An Interview with Ayesha Meritamen
by Marie Leveau
So,
first question: the combination of elements at your home are wonderfully
done: a deep purple Mayan sundisk, what looks like a Middle American bird
motif and a beyond beautiful futuristic fantastic landscape for your home
image. What about those elements appealed to you?
Well actually I have a deep deep interest in all things ancient, and purple just so happens to be my absolute favourite colour so combining the two I think worked quite well (bow down and worship Photoshop!). The Mayan sun disk for the background just seemed to fit, I’m not really sure why, as it doesn’t really relate to anything, but I suppose given that my character is a Time lady, I can use just about anything from any period to beautify my home. The futuristic fantasy landscape I just found whilst searching for a suitable picture and it just leapt out at me as being the right one to use, I loved the combination of colours in it. As a graphic designer, I like to mess around with different elements and create something interesting, hopefully I’ve done just that.
I popped over to your Time Lords novel and it seems to have a wonderful set up for writing stories. From what is on the dust jacket, it would seem that just about any kind of story will "fit." Is that what appealed to you in the creation process?
Absolutely! I’m a long time Doctor Who fan, but I felt that to just reenact his adventures would limit the input as we would only ever have one Time Lord (except for The Master), so I opted to pitch the storylines to focus on all the other Time Lords & Ladies and concentrate on their adventures. As it’s a British series, not everyone will have seen it, especially the newest version which is excellent, so I had to develop a way of involving anyone and everyone regardless of their knowledge of the Time Lords universe.
In running other novels, I’ve always been aware of those people who have a burning desire to play a specific character but who haven’t been able to do so because either it was inappropriate for the time frame, or it just didn’t fit as a character. This novel gives everyone that chance. Plus if you have a character that you don’t know what to do with but don’t want to delete, then this might be the novel in which to resurrect them! I know a couple of members have reintroduced characters that they’ve had hanging around for a while and reinvented them to suit storylines that they haven’t been able to develop anywhere else.
Ultimately it means anyone can be a Time Lord (or Lady) should they choose to be, they can write that story that doesn’t seem to fit anywhere else, and know that it won’t matter whether they post everyday or once a month as the thread belongs to them. They can also use existing characters seeing as our novel covers every time period, both real and invented, saving those all important Pannies for other uses.
I want the novel to be fun for readers and writers alike and I hope it will be. We have some good writers onboard and as time progresses, we’ll hopefully attract more.
You (and I) were long time residents of ancient Egypt in its various electronic forms. Are you (as I am) an armchair Egyptologist? And, if so, what is your preferred dynasty/time frame to read or research. I ask that knowing that most of us who are fascinated by the people of the Nile Valley usually have two to three time periods and picking one might be tough. Umm, I just realized that's two questions.
Yes I’m definitely an armchair Egyptologist and drive my husband mad by shouting at the TV when there’s a programme on and I don’t agree with their theories! I’m not insane, honest and I do manage not to do it at the cinema! LOL Being someone who teaches film and media theory as well as the practical aspects such as scriptwriting and production development, it always infuriates me when a film is spoiled (for me) by crappy props or incorrect research. Don't get me started... I can rabbit on for days about this! LOL
I spent a lot of time writing on PiRamesses, both here and on Ancient Sites, but I’d have to say that although it was fun, I’ve always really been interested in Akhenaten and like to think that I’m pretty knowledgeable about that time period.
This is difficult actually, I keep thinking of lots of other areas I like. I can say with certainty that I have always found Cleopatra interesting (and have a cat named after her), but I also love other ancient civilizations such as Kush/Nubia, Maya, Aztec, Inca, Sumeria and Babylonia and have done my share of roleplaying in those time frames too, just not as Ayesha.
I suppose that’s one of the reasons I created the Time Lords, I can play in all time frames now without joining several novels and having to spend hours catching up on each thread before I can post something.
Now, here's a historical one: if you were to choose for yourself which of Henry the Eighth of England's wives do you admire the most?
I think I’d have to opt for Catherine of Aragon. I admire the fact that she dared to fight Henry to retain her position at court and that of their daughter Mary, when he tried to have his marriage to her annulled so he could marry Anne Boleyn. At a time when women were virtually invisible unless they provided sons, she had the guts to take it all the way to the Pope and cause Henry a lot of problems.
And, finally, since the theme of this edition of the Historian is "Harvest." What does that word bring to mind for you?
It always makes me think of the Harvest Festivals we used to have at school (in the UK we don’t get any special day off for Harvest). We all used to have to take in fruit or veg for a display and there would be lots of activities in art lessons where we could draw all these harvest scenes to decorate the walls of the main hall. We’d then have an assembly and I remember we’d always sing the hymn that goes “We plough the fields and scatter, the good seed on the land……” Actually I can only remember that line although I can remember the tune. We also used to sing “All things bright and beautiful” as well I think.
Pumpkins too (the orange colour always makes me think of Autumn and warm fires), and the fact that it will be Samhain/Halloween and Bonfire Night (a UK thing) soon and that summer is well and truly over. That last bit sounds quite forlorn actually, but I do love Autumn with all it’s colours, just not that fond of the rain and cold weather! LOL
Hope that's OK and thanks for asking!
