You've Been Canonized!: Phoenix Dace
Good morning everyone and welcome to another installment of You’ve Been Canonized! our weekly interview segment here on Timelines where we interview a patron author and get to know more about them, their thoughts on Timelines , and their current AAR or project ! If you’re new to the programme, I’m your host canonized author of
Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World? and today’s guest is another new friend of ours Phoenix Dace author of
Services for One's Country, in Peace and War Alike. Let’s get to the questions !
Part I: From the Ashes …
PD shares with us a little about himself !
canonized: My first question is a curiosity of my own , where does your name come from ?
Phoenix Dace: Well, it's actually something I came up with years ago, when I first started out on internet forums. It's a combination of phoenixes, which are cool, and a character I particularly liked from a book I was reading at the time. Plus, when combined, the name 'Phoenix Dace' is very similar, phonetically, to my real name. From there, I ended up liking it a lot, and it just sort of stuck.
canonized: And please tell us , how long have you been on the paradox forums and specifically how long have you been writing AARs ?
Phoenix Dace: I've been a member of the forums from March 2005. A friend of mine found HOI2 and introduced me to Paradox games, and from there we found the AAR Forum and quite enjoyed some of the tales we read - particularly The Yogi's 'Iron Crosses' HOI1 AAR. I signed up in order to post comments and maybe my own AAR, but I never got around to actually posting anything of substance until August of that year, when I posted my first AAR - it was an alternate history of Canada, and, my moment of pride, it won me WritAAR of the Week after two days and three updates. Of course, it ended up dying once I actually got into the actual game, because the modding occurred when I started the writing, and over the months it took me to finish writing the backstory, the game itself was patched to where I could no longer stand to play unmodified HOI2 v1.2 . I think I went off the rails there somewhere - I mean that the HOI2 engine was patched, but my modded version was an older version, and thus quite clunky to play since I was used to the new one.
canonized: What can you say about HOI2 as a medium for making AARs specifically for those who wish to make non-gameplay ones ?
Phoenix Dace: Well, it's obviously a prime medium for history book-style AARs, since that's a very writeable topic - you just have to walk into any bookstore to see that it's fairly easy to write a history book about WWII. That's also, in my opinion, the easiest (after gameplay) type of AAR for HOI2, because it's the easiest way to work in things like writing about specific operations, numbers of divisions, etc For narrative AARs, it presents a more intriguing challenge, but one that can be quite rewarding. There's really two types - one that uses real-life political and military figures, and focuses on these characters discussing large-scale strategy, in which case it basically turning into a history-book AAR with characters. The other way is to focus on a smaller delineation, of a specific soldier, civilian, intelligence operative, etc. or a small group of the same. In my opinion, this way is the most rewarding, but also the most challenging - you have to either be able to work in game events into these people's lives, or you have to completely ignore game events and just focus on sending these characters through the world that your AAR has created. Another thing which shows up more when writing for HOI2 is the need for a bit of caution. You're dealing with events which happened within recent history, and even within some living people's lives - using historical figures from that time as characters in your story can be dangerous, since a lot of people can have very strong feelings about these things - for instance, if you made Hitler a lovable character, you might have some problems with how your AAR is received. You have to sort of walk on eggshells at certain points when writing a HOI2 AAR.
canonized: Why have you chosen to have narratives be a prominent portion of your repertoire ? What are its draws and your experience with such a writing style ?
Phoenix Dace: The initial reason I chose to write a narrative was to work on my own writing skills. I knew I could write history-book AARs, I had been doing so for over a year, but I wanted to branch out and didn't see an opportunity to do so in my current AAR, because of its format. In order to get around that, I started writing a series of chapters about an American spy in the pre-WWII years, and I got so absorbed in it that, with my other AAR dying from lack of comments, I gave up on the first one and focused entirely on the narrative. Really, it was to give myself a chance to work on it, and try to improve. The draws of a narrative are you really get to explore certain characters, and certain events, a lot. In a history book, the characters are mostly just names, but in a narrative you really see what's going on behind them. In my opinion, the best thing about narrative writing is the characters, because if you're reading a good writer's work, the characters can really come alive. As for my own experience? None, really. Never written a narrative AAR in my life before this one, though I wrote some absolutely god-awful short stories when I was about eight years old. I guess that counts as some experience.
canonized: Since you mentioned improvement , did you eventually plan on using these writing talents to real life endeavors ?
Phoenix Dace: Hopefully, someday I'll be a rich and famous published author who can live off his words. Unfortunately, that's unlikely to happen. Seriously though, I just really love writing, and because I love writing for myself and for others, a lot of why I post AARs here on the forums is so that I can improve my own writing for the sake of improvement. I just like getting better at stuff.
canonized: Do you have any advice for those out there who might be thinking of doing a narrative but are perhaps afraid of the reception or lack of comments that is a risk with all AARs ?
