Bellatrix Lestrange
by Taniko
We're
about to interview Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman of many talents and interests
who refuses to typecast her character into one type of role. She's also
an excellent writer, and worth reading.
Ah, there she is, somewhere between Io and Hogwarts! I'm just going to don my reporter's cap (do reporters have caps?) and hope it doesn't sort me off-campus!
Hi Taniko! Here's hoping you don't get sorted into the wrong house! I can't imagine what a reporter would do in the Slytherin common room! *G* Thanks also for picking me as a Featured Character - I'm quite overwhelmed by the honor! I hope I answered the questions properly!
Q: Tell us some things about yourself
In real life I'm a pimp. *grin* no not quite. I work for a staffing
agency and send people out to horrible jobs that I make look fantastically
fun.
On Pan I play Bellatrix Lestrange, a character from J.K. Rowling's fifth
book, the Order of the Phoenix. She only has a small part where she kills
Harry's godfather, Sirius, but I like to think I've fleshed her out and turned
into a fully fledged character. Bella is totally evil with no saving graces
whatsoever; she will torture for fun, and kill without thinking. She is determined,
along with the other Death Eaters, to destroy anyone who is not of pureblood.
That's why she's so much fun to write; she just doesn't care who she hurts
or what she does to further her goals. I do get a lot of hate/fan IM's here
*laughing* and I'm commonly referred to as Mistress of all Evil by a number
of friends!
Q: How did you discover PanHistoria?
I found Pan in a roundabout way, through the demise of Ancient Sites, where I got fed up of playing a nice roman matron, Caeseria Maximus. A good friend of mine sent me over, but it wasn't until last year I really got involved and found a character to sink my teeth into.
Q: You are a writer on both Hogwarts and in the Io Effect. Could you tell us something about the characters you've created for both these novels, and what drew you to write for these novels?
Like I mentioned at Hogwarts Bellatrix is pure evil. She's a great character to write because she doesn't care about the consequences. It's fun to try to write shocking things without stepping outside the PG 13 boundaries set by the novel. That's why I couldn't resist playing Bella – she's everything I can't do in real life! I just love the books, they are such an escape from real life and that's why I enjoy writing at Hogwarts.
As to The Io Effect, I joined this new novel after the fall of Pan because of the possibilities. What is the Io effect? Why are we all wandering around wondering who all these historical characters are? I couldn't miss such a great opportunity to write with such wonderful people. I play Lady Bellatrix Lestrange, who is the complete opposite of my character at Hogwarts. She arrived at Io by falling off the side of the Titanic during the sinking. She is rich, stuck up, easily offended and not sure what is going on. Plus she misses Daddy something horrible. What upsets her the most is the fact that nobody respects class and she is not well understood because of her attitude towards those that she considers inferior.
Q: You are a MoBster and an active member for the reference book, PSI Digest. What brought you here? Can you pinpoint a couple things that make for a successful reference book?
I've always been interested in the paranormal and the things that science doesn't have an explanation for. Also I've been working on my psychic development and this was the perfect place to come to talk about it. Over at PSI we don't judge anything that might be said, and hope that it is a safe forum for those who are unsure over something that's happened or that they might have experienced. We strive to discuss without judging if that makes sense. Plus it's a lot of fun too to hear what other people might have seen that's considered paranormal – there's a lot of weird stuff out there!
I think a successful reference book is based on its membership participation. In order to keep a forum going the members need to feel that they can post whenever they like without being forced to do so, and have the knowledge that whatever they say can be treated with respect. I think this is true no matter what the subject.
Q: In some random hypothetical roleplay, what sort of character would be your greatest "stretch", but that you might consider tackling sometime?
I think the greatest stretch for me would be to play a funny character. I'm a weird person to start with, plus I have an English style of humor. I tend to be drawn towards serious characters, so writing comedy just horrifies me. I might have to give it a go at some point just to prove I can!
Q: What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishments, whether in real life, or here on PanHistoria?
I would have to say my greatest accomplishment was finishing my first novel. It was 240 pages long and I was so enthused about actually completing it I have never done anything with it. It was just the fact that I did it that amazes me! Looking back I can see I was holding back on my writing style and trying to write how I thought it should be done, and not how it could have been had I let myself go and just written from the heart. It was a fabulous story but I'm not sure I could rewrite it – I'm very protective of it the way it is. I'm in the process of wrapping up a second novel which flows a lot better, and I'm quite excited about getting it out there and seeing what I response I get back when I finish it.
Q: Which book (real life) that you've read in the past year or two stands out the most for you?
Funnily enough what comes to mind is a book I got on ebay recently. I was doing research for my novel and came across a book written in 1770 about the counties of England. I got the book because it had Essex in it, which is where the book is set. I am amazed every time I pick it up because it is a snapshot of life during a time which is long gone and will never be present again. It has many copperplate drawings of buildings and castles that no longer exist as well, and I love the writing style. It's actually very easy to read, and fun too because all the 'S's are typed as 'F's! So the county of Essex is actually Effex *grin*
