Lois & Clark Nfic Archive Interview with Phil Atcliffe

Interviews by Fans
Title:	Lois & Clark Nfic Archive Interview with Phil Atcliffe
Interviewer:
Interviewee:	Phil Atcliffe
Date(s):	1998 or 1999
Medium:	online
Fandom(s):	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
External Links:	full interview is here, Archived version
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In 1998 or 1999, Phil Atcliffe was interviewed for Lois & Clark Nfic Archive.

Some Excerpts

[What attracted you to writing fanfic, and what about it do you enjoy?] The answer to both halves of the question is the chance to make the characters, and any others that I might decide to include, do what I want them to do. To tell L&C stories *my* way, rather than have to put up with what TPTB supply. This is not to put the pros down -- after all, they did give us the series (although I could cite ABC's interference, and especially the Argh, in counter-argument) -- but fanfic allows me to explore aspects of the characters and their world that they would never even *think* of, much less consider as suitable material for a prime-time television show.

Nfic? I regard it on more-or-less the same basis as I do any other type of fanfic -- if the writing is good and the story fits into my concept of the L&C premise, then the fact that it deals with "adult" situations is irrelevant -- or, hopefully, fun, and can add something to the work. L&C the series dealt with the relationship between two mature (or at least maturing) adults who gradually became closer and closer to one another, eventually marrying; given that (and the fact that the characters look like Teri and Dean! <g>), to ignore the physical side of the relationship would be silly, and totally unrealistic. The December 3rd people should be commended for putting in as much "steam" as they did, given that they were making a "family" show for a network. A little more wouldn't have hurt though.... <g> With this in mind, nfic can be appropriate as one method of exploring the interaction between L&C, particularly at the point in their relationship at which the series ended. In addition, nfic stories can have a stronger impact than "ordinary" fanfics (*is* there such a thing? <g>), because emotions can be depicted with a greater intensity. The fact is, men and women in their late twenties and early thirties are sexual beings, and their lives can (will!) be strongly affected by that. And, I admit it, I enjoy reading sexy WAFFs as much or more than "chaste" ones, even if that's all there is to the story.

[As a male, do you see your writing style to be different from a female?] If I don't, I suspect that other people do.... <g> Actually, I do think that I approach certain things in a different manner to the majority of L&C authors, and it may have something to do with being male -- or it may just be me! Certainly, I think I have a different slant on Clark's character than do women authors; possibly on Lois, too, but I'm not so sure about that.

My Clark is more active than many (I think), less likely to just sit there and take whatever life (and Lois) dishes out. In addition, as a long-time comics fan, I tend to have a strong sense of what Clark's super-powers enable him to do, and I work with and around that rather than adjust his abilities to meet the "needs" of the story. (Which was one problem with the series -- a man who can fly to Switzerland or Japan and back in five seconds will *not* have trouble getting across town, or even to central Europe, in half a minute!)

Any other quirks that readers may detect are more likely to have to do with me as a person rather than merely(?) because I'm male -- if, that is, there are aspects of me that are not influenced by my gender. I neither know nor care about that.