(The scene opens in Professor Greywolf's office. It's a mess. Ancient Vulcan weapons on the wall, along with equally ancient Vulcan love poems and holographs of pre-Reform Vulcan erotic art. Under the desk a large shaggy white tail denotes the presence of Moondog; upon careful listening one can hear that she is snoring. She had a busy morning -- snorted two cats, ate three socks and a moccasin, chased a squirrel across the quad and generally raised hell... Well, it *is* her job you know. The Professor roughly shoves stuff to the side so he can set his elbows on the desk. Heather the Intern walks in, hands both the Professor and Karmen cups of hot black coffee laced with seven-star brandy, and leaves again, shutting the door behind her.)

Karmen Ghia (setting her cup of coffee-laced brandy on some priceless erotic illos): What are you working on these days?

Greywolf (moves illos, hands the broad a coaster): Woo, lots of things. I'm *still* trying to finish the third Blues story; so far it's 109 pages and still goin'! Dang. Never expected to end up doin' a novel, you know? The damn thing just kept growin'. What else... Couple of different A/U stories, one will probably go to a zine and one is headed for the NG, if I ever get 'em done. A longish Spock-h/c one, about half done I think. Got a couple PWP's kicking around half-written, waiting for inspiration to strike. Actually I've got another Spock/McCoy in the works too -- but that one is going to be a real bitch to finish and god only knows how long it'll take me. I've got the start of *another* Spock/McCoy done, dunno yet how long it'll be, but that one will go for the Ng for sure. Heh heh -- seems a lot of zine fen just don't want to be adventurous. Mention Spock/McCoy and a lot of folks *plotz*.

Hmm. Actually I suppose that's unfair. There *are* slash zines galore; I forget they're there sometimes, but they are. And some are very tasty too.

And of course there's about a dozen little scribbled "what if such-and-such" notes here and there. I've got more ideas than I have time to finish them in. Bless my Muse, she's a love, she really is. I've been doing quite a bit of beta-reading too -- I enjoy that-- sneak previews galore plus a chance to give back some of what folks have been kind enough to give me.

KG: Oh, good. So there IS something to look forward to! Okay, I'm sorry for the mundane questions but how long have you been in the Star Trek fan community?

GW: Well, depends on how you think of it. I've been a rabid hardcore TOS fan since I first saw it at the age of ten, in the summer of 1968 up in British Columbia. I've been into K/S since I was about 14 or so and the light first went on in my brain.

But I've only really been involved with *other* fans and reading fanfic since about 1996. Well, mostly. I did buy the two New Voyages books when they first came out, and I've got almost all the novelizations and the Blish and Foster episode transcriptions, and quite a few of the older Pocketbooks. The newer ones are bloody awful though. But I could never find anyone else who saw what I did on the screen, until I got into UseNet near the end of 1996. My RL Trekfan friends thought I was fucking nuts. But then one day I found a.s.c., and *then* I found Killa's marvelous story "Turning Point" -- and damn, I about had a nuclear crotch meltdown! (evil grin) Haven't looked back since then.

KG: Yesss, "Tunring Point" was hot. I nearly slid off my seat reading it at work (didn't have web access at home then). Have you stayed mainly in TOS or do you do other genres?

GW: Mostly TOS. I did do one story that paired up Spock and Tuvok, and that went over pretty well. And I've got an idea for a G/B, and a half-finished P/Q PWP that I still owe Auntie Ruth from about three years ago. I've also done original SF, and a triad of werewolf stories, and I've got a spy story about half done that I hope to actually sell one day. But I keep drifting back into writing K/S because I'm having so damned much fun with it.

KG: What was your earliest story?

GW: Hmm. Well, deep in the dungeons under my house there's a box of bloody awful stories that will never see the light of day-- earliest of those I wrote when I was 11 and it really does suck. I look at it now and then to remind myself that yeah, I *am* learning my craft. (grin) My earliest Trek story posted on line was "Blues For Allah," which is a shuttle crash story where Uhura gets to shine and save the day. No naughty bits but I got a shitpot of feedback for it and I was *hooked*. That was posted in, hmm, I think November of 1996.

KG: I do like Uhura. How did you decide to start writing what was in your head? What was your motivation?

GW: 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. Basically I write the way a junkie likes his needle -I can't *not* write, and when I do get stuck sometimes I get *very* crabby and grouchy and depressed. In a perfect world I'd like to make my living writing and not have to work for any boss ever again. But I ain't got that far yet.

