This was a 2015 Christmas interview we did. This was also our second interview that year, and thank you to the brave souls who allowed us to test out our skills. Through the years, we have learned how to improve our interviews since then.

And we will always treasure our old works, so without further ado. here it is.

RB: Hello, RedBird 13, That's a cute username you have!

RedBird13: Thank you.

RB: So let me begin by asking you some questions alright?

RedBird13: Sure. Ask away.

1. What inspired you to write this Snowy Christmas story of Michael Jackson?

I wrote it in my first winter on Wattpad, when everyone around me was putting out Christmas stories or Christmas Specials, and after a while, I wanted to be a part of it. 'A Dream of Snow' would work with an original character, but I chose Michael Jackson as the male lead because the audience of my profile on this site consisted mainly of Michael Jackson fans, so I wrote the story for them.

I wanted to tell a story that really had something to do with Christmas, not a story about something that just so happened to take place on Christmas, yet at the same time I didn't want to write a religious story, but one that you could read even if you didn't celebrate Christmas at all.

Christmas has two sides to it. On one side, there is the birth of Jesus Christ, on the other side, there is the tree with the candles that we take into the house, which has nothing to do with Christianity. It springs from an old, Germanic, pagan celebration, which has simply been overlaid with Christmas. Something of that ancient celebration persists throughout the centuries, adding this certain magic to Christmas. The church and the Bible have an extremely hard time with all kind of magic, so it's never really talked about, but especially as a child you do feel that it's there, sizzling under the surface.

I wanted to write a story on that side of Christmas; a story that did have the elements of hospitality and sharing, but also that of magic. A bit like A Christmas Carol, in which the Ghosts of Christmas have a lot more to do with the spirit of the Christmas celebration itself than with Jesus and the church.

2. This was such an interesting short piece! What made you think of incorporating a raven in the story?

Thank you so much! <33 The raven symbolizes the pagan element of Christmas. The Germanic god Odin has the company of two ravens, Hudinn and Muninn ('Thought' and 'Memory'), who fly all over the world and provide Odin with information. I'm not particularly saying that the raven in my story is either of those two, it was just meant as a pagan symbol poking its head into our modern, Christian celebration.

But near the end, Michael Jackson says, "[...] You see, I always knew that it wasn't my bird, and I had no intention of keeping it. I wanted to return it to whomever it belonged. It was just... visiting, you know. [...] But somehow I would have liked it to be real. A real memory. Memories have substance. Dreams don't. [...]" So if you like, you could argue that the raven is Muninn, 'Memory'. It doesn't speak, only crows as you would expect a raven to do. The religion it belongs to is gone, and the raven no longer has a say. But despite that fact, some faint idea of magic is still around, and although we don't believe in magic when it comes knocking on our door (or window, in this case) for Christmas, we let it in. It's as if the raven were saying, "Look what I can do! I can cover you in the snow, wake you up and put you back to sleep as I please. So whatever it is you believe, don't pretend there's no magic!"

3. Do you have a favorite part in your book that you would like to share?

Actually, yes, I have!

[The icy wind and the gust of snow that hit him, knocked the breath out of him. He quickly took a step back. Snowflakes drifted around his toes.

The bird assessed the new situation briefly, and then sat on the window frame, its head in the room, its tail still out on the snow. And then it just sat there. Michael shivered. "In or out? You have to make up your mind. I got too close this. It's too cold!"

The bird looked around, and as if it had understood the decision put to it, suddenly flared its wings, dived into the room, and a lighted accurately among a collection of family pictures on the mantelpiece. Michael jumped at the sheer size and utter blackness as it dashed close by him and at the strength of the icy wind that the wings beat into his face. But he recovered quickly and hurried to bring the window down, securely bolting it, as if a lock could help to keep the cold out.

"Okay, let's get some warmth in here!" he muttered, brushing melting ice crystals off his sleeves as he hurried across the room to set the heating function of the air conditioner to work.

There was supposed to be a Christmas party at Neverland in the afternoon, and now all was drowning in snow. No one would be able to come if this holds up. Nothing in California was prepared for snow. It was too upsetting!]

I love this part because after one of my readers had read the story, she sent me a drawing of this scene where the raven is sitting in the window with snow on its back. Michael Jackson isn't in the picture, but there's a hand with a raised index finger as if someone were talking to the bird. We can SEE him TALK! That's just awesome! With her permission, I posted the drawing in the Author's Note at the beginning, so if you should read my story, please have a look at the drawing! It's lovely!

