After a week of thinking on and off about what I should write to introduce Brant and his two works of Callisto fan fiction, I could not come up with anything that felt right. There is so much I would like to say about these two stories and how they have affected me. But I don't have the words to do them justice.

In the end, the only thing I came up to say about Brant's works is this: Brant's stories made me believe *in* Callisto, not as a fictional character, but as a real human being.

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

[Brant] My first Cally Story was Callisto's Way, which as you know is not finished. I was originally inspired to write it just after ANE. I was intrigued by the character and I .... oh let's be honest. She's blonde, wears lots of leather and is BAD. *That's* why I started to write it. However, I was intrigued by the character in that I thought she was showing some genuinely sympathetic flashes in ANE. I wanted to expand upon them. Callisto's Way was the result. As the title suggests, its about Callisto's path to redemption, one that will be significantly more difficult than that of Xena.

[Kevin] Have you written any other fan fiction besides those on Callisto's Tales? Were these written before/during/after the time you wrote your first Callisto story?

[Brant] The short answer is no. Callisto's Way is the first story I have ever written in the Fan Fiction genre. It was originally posted in parts to the Xena forum. Then Tower emailed me and asked if he could post it on the Callisto's Tales Website. From then on in I posted chapters directly to him.

[Kevin] When you write, how far ahead do you plan? Do you have the whole story thought out beforehand, just a chapter, nothing planned?

[Brant] Hmmm... that's a tough one. In general I really only plan what is going to happen in the chapter I'm writing. However, I do have a fairly good general idea about where the story as a whole is going to go. You have to, in order to prevent logical inconsistencies from creeping into the writing.

Sometimes I write things 'out of order'. I'll have a great idea for a scene or a piece of dialogue that doesn't fit in with what I'm currently writing. I'll stop what I'm doing and write the scene or dialogue so I don't forget it. Then I fit it into the rest of the story at a later date.

[Kevin] How would you summarize who Callisto is, what motivates her, what her goals are?

[Brant] How would I know? <smile> It's easier for me to say what she is not. She is not insane. Fiercely driven, yes, but not insane. As to what motivates her? Well, in the series it was obviously DOING BAD THINGS TO XENA. But once that is removed as a factor (as it is in my stories) it becomes interesting to see her cast about for a new focus. I don't think Callisto has any goals right now. What's interesting is seeing what goals she will develop for herself.