Fan showcase: Amanda Jane

Finally, number two in the series of interviews I’d planned for the summer. Special thanks to Amanda Jane for her patience in tolerating an interview that took months to complete.

[Note: Much of the fanfic linked in this interview involves explicit situations. I have linked in each case to every place where I’m aware a version of a fic exists — some have tamer versions in tamer venues, while others do not. Sexually explicit versions of these items are housed on a fanfic site, Dreamer Fiction, kept behind a password so it doesn’t fall into the hands of minors. If you don’t want to be confronted with sex, click on the “wattpad” or “C19” links — where available. Readers who want to join DF need to provide a reference from a current member specifying that they are at least eighteen years of age. If you are not yet reading DF and want to, leave a note in the comments below and we’ll try to help you out.]

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I’m not sure when I first ran across Amanda Jane’s fanfics, exactly; She’s a good friend of Angie‘s, and that may have provided the connection, or possibly I found some on her blog. I know that I found many on Dreamer Fiction, and eventually she put some of them on wattpad. Amanda Jane’s work lives out the generic convention of fanfic as wish fulfillment unabashedly and with relish, so on days when everything goes wrong, I’ve learned, there’s nothing better than a bit of one of her fairy-tale like stories. You’ll see throughout the interview that she’s not afraid to think and talk in fairy-tale tropes, using them to explain the deep, unconscious attractions of Richard Armitage’s work for many of us. I discuss two “iconic moments” in her writing the interview below, but there are many more. She diverges into the fanciful, for instance, in “Milton Belle” [DF] when she allows Margaret Hale to peruse a work of scholarship from India (one that wasn’t translated into English until 1885), but not only does this entail a pleasant wish fulfillment, it also brings an involuntary smile to the reader’s lips. Margaret and the Ananga Ranga? The mind pales. And the lips part in pleasure. And though, due to the length of our conversation, I saved the topic of the “John and Guy ficlets” [DF] which she co-writes, for another interview, they’ve also brightened many a dreary afternoon for me. If you struggle in dealing with family during the holiday season, “Make a Christmas Wish” [DF] is the best choice for you. I have this reaction a lot when I read Amanda Jane: an admiration for someone who lives out her fantasy pleasures through fanfic and invites us to do it right along with her. I hope you’ll enjoy this interview as much as I did.

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The beginning of more than one beautiful relationship: Harry Kennedy (Richard Armitage) opens the door of Sleepy Cottage in Vicar of Dibley: The Handsome Stranger, love at first sight for Geraldine and for Amanda Jane. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

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Servetus: What was your first exposure to Richard Armitage’s work?

Amanda Jane: One of my and Mr. AJ’s favorite sitcoms, The Vicar Of Dibley, was airing its final episodes on Christmas Day, 2006, and New Years Day, 2007, and we were all set to watch. As soon as Sleepy Cottage’s door opened, my jaw hit the floor. The Handsome Stranger didn’t steal only Gerry’s heart that day. OK, I thought, it’s another crush. I set about finding out what else this Richard Armitage had been in. I found North & South on youtube and kicked myself for not watching it two years previously. I read some North & South fanfics and then discovered The Armitage Army. I realized then that this wasn’t my usual crush. I’d never been tempted to join a fan club before. I had to buy North & South on DVD; it was followed by Sparkhouse, Robin Hood, and then his other work, as and when I could obtain it.

S: Who had you crushed on before? How did those crushes end?

Amanda Jane: My other big crushes haven’t ended so much as taken a back seat. I do rather enjoy the feeling of having a crush. I think that as long as you keep grounded and treat it as the fantasy it is, a crush can be beneficial. My most enduring other crushes: Ioan Gruffudd is Welsh and is best known for playing Horatio Hornblower. He’s also adorable in 102 Dalmations and gorgeous as Sir Lancelot. Jamie Bamber may be best known as Lee Apollo in Battlestar Galactica, but for me he’ll always be Hornblower’s friend, Archie Kennedy. [“Dotsy Doheny” in Ultimate Force, to name something many Armitage fans have seen — Servetus.] Jack Davenport (Norrington in Pirates of the Caribbean) came to my notice in a cult British TV series of the 1990s about a group of young lawyers, This Life. He’s also wonderful in a small budget film, The Gypsy Woman.

