This interview was first posted in Feb 2011.
Our feature author, Aloysia Virgata, is a relative newcomer to the writing side of X-Files fan fiction, but she’s made her mark with memorable stories with often memorable titles. She’s given us beautifully written vignettes, novellas, 155’s, long-form and short-form humour and drama, all of it infused with keen observations and subtle but telling character development. Find her XF stories here or at the Gossamer Archive.
When did you start writing XF fanfic? How did you start?
I started writing in February of 2008. I’d been a fan back in the day and used to read a bit of fic, but the last two seasons killed it for me and I bailed. I didn’t even know there was a second movie coming out, actually, and stumbled upon that information when I found a vid while searching for music on YouTube. I ended up getting sucked into one of those Google spirals and found myself at the Haven. I don’t know what made me write. I’ve never written beyond some assignments in school, but something just made me want to do it. Then I got hooked. It was great to have an intellectually stimulating hobby as a break from parenting two very small children.
What else do you write?
I wrote a few BSG fics, but nothing else other than Facebook status updates.
What other fandoms are you involved in?
None. I seem to monogamously mate with a fandom for life.
Do you have a writing process?
No, not really. Usually I’ll get an idea for a particular scene in my head, write it, and then see what happens next. Or prior, as sometimes happens. I’m not really a linear writer and things often get shuffled around. I often discover the story as I go.
Which of your stories is your favorite and why?
I feel arrogant when I say that’s a hard choice, but it’s because writing is such an intimate activity in many ways that I feel a connection to almost everything I have written. But for an all-around favorite, it’s probably a toss-up between This Her Fever and Love’s Austere and Lonely Offices. I got to do a lot of character study in those two while also fitting them into canon. Missing scenes are my favorite and I tend to write a lot of them.
There has been much discussion in the XF fandom regarding LiveJournal vs. Ephemeral/Gossamer. Many newer authors, such as yourself, post their work exclusively on LJ. In your opinion, what is it about LJ that has made it such a popular venue for posting fic? Do you think you’ll ever post your work elsewhere, be it Ephemeral/Gossamer or not?
I started out posting exclusively on Ephemeral/Gossamer before Dasha lured me over to LiveJournal. I think it’s amazing to have an archive of that sort for one’s work and am so grateful to have them available, both as a reader and a writer. What appeals to me about LJ are the immediacy and the intimacy. It encourages a good rapport between author and audience, and I think that fosters really terrific exchanges of ideas. Readers on LJ have alerted me to typos and factual errors that would likely have gone unnoticed otherwise. The story feels more like a living thing on LJ. The comments also create a very easy exchange of feedback, which I believe is gratifying to all parties.
Do you have any upcoming stories or projects to look out for?
There are bits and pieces of things all over my hard drive, but I have no plans for them at present.
Anything else you’d like to tell the readers?
For a long time I bought into the idea that every story had to be the best story it could be. I was too hard on myself, too hard on other writers, and too hard on the people for whom I did beta reading. The thing I realize now is that you will never write the best story you can. It’s just not possible. Writing should be fun, and I encourage anyone who is considering it to let go of anxiety about being ridiculed for posting a piece. Almost everyone I have encountered in this fandom has been extraordinarily kind with their feedback and constructive criticism. Go past your comfort zone. Try new things. Be bold. To borrow from Florence Foster Jenkins, people may say you can’t sing, but no one can say you didn’t sing.