Cascade Library Interview with D.L. Witherspoon

Interviews by Fans
Title:	Cascade Library Interview with D.L. Witherspoon
Interviewer:	Cascade Library
Interviewee:	D.L. Witherspoon
Date(s):	March 15, 1999
Medium:	online
Fandom(s):	The Sentinel
External Links:	interview is here, Archived version
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In 1999, D.L. Witherspoon was interviewed for Cascade Library.

Some Excerpts

I've written fanfic for as long as I can remember, sometimes on paper, but mostly in my head. Then I discovered the internet and its ample supply of fanfic, and it was love at first reading. Being somewhat arrogant, and loving the anonymity of the 'net, I dashed off a La Femme Nikita story which was posted on the LFN archive in September '97. I received my first LoC and I was hooked. Another fanfic followed. Then I found the Fanfiction Archive and saw The Sentinel listed. Since I liked the show, I thought I would try some of the sites that were listed. I devoured all of Kristine Williams work in two days, and a couple of ideas popped into my head. So it was that I wrote Obstacle Course and Obsessed almost back-to-back. They were posted to the Guide Posts in October of 1997. I guess I should note here that I have a character flaw, well, not exactly a flaw in my opinion-- I'm a control freak.... That's a long way of saying I had to get my own website. The archivists are wonderful, but I like to post my stories the way I want them posted, and I want to be able to update and revise them when I want to. Anyway. That's the way TVLIT 101 came into being.

Kristine Williams, Kristine Williams, Kristine Williams. I loved her stories.

I'd better start this one with an IMHO. The weaknesses all stem from UPN's control of the show. I'll explain that in a minute. What bothers me about the show is the obligatory chase scenes. Most are stupid and unnecessary. In fact, poor Jim usually has to lose his weapon, just so the scene can be integrated into the storyline. Then there's the BOTW (Babes of the Week). These "hot" women are mainly used for publicity purposes, and can be used so heavily in previews that often the real story is barely mentioned. Although technically Megan isn't a BOTW, I think we can all remember the preview to Neighborhood Watch. Totally misleading. Why I say this is UPN's fault is because in this limited season when Pet Fly and its writers pretty much know the chances of a fifth season are iffy, they've done away with a lot of this. I think we had a chase scene in Murder 101, but Blair participated just as much as Jim. And Four-Point Shot probably could have benefitted from a chase scene, instead of the arming of basketball players [shudder]. The women? There was Alex left over from last season-- she went insane at the end. The femme fatale in Dead End On Blank Street? She was married, Jim respected that, then kindly stepped out of the way so she and her partner could shoot each other (I truly liked that one). In The Waiting Room, the woman had been dead for decades, and she merely pecked Jim on the cheek. It's obvious that without the pressure to please the network, Pet Fly writers can satisfy the fans. I've read the reviews and comments about this season's shows in the discussion groups, and except for a few negative comments, we're really enjoyed the majority of the five new episodes this year. Several have mentioned the fact that the supporting cast has played too big of a role in these eps, separating Jim and Blair, but I think that's Pet Fly's way of giving the cast exposure, and clips to show when UPN pulls the plug.

TS has some of the best writers in the whole fanfic realm (believe me, there are some fanfic universes I'm never visiting again). You can either be intimidated by that, or you can use it as a challenge to go beyond merely putting an idea into words; the idea needs to be placed into a story that supports not only the idea, but the characters as well. Also, learning how to spell, and becoming familiar with the rules of grammar, will help keep the readers coming back.