Amashelle
by Myrrhine
I
first got to know Amashelle back before the crash when we both wrote in
the ill fated novel Obernewtyn. Since then it's been my very great pleasure
to work with her on the Pan Historian, and it's an even bigger thrill to
be able to interview her as one of our Featured Personalities.
How did you discover Pan Historia and what was the bait that kept you coming back?
Actually, I discovered Pan quite by accident while browsing through fan sites dedicated to Isobel Carmody's Obernewtyn Chronicles - some people might remember the Obernewtyn novel that existed here before the crash. It’s a shame we never got that one started again, but there’s plenty of other things that keep me here – a chance to explore the art of writing, a great community life, and any number of exciting novels to read and actually be a part of (to name a few).
Do you have a secret (or not so secret) corner of Pan that you like to visit? Where is it and why do you like it?
Hmm… well, one of my favourite areas of Pan is the reference book Poetic Joy. It’s not as active and busy as The Tenth Muse, those of us who are a part of it enjoy a more open definition to the word ‘poetry’. Maybe it’s just me, but I see it as a sort of little-known corner in the backstreets of Pan’s downtown area – does that make any sense?
You've been involved with the Pan Historian for a long time, and our featured novel and reference book coordinator for longer - how tough is it narrowing down the features list each issue?
Ah yes, the featured novels and reference books – it’s actually a lot more work than I first thought it would be, as it is difficult to choose from the many, many, novels and RB pan offers us – and for those of you who don’t regularly run down the list of novels we have, there are a lot. That is actually one of the reasons I’ve started asking for nominations, and even though I don’t get as many nominations as Tankio does for the featured ‘personality’, I still have to pick and choose. Themes also help – when possible, I try to choose features that will reflect the theme of the issue.
This edition is all about music - do you have a favourite musician or is there any kind of music you find particularly inspirational?
My favourite musician will change from week to week (currently, I believe, it’s ‘Trooper’, who aren’t exactly inspirational, but they’re good). I listen to a lot of soundtracks, too. Requiem for a Dream (haven’t seen the movie, but Clint Mansell’s music is phenomenal – very powerful), Le Canada, A People’s History/Une Histoire Populaire is also brilliant, and the classic ‘Children of Dune’ have got to be my favourites.
You've got a ticket to travel anywhere in a world and to any period of time ... where would you go and why?
That’s a tough one… there are a lot of places/times I’d like to see. Oh, I know – I’d like to go back to pre-colonized arctic, to study how the Inuit & Eskimos lived before their culture was corrupted by the east – I think it would be fascinating to actually face the struggle for survival in arctic winter without the use of an electric or gas powered heater, surrounded by the unique and fascinating culture of the arctic inhabitants. I’d also like to convince the people of what is now the North West Territories that they should be a province instead – then they might get some of the revenues from the sale of their newest resource (diamonds), but I won’t get into that.
Submissions:
Check out our newsroom on the community boards and get involved!
Featured Character Coordinator: Dr. Taniko Kishimoto
Featured Novel & Reference Book Coordinator: Amashelle
Editor: Myrrhine