Today marks a truly momentous day in L-word.com history. Allyemmerson posted her 1000th story! The fanfic archive opened here at L-word.com in the spring of 2004 shortly after the show premiered in January of ’04. Ally has been a mainstay and supporter of the show – and the site – this whole time. She has been a respected and admired writer by both her sister writers and by the readers. She has entertained us, made us laugh, made us cry, and kept us happy for 7 years! Ally was kind enough to be interviewed to help us mark this special occasion. Seahurst and I put together questions for Ally. In Ally’s words…

How does it feel to have hit the 1000 chapter mark? Its strange because 1000 seems like such a lot but I don’t feel that way to me. it just feels like me giving voice to all the ideas that I have in my head and the different stories that I have wanted to tell at different times.

Tell us about the first story you posted – what where you thoughts ? What do you think and feel about it now ? The first story actually isn’t on the site any more. I have been known to decide that something is so utterly bad that it doesn’t deserve to clutter up the internet. I am sure someone with a long memory will tell me what the title was. If I can find it I might re-read it and re-post it. it was something to do with Bette coming back from being away – I know the second chapter was an NC17 which probably was incredibly bad. I do have friends who will say “ oh I liked it when X happened “ and I am scratching my head thinking –  “ did I write that “ ? its not a sign of amnesia – its just that I write so much that I do go back to stories and an surprised at what happens. I re-read “ just the way you are “ and I am very proud of it and there were only a few things I would re-write if I went back to it. In comparison I do read something things and cringe.

What other writing do you do ? Do you write other FF  – any creative writing? Other writing ? with 4 stories on the go – I wish !!  I do have so many ideas for non Bette and Tina stuff that I would like to explore when I have the time and get 1 or 2 of the existing stories finished

What do you do for a living ? I am a Civil Servant – bottom of the ladder and there are times when I have been left with nothing to do because frankly I am too smart for my grade and there is a block on promotions at the moment. I was “presurplus “ for a while which means that they cannot find you a job and they wish you would go away so writing and thinking about writing was what I did to stop my brain closing down. Work goes in peaks and troughs because of the team I am in. I go with the flow but I do want to leave and get a more demanding job which will probably stop the sneaky writing at my desk

Most of us know you are from the UK – would you care to elaborate on your whereabouts and your life offline ? I live in Sunderland in an old pit village that is about 5 minutes from the North Sea so its cold here 360 days of the year. If you drive a Nissan its probably built a few miles from where I live. I don’t have a family as most of you know that my mom died in January and I had been caring for her for several years. I live with my cat and I probably spend too much time when not writing fan fiction playing hidden object games and trying to solve cryptic crosswords. I wish we had a gay scene or even a gay pub/club but my City sucks as far as LGBT goes.

What are some of your fav FF writers over the years ? When I discovered the site I read everything so my “ era “ is one from a few years ago. I do hope that when I cut back/stop writing I will be able to find the time to start reading again. The stories/ writers that I am always banging on about are Fall in Vermont(ChakaSB), Walk on the wild side ( TBsaver ) and then anything by Gumby, Seahurst, JKS, Pancha, B&Tfan2005, Jobadge, Jwet. There were also writers who wrote things that I printed and read so many times. There was a writer called Temerity ( I don’t think her stuff is there any more ) and she wrote stuff that was very profound and usually made me cry a lot. Little scenes and phrases have stuck with me from lots of writers.

Have you met any friends/ fans from lword. Com – who ? and how did it go ? I do wish I had met more people from the site than I have. I always said I was as shy as Jennifer Beals which was why I wouldn’t go to a convention – then she went and went to one! I don’t know how many people live anywhere near me. I dated Cheryl for a long time who I met after she PM-ed me after I made a comment about Ms Jobadge playing a small fortune for tickets to see Madonna. We are still friends and I treasure the good times we had. The second person I have met is Sharon who is a crazy woman and who I will always love for being the person who decided that what I really needed in my life after my mom died was a small very crazy kitten who is now growing up to be Mr Bossy. For the length of time I have been on the site it’s a small number I know. Having named those two people I have also been so lucky to have some great friends from all over the world who have made my life a much better thing because they have been in it. I hope there will be many more future friends out there

What advice do you have for FF writers . how about for those who are just coming to the lword as new writers I think every writer is different but I think there are some general things that everyone should try and bear in mind. I know this makes me sound ancient but spelling and grammar matter – if someone has just clicked your story for the first time you want them to read it, enjoy it and look forward to the next chapter. A lot of readers will click away if its hard to read. I know that for a lot of people English is not there first language – and that makes what they are doing very brave. So show the story to someone – ask a friend or someone who reads a lot to be your editor. Its also really important that you remember that its YOUR story you are telling – its no one elses. So if you read your comments and 5 people are saying “ oh this is what you should do “ and you want to do something else – stick to your guns. I take a perverse pride in the drama queen twists and turns. If you are true to yourself you will want to keep writing.  Most important enjoy . One of my favourite writers Terry Pratchett said something once and its on a poster in my room.

“Writing is the most fun you can have by yourself.”

Its one of the most liberating things that you can do, so enjoy it.

How do you think you have managed to maintain such perseverance in sticking with Lword FF Having a lot to say and enjoying the fact that people seem to like the versions of Bette and Tina that I created.

What’s next for you with Lword FF? Finishing a couple of the stories and starting to do my own stories It will probably be a gradually slip into site retirement for me. But reserve the right to start a story if the mood takes me.

Did you write stories before lword FF and if so how has writing about these characters change how you write and what you think about writing fiction? I must have been about 7 when I started writing. I am an old child and I spent so much time alone reading and observing. I am still like that – I enjoy watching the world go by and watching people when they don’t know they are being watched. I regret not having any of those stories because it would be interesting to see how my style has changed and the characters. I do have some stories on disc that I wrote pre B/T and think  that was where I started to make the characters more my own creations and less stereotypical. I write fiction because I find people endlessly fascinating and there are so many stories to tell

How has been part of an online community affected the way you look at local/global women’s communities? I was always a strong advocate of women’s rights before I came out and before the site but I have become more aware of what other women and especially other gay women go through. I remember a discussion about gay movies and someone said that where she lived she wasn’t allowed to watch gay films. That did appal me and got me more interested in finding out about them. One of the first things I did get involved with was objecting to senior managers at work about a charity they were backing who shockingly homophobic when you got over all the glossy leaflets.

Any final words to the readers who you have made so happy for all this time ? Thank you – thank you for your kindness and patience and very kind words. When I started on the site I was just coming to terms with coming out as gay and it was a scary place to be. The site made me welcome and I will always be grateful for helping me when times have been very bleak.

On behalf of all the readers and writers at L-word.com, we want to CONGRATULATE ALLY on this truly remarkable achievement. Happy 1000, Ally! Wishing you – and us – many more stories!!