COCO CHANNEL Interviews

The COCO CHANNEL Interviews were conducted by Karmen Ghia for The Society for Slash Diversity and The Committee of Chekov Obsessives Comparing Historical and New Narratives in Ensign Literature. There were sixteen interviews in all. 
The topic was Star Trek and the interviewees were fic writers.
Karmen Ghia was not a fan of print fanworks, something that is displayed by their choice of questions, one of which was: "I'm just a webizen so I know nothing of the printzine community, except for a brush or two with certain members. What is with those people? Are they really as uptight, narrow minded, hyper critical/sensitive and condescending as they seem or am I really just too fucked up to see their good points?"
==The Interviews==
===1999===
* Raku -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Raku -- ("My earliest Trek memories are from the third grade, roughly 1966, when our weekly newspaper had a short section of the script for "Tomorrow is Yesterday" and we were all assigned parts. I campaigned among my little friends to get the Spock part, and they agreed I was a good bet because I could pronounce all the words. I've been writing fanfic since - lessee - the summer of 1997.")
* Killashandra -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Killashandra -- ("I first became aware of the existence of fandom in late 1994, when I found the Trek boards on AOL and learned about zines and fanfic. It was tough going in the beginning though, because I was only interested in Classic Trek, and at that time there wasn't much to be found online. I had no idea how to go about meeting other fans. I knew only that there existed some vague nebulous group of people I wanted to meet... sort of like a secret society and I didn't yet have the password.") 
* Jungle Kitty -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Jungle Kitty -- ("You're very cool, too. I think we both need sweaters.")
* Judith Gran -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Judith Gran -- ("What blew my mind about Kirk was this: Here was this guy who had absolutely awesome responsibility, who was out there on the edge of the universe exploring the unknown, running the best ship in the fleet, making life and death decisions, dealing with terror and tragedy and trying to uncover the most profound mysteries of the galaxy, and--he was plainly enjoying every minute of it. This goes back to that elemental joy that I saw in the character.")
*Skazinetilsky -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Skazinetilsky -- ("It was the first time a story ever formed completely in my mind in one solid piece instead of as a series of individual scenes. At the time I thought, 'Other people get visions of the Virgin Mary. Why do I get visions of Klingons going down on Chekov?'")
* Laura Jacquez Valentine -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Laura Jacquez Valentine -- (Really, when you get feedback telling you that the sex in a PG-13 story was "hot", is there any need to write NC-17?")
* Robin Lawrie -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Robin Lawrie -- ("As long as they make TV shows with blokes in them, there will be slash on the web. A slasher might move on to another fandom, or stop writing for a bit, but there'll always be slash somewhere.")
* PB Wrapper -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with PB Wrapper -- ("I don't mind reading stories in which Chekov has female partners. He, let me assure you, vastly prefers being in stories with female partners. He's a straightforward little fellow. But if he's happy, and she's happy, then where's the story?")
* Kaki -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Kaki -- ("I started watching TOS in reruns in about 1969. I missed the originals by not living where they were broadcast. I was hooked quickly. I've been a fan ever since. In terms of any organized fandom, though, I am a relative newcomer having found fandom on the web only about 3 years ago. My first ST con was Shoreleave 1998.")
===2000===
* Tommyhawk -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Tommyhawk -- ("I saw the third season of "Star Trek" in its original run. I would have watched it all, but my family kept the first two seasons a deep, dark secret from me; they knew I was a sci-fi fan, and the first two seasons were on opposite "Bonanza." So I lost out to the Cartwright Clan.")
* Britta -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Britta -- ("I began writing only because I ran out of things I wanted to read. Having just discovered the 'net and inhaled everything there I could get, I felt compelled to write something *I* liked better than the stories I could find. I'm kinky--so sue me.:)")
* PEJA -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with PEJA -- ("When people ask me if they should stop writing because someone gave them a negative crit I ask them: What makes you write? If they say it's because they can't NOT write, I tell them to ignore the crit. There is no way to please everyone and someone is always going to say it's not good enough. The only person a writer has to please, first and foremost, is themselves. If others like what they have to say, all the better.")
* Minotaur -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Minotaur -- ("I think the real strength of slash isn't the sex, it's that the writers and readers are taking these cultural icons and twisting them, looking at them in new ways, re-interpreting them and thus the things they have come to stand for.")
* Wildcat -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Wildcat -- ("Spock! Spock! Spock! I've always loved Spock's character. He has internal conflicts, but they've never crippled him. He's not afraid to look inward, but yet the people closest to him are not privy to what goes on there. His reactions are subtle and nuanced, and while he expresses so much with the tiniest gesture, it's always open to interpretation. Through all the years, he continues to grow. The Spock of the episodes is not the Spock of the movies, and neither of those are the Spock of TNG. What a terrific character, and what a terrific actor.")
* Greywolf the Wanderer -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Greywolf the Wanderer -- ("I've been writing ever since I was 11. I write because I have all these stories busting to get out, and I have to write 'em down. Prior to that I was the Storyteller for my sister and my next-door-neighbor kids; we used to make up Trek stories and playact them. When I was real little, like six or seven, I used to play with my pipe-cleaner men and toy soldiers, and make up stories that they would act out. I can't remember ever not making up stories.")
===2001===
* Kit Ramage -- COCO CHANNEL Interview with Kit Ramage -- ("I didn't expect to see Bashir and Garak ever get together, but as long as lunches were shared, chocolates exchanged, and the occasional intense eye-contact made, I was happy with the way things were. It only became important to me when the writers began to back off on the G/B relationship in the 4th season. I had to resort to my own imagination to fill things in, and I started writing.")
Category:Star Trek Fan Interviews
Category:1999 Fan Interviews
Category:2000 Fan Interviews
Category:2001 Fan Interviews
Category:Star Trek TOS Fan Interviews