The House/Cameron Author Interview Series resumes today with jovsg's interview with enchanted_april

enchanted_april's writings are "fanlit" because fanfic doesn't begin to describe her accomplishments for our 'ship. The author of "Saints & Saviors" and "Stay," she is known for remaining true to the essence of the characters of House and Cameron and for writing realistic long works that deeply examine the dynamic between House and Cameron. Her stories invariably include details that make the settings and situations real. Furthermore, she is an inspiration to many of us -- readers, artists, and authors.







Jovsg:

First off, thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview and being here. You are one of the earliest and most prolific House/Cameron authors since the beginning of the show, and so it’s wonderful to have you here and to get your insight on the show and the pairing. And on a personal note, you’ve been an inspiration to me in many ways since I met you through the fandom, so I’m extremely proud to be conducting this interview.

A little background before we get to the H/C nitty gritty. When did you start watching House, and do you recall what about it hooked you enough to continue watching and even to get involved with fandom?

Enchanted_april:

I saw the very first episode because I have loved Hugh Laurie for years, having practically grown up watching him on Jeeves and Wooster (okay, maybe not “grown up” since I believe I was in jr. high/high school). However, after that first episode, I became a more sporadic watcher. I was busy at work and in life and was easily distracted. Then I watched a few more episodes, saw a little something brewing between House and Cameron and went to the FOX site to see what they had up there. From there I stumbled upon the message board where I found a link to this group!

Jovsg:

Did you ‘ship the House/Cameron pairing right off the bat when you began watching, or did it take some time for the pairing to sink in?

Enchanted_April:

I did not ship them immediately, but it was the reason I started watching the show on a regular basis again. By the time Cameron quit, I was hooked.

Jovsg:

What about this specific pairing captured your imagination and caused you to ship them? What aspects of them (either individually or apart) lead you to believe they belong together?

Enchanted_April:

There’s a lot there to work with, actually. I’ve always felt that House had a certain vulnerability to him, and I’ve always seen a core of strength in Cameron, so I think that’s what works as the basis for my belief that they could work well together. There is so much about them that is alike, but the way they handle things - perhaps because of their histories - is different.

I feel as if they compliment each other well. House can be brash and rude and pretend not to care about anyone or anything, while Cameron can be overly polite (to the point of letting herself get walked on in the beginning), and too empathetic. However, when it comes right down to it, I think that they both care deeply about their patients and the people around them, they’re intelligent, they’ve clearly been hurt by things in their pasts, and they’re so obviously looking for something solid in the world.

Jovsg:

What do you see when you look at House the man as he’s been presented to us? What, to you, lies beneath the surface of what we’re shown? Likewise, for Cameron, what do you see in her beyond the portrait that’s been painted by the show so far?

Enchanted_April:

House is presented as a stubborn, medical genius and smart-ass with only slight hints of his vulnerability. Beneath the mask we are shown, I can see a man who was damaged long before his infarction, and a man who is still looking for the acceptance and love that he was denied, to some extent, as a child. Of course he would never admit any of that. Even on the show we’ve been given glimpses of his more human side - he was awkward before his date with Cameron, moved to actually argue with the first patient we saw, still a boy when faced with his father, and still searching for some real meaning in his life, which I think we saw a bit of during his manic and admittedly irritating behavior during the Stacy arc.

Cameron hasn’t been given much back story beyond the tragedy of her marriage, but unlike House, I think that episode in her life is only part of what shaped her personality. She’s portrayed as serious, maybe a little mousey in the beginning, and slowly growing into a woman almost as stubborn as House. Honestly, despite the fact that I’d love to see more of her, I think she’s already been given more character development than any of the other fellows. What I don’t think we see, although it’s been coming through more lately, is her strength.

Jovsg:

A lot of people take pains to highlight the yin and yang nature of their personalities, and indeed, they are different people in so many ways. Do you see any similarities between the two that bring them on par with one another emotionally?

Enchanted_April:

I said earlier that I think that they are a lot alike, and actually I think that when it comes right down to it, they’re more alike than they are different. They’re cautious with their emotions (witness Cameron shyly giving House a Christmas present, or House worrying about a corsage), they’re stubborn, they’re keenly intelligent, and when it comes right down to it, they both believe better in their fellow man than they might like to admit. House may make it all about the puzzle because he’s so determined to keep up his cynical beliefs in human nature, but we’ve seen him gentle with patients and clearly affected by them.

