Valkyrista

Author's Stories

Name: Elizabeth Cochran
Age: Old enough to know better
Gender: Female
Relationship Status: Exquisitely happily married to my own perfect Elf (he shows up in my fics from time to time under his Elf-name)
Home: Georgia (originally---Always a Georgia Girl no matter where I actually live)
Occupation: Health Care Quality Management
Hobbies: Reading, writing, music, cross-stitch, cooking (I am a Goddess in the kitchen), dancing
Dislikes: Hard to decide
Seen LOTR/TTT/ROTK in cinema how often?: Actually in the theater? FOTR (0), TTT (1), ROTK (2). In the home theater extended editions? Too many times to count.

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Author's website/DJ/LJ: I have a LJ account that I’ve visited exactly once.

Favorite Story in Archive: Haven’t read them all yet, so I don’t know. I would say one of mine ...

Favorite Character (real / fictional): Glorfindel – my childhood hero who kept the monsters in the closet and under the bed, and protected me when I had to go into dark places alone.

Most Hated Character: I’ve known so many. Hated as in badly done or as in despicable?

Favorite Movie: Silence of the Lambs, Hunt for Red October, Kenneth Brannagh’s Henry V, Saving Private Ryan, The Usual Suspects, Zoolander ... oh, too many to mention

Favorite Book: Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass

How did you come to fan-fiction writing? I’ve written all of my life. I started writing ST fiction for a friend to read (as far as fan-fiction goes). Then, as I saw something that piqued my interest, I would sometimes find myself making up stories about it, even as a kid, when we played games. We never just played house; we had entire dramas built around our favorite books, movies or TV shows. It just kinda grew from there

How do you come up with ideas for stories? The character(s) just come to me and say, „This is what happened to me; write this down.“ Usually, I just find a situation and speculate on it; then a character sometimes starts telling me the story.

What do you do to overcome writer's block? Nothing much; seldom have it. Sometimes I discuss my sticking point with my husband or my friend (who’s been reading my stuff since I started writing). I only write when I’m inspired. If I lose inspiration, I put it down and only go back to it if I regain my inspiration.

Have you written in any other fandom? If yes, where can your stories be found? Yes, but they can only be found in my own collection at home. These are the first ones I’ve published on the web.

Do you use music as a soundtrack for your writing? If yes, what kind? Yes, usually to block out other noise. It depends on what I’m writing. I use a lot of dance/electronica/trip-hop/house/classical and my favorite---Pink Floyd.

Is there a certain time of day you usually sit down to write? Whenever the mood strikes.

Have you or would you write stories "on request" for readers? Yep. Doing so now, as a matter of fact.

Which of your own stories do you like best? In the Tolkien genre? Blessed by the Valar. It started out as a fluffy piece on a dare from a friend and has evolved into what I think is pretty darn good, even if it is a Mary Sue of sorts. Lord knows, I tried to make my OFC imperfect. In fact, she’s a character I’ve used in other fiction. And, to be honest, I wouldn’t have put her with Legolas if it hadn’t been requested (if you read the story, you’ll figure out who she should’ve been with). But even now, I read parts of it and think, man, this is pretty good in places.

Do you have muses who help you with your stories? If yes, who are they? If it’s fanfiction, then usually the characters themselves. For OC’s it may be anything: a picture, an actor/actress, someone I know personally.

What do you think is your trademark in stories and why? Well, I seem to do smut really well, though I get really tired of it sometimes. I also am pretty good at suspense (according to some of the other original fic that I write). As for a trademark, I have no idea. Someone reviewed some of my stories once and said they always had to dig out a dictionary when they read my work because I use unfamiliar words sometimes---I make them learn something with each story. That made me feel good.

What part of your writing do you think still needs improvement? I have trouble describing some kinds of action. I get impatient with the story sometimes. Frankly, I’m my own worst critic and think everything can be improved.

Is there something you would never write? I don’t see me doing much slash because I don’t feel I do it well and couldn’t do it justice. If you read my stories, I seldom shy away from any topic; I’m pretty open to almost anything. I would never write child-porn or depict pedophilia from a prurient point or as a valid lifestyle choice. However, it could be used in some cases to depict depravity and inhumanity---never as a good thing. Same thing for beastiality. I like animals too much.

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