S: Although many of us worry that it’s something to be ashamed of, you say a crush can be beneficial. Why?

Amanda Jane: It’s widely believed that fantasy is good for mental health. I battle mental health problems, along with the emotional minefield that having a child with special needs places on motherhood. I need all the help I can get to stay in balance. Loving relationships in real life are without doubt the biggest help of all, and I’m lucky to have a strong family and understanding friends, as well as my partner, who loves me — foibles and all. Love in the real world means accepting all sides of people and allowing them their own free will. Love isn’t about controlling someone. Would I choose to have crushes and avoid real life love? Absolutely not. But I’d hate to be without crushes. Fantasy allows you to call all the shots and have the unknowing recipient of your devotion do what you want without harm to his free will. And there’s the hard to describe but pleasurable buzz that comes from watching your crush in action, listening to him, reading about him, or ogling pictures. Of course, getting stalker-ish isn’t beneficial in the least.

S: Your Armitage fascination is going on strong! What keeps you watching him?

Amanda Jane: Well, you don’t have to be around the fandom for long to spot that Mr. A. has a lot more to offer than his staggering good looks and “melt you from the inside out” voice. This man is not playing at being an actor; he’s the real deal. He works hard at using his God-given talents. Both on screen and in audio, he’s created characters that we want to get to know (even when they’re either morally dubious or downright nasty). We’re drawn into the characters’ worlds and either care or, at the very least, wonder about their lives beyond the confines of the story. For an actor to make me feel that way is quite some feat. In audio, he’s a master storyteller. It’s no small talent to be able to create a whole range of characters and the story they’re in with no other medium but your voice.

I can think of only Stephen Fry and Martin Jarvis who draw me in with the same power. In interviews, and for the lucky few who’ve met him, he comes across as intelligent, polite, modest, and charming. It’s a combination that I’ve found very easy to get addicted to. When real life can get hard to deal with, there are much worse and more harmful addictions than this one.

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When asked to provide a scene from Richard Armitage’s work that she finds particularly compelling, Amanda Jane had no problem:

Amanda Jane: John Mulligan is a fine example of the fact that one doesn’t have to like a particular character to fall in love with Armitage’s performance. In this scene, his body language blows me away. The Knight in Shining Armor who turned up on Ellie’s doorstep reveals The Big Bad wolf lurking under the surface. He’s clearly reveling in Ellie’s plight. His label of Little Miss Perfect drips with insincerity. You know that he’s delighted that she’s showing how imperfect she is. It was also pretty obvious that his full power charm offensive and seduction was going to pull her in, too.

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S: How did you start writing fanfic?

Amanda Jane: I’ve always had stories in my head. I think I got motivated to write fanfic by reading it. Before I started, I had read lots of North & South fics, Guy of Gisborne fics, and a wonderful Sparkhouse fic called Sparkhouse Revisited [at C19–logon required]. I’ve always had stories in my head. Very often the stories I’ve had in my head from before built the basis for fics I’ve written.

S: Do you experience self-empowerment through writing?

It’s definitely a good outlet for my imagination, which is very vivid. It’s good therapy for my depression. I always get a buzz when I’ve a story or poem ready to be put down.

S: Why did you start with Sparkhouse?

Amanda Jane: I’ve found John Standring and Guy of Gisborne to be very easy characters to write about. They’re so different as men, but they’re equals in the amount of baggage each carries. One could steer either of them in so many ways.

