Featured Personality: Olga Oldenburg
Interviewed by Lady Isabella
I see you are a Romanov fan, Olga. What began
your interest in the subject and what inspired you to create
Olga at The Last Dance?
I've always been fascinated by Russia, although I think at first I was attracted
by the thought of all that snow! Of course, I watched the Fox animation of Anastasia
when I was younger, and I also read a book called "Natasha's Will" in my first
year of secondary school. I seem to remember an internet game called 'Clicking
Anastasia', but that disappeared shortly after I found it. I found Pan Historia
by accident while I was looking for writing sites, but it wasn't until many months
afterwards that I actually worked myself up to joining any novels. I joined OLD
probably about a couple of months before the crash...it must have been that,
because I can remember exchanging long letter IMs with Marie Nikolaievna to help
me get into character. Mashka offered me the cast list, and at that time I had
my pick of just about anyone. I think I chose Olga because she seemed the most
like me: inclined to think too much, she liked reading, she was the eldest of
three siblings...I felt I could relate to that! Olga also seemed a little more
mysterious than -say- Marina, who, as the Duchess of Kent, is much more well
known than her sisters, especially in Britain, where I live.
You are also a prolific writer at The Scent of Mystery. What is it about that
story that appeals to you the most?
I joined ASOM around June last year, I can't really remember the circumstances.
I liked the idea of writing as Olga when she was older, and as Alexei had written
some posts with Marina and the Duke of Kent, I thought it would be interesting
to have Olga visit her sister in England. The wartime/occupation setting also
appealed to me, as the 1930s to the 1940s is another of my favourite time periods;
the clothes, the music, (though maybe edging more towards the 50s for this one!)
the whole atmosphere. I joined ASOM in Chapter Three, just at the point where
the British royal family were being smuggled out of Britain with the aid of the
resistance...a very exciting time! I think being plunged into it all helped me
with my writing - I just 'picked up my pen' and got scribbling away. The intrigue
and espionage side of it is another major attraction, although I have to remember
that I am writing a historical character (whether in an alternate past or not)
and not a character out of my own head. If the real Olga would have become a
'double agent' is something that I do worry about sometimes; I try to emphasise
the fact that she's not entirely comfortable with what she's doing, and stress
that she feels this is something she has to do, to help her husband, and to stop
Yugoslavia from being overrun by the Reich. Another thing I like about ASOM is
the opportunities it allows to write as other characters, to fill in any gaps
in the story. I enjoy writing as Herr von Heeren, the German minister for Belgrade,
in order to portray a German sympathetic to the royal family as people, but ruthless
to Yugoslavia as a political entity.
Do you have another favorite time period you would like to write in?
One of my other characters is from the modern era, and I must admit that it's
nice to be able to include modern aspects into posts: not having to write as
a royal personality all the time, hopping on and off planes, using computers
and listening to CDs! Modern characters offer a lot of flexibility, and it's
often much quicker to write as them because you don't have to go into a lot of
research every time you want to know what your character is going to wear or
eat. Saying that, I do like to be accurate in my posts, for airport locations,
street names, etc. Straying a little here, I'd like to try my hand at sci-fi
at some point: I enjoy following events in The IO Effect, and love the idea of
just arriving somewhere and having to start everything from scratch. Now, as
to another favourite historical period, I'm a student of Mediaeval History, so
a character from that era would be interesting. Maybe a homely trader's wife
from Viking York, or maybe a cultured Byzantine lady like Anna Komnena...
We have all suffered from writer's block at some point. What are some of the
tricks you use to get past it?
I generally have several writing projects going on at one time, so if I get stuck
on one, I move onto another and see how I get along with that. Doing essays is
also quite a good way to get rid of writer's block! If none of that works, however,
I go for a blustery walk around the cathedral ruins, feed the ducks, or walk
along the seafront. That blows away any cobwebs and allows me to concentrate
on where I want to get next with that particular character. I also find it helpful
to look through books related to the character, however loosely, and watching
films and documentaries that might give me inspiration. For instance, the History
Channel ran a British documentary called Nation on Film, featuring amateur films
made by British people during the Second World War. One of the films was an anti-fascist
satire, with the children of the house chasing off the fascist visitors. This
helped in developing events for Alexei's Garden Party idea. The internet is great
for finding information - fast! - and I find it interesting to 'Google' places
mentioned in novels and find out what I can about them: where they are, photographs
of them, and any odd facts that I can work into posts.
If you could portray another historical figure, who would it be and why?
I think I'd like to choose somebody who isn't well-known, someone who we perhaps
don't know a lot about. A forward-thinking person, maybe an explorer or a writer,
or someone who stood up for what they believed in. Writing as a famous historical
character has limitations, in addition to the limitations of the time period,
and I think it would be interesting to portray simply an ordinary person in history
for a change.
What is your favorite book or movie? Do you have a memorable quote or scene that
appeals to you the most?
Oh, I have far too many favourite books and films to choose just one above all
the others. I like a wide range: from Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, to
Tolkien and CS Lewis. I love the work of Paul Gallico: The Snow Goose, Flowers
for Mrs Harris, and the short stories of George Mackay Brown. However, one book
I have loved, and will always love, is Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian.
My paperback copy is soft-edged and battered, the spine so creased that the title
is difficult to see. I can't remember when I first got it, I must have been about
eleven or twelve, but I immediately fell in love with it, and it still makes
me cry. The characters fit together perfectly, and yet each of them represents
different hopes and dreams. It is very readable, and I know of times where I
have actually finished reading it, and gone right back to the beginning again,
just to stand waiting with Willie Beech on the doorstep of Tom Oakley's house.
One last question…What are your greatest accomplishments,
either here or in RL?
Here on Pan, I know that I've improved my writing skills, especially in the first
person, as I was very clunky to begin with. In RL, it's mostly simple things,
like having responsibility over younger people, following a recipe correctly,
getting into university...things like that.
Thank-you for choosing me as one of the featured characters, and I'll look forward
to reading the others! It was so nice of Alexei to nominate me, especially as
I know he works so hard in A Scent of Mystery (ASOM) and in his other novels.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the writers of ASOM and One Last
Dance (OLD) for all the fun it's been writing (and plotting) with them. Also,
the people in 'Neverending' who are keeping the storyline going on there.
