Don't you just love these? I do. This is from the third edition of the newsletter in December 2006.

 

For those of you who don't know Vlista, or Vance, is one of our oldest Hosted Authors. He has been 'away' for a while and I miss him. So, here is a little insight into Vlista as an author and a person as well.

 

Member Interview-Vlista

 

GA: Hi Vance!

 

Vance: Hi GA! How are you?

 

GA: Great, how are you?

 

Vance: Not too bad!

 

GA: Ready to be interviewed?

 

Vance: Yep I think so! I was so excited and now I’m just all nervous.

 

GA: Lol! Don't worry; it's just like any other MSN chat, which hundreds of people will be reading.

 

Vance: Okay

 

GA: So, how did you get started writing?

 

Vance: Well, I don't remember exactly I just remember always doing it. It was just always something I loved to do.

 

GA: When did you start putting your stories online?

 

Vance: I put Shane online the end of July in 2005, I posted it all at once, and I remember the day because I had to go to a party the next day and I didn't want to leave because I was getting fan mail and didn't want to wait all day to read more.

 

GA: Fan mail so fast! Wow! Was that on Nifty?

 

Vance: Yes, I was all set to post Tyler at another site about six months earlier, but I chickened out. So when I did Shane I just closed my eyes and hit send before I could back out.

 

GA: I was sure I'd read Shane before it appeared on GA... Glad to see my memory was right for once, LoL. Was Tyler your first story?

 

Vance: No I actually wrote Shane before I wrote Tyler.

 

GA: I've heard a rumor that you don't begin posting a story until it is finished. Is that true for "Unbreakable Faith"?

 

Vance: Yes, I wrote Unbreakable faith a year and a half ago. I broke my rule with Cameron when I got hosted at GA because I wanted to be posting something and it just solidified the fact that I don't want to post a story unless it's finished.

 

GA: Does this mean that you are now writing, or have written, your next story to appear on GA?

 

Vance: I am now writing it, I have a lot of stories that are half written but I couldn't really get into working on them, so I started a new one.

 

GA: Any chance of some inside info? Maybe a title? <Hopeful look>

 

Vance: Well you know me and my titles! Right now, it’s named 'Matt' after its main character. But once Sharon, my editor, reads it I'm sure we'll come up with a more suitable title.

 

GA: I like your titles, so I'm not complaining! LoL! That sounds great! Many people have noticed some underlying themes in your stories: Overcoming adversity, and hope, and second chances. Did you set out with these as themes?

 

Vance: That's just what I write about, I like to take bad situations and make things better. That's just what I always get inspiration for. It may sound weird but I don't sit and try to think up a story. They come on their own, hit at the strangest moments and I just write them.

 

GA: Do you sometimes get "stuck" at a point in a story, and have to think about it before figuring out how to continue?

 

Vance: No usually I have it all planned before I even start, most times a long sleepless night! Some stories I just fizzle out half way through like the inspiration just left which is why I have like 30 half written stories

 

GA: Do you use written outlines, or do you just go by memory?

 

Vance: I don't have an official outline, but I have a notebook I take with me most places when I'm in the middle of story because I'll be thinking about it and think 'ohh that's a perfect line for that character' or 'oh I need to remember to put in this scene' Because even though I have the basics down there's lots of little scenes that I come up with when I'm not at my computer.

 

GA: That sounds like a great technique! Do you have any others that you could suggest for writers?

 

Vance: Well one that I always use is having a list of characters. It's okay when you start out with two, but then you have their friends, and their families and it's way easier to look at a page with all the characters on it then to scroll back through the story trying to find what you named someone's father.

 

GA: That is a great idea! Do you have any regrets with any of your stories, such as "Oh, I wish I had have done that differently"?

 

Vance: I don't know if I regret anything I wrote into a story. But I can say that I didn't like the story Cameron, had I not already been posting it I never would have finished it. I haven't even gone back and read it since I finished it.

 

GA: You didn't like Cameron? If anyone else said that, I think your fans would lynch them! LoL! I'm sure glad you posted it, because I liked it, a lot. What didn’t you like about it?

 

Vance: I don't know, I was all into it for the first 10 chapters, then it just fizzled out. I lost interest and it was like homework getting a chapter written every week. I can't really pinpoint what I didn't like about it.

 

GA: Which of your posted stories is your personal favorite?

 

Vance: Shane with Unbreakable Faith coming in second.

 

GA: Shane is definitely a classic; it is very well known on the 'net. I might be biased, though, because it is my favorite too. When you first posted it, did you have any idea that it would be such a hit?

 

Vance: I had no idea at all. It was the first story I posted and I didn't even know if anyone would like my writing. It's funny though, because everyone says Shane is their favorite, but I got more fan mail for Tyler.

 

GA: Vance, just between you, me, and the internet, what would you like to tell us about yourself and your life?

 

Vance: That I am very happily, if not legally, married to the best guy in the world, I have wonderful cat, that can be seen in my profile and I have a job that I love most of the time. So basically I want to say that I have a pretty darn good life!

 

GA: That is great! Is there anything else you would like to talk about, or be asked?

 

Vance: Nope I can't think of anything.

 

GA: Vance, thank you very much for doing this interview!

 

interviewed by C James

 

There ya go... hope you enjoyed it. So, now, go Read! Write! Review! and Happy Writing!

 

btw... is winter screwing spring cause we're getting funky weather here....