4. Do you write any other short stories?

Yes, I've written 6 in total. Most stories I write are short stories, but not all have to do with Michael Jackson.

There's 'Mary in Time'. It's about Michael Jackson suddenly discovering a woman, who introduces herself as Mary, in the living room of his hotel suite. He's frightened and tries to deal with her as he would with a fan, but she doesn't behave like he expects her to. She's rather strange. I don't want to give too much of the plot away, I just want to say that, despite what the setting might imply, it's not a romance story.

Then there's 'Danger Looming'. It's the first short story I've ever written that wasn't a school assignment. I was 14 at that time – back in 1993. Michael Jackson had just been accused of child abuse for the first time, and at 14 you are just about old enough to understand what that means and what it might lead to. So one night, I sat down and typed this short piece of about a page and a half on a mechanical typewriter I had found in my father's study. Back in 1993, it was a prediction of what MIGHT happen. It's naturally not the best story I've ever written, but the fears I felt as a child and the atmosphere of the time are still very present to me, whenever I read it. Therefore, this story is very personal and very close to my heart, and that's why I chose to publish it.

'Das Spiel' ('The Game') is an original short story in German (my mother tongue) about a soccer match. I have been considering translating it to English, lately, and I'll probably do so when I have free time than I have at the moment.

'Perception' is a drabble, a short story of exactly 100 words. It's an original story as well.

Last but not least, there's 'Carousel'. It's a Michael Jackson pop fiction love story, and at 19,000 words it's rather long. In pop fiction, the character of the star is normally a given, and I find that upsetting. The reader is expected to know them before reading the story, while in reality, of course, they are strangers despite the fact that they are famous. That's what this story is about: Two people going from being strangers to being lovers over the course of 9 chapters.

5. What do you like best about writing on the Wattpad Site?

The most important thing is the great community. It's wonderful to deal with creative people, and on Wattpad those creative people are really willing to actually form a community. That's sadly not true for every writing website out there.

I love the large variety that Wattpad has to offer. There are fan fiction stories on an equal level with original stories and classics books. I enjoy that a lot because while I mostly write Fanfiction stories here, I enjoy reading original fiction stories, and on Wattpad I can get both. I also think it makes the transition from fanfiction to original fiction easier, especially for younger writers.

Another thing I like is the book covers and the fact that they have the right shape to really makes the stories look like books! I enjoy that so much! I really do!

Yet another thing is the library and reading list function! Not everybody wants to follow every story somebody writes. You probably just enjoy one of them. Wattpad is offering the possibility to put a story on your reading list or private library and only follow that particular story, and I think that's invaluable from a reader's point of view because it makes the reader feel comfortable.

Wattpad has argued that writers and readers want different things, but I honestly don't think so. Readers want to read and writers want to be read. Those are two different sides of the same thing. One can't exist without the other. As a writer, I'm an entertainer. Being entertained always means to allow someone else to exercise power over your emotions, and you aren't willing to let that happen unless you're feeling comfortable. It's impossible to entertain anyone, who isn't comfortable! So for me as a writer, this comfortable setting Wattpad provides is probably one of the most important things because it gives me the grounds to play on.

Shout-Outs

There's a huge chance I'll miss somebody, who's actually important to me, but I tried my best not to while at the same time keep the list short. I think they are all very talented writers! Here we go:

AvaMJJ44 (She's one of my closest off-Wattpad friends.) MusicAndMeMJ (She drew the lovely picture of the raven which is in the Author's Note of 'A Dream of Snow'.) MarilynEdmond (She's probably the person I talk to most on Wattpad. I'm writing a story for her, something I've never done before in my life, and she has written a lovely short story ('In Love with Greensleeves') for me. That's one of the sweetest things anybody has ever done for me!) ShonaShaniece (She's someone I'm always happy to hear from. We have very serious conversations about writing or just talk about things that annoy us. She told me she'd never abandon her account, and I really hope that's true because I'd miss her tremendously!). SimplyKayJay (She's one of the first people I ever met on Wattpad, and I can relate to so well!)

Thank you for the chance to do this interview, Pia! I enjoyed it a lot! :) Much Love, Birdie <33

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And thank you RedBird13 for participating! Happy Holidays to you and to all of your friends!

Her story can be found here.

Dec.2015 interview