Well, you've had a couple of days to read the intriguing story, "Prototype," which served as Caprica Episode 2 here at BOL. Now, you can get to know its author a little better! Below is this week's Friday Five with "Prototype" author, JUANITA MARTINEZ!
But before that, an important message:
Editor's Note: I did not say that I have NBC's "permission" to proceed with the site, as per Juanita's interview below. Merely that NBC has no reason to take this down, as they generally don't mind free fan fiction on the web, and nothing here is being sold, so there's no infringement on anyone's intellectual property. Originally, I had the idea for a book of Caprica fan fiction that was shot down by NBC, because it was a clear violation of copyright and it would've been too difficult/costly to get the necessary permissions. If NBC/Universal suddenly decides that my site is a threat to someone somewhere and asks me to take it down, or change elements of it, I will. I'm easy enough to contact (beginningofline@gmail.com). My intent is not to conflict with someone else's intellectual property, merely to keep a story alive that would otherwise flounder into oblivion.
Please note that, as a writer myself who hopes to make a living with her work, I don't mind this at all. I understand the importance of protecting people's intellectual property, particularly where profits are concerned. That being said, do I think that the copyright system as it stands now is totally flawless? No. Am I looking to fight that with this site? Also, no. :) This site is about fun, nothing more. The day it stops being fun for me is the day I take it down. (But I don't see that happening for a long, long time!)
End of line. :)
- Teresa
And now, on to Juanita's interview:
1) If you had to choose ONE, what's the most important thing people should know about you?
I am an Athiest Agnostic and I do not follow a religion. I hope by knowing this, my readers will have a richer understanding of my stories with respect to those topics. Caprica and BSG tell a story about humans, not about "something out there". I believe it's all right here, and it always has been. That doesn't make it any less wonderful. It's great to ask questions and seek the truth, it is what makes us human. I believe our divine creator is ourselves and we continue to create ourselves. It is amazing, a miracle. Of course I could be wrong, that is why I am Agnostic. No self respecting scientist would be so bold as to assume their theory is right without the proper experiments. However, by definition "God" cannot be tested. I hope to stay true to this in my writing. So there is no way for me to say that a belief in God is wrong, because I don't agree with that. Some of my characters may say it, others will disagree with them. It is the human story. All I am doing is asking questions, from my own point of view and belief system and I hope others will do the same. Religion is another matter and I just ran out of space here.
2) Favorite thing about writing fan fiction?
Sharing it with others. I wouldn't do this unless someone will read it. I certainly enjoy watching the movie or the TV, but writing a story and paying homage to the characters and the actors gets me involved on a deeper level and I really like sharing this with people who are also looking for more.
3) Least favorite thing about writing fan fiction?
I don't own the characters or the worlds and so there are legal limitations to what you can do with the stories and images and how you can share them. It actually breaks my heart to know this. Fortunately, lots of people are able to get away with it and we are able to see their content. Actually a few years ago, Myspace shut down several of my profiles which contained blogs and blogs of stories all written by a large group of RP-ers. We used some real characters from Star Trek, Doctor Who, Stargate, BSG and others, and we invented some characters too, and we had them all interact. One of my favorite scenes we created was a on an a self-aware Star Trek vessel and we had a character based on Admiral Helena Cain trying to hijack the ship in order to destroy it. Neelix (I think) was the only one on board and was locked in sick bay. He disabled the hijacker by injecting her in the neck with a sedative as soon as he could get close to her. Copyright violation was their reason for taking it all down I suppose, but they never warned me, and they wouldn't restore my profiles. My bubble was burst and I couldn't imagine investing any more love into it for fear of it all being taken away from me. Then I heard Teresa was starting up BOL, and she told me she got permission from NBC to proceed, and I got back into it. I do have an original story idea developed, and I have written a few "episodes" for it. I wanted to cast John Malkovich as the lead character. The story is written out in a Myspace blog, I haven't logged in for ages because of what happened, I should go take it out before they delete John Malkovich. My ego tells me it's ready for a major motion picture. I like daydreaming.
4) Of all the characters on Caprica, why did you choose to focus on Daniel Graystone?
Actually I didn't really choose to focus on him, he just won't allow himself to be ignored! I chose to focus on Leah and Megan and the first regenerations, and he came along for the ride. Honestly, he just took over and I didn't realize it till you asked me this question. That bastard. Amanda and I will take vengeance next time.
Daniel is an amazing character. He appears to be quite cold hearted at times and all business. However, I think I can see he has a reason for everything. He looks at the big picture. He does what he has to in order to survive. If he and his company doesn't survive, he wouldn't be able to accomplish what he really loves which is taking technology to a whole new level. Will he sacrifice anything to do this? Does he really love his family or is it all for show? Stay tuned! I'm excited to see what the other contributors might come up with.
5) If the technology were available, would you want to be resurrected as a skin-job cylon?
Most definitely. Actually, I remember the day last month or so that I made this decision and I told everyone about it. Dying sucks, it probably hurts, and you get nothing when its over. I'm sorry, I know some people may faithfully believe otherwise, and actually look forward to it. Maybe some people will want to put some special significance on my life as a complete package, beginning middle and ending, or let me live in "memories". Heck no! I want to be there, and its my life and my ending. Yes I know all the sci-fi stories of immortal characters suffering in their own suffering....aww boohoo. Visit a shrink and get a life. In reality, I'm quite sure that when I die, I'll be completely through, I don't believe there is an afterlife. Darn.
