When I first became interested in the character of Callisto, I searched the Internet and visited several web sites to find out more about her and the actress who portrayed the villainess. Eventually I came to the Callisto's Tales site maintained by Tower on the HLOFCWS. Over the course of the next couple of months I read everything that was there at the time.

Reading the various stories I got a different feel for the Callisto character than the one I got from watching Xena:Warrior Princess. Various stories portrayed her as a villainess, as a psychotic killer, as a reluctant heroine, as a victim. Different interpretations of the same character.

After reading the various stories, I wanted to find out more about why the authors wrote their tales and what they get out of writing Callisto fan fiction. So I came up with this excuse to get some questions answered by some of my favorite authors.

I asked several authors, and much to my surprise, almost all were willing to answer my questions. Unfortunately, this meant that the whole article would be way too long for one Newsletter. Debbie suggested I make this article a multi-part series, so that I won't have to brutally edit the questions and answers to fit one Newsletter.

The actual interview process was rather simple. I wrote a dozen standard questions, added a couple of questions specific to each author, then mailed the questions out. The authors answered my questions and that is pretty much it, with perhaps a couple more back and forths to clarify or expand a topic.

I tried to focus on the writing process, specifically pertaining to writing a story about Callisto. Since I am a fledging writer, some of the questions were aimed at seeing if the authors have a similar experience to my own. Hopefully, some readers will be inspired to write their own tales to contribute to the HLOFC community.

For the first interview I've chosen Tower, who as I mentioned before is the webmaster of the Callisto's Tales site. Tower's works include "Callisto's Wish", the first Callisto's Tales story and one of the few choose-your-own-adventure style stories on that site, the short story "She Named the Horse Xena", and his recently concluded "...Only One" story "Forever Maternal".

Before we get to the interview I'd like to remind fan fiction readers that your comments count a lot! There are few things better than getting positive feedback from a reader, even just "way to go" messages. And most authors appreciate constructive criticism. So write to the authors!

-- Kevin (Who may finish his Callisto story in this millenium)

[Kevin] What was your first Callisto story? Why did you write it?

[Tower] Well, my very first story was 'Callisto's Wish', an interactive story where you play a wandering adventurer who ends up with an unfortunate run-in with Callisto. She needs your character's help to complete her quest and she will not take 'no' for an answer. I wrote it especially for my website, 'Callisto's Tales' and the funny part was that I had only seen 'Intimate Stranger' and 'Ten Little Warlords' when I did it. The reader decides his character's fate by choosing which story path to take but be careful, you could die very easily at Callisto's hand.