Essential Snarry Reader Interview with DementorDelta

Interviews by Fans
Title:	Essential Snarry Reader Interview with DementorDelta
Interviewer:	Aubrem
Interviewee:	DementorDelta
Date(s):	January 2, 2005
Medium:	online
Fandom(s):	Harry Potter
External Links:	interview is here, Archived version
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In 2005, DementorDelta was interviewed for Essential Snarry Reader.

Comments to the interview were disabled by the author for an unknown reason.

For others in the series, see Essential Snarry Reader Interview Series.

Some Excerpts

I was a Star Trek geek in middle school and wrote a truly horrible Mary Sue 'script' starring Spock and mysel--er, I mean an original female character. Since we didn't have fanfiction.net back then, I inflicted it on all my friends. I knew there was Trek slash out there, from fairly early on, but it held only slight interest for me.

Then Star Wars came out, yes, the original movie--I'm that old. Darth Vader strode onto the screen, and I was lost forever. I didn't start writing about him right away. Not until he uttered the immortal line, "No, Luke, I am your father." But with that one line, I suddenly saw Vader as a man--a sexual creature. I was hooked. I wrote about Vader, mostly for myself, for years. I did a few stories for Star Wars print fanzines, even published a few issues of a Vader-centered zine. The relationship I loved in the films and in most of my SW writing was the one between Vader and Luke--not as a slash relationship, but just one of amazing complexity. The theme that always intrigues me is of evil redeemed, Vader by his sacrifice for Luke. I see a lot of that in Snape, a man who has done evil things, trying to walk the light path. Redeemed, in my mind, by Harry's love, not just his own sacrifice.

I didn't start writing slash, though I was fully aware of its existence in nearly every fandom, until discovering the Harry Potter fan fic universe, and then not until I'd tried my hand with some Mary Sue-ish type stuff. I was just so *desperate* to write about Snape! Even in my Mary Sue-ish type stuff I had scenes between Harry and Snape that just *sparkled* for me--the step to slash was fairly inevitable.

I've dabbled in original fic, but along the lines of romantic 'plots' and storylines. Oh, and some original porn, again, just for me, just for fun.

Oh, sister, I couldn't love Harry Potter more if I'd given birth to him myself. I have a deep profound love for that boy--and that's why I want to see him happy. Er, with Snape, of course, but happy. When I read the first book, I had a *very* difficult time getting into it because of the horrible picture JKR gives us of Harry's life. I struggled on, thinking to myself, these books (there were about 3 out at that time) are going to break my heart. I write Harry the way I see him in canon. He's scrappy and funny *already*. I like picturing him growing into all that. He's already a perfect foil for Snape. Even in the books, they strike sparks off one another from the start--what better basis for a romantic relationship than that? They both have very forceful personalities, but need something the other has to be whole. There's a little of that search for completeness--I hope--in every story I write about them.

Snarry burnout? Not on your life! That would be like having too much beauty, too much love. I can see a time when I might stop writing--especially depending on the outcome of the next two canon books, but right now, I'm only hoping to *live* long enough to tell all the stories about these two I want to tell.

Er, as for other pairings, I have written others, just for fun, mostly with other authors. I have written a threesome with Snape and Harry and another character that will never see the light of day. I'm just really not all that interested in writing other pairings when I have so many ideas still to do for Snape and Harry.

I can't say that I've ever seriously considered dropping out of fandom. I may move on, again, depending on where JKR takes canon, but Snape and Harry will always have a inviolate place in my heart.

Feedback itself is wonderful! I love it when someone takes the time to say they enjoyed one of my stories, or that they didn't understand something in one of them, or just that something I wrote gave them joy. I'm not one of those fan writers that gripes about one line feedback and I reply to each review I get, if they include their email address. I reply because when I first got into HP fandom I sent a lot of feedback to writers and remember how much fun it was to get any sort of acknowledgement back.

I don't mind constructive criticism at all, though of course I prefer it before the story goes 'public' which is why I like having more than one person read it over ahead of time. I've made some stupid boo-boos that should have been easy to catch if I was paying attention.

That said, I don't go out of my way to solicit constructive criticism. There are a few comms out there that offer it, and they frankly, terrify me. I suppose if I had any ideas of going professional, I'd try to tough them out, but why beat yourself over the head over a hobby?

I won't say that feedback isn't important, because of course that's why fan authors bother to post anything, but it certainly isn't the reason I write. I write because I'd go crazy if I couldn't tell *someone* about all the stories in my head! I've asked myself would I keep writing if no one was reading, and I think I would. Again, I was writing stuff long before I started posting any of it, and I still go back and re-read that old stuff--thinking, 'yep, still bad' usually, but sometimes there's a molecule of an idea I can use in another fic.

Feedback doesn't encourage me to write more or faster, A story is done when its done. I'd write more if I had more time but I write pretty slowly so nothing can make me write faster!

As a reader, I'm just as lazy as most readers! I leave feedback when it's easy, and always *mean* to go back and say more. I never offer constructive criticism because I'm too shy. I always think, "Who am *I* to tell this writer what's best?" This is just on stuff I finish--I never finish really dreadful stuff.

Sorry to be so long winded on this one, but feedback was an issue that puzzled me a lot when I got into HP fandom. HP was my first on line fandom so all the rules were different.