John Standring (Richard Armitage) and Carol Boulton (Sarah Smart) after consummating their marriage in episode 3 of Sparkhouse. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

S: The moment that sold me on “A Yorkshire Lady” [DF; wattpad] was chapter 5, when your OC heroine, Caroline, and John Standring finally get intimate: Caroline knows what to do to calm John down and make sex possible for him in a way that Carol Boulton couldn’t or didn’t. Can you talk about how you made that plot decision?

Amanda Jane: Caroline is purposely a different woman from Carol. She’s shy and rather tame, while Carol was wild. What I wanted to bring in was the passion Carol has, but has never been allowed to express in a positive way. In the series, Andrew is mad keen for sex with her, but she couldn’t even trust him with her most painful secret without him cracking. In contrast, in my story, Caroline and John are soul mates. She’s found a man who loves her and wants her for the woman she is, unlike my version of Andrew, who married her for his own convenience.

As an author, I was haunted by that wedding night scene in Sparkhouse. There’s a man that Carol could tell her secrets to and who would want to help her, but after Andrew’s stunt, she’s once bitten, twice shy. So, in my story, we have a passionate woman who knows what she wants in bed, but has hitherto had a partner for whom her needs have not been a priority. Now she has a man who is as eager for her as she is for him, but who needs a guiding hand. Good sex is about trust and communication as much as desire. Caroline wants to have a good time with John and he with her.

S: Another really compelling piece of “A Yorkshire Lady” [DF; wattpad] for me was the unfolding of the terrible secrets in John’s family life (transposed from Carol’s story in Sparkhouse). I felt while reading this tale that you were relying on something you saw in Armitage’s portrayal of Standring that pointed at hidden depths / sorrows but also at hidden strengths. Can you tell us a bit about how that plot strand developed for you in this story?

Amanda Jane: In Sparkhouse, John is strong in more than just the physical sense.  He manages to keep the farm going when Carol’s gone and her father’s health is deteriorating. Carol tells Andrew that he’s a good farmer who “won’t cut corners.” Even though she doesn’t feel romantically inclined towards him, there’s no question that she has total confidence in him as a business partner. We see the first glint of Standring steel when Carol turns on her ailing father and John says he will be off if there’s any more. His vulnerability is still there, though, and is never more touching than when Carol comes to him at home and tries to smooth over Andrew’s childishly cruel taunt. He’s lonely and has been for a long time, and that’s a bad place for anyone to be.

We learn little of his past in Sparkhouse, so I wanted to give him one that could explain some of his shyness and nerves, but that could also show his strength as he come to deal with it — with Caroline’s love to support him.

Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) tells Meg (Holliday Grainger) that she reminds him of Marian, who made him a better man, in Robin Hood 3.9. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

S: Two themes run through much of your work. The first of these is redemption, and as an author, you’re quick to offer redemptive chances not only to characters we want to see redeemed, like Guy of Gisborne in “Faith, Hope and Charity” [DF], but also to some who might be a bit of a hard sell, like Hannah Thornton in “Milton Belle” [DF]. What are your thoughts on possibilities for second chances, both for characters in fiction and in real life?

Amanda Jane: Redemption does come into my fics a lot. I believe in it very strongly, both in fiction and real life. Morality, and therefore responsibility for our actions, begins and ends with us. There aren’t good people and bad people, just good or bad choices. Guy shows many times that he wants to be a better man, but his weaknesses allow him to listen to the wrong people and make the wrong choices. Look at the change in him when he encounters real affection from Meg, and even when Robin is ready to show faith in and work with him. We all want to be loved in one way or another, don’t we? It’s one of the necessities of life.

In the same vein, Hannah Thornton might be cold and forbidding, but she’s clearly a strong mother for John and Fanny and a powerful presence in the mill. She longs for John’s happiness and is furious with Margaret for rejecting him, but I can also sense that when she is no longer the first in John’s affections, she will feel the loss deeply.

S: What do you think attracts readers to redemptive stories?

