Dear Readers,

Welcome everyone to the Writer's Showcase. I hope you will enjoy what you find here and come back week after week.

This week's Featured Writer is the first male writer to be placed in the Writer's Showcase. His name was suggested over and over by many of you, his loyal readers. In his interview we get to see many of his ideas for the growing relationship of Lois and Clark. I, for one, hope he follows through with his ideas and writes them into fanfics.

Now without further ado, I am proud and honored to present this week's first male Featured Writer into the Writer's Showcase ...

Personal Information
Questions

Author name
Jeff Brogden

E-mail addresses
jwbrogden@bigfoot.com

Homepage
http//www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/

Residence
Born in Kansas, now living in Oklahoma List affiliations The Lois and Clark Fanfic List

Lois and Clark or Superman Status

How long have you been watching L&C?
I started watching full time towards the end of the first season. I've never seen the Pilot. I've seen pieces in reruns and things, but I've never seen the whole thing. Originally, I watched SeaQuest. I heard there was a Superman show on, but I didn't get it taped the first night. My wife and I would watch SeaQuest and tape LnC. The we would watch LnC later. When SeaQuest took a nose dive in quality we switched.

How long have you been a fan of Superman?
I've read Superman comic books for as long as I can remember. I have a large collection of 1970's Superman comics. Things were different then. I switched to Spider-Man and Marvel comics in the 80's and haven't gone back. I like the re-write of Superman done by Byrne(?), but I haven't started reading them again. Since we had children, I've abandoned comic books all together - no time.

How long have you been writing?
Since my first story, "Degeneration". Writing is not one of my strong points

How long have you been writing L&C fanfic?
Since the second season episode "That Old Gang of Mine."

What types of Fanfic have you written?
Hmmm. I don't know how to classify them. The first one was to add to an episode. The second one was to dispense some Kansas information. It turned out longer (and WAFFy'er) than I intended. For the last group of stories I've written, I tried to focus more on writing a well-rounded story. A solid A and B plot. I also like to try to do something original and different.

Most recent story posted? Where?
I posted my TUFS episode to the fanfic list a while back. It's a two-parter titled "Then Came You/Two Become One."

Favorite story you have written? Why?
Tough one. My favorite would have to be "Unknown Emotions" for personal reasons. I put a lot of myself into that one. A close second would be "Then Came You/Two Become One." I had so much fun with that. The possibilities were endless.

Current project/projects?
Although I have lots of ideas, I'm not writing. I have no time to dedicate to a project. I posted one of my ideas to the list. I thought it was so good, someone should be able to do something with it. If I ever find the time, I've had several people ask if I was going to do a "virtual" season with my alternate universe characters from my TUFS episode. I definitely had more ideas than space on that story. After seeing what goes into making one of these seasons work - I doubt I have the time. I couldn't do it all myself - that's for sure. We'll have to wait and see if I can talk myself into that kind of torture.

Personal picks of other Fanfics you have read?
I have so many I like. There are two that really stick in my mind, though. Debby Stark's original "Dawning" story and Zoomway's "Cyber Link." I have to go back and re-read these every once in a while.

Interview Questions

As a male, do you see your writing style to be different from a female?
I don't really think so. I started out by basically copying the style of the stories I was reading. I think that I've evolved into my own style now, however. It's similar to several other writers (all female) that I've read and admire. A good A-plot interwoven with a solid B-plot and lots of things like suspense and humor etc. to keep the reader into the story.

What attracted you to writing Fanfic and what about it do you enjoy?
There were three events that occurred at just the right time that lead to me write my first story.
1. I had been reading the Peter Parker clone saga in Marvel comics.
2. I had just discovered Debby Stark's original "Dawning" story. It was the first LnC fanfic I ever read, and I was spell-bound.
3. I was mowing my yard one day (at the time I had a *huge* yard) and was thinking about how wide open the writers left the episode "That Old Gang of Mine."

I was mowing along, and the story just clicked. I wrote it up and sent it out before I had time to think about it. I got some positive feedback and I was hooked.

I enjoy writing because it lets me exercise my creative side more. At work, I do a lot of scientific/engineering type stuff. Coming up with an idea, fleshing it out, thinking about all the ins/outs and plot lines, just makes me feel good. It's a nice break.

What about L&C and the characters do you like the most?
That they are well defined and are easy to relate to. They seem to have this personal relationship that everyone dreams of having - finding your soulmate and experiencing life with them.

How do you interpret them in your work?
I try to make them intelligent, *mature* adults who have to deal with real-life problems as well as the super-related problems only Lois and Clark will have. Real life is not all WAFF's, and I don't want my stories to be all WAFF's either. (Hey! If I have to suffer - so can they! :-)

How did you begin writing in general?
In school, they made us write. -) I like story telling, I just never liked writing. I could never understand the "rules" of English. As far as I could tell, there were no rules. Only guidelines. Everything is very subjective. As a test, I took a paper I got a C on in English my senior year in HS, and turned it in for a freshman level college class. Got an A on it there. I know my written word sucks. It's full of mis-spelled words, grammatical errors, and usage problems. I just have never been able to seem to fix it. LnC fanfic is the first time I've felt like writing since I did my Masters Thesis.

What are you working on now and where do you see it going?
I have no current projects. I'd like to explore (or see someone explore) my idea Clark's superpowers coming at some cost.

Back when the fanfic list exploded over whether Lois should have fallen for Superman first, I wondered what would have happened if Lois would have found out about Clarks "superness" before he had a chance to break out the suit. Somehow, I think that suit blinded her. I don't think she would have fallen for a flying, bomb-eating Clark Kent.