KG: I don't think it would have to be a perfect world, Nolo. All that has to happen is for TPTB to realize they could make a mint off slash and hire us all to crank out NC-17 prose for the new erotica division of Pocket Books. I should call somebody. . . Well, anyway, dream on, Ghia. How did your first story come about? Can you recall the decision to write it or did you just wake up one day, face down on the keyboard, and there was the first 3,000 words? (This happened to me, that's why I'm asking.)

GW: Heh heh... Dig it, man. Hmm. Well, I'll take this to mean first *posted* story. I'd been logging in to asc for about 3 or 4 months, really enjoying a lot of the stories, and more and more wanting to post one myself. And one day I got this idea for a beginning; basically, the first 3 or 4 paragraphs of what became Blues For Allah just popped into my head. I started writing it, saw that yes, it was good and it was going to work, and took off. And then when I posted it and got all that feedback, man I was *jazzed*.

(He stares off into the distance for a bit, chewing on his whiskers) Gawd. Erotica division of Pocket Books -- oy vey is mir, we should be so lucky! Be nice though. . .

KG: Yeah. (sighs drunkenly, if not tragically) But for now, we have each other and feedback and feedback is the opium of web slash. What writers do you feel have influenced your slash writing?

GW: Hmm. Killa for sure. "Surrender" is fucking *hot*. Judith's "Terminus." Jungle Kitty, even though she doesn't do slash hardly ever any more -- she was willing to step up and do stuff that others wouldn't touch, and I like that. I've tried to do likewise at least some of the time. I adore Torch's P/K, and Ny Martin's P/K/T. And Britta's stuff, and KSoren, and Cam Burnell (sp?). And of course Macedon and Pegeel, the gods of J/C. Even though those aren't slash stories, the depth and trueness of the characterization really stays with me, and I aspire to do likewise. I like TJ's "Unicorn" Spock/McCoy, and jonk's marvelous "Prelude in C# Minor." That was the one that first really got me thinking about Spock/McCoy, in addition to my obsession with K/S. Hell, I don't even know who-all to name, there are so many. I know I'm forgetting a whole bunch of names here, so please don't anyone feel left out. It isn't that I don't like folks not named here, it's that I'm about half senile and can't remember right now. I know there's some zine writers I really like too, but right now I'm drawing a blank, dammit.

KG: I know it's obvious to your readers but I have to ask these questions so you can answer them. So. . . Who's your favorite character in slash to write about? Read about? And why?

GW: Gee, I wonder... (grin) Spock. Got to be Spock. To write about, and to read about. I am crazy about Spock in a slightly different way than a lot of writers. I mean, yeah, sure, I wouldn't throw him outta my sleepin' bag if I was lucky enough to wake up and find him there (grin) -- but really what drives me is that I totally identify with him, and I always have. I know only too well what it is to belong to no one culture, to be not what your parents are, to be an outsider wherever you go, and often outcaste as well. I have always struggled with my temper which is really vile and fiery, and I saw in his struggles to adhere to the Way of Surak something I could really relate to. Hell, it was only the Tenets of Surak that kept me from offing a couple of the assholes I went to school with. And ending up in jail, no doubt. To this day I really identify with Spock. I have to work to write from anyone else's viewpoint, but I never have to struggle to see out of Spock's eyes. I've been doing it for 32 years now.

KG: Even though I don't write Spock with a halo (nor do you) I wouldn't kick him out of bed either. Especially if he was wearing a black leather jacket and . . . well, (clears throat) never mind. Do you have some special technique for writing slash? (For example: I listen to really loud techno music. What do you do?)

GW: Hmm. I do like to listen to the Grateful Dead, or sometimes Jethro Tull, or Loreena McKennitt. But sometimes classical, and sometimes, if I am having to work to make something right, silence is best. I usually start in longhand, scribbling that first ideaflash in a notebook that goes everywhere I do. This is because I've learned the hard way that I have to write things down when I think of them or I forget and they are lost, usually forever. Then, once I've got, oh, half a dozen scribbled pages, I go to the computer, start a new file, and transcribe and edit and add to what I wrote. And after that, more and more lately, I compose directly on the computer. I usually prefer to write late at night when everyone else is asleep. Midnight to 3am is my best time slot. But if an idea's really hot I can write on a crowded bus, in a noisy restaurant, *anywhere*. When it's really going well I completely tune out everything but what Stephen King calls, "the hole in the paper that I'm watching the story unfold through." Like a vidscreen in the back of my head. And man that is the best rush of all. I purely do love to write.

