Her fanfic ambitions started in a notebook years ago and we're lucky she's moved on to sharing her work with us online! Meet this week's author PiecesOfScully. A wonderful author with a growing body of work, she's also the other half of @txf-fic-chicks which is a great site that will help feed your fic fix. But before you go digging through their site to find fanfics past, read through PiecesOfScully's current body of work. I promise, it's well worth your time.
"Ravenous" is a brand new story, published just this week, and a dark case file that’s anything but a nice trip to the forest. Mulder and Scully wrap up one terrible case only to find themselves dragged into another urban legend that isn’t legendary at all. It’s suspenseful, and terrifying at parts. Let’s just say, as I was reading very late at night, I really didn’t appreciate my neighbor making a sudden noise while taking the recycling out. And I would guess they wondered what I was screaming at. There’s also some adult content so keep that in mind if you were thinking about reading on your lunch break at work.
If all someone has to do is say "Maggie" to make your eyes misty, the lovely "The Art of Grieving" will have you diving for a box of tissues. It's a heartfelt look at how Scully is grieving the loss of her mother and the first-person POV makes me feel like I got a look at the pages of a journal.
If you want something with a delightfully evil plot-twist that will make you want to throw something across the room, check out "That Which Cannot Be Undone." One of the tags for it on AO3 says "I know I hate me too for writing this" but sometimes you just need a good read that makes you howl “noooooooo!”
We talked with PiecesofScully about writing, The X-Files, and inspiration.
How long have you been a Phile?
Since 1998. I'd seen the show before that, but I didn't really get crazily involved until FTF came out. I was absolutely hooked (read: obsessed) after that.
What was your first episode?
Season 2's “Die Hand Die Verletzt”. My parents weren't huge on watching TV, so I tricked my babysitter into letting me watch. That was a bad move, because at 11, it freaked me the hell out. I had nightmares. I didn't watch it again until FTF.
How long have you been writing fic?
Since 1998. It started with writing in notebooks. I always carried one with me wherever I went, so that I could write fic. I actually still have some of my old notebooks packed away in storage. I didn't 'publish' anything online until a few years later on LiveJournal. I ran a fic LJ with a friend (we met on LJ over our love/hate for “Never Again”) where we posted our own writing. Sadly, we can't find that old livejournal anymore. It would be fun to read what we'd written 10+ years ago.
What inspired you to start writing?
The same thing that probably inspired hundreds of other XF fanfic writers: The UST between Mulder and Scully, and the desire to have them together romantically. Chris Carter was taking too long.
Who is your favorite XF character to write?
Scully seems to be the easiest character for me to write. It's easier for me to get inside of her head and dig through all of the stuff that makes her 'her.' One that I'd love to dip into is Marita Covarrubias. I find her character fascinating and would love to take on the challenge of writing from her POV, to flesh her out a bit more.
Are there any XF characters you dislike or find too difficult to write?
I wrote a drabble for @2momsmakearight 's X-Files Revisted challenge from Diana's POV. I'm not normally a fan of her character, and I hated myself the entire time I was writing it.
Is there a story you're most proud of or that's a favorite?
My favorite is “Ravenous.” I write short horror stories as well as MSR fanfiction, so it was a lot of fun to blend the two for that story. I'm most proud of “Missing Scene from The Truth.” It deals with some seriously heavy emotions, and I had to go to some dark places mentally to write it and do it justice. It was incredibly challenging, but I'm really happy with the outcome.
Where can people find your work, and what's the best way to send feedback?
Everything I've written recently can be found on my tumblr, and I'm still working on getting everything published to my Ao3 account. About 75% of my writing has been posted there, I'm just being lazy about posting the remaining 25%. I'm happy to receive feedback via Tumblr or Ao3. Seriously, feedback makes the world go 'round for us writers.
Do you take fic prompts from fans?
Always. More than half of my drabbles were written in response to a fic prompt.
Have you written your own original characters outside of fandom?
Yes, and they can be the most fun to write! As I said earlier, I also write short horror stories and each one is full of original characters created by me. “Ravenous” is the first fic, however, that I've written and posted that included original characters.
Anything you’d like to share about your writing process?
It goes like this: Map/outline, happily and eagerly start writing because omg this is gonna be great, randomly hit a rut and skip ahead, come back later to find I hate half of what I've written, delete said half, write some more, decide what I'm writing is complete crap and threaten to throw laptop and delete the story forever, muster through it anyways and finish it, send to beta and pray for positive feedback, make changes according to beta, and feel immense relief when I post. It's a roller coaster.
Do you have a favorite author? (fanfic or published!)
Published:
Stephen King and Jodi Picoult.
Fanfic:
Prufrock's Love, Dasha K., and Syntax6. They could write about Mulder and Scully watching paint dry and I'd probably love it.
Is there any advice you'd give to aspiring writers?
Look. There are definitely going to be times that you think what you've written sucks, but it doesn't. EVERYONE has room for improvement, and the best way to improve is to know the show and characters, find a good beta that you can trust, and keep. on. writing.
Anything else you'd like to share that I missed?
I know @kateyes224 mentioned this, but I'm going to as well. Together, we run @Txf-Fic-Chicks which is a blog geared towards bringing back the amazing pieces of fic that have either been forgotten about, hard to find, or buried. We personally read each and every fic that we recommend. We have been called “the Netflix of fanfiction” so take a look. Browse our categories. I'm positive we will have something there to satisfy your fic cravings.
Thank you to PiecesOfScully for talking with us! Now get reading and be sure to send feedback when you’re done.