PlaceToHide.net Interview with Bethany
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | PlaceToHide.net Interview with Bethany |
| Interviewer: | Bethany |
| Interviewee: | Bethany |
| Date(s): | December 1, 2013 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | Hanson |
| External Links: | December 2013 Author: Bethany – Spotlights, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
In 2013, Bethany was interviewed by Bethany for the spotlights section of her website PlaceToHide.net.
See others in the series at PlaceToHide.net Interview Series.
Some Excerpts
Why did you start writing hanfic? How long have you been writing?
Oh man. This is going to be a long and convoluted answer. The thing is, I’ve come and gone from the Hanson fandom a lot. Of course I liked them in 1997 – what ten year old girl didn’t? But it wasn’t “cool” to be a Hanson fan, so I threw myself headfirst into the Backstreet Boys fandom instead. Not long after we got the internet in 1998, I discovered Backstreet Boys fanfic. At first it was a little weird to me, but then I found some stories I really liked. I’d always loved writing, so it seemed logical to write my own. I wasn’t great, because what twelve year old is? I got frustrated with the whole fanfic scene around the same time that I started to tire of the Backstreet Boys…
…which just so happened to be in 2000, when Hanson returned to my life. Their music was darker, angstier, and so much more inspiring to write about. I still wasn’t very good, although not too shabby for a fourteen year old. But the fandom was so cliquey and all the writers were older than me (or so it seemed) and way, way better. By 2002 or 2003, I had pretty much abandoned hanfic, although I lingered on the fringes of the fandom until 2006.
Then it gets cliche. Life got in the way and Hanson got harder to follow. I downloaded a few songs from The Walk but they didn’t grab me right away (no, I still don’t understand why not). It wasn’t until early 2009 I stumbled upon news of Tinted Windows, the MMMCock scandal and various references to something called a “walk” that I bothered to give the guys another shot. It took one viewing of All This Love Crap for me to be sucked back in.
I didn’t get back into hanfic until that summer. I’d found the few communities for it on LiveJournal, because I’d dipped my toes into other fandoms there over the years, and followed the trail from a friend’s old site to Brittney’s domain, AloneInThePretense.org. I had been posting some writing, including a short story I’d been trying to finish since 2007, on a website a friend was hosting for me for free, and at some point the reason why I couldn’t finish it just clicked – it was hanfic! I was writing about the same Bonnie and Clyde characters I’d written three drafts about way back in 2001 and 2002. Once I made a few edits and posted the Hansonified version on LJ, I was back… and I haven’t left since.
Favorite songs to listen to while you write or which inspire your writing?
I’m constantly listening to and getting inspired by music. I tend to get fixated on certain artists and albums and play them over and over. Right now, it’s JT and the 20/20 Experience. Before that, it was the entire Fall Out Boy discography. Often it’s Damien Rice, Rufus Wainwright, Delta Rae, Vienna Teng… soft, pretty music I can play in the background and kind of ignore. For some reason, I had Darren Hayes’ Secret Codes and Battleships on repeat for most of the time I wrote Audience of One. Other artists who I find really inspiring or who just make good writing music: Florence + The Machine, Ryan Adams, Tool, Adele, The Civil Wars, Mumford and Sons, Fleetwood Mac, Jason Mraz, Mika, The Hush Sound, Kings of Leon, Matchbox Twenty, Meiko, Michelle Branch, Placebo, and Silverchair.
….I have very varied tastes.
I really don’t listen to a lot of Hanson while I write, unless I get stuck on a particularly inspiring song. However, my iTunes thinks it’s hilarious to shuffle to Back To The Island while I’m writing sex scenes!