Twice now, competing works by Amanda Walker have beaten the odds and won upset victories. After some time to come up with a new round of questions, our mobile camera team paid a visit to her in the bleachers during Round 2, where she was kind enough to answer several more questions…
Q: So far, your “contestants” have been among the most notable ones in the tournament, with both Of Their Shadows Deep and The Spectators winning upset victories in Round 1. Are you surprised?
AW: Yes. Very.
Q: Despite some initial hesitation about the tournament as an author, you’ve been an active participant as a fan since early on. What, if anything, do you see as the value of this event beyond just fun? What are your thoughts on friendly competition in general?
AW: It’s great to be prodded to play some of these games that I’d never played. There’s a reason why all of these are rated so highly.
In general, what’s not to love about friendly competition? Nobody really loses.
Q: These interviews (which only began as a result of your generosity, magnanimity and graciousness after the first segment) are one of the most popular aspects of the tournament. The draw seems to be that everyone is interested in hearing the perspective of those whose works stand out in such a large field (over 13,000 works according to IFDB). When you think of your favorite games, what are the features that most impress you about a work as an author, and do they differ from those that draw you as a player?
AW: I think the features that attract me as an author and a player are largely the same thing. It’s just that when you start writing/coding and realizing how bloody hard it is, you have more respect for the author who pulls all that magic out of their hat when you have a sense of what’s under the hood.
Q: Which three works of IF do you consider to be the most inspirational as an author, and why? Are there any particular passages of prose or segments of interaction that you admire in those works? If so, which ones and why/how? Are there any specific lessons that you’ve learned from them?
AW: I could not possibly pick only three. Each of my projects has inspiration and I’m pretty good about crediting those. And there are many games whose inspirational drives I have not yet hooked to a story or a mechanism. I’ll say that FIFP has added a new one to my inspirations list (it has also totally borked up my top ten list): Midnight.Swordfight. That game is freaking magic.
Q: Who are your favorite prose authors, and why? Have you ever considered writing just plain books?
AW: I have so many favorite novel writers. Larry McMurtry, Edith Wharton, NK Jemisin, Charles Dickens, Shirley Jackson, Richard Adams, Jane Austen, Adrian Tchaikovsky, John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut, Octavia Butler… I could go a really long time here.
I’ve never considered writing just books. I’m not sure I could.
Q: What drew you to the period setting of The Spectators? How much research did you do in preparation for writing it? Are there any specific sources for research that you would recommend? Are there any books or films with a similar setting that you would recommend as entertainment?
AW: I didn’t choose that period actively. The poem “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning was the entire inspiration for the game. The poem gave me the entire framework, including the historical setting. The poem was based on real people, although general consensus seems to be that it’s a scurrilous slander of Duke d’este. I researched things I needed to be reasonable like inventions, artists, foods, types of servants and the map of the actual castle. But although I like the time period I’m certainly no expert.
Q: Your work Fairest seems to draw on a number of Grimm Brothers fairy tales that are relatively obscure. How were they chosen? Why did you decide to use elements from these and not others? Are you interested in fairy tales in general?
AW: I have always loved and hated the Tales, since I was very young. Most of the best ones, in my opinion, got overlooked by Disney, thankfully, and for the very good reason that they’re simply horrid. I wanted to use a lot of lesser-known Tales instead of just retreading all the ones with all the baggage. I didn’t use my very favorite tale-- The Juniper Tree– because it’s so awful that I couldn’t find any way to make it funny. I’m sure I’ll have this dysfunctional relationship with them until I die.
Q: You’ve written quite a few works in a short period of time; you must have lots of story ideas. What is it about a particular idea that compels you to sit down and start writing?
AW: If I knew the answer to that I’d be a happier person. No idea why some stories click sometimes and others don’t. There’s some really good ones in a drawer in my brain that for whatever reason just aren’t gestated enough yet to be born.
Q: You have in the past been a biology teacher. Just as the freedom of combination of biochemical substances and their interaction allow many different forms of life, so does the freedom of combination of code instructions and their interaction allow many different forms of interactive fiction. Do you see the different types of IF as falling under a kind of taxonomy? If so, how would you describe it?
AW: Before I started writing games, I used to categorize them more than I do now. Now I mostly see them in 2 camps: those who experiment and take risks and those who don’t. That doesn’t equate to quality; a lot of cool experiments don’t work and a lot of old standard games are fantastic.
Q: As I understand it, the first IF you ever played was Zork, and the second The Wizard & The Princess. What was it about those first experiences that hooked you as a player? At what point did you decide that you wanted to become an IF author?
AW: I was 9 or 10 when Dad brought home Zork. I knew instantly, that second, that I wanted to do that. It only to took forty years to get to the finish line.
Q: Would you be willing to share your best chili recipe? If not, what’s the best one that you’re willing to share?
AW: I think the secret to good chili is lots of fresh ginger. Some kind of ground meat, beans (I also put lentils in mine, which is probably considered treason in Texas), tomatoes, chili powder (I sometimes use curry powder instead-- also treason), garlic, peppers of every sort depending on your spice tolerance, onions. It really helps the flavor if you caramelize your onions and peppers slooooowly with garlic and ginger before adding them to your big pot. I never measure anything. I do it all according to what’s in the fridge and what my whimsy says that day.