Amanda Jane: I know that I’m not the only one who wants to see Guy redeemed. I think many of us look at RA’s bad boy characters and sense that if allowed to change their lives for the better, they might be a whole lot happier.

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Amanda Jane’s choice of a second scene that keeps her watching fell upon Spooks 8.2, when Lucas and Ros bug Lindemann’s flat.

Amanda Jane: The dialogue in this scene is Spooks’ writing at its best: Tension-breaking humor and more than a hint of flirtation. I also really love the dynamic between Lucas and Ros. He seems relaxed in her company, even when they’re not in agreement. It takes me back to that small but perfect scene in series 7, where they agree that being colleagues is the perfect relationship. You get the feeling of a lot of empathy between them just from Armitage’s voice in the darkened room.

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S: The second frequent theme in your work is the self-empowerment of the heroine through good relationships. A classic example that we see through your eyes in the fairytale prism: Ruby in “Make a Wish and Blow” [DF]. This was perfect wish fulfillment for me: Lucas North shows up on her doorstep, falls in love, decides to remain with her forever, and is totally into her body. As if all that were not enough, in chapter 2 of the sequel, “Make a Christmas Wish” [DF] he decides to make her sister, Fiona, crazy by making clear not only how physically into Ruby he is, but also how well he likes her: “[Fiona thought], He talks to her a lot and really listens to what she says; he has such a sweet twinkle in his eyes when he’s doing it. She’s found a friend as well as a lover in him; which is so not fair when you see what I’ve got to put up with.” I was sorry for Fiona, but I identified more with Ruby and loved that she got this gift for Christmas. I’m intrigued by this choice, though, because I have never read Lucas North as the most emotionally available of Armitage’s characterizations. What was it that you saw in Armitage’s Lucas North that made you go in this direction in this story?

Amanda Jane: “Make A Wish And Blow” is very much fantasy and, as you say, “wish fulfillment.” I used Lucas to appear in Ruby’s home because he’s so often called upon to play different roles. He fit well into the image of a spirit who has spent centuries in different forms. (I have to admit that the vision of him in that blue suit helped, too.)

I think Lucas has had to learn his emotional coldness as a defense mechanism. Think of his response to seeing Elizaveta again in series 7, and his scenes with Sarah and even Oleg in series 8 of Spooks. The mask and the armor do slip at times and I reckon there’s a volcano of emotion under there. Also important for me was the idea of him as an MI-5 hero (series 9 didn’t end my love of redemptive stories). When “my” Lucas has to find work of benefit to humanity, the choice of MI-5 was perfect.

A favorite cape of Amanda Jane’s: Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) spars verbally with Henry Lennox in episode 3 of North & South. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

S: You also tend to prefer the inventive retelling of the story as opposed to the complete development of a new plot and other characters (as in “Milton Belle” [DF] and “Thoroughly Modern Milton” [DF]). What attracts you as an author to retellings?

Amanda Jane: I do love the process of retelling stories and making them my own. I’m not alone: the numerous variations of familiar folk and fairy tales are a good example of this tendency. “Milton Belle” really was just an attempt to tell the John and Margaret story in another way. “Thoroughly Modern Milton” came from a desire to see what might have happened to the twenty-first-century descendants of the original characters. I think the fact that so many writers have been inspired by it shows how timeless Mrs. Gaskell’s story is. Of course, the amazing performances of Mr. A. and his co-stars have something to do with it, too.

S: The “RA Selection Box” [DF] stories are indeed very much like a box of chocolates: although not everything there will appeal to every reader, there’s something there for everyone. What was the inspiration for that work, and will there be more “layers”?

Amanda Jane: The “RA Selection Box” came about because I had a lot of ideas in my mind that I couldn’t make coalesce into longer stories, but that I wanted to write down anyway. There will be more layers.  I want to cover as many characters as I can.

Richard Armitage, promo photo, Sunday Times, 2006. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com

S: Can you tell us a little bit about the genesis of the “Tom and Emily” [DF] stories, an original series, and your plans to finish that sequence?