Jovsg:

Moving along to your writing. Many of your stories, especially the multi-chapter ones, give particular care to Cameron’s development and point of view. You write her so, so well. What are aspects of her with which you identify? And what aspects of her have you tried to draw into your own fic writing that the show might not have explored yet?

Enchanted_April:

I make no secret of the fact that I love Cameron. I think she’s an amazing character, and sadly underutilized in the actual show. I’m not sure why, but I feel like I can see inside of her. I feel like I can hear her saying the words I write for her (I guess that goes without saying, or I wouldn’t write them!) and all of her mannerisms seem like second nature to me. I suppose that part of my own personality is that quiet, eager-to-please side of her, and yet I’m no pushover, and when it comes right down to it, neither is she. I’ve tried to bring that out more in my stories, having her take the lead sometimes, not having her always waiting around for him, not having her be afraid to upset him.

Jovsg:

One of my favorite things about your fics is that you write amazingly romantic and haunting House/Cameron story progressions without straying from the essence of their characters and their true natures that have been established in canon. Is this something that you pay particular attention to as you’re writing, or is it a balance that comes naturally to you?

Enchanted_April:

Writing their romance and life together in various stories comes very naturally to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve written a lot of other stuff (fanfic and original) and maybe it’s the voracious reader in me, and maybe it’s just that I’m older - 36 - and have a lot of life experiences to draw from. I KNOW that life doesn’t end in a fairy tale. I KNOW that all sex doesn’t end in multiple orgasms and falling asleep wrapped together. I KNOW that things like engagements, marriage and babies don’t ‘just happen’, they’re things that people work for and then work ON once they have them.

As far as working House and Cameron’s individual personalities into the realities I create for them, that also seems to come fairly naturally, but I definitely stop and think about what I’m writing as I write it. I hear and see them as I’m typing, and if something seems out of character, I quickly delete it. There are actually a couple of places where I wish I’d made deletions, but luckily most readers have been happy.

I think that hearing that I’ve achieved “realism” for them (as much as is possible!) is the best comment I ever get on my stories.

Jovsg:

What is your writing process usually like for a fic from beginning to end? What types of stories and ideas do you draw inspiration from?

Enchanted_April:

Every story is a little different, but from the first, I have always had an outline or rough sketch of where I wanted the story to go. Not having that is simply a bad idea, I think. The only story I didn’t have an outline for was “Everybody Lies”. I did have an outline for the beginning chapters, but after House and Cameron were back together (after their first big fight) I felt my main plot was done and I just wrote extra chapters to show “slice of life” pictures of their relationship and as a fun outlet to write some smut. A good story needs to have a beginning, middle, and end, and knowing what your ending is, is invaluable for knowing how to write the rest of the story. It’s possible to just keep writing and keep having things happen to them, but after a while, that’s exactly what it feels like - “things happening to them” like a soap opera, and not them living their lives in a natural manner. That’s one reason why I never wrote a sequel to "Beneath the Surface." With "Saints and Saviors" I wanted to show them coming together in a relationship that was realistic despite the somewhat unrealistic beginning - basically, I wanted to write a “hurt/comfort“ story that was real and not overly-dramatic. "Beneath the Surface" was where I wanted to show that their relationship was solidifying and at the same time delve into their pasts a bit more. I left them on solid ground, and it felt good. Writing a marriage story or a baby story as a sequel to that just wouldn’t have felt right to me.

Jovsg:

One of the hallmarks of your writing and fics are the little details throughout. You are undoubtedly amazing in the way you incorporate little details into the fanfic that gives it a sense of place -- that arouses our senses. It really fills out the writing and makes it unique from most people's work. Can you discuss that a bit? Is it something you set out to do in your work and how do you balance between the details and the greater story scope?

Enchanted_April:

I definitely set out to make my stories very detailed and realistic. I want them to read more like real novels - or at least novellas - and less like stereotypical fanfic. Too many times I see stories (mainly on ff.net) where chapters are 500-1000 words long, and the entire story (including requisite marriage and kids) is over in ten chapters. Yes, getting to the end and finishing a story is great, but you need to enjoy the experience and let your readers enjoy it along with you. I want to write something that I would enjoy reading if I found it in the library - and being an English major, I’m pretty picky!

Again, I think that my age is a real asset. I can write realistically about things as varied as hospital stays, cooking a meal, moving, art exhibit openings and how it feels to have the summer breeze ruffling the edge of your skirt.