But before that, an important message:
Editor's Note: I did not say that I have NBC's "permission" to proceed with the site, as per Juanita's interview below. Merely that NBC has no reason to take this down, as they generally don't mind free fan fiction on the web, and nothing here is being sold, so there's no infringement on anyone's intellectual property. Originally, I had the idea for a book of Caprica fan fiction that was shot down by NBC, because it was a clear violation of copyright and it would've been too difficult/costly to get the necessary permissions. If NBC/Universal suddenly decides that my site is a threat to someone somewhere and asks me to take it down, or change elements of it, I will. I'm easy enough to contact (beginningofline@gmail.com). My intent is not to conflict with someone else's intellectual property, merely to keep a story alive that would otherwise flounder into oblivion.
Please note that, as a writer myself who hopes to make a living with her work, I don't mind this at all. I understand the importance of protecting people's intellectual property, particularly where profits are concerned. That being said, do I think that the copyright system as it stands now is totally flawless? No. Am I looking to fight that with this site? Also, no. :) This site is about fun, nothing more. The day it stops being fun for me is the day I take it down. (But I don't see that happening for a long, long time!)
End of line. :)
- Teresa
And now, on to Juanita's interview:
1) If you had to choose ONE, what's the most important thing people should know about you?
I am an Athiest Agnostic and I do not follow a religion. I hope by knowing this, my readers will have a richer understanding of my stories with respect to those topics. Caprica and BSG tell a story about humans, not about "something out there". I believe it's all right here, and it always has been. That doesn't make it any less wonderful. It's great to ask questions and seek the truth, it is what makes us human. I believe our divine creator is ourselves and we continue to create ourselves. It is amazing, a miracle. Of course I could be wrong, that is why I am Agnostic. No self respecting scientist would be so bold as to assume their theory is right without the proper experiments. However, by definition "God" cannot be tested. I hope to stay true to this in my writing. So there is no way for me to say that a belief in God is wrong, because I don't agree with that. Some of my characters may say it, others will disagree with them. It is the human story. All I am doing is asking questions, from my own point of view and belief system and I hope others will do the same. Religion is another matter and I just ran out of space here.
2) Favorite thing about writing fan fiction?
Sharing it with others. I wouldn't do this unless someone will read it. I certainly enjoy watching the movie or the TV, but writing a story and paying homage to the characters and the actors gets me involved on a deeper level and I really like sharing this with people who are also looking for more.
3) Least favorite thing about writing fan fiction?
I don't own the characters or the worlds and so there are legal limitations to what you can do with the stories and images and how you can share them. It actually breaks my heart to know this. Fortunately, lots of people are able to get away with it and we are able to see their content. Actually a few years ago, Myspace shut down several of my profiles which contained blogs and blogs of stories all written by a large group of RP-ers. We used some real characters from Star Trek, Doctor Who, Stargate, BSG and others, and we invented some characters too, and we had them all interact. One of my favorite scenes we created was a on an a self-aware Star Trek vessel and we had a character based on Admiral Helena Cain trying to hijack the ship in order to destroy it. Neelix (I think) was the only one on board and was locked in sick bay. He disabled the hijacker by injecting her in the neck with a sedative as soon as he could get close to her. Copyright violation was their reason for taking it all down I suppose, but they never warned me, and they wouldn't restore my profiles. My bubble was burst and I couldn't imagine investing any more love into it for fear of it all being taken away from me. Then I heard Teresa was starting up BOL, and she told me she got permission from NBC to proceed, and I got back into it. I do have an original story idea developed, and I have written a few "episodes" for it. I wanted to cast John Malkovich as the lead character. The story is written out in a Myspace blog, I haven't logged in for ages because of what happened, I should go take it out before they delete John Malkovich. My ego tells me it's ready for a major motion picture. I like daydreaming.
4) Of all the characters on Caprica, why did you choose to focus on Daniel Graystone?
Actually I didn't really choose to focus on him, he just won't allow himself to be ignored! I chose to focus on Leah and Megan and the first regenerations, and he came along for the ride. Honestly, he just took over and I didn't realize it till you asked me this question. That bastard. Amanda and I will take vengeance next time.
Daniel is an amazing character. He appears to be quite cold hearted at times and all business. However, I think I can see he has a reason for everything. He looks at the big picture. He does what he has to in order to survive. If he and his company doesn't survive, he wouldn't be able to accomplish what he really loves which is taking technology to a whole new level. Will he sacrifice anything to do this? Does he really love his family or is it all for show? Stay tuned! I'm excited to see what the other contributors might come up with.
5) If the technology were available, would you want to be resurrected as a skin-job cylon?
Most definitely. Actually, I remember the day last month or so that I made this decision and I told everyone about it. Dying sucks, it probably hurts, and you get nothing when its over. I'm sorry, I know some people may faithfully believe otherwise, and actually look forward to it. Maybe some people will want to put some special significance on my life as a complete package, beginning middle and ending, or let me live in "memories". Heck no! I want to be there, and its my life and my ending. Yes I know all the sci-fi stories of immortal characters suffering in their own suffering....aww boohoo. Visit a shrink and get a life. In reality, I'm quite sure that when I die, I'll be completely through, I don't believe there is an afterlife. Darn.
