[Kevin] How close do you think your characterization of Callisto comes to the one shown on "Xena: Warrior Princess"? If there are differences, why did you include/exclude them in your characterization?

[Robert] Tricky question. In the "More Sinned..." universe, there are TV shows called "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys". These shows are identical to the shows we see.

However, X:WP is based on The Xena Scrolls, as recorded by Gabrielle. Gabrielle's version of reality is coloured by the fact she was Xena's lover and hence all the records of Callisto beating Xena, Xena not being as nice as suggested are missing because she didn't think they showed Xena in a good light.

H:TLJ is a modernisation of Hercules' mortal years, altered as part of Zeus' propaganda to convince mortals the gods weren't as bad as the myths made out, with Hercules and Athena both trying to make sure the shows don't seem like total whitewashes. Zeus' version skirts round things like Hercules killing his own family (while driven insane by Hera) for this reason. Modern day Hercules is like the character depicted onscreen. Olden times Hercules is more like the Greek myths.

Callisto is of course a whole lot older and wiser than on the show. She has integrated into society to some extent and has gained a far less impulsive nature. She's also taken it upon herself to make herself into something her mother would be proud of and has got herself an education and so on. But without a Xena to obsess on, her depression has far more of a hold on her than in the show. Otherwise, she's more or less as seen.

I feel I've got pretty close to the Callisto of the show. Sometimes her turn of phrase can be a little too English (explained by extended stays in the UK during the 17th and 18th centuries, rather than my inability to get American syntax totally down pat...) and there are a few too many Callisto one-liners flying around at times.

Hopefully in "The Making of a Modern Goddess", which has flashbacks to various points in Callisto's life, people can tell whether my characterisation is intentionally the way it is because Callisto's personality changes according to the time period: as she gets older, she becomes more like the character on the show then matures past that. However, equally likely is that I could just talking rubbish and that I simply can't characterise properly.

[Kevin] When you write Callisto stories, how important is it to keep within the Hercules/Xena Universe as depicted in both TV shows?

[Robert] Again, a tricky question. Everything that happens in the TV shows happens in the TV shows in my "universe." However, that doesn't mean the events depicted actually happened to the characters.

It's important not to change things too much. Fans are fans of X:WP, not of your writings. If you don't stick to what's onscreen, you're essentially writing for a different show which fans won't necessarily be fans of. However, I do hate rewriting history to fit modern-day theses so I was intent on not sticking to things as shown on TV (more on that later).

In "More Sinned...", the Xena Scrolls exist and they form the basis for the show X:WP. However, they are Gabrielle's interpretation of events so while you can assume that more or less everything depicted on screen in X:WP did happen, people may have interpreted things differently and even put their own spin on things. The only things I really changed were the constant rock falls on Callisto, etc. They were just too stupid.

H:TLJ, on the other hand, is so blatantly silly that I had to ignore most of the detail of what happens onscreen, take the myths as a guide to what really happened and simply assume Hercules was a slightly nicer guy than depicted in the stories. Most H:TLJ fans are fans of the characters rather than the plots so I didn't think changing the plots and leaving the characters the same would be too heretical.

[Kevin] Do you read any other Callisto fan fiction? How about other fan fiction in general? Is there any fan fiction that has influenced your writings? How has it influenced your writings?

[Robert] I do read other Callisto fan fiction but not other fan fiction. It's influenced me simply by showing me what I didn't want to do (make Callisto nice, make her find her soulmate, etc) rather than inspiring me to follow examples. In fact, if I see a good idea in another piece of fiction, I deliberately don't feature something similar in my own fiction because I'd rather not be accused of copying. The only other influence I have is Brant's "Times" -- I keep trying to write a better piece of fiction than that!

[Stay tuned for the second part of this interview, to be included in the June 2000 HLOFC Newsletter]