Amanda Jane: Tom and Emily began with a very short PG-13 ficlet on the Richard Armitage Central Forum. The photo of RA in a black suit, no tie, and a white shirt standing in a dark, paneled corridor inspired me when it was posted in a “favorite picture” thread. I imagined how wonderful it would be to be walking down that corridor and suddenly encounter him. Then I got the idea of a party, the heroine wanting to get out of the room for a while, and discovering the hero, who also wanted to escape. The sexier versions came later when I couldn’t stop thinking about them. The final chapter or two will cover their setting up their shared home and getting to their wedding.

S: Speaking of Richard Armitage Central, you’re a moderator there. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience?

Amanda Jane: I was surprised and delighted to be asked to join the moderating team. Having been a member since early 2007, I now have a chance to give  something back. Definite highlights to the job are when members show their appreciation or when I’m able to help someone who’s having difficulties of some sort. I really enjoy hosting my share of the daily quizzes and I organise the weekly Poetry Challenge and fortnightly Poetry Discussion. I do get a great feeling of satisfaction from it. It’s good to know that I can help keep one corner of the RA fandom running smoothly. Each forum has its own character and ambiance.  I think if I’m going to name a difference about RA Central, it’s that it’s been going the longest. Apparently it opened for business in September 2006, after the Yahoo message board closed.

S: What’s next for you?

I’m currently posting an homage to Jilly Cooper, set in her fictional English county of Rutshire. It’s called “The Food Of Love” [wattpad]. I’ve got a John Porter fic set in the twelfth century and loosely inspired by the Rapunzel fairy tale to begin posting [AJ’s LJ; links via DF]. There’s also a John and Margaret fic in development that’s got “Georgette Heyer fan” written all over it. Mr .Thornton (or John Thornton, Earl of Milton, as he is there) is slightly different from Thornton the mill master. I have five chapters to post so far [wattpad], but am hoping for more when inspiration strikes.

Amanda Jane says of herself:

I live with my partner of twelve years in Preston, Lancashire, in the northwest of England. I’m a full-time mother of our two boys and a carer for our eldest son. Having a child with autism and severe learning difficulties has created quite a learning curve for all the family. I’m very proud of how well my younger son does with his brother. They can be quite a duo. I’ve met a lot of other children with severe disabilities and their families through school and we’ve got a good support network going. I’m doing a lot of work to deal with depression, which has been part of my life for years now. In addition to writing and reading fics and poetry, I’m a bookworm who’s recently fallen head over heels for Georgette Heyer. My other creative outlet is making art with GIMP (which can be downloaded for free). It’s scarily addictive. I’ve always had a very spiritual outlook on life and four years ago I discovered paganism, which felt like coming home. I’ve also discovered working with angels, which I find very comforting.

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[Fan showcases are an irregular feature on “me + richard armitage.” These segments seek to highlight the opinions and activities of a cross-segment of the very diverse group of people who have become fans of Richard Armitage. Previous showcases can be found here: bZirk, Eli, LadyKate63, fitzg, Angieklong, khandy, jazzbaby1. I plan to continue this feature intermittently, so if you are interested in being interviewed, please let me know. My email address is in the sidebar under “About.” — Servetus]

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It’s that time of year again: a point at which we think about the needs of others in the midst of gratitude for the gifts we have received. Here’s a link to Mr. Armitage’s recommended charities at JustGiving and a link to Act!onAid, a child sponsorship organization for which he recorded a voiceover in December 2010. In 2011, Mr. Armitage also participated in fundraising efforts for Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. You can also generate a donation by doing any amazon.co.uk or Book Depository shopping that you do for the holidays via RichardArmitageOnline.com, or amazon.com or amazon.co.uk shopping via RichardArmitageNet.com, as these fansites both donate earned commission to charities that Armitage has endorsed. Fans have also donated in honor of Armitage to Oxfam International.

~ by Servetus on December 3, 2011.