I also think that my readers help me to make things realistic, by making me want to be a better writer. I want to satisfy them, and make it so that they can lose themselves in my stories without having the cognitive dissonance that might come from me having House and Cameron visiting places in Atlantic City that don’t exist, or Cameron recovering from a gunshot wound in a day or a miscarriage in a week.

Jovsg:

Do you do any research while writing a fic, either by watching a whole lotta House or by accessing Wikipedia or anything else?

Enchanted_April:

I think I watch less House than most authors! I watch the first-run episodes, but although I own seasons one and two on DVD, I have only watched season one (mainly because I was getting my husband (boyfriend at the time) into it and because I’d missed some episodes. I’m more likely to do research about medical details, the Princeton environs and motorcycle maintenance. I looked for pictures of the courthouse in “Saints and Saviors," went to the Atlantic City webpage to research for their weekend away in that same story, and scoured Princeton campus maps for the location of the BodyWorlds exhibit in “Third Date”. Heck, I even checked flight times for their trip out to visit Cameron’s family. I guess that’s all part of keeping things realistic.

Jovsg:

How has writing and posting (and receiving feedback on) fic impacted your life? And reversely, how have you used some of the difficulties you have faced over the years (and Andi, you are free to discuss this in as little or great a detail as you’re comfortable) as fuel for the fics you’ve written?

Enchanted_April:

The feedback from my readers has been a tremendous comfort/happiness/solace in my life, and that is not an exaggeration. As a lot of my readers know, I’ve gone through a LOT during the time I’ve been writing House/Cameron fic - lupus diagnosis, hospitalization, engagement, surgery, marriage and now fertility issues - and I have to say that reading people’s comments have kept me focused at times when my thoughts would wander to negative things, and have made me feel warm and cozy when going through the most joyous times in my life.

As far as my life affecting my stories, it certainly has! From things as small as what I’ve made for dinner that night, to things as large the feelings my husband and I go through as we struggle with my current infertility, it all affects my writing. I almost think it would be impossible for my life not to influence what I write, at least to some extent.

Jovsg:

What are your literary roots and authors/genres that you particularly enjoy?

Enchanted_April:

I’ve always been a big reader - according to my parents, I started reading at age two, and since I can’t remember learning how, or ever not knowing how, I’m inclined to believe them! I wrote a lot from a young age (2nd or 3rd grade I think) and after high school, went on to be an English major in college.

Early on, my favorite books were “The Secret Garden” and “Anne of Green Gables”. Shakespeare’s plays were also favorites, and I credit the book “Ballet Shoes” and the others in that series for inspiring that love. Those books deal with children in the theater business in WWII era England, and even have bits of the plays excerpted within them which definitely spurred me on to read the complete plays! As I grew older I fell in love with Agatha Christie mysteries and then other mystery novels and of course the classics from Dickens, Jane Austen, the Brontes and other British novelists. Strangely I never cared for American lit! Currently, I haven’t been reading as much as I used to, but recent books I’ve enjoyed are “The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova, the Irene Adler mysteries by Carole Nelson Douglas, and, for fun, the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. My sister gave me a few in a gift bag of presents the day before my wedding and I finished one on the train ride down to Williamsburg and another on the trip back. Then I went to the store and bought all the rest! I admit that I usually make a point of not reading anything too heavy or depressing. I read enough of the serious stuff in college, and now I only read for pleasure.

Jovsg:

And lastly ... for a couple of quick-answer H/C questions. I haven’t seen this done in the past interviews, but I thought it would be fun to do a quick, lightning-round type finish.

Jovsg:

Favorite House episode?

Enchanted_April:

Three Stories

Jovsg:

Favorite H/C moment (it can be a couple if you can’t decide)?

Enchanted_April:

Monster Truck Moment, for a brief glimpse of what could be between them.
Cameron’s resignation, for that moment of strength from her and the clear distress from House

Jovsg:

Your personal favorite H/C fic among those you’ve written?

Enchanted_April:

This is like picking my favorite child! However, my sentimental favorite will always be “Saints and Saviors” (although when I reread it I see things I would change now) and artistically, “Stay”.

Jovsg:

Favorite season of Cam’s hair?

Enchanted_April:

HA! Season two, I think.

Jovsg:

Favorite aspect of Cameron?

Enchanted_April:

Her genuine goodness, paired with her quiet strength.

Jovsg:

Of House (the man)?

Enchanted_April:

The humanity he tries so hard to hide.