The alternate universe Lois and Clark I started lurks at the back of my brain. It's always there, just under the surface. The time it would require keeps me from pursuing that further.

What is your opinion about the following types of L&C fanfic's?
Action?
I like action. I think it is one of the key components of a great story. WAFFs are fine, but I've read too many of them lately. Done right, the action should enhance the Lois/Clark relationship we all know and love.

Drama?
I've watched a ton of movies and read a ton of books. The ones I remember the most were the ones heavy on the drama. Finding it hard to inject some drama in a story? Just look at real life. Drama gives these fictional characters life.

Humor?
I love humor in a story, but it's hard to write. Humor is subjective. I may find it funny, but other people don't. Also, men and women find different things funny. How to be funny without insulting someone is tough as well. It's a necessary element, especially if you have a lot of heavy emotions playing out in the story. We don't want to wear the reader out!

Round Robin?
I've read a few. They are not one of my favorite kinds of fanfic, however. In the one's I've read, I see a lot of potential. Someone does a good job of setting up a great scene, only to have the person following them go off on another tangent. The edited ones coming across the list lately are better, IMHO. I doubt I could participate in one. I spend too much time thinking and planning to be involved.

Nfic?
I used to read it, but I quit. It got boring. I like it best if it is part of a larger story, where there is more going on than Lois and Clark in a bed (on on the couch, or in a closet or on the kitchen floor, or...) I doubt I will ever write one. I don't think I could open up that much. Plus, I think it would be hard to write something that women would want (or enjoy) to read. Men and women's sexuality are very different things.

Has *everything* been done in your opinion, and if not, what is left?
I doubt everything has been done. No one has explored my idea of Clark's superpowers having some negative impact on his health in some way that I'm aware of. I'm not that well read up on fanfic as of late, but I haven't read a story about Lois and Clark's offspring and how they deal with having superpowers. Do they date? Get married? Do Superhero duty? Do their offspring have superpowers as well? Do the powers become diluted with each generation? What are the ramifications of there being more and more superpowered people? What if one of them went bad? A true supervillian.

What would Superman *really* do if there was another World War? What if some terrorist faction declared war on the U.S. and all U.S. citizens around the world? In this modern world, we can't let ourselves believe that U.S. soil will remain untouched. The Oklahoma City bombing is just an example of the cruelty the human race can stoop to. How does a guy who can lift a space shuttle deal with the human race and our seeming desire to destroy each other?

What if a cult formed, claiming that Superman was Jesus? I remember some talk of this on the general mailing list many moons ago, but I don't remember reading any story about it. What would Clark do, if people started to truly worship him as a religious entity? What would the Christians, Muslims and other religious groups do? Here is this up start religion with a living, breathing god walking around amongst the people of earth. How would they react?

If we follow the continuity of the show, what if other races of beings found out there was a place called Earth where there exists a being of great strength. Kind of like the old gun slingers of the old West, everybeing with a chip on their "shoulder" would drop by to test out the "fast gun." According to the show, other races do exist. What would the people of Earth do, if every alien (to us) in the galaxy came by for a quick fight with the local strong man?

Or take the movie "Independence Day," where an alien race comes in force and tries to take over the Earth for their own purposes. How would Clark handle that? All those massive ships spread out across the world. What's a single man, super or not, to do?

Sooner or later, more people besides Lois, Martha and Jonathan are going to know the secret. People have skirted around with Lois' parents knowing, but as far as I know, no one has actually explored what life would be like after they know. I'll stop now. I don't want to give out all my ideas. -)

What do you think makes the best story?
A creative, original idea, backed by a solid A-plot that is closely tied to the B-plot. I want to experience it, not just read it.

Where is the best place for a reader to locate your work?
The Lois and Clark fanfic archive has most of it as far as I know. I did one story for S5 and a two-parter for TUFS. Supposedly, there will be links from the fanfic archive to the seasons sometime in the future.

Open Forum For Author Comments
I'm not flaming anyone, and I'm not pointing fingers either. I suppose I'm going to regret this, but here goes...

Maybe it's just me (and maybe I shouldn't say anything at all) but I'm not sure how many times I can read about how much Lois loves Clark. Or Clark loves Lois. Or how lucky Lois/Clark is to have Clark/Lois. I've read a *ton* of fanfic that rehashes their feelings for each other over and over again.

The writer relives Lois' and/or Clark's feelings for the other, outlining in great detail how they first fell in love for the other, how they grew to love the other, how Lois' love for Clark snuck up on her or how Clark instantly fell in love with Lois. How Clark has always been there for Lois, even when she was bad to him, or how Lois was always there for Clark, even when he didn't believe in himself.

I know all this already, and I'm sure any fan of Lois and Clark does so as well. I don't want to have to see it again and again in every fanfic I read. I want some action! I want some relationship building, not rehashing what's been built! After awhile, all the fanfic's start to look/read alike. There is nothing to distinguish yours from theirs.

Build something new. Create the unknown. Let me explore your wondrous world that you conceived, and discover the hidden joys you have placed there for me to cherish. I've watched the show, and wrestled every last bit of information and emotion I could out of it. Now, take me to the next level.

Now that I've made three-quarters of you mad, please be civil. -)

Thanks to everyone who has sent me some feedback. You're the ones that keep me writing. Just when I think I can't do it anymore, I read a note from someone that makes me feel better. Again, thanks.