AKA, the FAQs

So are you Chinese or what?

Only on the internets. MeiLin is my pen name. I wouldn't mind being Chinese, actually. But I'm not. And no, it's not from Card Captor Sakura or anywhere else, I just liked it. In fact, at the time I took it, I sorta made it up and was afraid it meant something like "egg salad" in Chinese. But it doesn't. Actually, I don't know what it means. If you know, please tell me. Apparently one translation of "MeiLin" is "plum jade," which is a pretty mauve-colored jade rather than the green jade everyone normally thinks of. It can also mean "beautiful mugwort." hee.

How long have you been writing?

Non-fiction? Thirty-plus years, professionally. Fiction? Um, since October 25, 2007, when I published my first fanfiction.

Really? Which fandoms?

A whole lotta Doctor Who/Torchwood--really, just ridiculous piles, the DW revival broke something loose in me--and one lonely little Firefly/Serenity fic.

So what other original pieces have you written?

This is it. This is my first piece of original fiction.

You're shittin' me.

Nope. This is it. Totally serious.

Are the stories available in print?

SO glad you asked. Yes. I currently offer the books in paperback ($14.95) and ebook/pdf versions ($2.95), and I'm assembling an Amazon Kindle version and an rtf version for people who prefer those options. The former will be sold at Amazon; the latter will be sold here.

Inspirations?

It sounds weird, but BPAL perfume! I'm on the BPAL.org forum as MeiLin, and I regularly review scents at my LiveJournal. In fact, what would make my life complete as a writer would be to have BPAL perfume(s) based on the serial. *starry eyes* sigh. Iron & Wine, Nickel Creek, Sufjan Stevens, the Finn bros, Aimee Mann, chamber music (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Haydn, that sort of thing), the Whedonverse, the Whoniverse, Gaiman, Pullman, THB, Shakespeare, Dumas, Dickens, the Brontes, Austen, Trollope, Anais Nin, MFK Fisher, Patrick O'Brian, fake eyelashes, funky earrings, wool, silk, dolmas, decaf lattes from the joint down the street, oolong teas, and Green & Black chocolate (especially the kind with dried cherries in it, oh my gods, and Maya Gold). But especially, and I know how this sounds but it's true, especially readers. I live to be read.

I'm sure you have people to thank.

Yes. Thanks to Alexandra Erin for providing an example of a successful web serial novelist, as well as several kick-ass serials. Thanks to the folks who donate to keep the site up, especially Katie, The Gray Crayon and Kaisar Ryu, my most faithful contributors. Thanks to V and Gudy for proofreading the manuscripts before they go to the printer. Thanks to the members of the Gunroom email list for putting up with my odd research questions (they know EVERYTHING, for all love!). Thanks to eumenidis for being the first non-family non-friend person to believe in my writing. And thanks to my long-suffering husband and kids who put up with me scribbling at all hours of the day and night.