, I am a broken record on the subject of Labrat's `Masques.' I think that is *the* best piece of fanfic out there.

Kathryn Ann Kent wrote '48 Hours Without Superman' and `My Adventures with Superman.' I read those very early in my discovery of the archive and adored them. They are so smart and so funny. And I really like humor in a story, so appreciated she was doing something a bit off-beat. I hadn't seen that before.

Wendy Richards' `For the Greater Good.' I love that fundamental dilemma. Save the world at the cost of your life and at the cost of seeing your children grow up and growing old with your wife. That one really made me cry.

I enjoy Jude's work. Her character descriptions and attention to detail. I was completely charmed by `It's a Thing He Does at Parties.' When I got over my initial reluctance to read about Clark without Lois, I really loved Nan Smith's Home Series. I like the picture she gives us of an older CK surrounded by a large, extended family. That's how I like to think it turns out. Here was a character that was so lonely, so completely alone on the planet, but by the later years, he is the patriarch of this great family, no longer alone in his secret or in saving the world. That is really beautiful and hopeful and well deserved! Thank you, Nan!

I could answer this question forever, by the way.

Zoomway's Persistence of Memory. Loved this. So clever and and imaginative. Yellow Fever, Cause and Effect, Super Stud, um....one more....The People v. Clark Kent. All just the right amount of romantic and angsty and edge of your seat, by ML Thompson. A huge talent. I have just recently started Tank's `Futures' series. I didn't want to start it while I was writing something along similar lines. And his is a voice I appreciate. He is writing something that is a bit different, challenging, and really interesting. I also think he is an excellent antidote to some of the really WAFFy sweetness out there- for me, anyway.

General Interview Questions

What attracted you to writing Fanfic and what about it do you enjoy?
All the stories I read. And the idea that they were written by fans. Regular people with a really cool hobby. I thought I would just like to see my name on the archive, though I was shy and just sent `LU' under the name Aiken. Clever, right? I mean, without the CC, how would you ever guess that was me?

What about the L&C and the characters do you like the most?
I adore these characters. I can't overstate that. They are so rich and layered, and that is half the work right there. I don't have to create any dilemma for them, they are walking dilemmas. And I have so much respect for them, for who they are and how they have weathered 60 years or so in the public consciousness.

However, L&C did something really great for me, which really caught my attention and kept it. They made it clear that Clark Kent was the person and Superman was the disguise. The movies are the opposite. Clark Kent is so clearly an "act." To me there isn't any tension in that. He is one assured and world-saving superhero with no real longing to be "himself." But when CK, in the L&C pilot, told his dad he just wanted a job, a home, a family- the normal stuff- they had me.

The elements of estrangement and loneliness and yearning are really so achingly realized in the character of Clark Kent. And in Lois Lane, as well, though to a lesser degree. She is an earthling, after all, even if she'd rather not be.

How do you interpret them in your work?
It's important to me that they're smart. I don't want my Clark to bumble and be clueless. And I don't want Lois to be a neurotic mess. I know they are flawed characters, that is what makes them fun, so there are elements of this in their make-up, but I never want to dumb them down.

And in the other direction, I don't want Clark Kent to be any more noble than a good person would be. He is superpowered, yes, but that's all physical. And with that comes heavy responsibility to be in control and careful at all times, but I don't want him to always be successful at this. I want him to fail, like everyone does.

And Lois Lane is every bit his match, if not more so. She is not just a thorn in his side early on, she makes him a better person, challenges him. And she humanizes him in a fundamental way. And she takes care of him, keeps his head on straight.

And they are both lonely. That's important. They are both "exiled" in their own ways, and they find something in each other they wouldn't anywhere else. That's what makes their love story so timeless.

How did you begin writing in general?
Most of my writing has been academic. I have my Masters of Divinity from theology school. I wrote worship services, prayers, responsive readings, scripture interpretations. You could give me an occasion- "We're going to be talking about baptism this Sunday"- and I would crank you out a service that had whatever elements you wanted.

This, by the way, is where my love of short, choppy sentences and sentence fragments comes in. I learned- by sitting through a service and hearing one of my beautiful prayers turn into one, long indecipherable murmur- that I needed to put LOTS of breaks in there, so people would breathe.

Also, in recent years, I've written plays for local little theatre. This is where I get my love of dialogue. When you have people up there saying the lines you've written, they have to sound like speech, and not like something on the page. This is a big thing for me. I always want my characters to sound like they are really conversing, not reading what I've put down.

What is your opinion about the following types of L&C fanfic's?
Action?
Love it. And I can't write it. I really can't. I admire those who can.

Drama?
Yes. Absolutely, and probably my favorite. But no death fic, no sick children, no horrible lessons learned, no terminal illnesses. Nothing too close to reality. I like an escape. And I need a hopeful ending. Doesn't have to be tied up neatly, but hopeful.

Humor?
Essential, I think.

Round Robin?
Don't know what that is. Sounds...interesting?

Nfic?
Yesssssssss. But the passion, like the happy ending, needs to be earned. I need to feel like it's a culmination of something, not just...you know.

Has *everything* been done in your opinion, and if not, what is left?
No. I think there are always new angles to delve into. I love stories that try totally new directions, that get creative with the standard canon. It's probably out there somewhere, with 2000+ stories on the archive how could it not be, but I have always wanted to see a revelation in which Clark Kent, due to circumstances, has no choice but to reveal himself in front of witnesses. I would like to see a story that explores the fall-out of his greatest fear, what if the world really did discover he's Superman. Then what?

What do you think makes the best story?
I love angst. I love romance. I love action and suspense. I love a story that really earns its happy ending, that puts you through the ringer but brings you out on the other side with the sun shining and the bird's chirping and all right with the world. I, also, really like for Superman to fly a lot, because that is so cool! (And I have major flying fantasies. Like, how much easier it would be to drop the kids off at school...)

Where is the best place for a reader to locate your work?
You mean all 5 of my stories? I like that...`my work.' Well, on the archive and on the L&C fanfic mbs.

Open Forum For Author Comments
I wish I could remember everyone who emailed me after my first story went on the archive. Those who said, `why don't you try the mbs?' I do know that when I sent in my second story, I was really lucky to find Labrat on the other end of that email. She eventually became my BR, after teaching me what a BR was. And held my hand and walked me over to the mbs for `Clark Uncaged.' I do remember that Trenna, Liz, Cris, and Pam all made a point in their emails to me about how friendly that community was, how welcome I would be. And dang it, if it wasn't true! And somebody sent me a link, to show me that `Superman Undone' was being talked about on a thread there. That was really nice. That sucking sound you're hearing is a re-enactment of CC being pulled from her RL into the land of make-believe. And what a great place! So, I guess this long ramble is a thank you to all the FoLCs, who welcomed me and made me feel like I belonged. And, also, to Avia who sent this to me to fill-out, and then kindly answered the question, "What's a Writer's Showcase?"