KG: And lucky for us readers that is. What do you feel is the future of K/S?

GW: Good. There are lots of new writers, and now I am seeing people open up more, be willing to try different things, like they used to do in zines way back when. Right now zines seem to be in kind of a rut, mostly first times, mostly happy endings, etc. But I think that is cyclical and it will change again after a while. And on the Net, the sky's the limit. There are more male fans now, and just more open-mindedness. And eventually I think the zine world will come to its senses and relax. They've had their hard times, and they're still kind of in this circle the wagons mindset. But it's a great big Trekiverse and there's always possibilities. I am optimistic.

KG: I recently read "The Prize" over on the Foresmutter's Project (http://www.eclipse.net/~mecurtin/foresmut.htm) and I liked it. The sex was pretty good and the fashion and decor were great. But this is what puzzled me: Here you have two engaging and sexy guys who could be anyone, Alexander and Bagoas, Ed and Flynn, Brooks and Helmut, so why did the author even bother to make it K/S? I suspect it was more than that the author would have a pre-packaged audience but, if so, I'm sorry, I don't get it.

GW: Hmmm. I think possibly you're right -- but also possibly the author really did see them strongly as Jim and Spock. I saw Spock that way; Jim was not as clear to me, because I can't see Jim agreeing to be tokhe'straav, willing-slave. But hell, I enjoyed all the longhair Vulcans and the mucho nookie so much I just kinda blew off the other stuff. I don't think it's a terribly realistic story -- but hot damn it's great for "one-handed reading", if ya know what I mean... ;-)>

KG: Yah! Me, 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?

GW: Like netfen, they are all kinds. There are some really spooky gunshy paranoid printfen, and some wonderful smutty-minded cheerful and outgoing printfen, and damn near everything else between. Me, I just laugh at the rude ones. Yeah, there are one or two who really are world-class arseholes. But hell, they're the ones who have to *live* in their skulls, I pity them more than anything. And some of the printfen have been very very kind and thoughtful and just plain wonderful to me, who they didn't know from Adam at first. If not for them I would never have made it to Friscon, and I've had more damn fun at that con. So I'd say, don't let the bastards grind ye down, and enjoy the cool fen. Because a lot of them really are pretty cool.

KG: I shall remember that. What's your thinking on chicks with dicks and Tupper Trek? I don't find it interesting, but my tastes are more, um, graphic. (I actually have trouble figuring what's going on [sexually] in much of K/S, it's way too subtle or something for me.)

GW: Chicks with dicks bores me. There's one zine writer who writes these endless relationship stories, with little or no sex and most of that off-camera, and all they ever do is argue about politics and get upset over the stupidest little shit. And she is *mondo popular*. Go figure. But then again, some of our TupperTrek parodies are fucking *hilarious*! And it was the awful girly stories that inspired those in the first place. For myself, if a writer in all seriousness has Spock or Kirk bursting into tears and acting girly, I go read something else. But the TupperTrek parodies, or JungleKitty's Skankiverse stories, crack me up totally. So even from manure can come forth roses, nies? And what the hell, hochofedra, I guess some fen really like all that mushy girly stuff. More power to 'em, they can have my share of it. (rude grin) Me, I prefer hot sweaty monkey-sex and lots and lots of it. And a good gnarly angst-fest once in a while, or hurt/comfort -- as long as everyone stays *in character*. I loathe traditional romance fiction, so I don't like to see my Boyz written that way.

KG: Nor do I. You've had experience in the printzine community and the webslash community. In what ways do their inherent strengths cause them to be inherently antagonistic? Or do I think that because I'm an asshole? (Okay, it's an awkward question, rephrase at will.)

GW: (grin) D'ya really want me ta answer that? Heh heh heh..

But Seriously Folks. I am given to understand that In the Time of the Beginning, the regular Trekfan community was really nasty and horrible to the K/S crowd. Like our slashwars over on a.s.c. a couple years ago, only if anything even worse. Cops usedta confiscate zines; people lost jobs, had their marriages break up, really Bad Shit went down. So they hunkered down and hid really well, and stayed that way for years and years. But online, we have privacy; no-one can get my street-name from my ISP, the most they'll get is confirmation that yes, Greywolf the Wanderer *is* a user here. So we don't share those fears. Sure, if my boss knew that *I* was Greywolf I'd lose my job in a New York minute. But my boss doesn't know and can't find it out. So I'm safe, in a way that they never were. So we're open and cheerful, while they tend toward secrecy and fear, and that makes for clashes.

