The Interview!

 I had the opportunity to conduct an email interview with author, D.L. White. She is the author of several books and the site manager of a fanfiction website for the *NSYNC fandom. She works as an executive assistant for a global beverage brand. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interpersonal Communication Studies from Eastern Washington University. She also minored in teaching English as a second or foreign language. She has published over ten books centering around Black literature since her debut in 2015. And she was kind and gracious enough to give up some of her time for me. 

She is an independent author, meaning she does not use an agent to publish her work. She makes all the decisions when it comes to her books and her writing. 

 

For more information or to purchase a book from her, visit her website Books By D.L.White.

 

 

Q: How did you get started writing? When did it evolve into published works?

A: I've always been a writer. I was writing in elementary school when we had to do spelling words and use them in a sentence. To make the assignments more interesting, I would join my sentences together into a story. My teacher seemed to be entertained, and my mother also really liked it, so I kept doing it because I was a people pleaser. I moved on to fanfiction work after I started reading some fanfiction, and I started to get ideas. In 2008, I started writing fanfiction stories, and then around 2011, I got the idea for my debut novel, which was loosely inspired by my real life: a brunch group of ladies from different backgrounds and walks of life. We would get together once a month and commiserate and laugh together and help solve each other's problems. In 2015, I finished and self-published my debut novel, Brunch at Ruby's.


Q:  There are many folks out there who think fanfiction should not be considered literature. They believe it offers no value to literacy skills. How do you feel about that?

A: There are a number of agents and published authors that started out in fanfiction. I think there's a level of fanfiction that is basically fantasy. It's pure fun. But there's also a level of fanfiction that I would almost rather read than whatever Random House or Penguin or Simon and Schuster is putting out. There's an expectation for readers of fanfiction that you get deep into character and deep into the story and deep into the world that you are building that makes readers fall in love with those words. Those are the fanfiction authors and works that actually get bought and turned into commercial fiction. If those writers weren't that good, you would never see people pull their One Direction or Backstreet Boys or whatever fiction and turn it into books that can sell.

Q: What is your writing process? In what ways does it differ from when you're writing fanfiction compared to when you're writing publishable work?

A: Whether I'm writing fanfiction or commercial fiction, the process is the same. I usually get an idea that's based around a character or a situation, and I just jump in with both feet. There are a couple of questions I need to answer before I can start writing: I need to know how I want to end, not exactly, but I need to know what my end goal is. I need to know who these people are and why anybody cares about them. What do they want and why can't they have it? What are the obstacles to them getting what they want? And how am I going to solve that issue? I write until I hit a wall, then I pull back and start planning how to get to my end goal.

Q:  In my research, I have found many people think fanfiction is "low-brow". What are your feelings on that?

A: I think it can be low-brow. On purpose.  I think it can be pure entertainment and fantasy. I think it can also be important work that mirrors real life and shows people a reflection of themselves that maybe they don't want to see. Fanfic answers the question 'what if???' What if it didn't end that way? What if it didn't start there? What if these two had met... or never met? There's an existential question that gets answered in fanfic and I never think that is lowbrow.

Q: Have you ever published any of your fan fiction stories?

A: Yes, I have turned several of my works into commercial fiction. And I'll tell you -- UNficcing a work is harder than just writing a brand new book. You have to recreate so much about the world your characters live in so that a general audience understands them. Backstory, lore, canon... you have to recreate ALL of that. Easier to start from scratch.

11. What authors/books/stories inspire you?

A: I love Maya Angelou, Terry McMillan, Tayari Jones, as well as some really great independent authors like Delaney Diamond, Sharon C Cooper, Tasha L. Harrison, Stephanie Nicole Norris, Jacinta Howard, Nia Forrester. The list goes on and on and on!

Q: What led you to start your own fanfiction website?

A: The *NSYNC fiction website is actually a site that I took over from a good friend of mine. Her life kind of fell apart, and she wasn't going to be able to run the site, and my works have come to mean a lot to me. I didn't want to see it disappear, so I took it over.. it runs itself and at this point is a cultural artifact for NSYNC fandom. So many fans have given their personal POV on situations involving the group like almost losing their name or winning aawards or the public struggles of certain members. I needed to preserve that, so I make sure it stays up and encourages people to write or continue the stories that they have started.

 

Thank you D.L. White for taking the time to answer some questions about fanfiction, and writing! She was a wealth of knowledge and it was a pleasure getting to know her process. Check out her fanfiction site here!  

 

 Coming next: Writing your own fanfiction story: a how-to guide.