But I think they're starting to realize now that there's room for all of us here, and that we're no threat to one another. It helps that a lot of us are among them and letting ourselves be seen and interact with them. As time goes by and the shit keeps on not hitting the fan, even the most fearful has to stop and take a breath and mellow out now and then.

They can have artwork, which is one of the big things I like about zines. We get instant feedback and shitloads of it, compared to them, and that's what I like about the net. That and it don't cost me a shitpot of money. But I think the antagonism is mellowing out and will continue to do so. It may flare up again some time down the road -- but if so, then it will mellow out again too, a while after that. My opinion, anyhow.

KG: I hope you're right. I was recently reading an article in diary form about filmmaker Roger Nygard latest project. This 'feels' partly true to me (even I'm sure there's more to K/S than this) but I'm wondering if you have any reaction to this quote from the article: "March 22, 1997, Pasadena: Today we interviewed two writers of underground, homoerotic Kirk/Spock stories at the Pasadena Convention Center. These stories are typically written by and for heterosexual women women who want to read sexual stories about Kirk and Spock but don't want to imagine them with other women." (LAT Magazine 6/20/99)

GW: I've heard that theory. But I have to say I really don't know. Me, *I'm* queer as a three dollar bill. So I haven't a clue, really, what all the nice straight married ladies see in this stuff. But hell, as long as they keep writing that nasty hot monkey-sex, I don't care. I read, I enjoy, life is good. The academics and the women's studies crowd have all these theories about sex roles and gender issues-- hell, they sound at least vaguely plausible. But for me, it's one of the few places I can find what *I* like to read -- hot gay stuff that is more than just the mindless boring shit you find in alt.sex.stories.

KG: Or, with a few notable exceptions, the Nifty Archives, alas, slash has ruined me forever. What is the motivation to write slash? One can't sell it; one can't even eat it.

GW: But it's *great* for "one-handed reading", nudge, nudge, wink, wink. I have more damn fun writing and reading this stuff-- and my mate, while he doesn't read slash, certainly doesn't complain about the inevitable side effects (BIG evil smirk here)

KG: I can dig it. Do you have any thoughts on the future of Slash on the Web?

GW: Endless variety, more and more and more all the time. Unless the Religious Fascists manage to impose censorship. But I think that will be damn near impossible. Look how long that stupid Communications Decency Act lasted. I think the future is wonderful. Yum, yum.

KG: You're very cool. Would you like to put your URL or recommended URLs here?

GW: (blows smoke off his claws) Yeah, I like cool. (grin) Well, I don't have a web page *yet*. One is being built for me but it isn't ready to go yet, mostly on account of I am a major lag-ass. But I'll let ya know when it is ready.

Here's some.... http://members.spree.com/entertainment/agentshymoon/ --this is a site with alot of seriously hot K/S artwork. And she keeps getting better all the time, woo, yummy.

http://members.aol.com/killasdra/index.html --This is Killa's site. Lots of yummy stuff,not just Trek but other slash -- and some cool slash-links, too. And some tasty photo-art...

http://members.aol.com/U2ukar/ ---Here lives one of the niftiest Trek stories I've ever seen. It's called The Learning Curve and it's a hypertext story -- it has a whole many-branched tree of possible ways it can go. Much fun and very well written. Hot sex, angst, all of it.

http://members.delphi.com/punkflamingo/web/SHarchive/sharchiv.html --Heh heh... This will surprise some folks I guess. Starsky and Hutch slash, woo, gotta love it. I always liked that show and thought it was slashy as all hell. Turns out I ain't the only one

And, last but not least.... http://www.gis.net/~minotaur/Tips/core.html ---Minotaur's marvelous Sex Tips for Slash Writers site. Lots of fun and very useful for those not personally acquainted with some of the finer points of m/m sex. Yummy pics too. And he is a doll. Such a nice boy I'm tellink you.

So. There's tons of good URLs out there but these are a few I really enjoy.

Party on, y'all.

KG: And one final question - in your opinion, who's bigger? Kirk or Spock?

GW: Hmm!!! Fascinating. 'Scuse me for a minute... Errm. Um. Hrrh-hrrmf! Ah, well, it's like this doc -- Jimbo's is fatter but Spock-o's is longer. So they both average out about the same. But since Vulcans got those double ridges and a sheath and all like that, me I'd ruther be Vulcan any day.

KG: Thanks, good to know.

GW: Yer welcome!!!

Greywolf the Wanderer aka GreywolfdeVulCheq Dean of Vulcan Studies TrekSmut University, Berkeley Campus

***end***