Phoenix Dace: First off, don't be afraid of the reception. I have never seen an AAR be poorly-received. The bulk of comments you get will be positive, and those rare few that aren't will be more neutral or constructive criticism than negative. We tend to maintain a pretty positive environment here. As for the lack of comments, that's just a reality you have to accept. It can be very discouraging - I actually abandoned an AAR once because I only had one commentator - but you just have to realize when you start your AAR that it probably won't be madly popular. Not everyone can write Fu Manchu or Timelines, and often it seems as if the popular AARs get more popular - a sort of snowball effect. So you just have to stick with it. It's something I hate hearing when someone tells it to me, but it's true. Over time, you will get readers dropping by. If they like the story enough, they'll keep reading it, and if you're lucky, one in ten of those readers will post comments. If you're really lucky, you'll get a diehard core of a few people who post after every update. I lucked into a few people like that with my current AAR. Also, the bottom line is this: Even if it seems like you have no commentators, there will be plenty of people reading but not commenting.
Part II: Another Journeyman
Phoenix relates some of his thoughts on his continuing journey through Timelines .
canonized: Where did you hear about Timelines ?
Phoenix Dace: I started reading it back when I was actually keeping track of EU3 AARs, right after the game came out. At this point there were only maybe half a dozen chapters, and I read them. I didn't have the time to keep up with it as it progressed, though, and now I'm wishing I had. One update every few days would have been much easier to keep up with than trying to read it all now! Oh, and I didn't hear about it from anywhere - I saw it in the thread list and read it of my own accord.
canonized: What are your impressions so far of it ?
Phoenix Dace: It's a quite good yarn. As you know, I'm only about 20 chapters in, but I quite like the way the characters are developing slowly. It's far too easy as a writer to rush through characterization, especially if you've already planned out how the characters will be. That's a trap you've mostly managed to avoid here, and it's a fairly impressive accomplishment.
canonized: Anyone in particular stand out for you so far ?
Phoenix Dace: I think I'm going to go with Renault here. His adventures in Mecca were quite entertaining, and he's a rather resourceful character. I also like the fact that he's not just this typical tough guy, which is a way it would have been easy to write him. Instead, he has a multi-faceted personality, which I find is vital to characters like him. It's too easy to make them the stereotype.
canonized: Renault is a lot of people's favourite after Cardinal DeWitt it seems haha . One of the things we try to do in Timelines is the dual interface of past and present ; how has that impacted your reading ?
Phoenix Dace: I quite like the way it's done, though it does seem rather coincidental how the two developing timelines are going through the same events at the same time. However, it is a good way to detail the things that happened in your game without having to have the 'past' characters talking all about it. It's also interesting how you use exposition in one timeline to explain things about the other, and vice versa. It means there's always things to wonder about both ones, and makes it seem like the whole affair would be pretty confusing for any one character in either timeline, given they don't have the third-party insight that we get from seeing both at the same time.
canonized: Thank you very much ! As a narrative writer yourself , what kind of comments stylistically might you have towards the work ?
Phoenix Dace: Well, it's quite well-written overall, but there's been a couple places going through it where the writing gets a bit clunky and confusing to read. it seems like you kind of get bogged down in the middle of writing a couple updates. Though this isn't a style thing, I'd just recommend writing an update at least a day before you post it, and reread and edit it before you do post it. It's worked for me! Stylistically, I think it's a good mix of description, action, and dialogue. I think you've found a balance that really works to tell the story and to match your own writing style quite well. Keep it up!
canonized: What might you say to someone who would be intimidated both by the fact that it's a narrative and that its currently very lengthy ?
Phoenix Dace: Read it like I do: A couple chapters at a time. Leave the tab/window open, and just come back to it whenever you have a spare half hour or so. If you break it down into manageable bits like that, it doesn't seem so colossal. I mean, it is still colossal, but it seems more manageable in small pieces than as a whole.
canonized: Lastly , what are your speculations on what the Timepiece might be or its thematic significance ?
Phoenix Dace: I'm imagining it will have something to do with time travel and altering the past, and the reason they want to get at Tom in the present is because he's shown a plausible alternate (ha) history that could be brought about by the change of one event. But every time I imagine what it will look like, I imagine a pocket watch, which doesn't seem to fit at all.
Part III: Intrigue and Assassinations ! What more could you want ?
Let’s take a look at Phoenix’s latest AAR !
canonized: My very first question is that you're one of the few AARs I’ve read that actually has a First Person perspective . Would you please tell us why you chose this avenue ?
Phoenix Dace: Well, it just always seemed like the right viewpoint to use. I always set out to tell the story of this one man, and the best way to show everything from his viewpoint is to do just that in the writing. I don't detail others' thoughts, just what Mark thinks they might be things like that. Really, I want the reader to only know what Mark knows. Just recently, I started putting in a couple third-person interludes here and there, to show different aspects of the overall story - primarily because the overall story was very hard to discern from the short arcs I was writing. But even these are more of a teaser. It's just sort of to show what's coming, and make the reader wonder just when they're going to find out about why X is doing Y.
canonized: Speaking of Mark , he's also assumed many aliases throughout his term from a budding spy to assassin etc . It brings up the question of why you chose an espionage piece in particular aside from the obvious thrill of intrigue ?
Phoenix Dace: I like writing about espionage, it's a topic that gives a lot of opportunities for different stories. I made Mark an all-purpose part-time agent so that I could tell a wide variety of stories. As well, espionage fits so well into the global situation that it means I can easily show what's going on in the world. In addition, in all the narrative AARs I've seen on the Paradox forums, I've never seen one focused specifically on espionage, so it felt like I was doing something totally new, which is always a good feeling.
canonized: You've also sent us to different places from Finland to Istanbul all with their own unique set of challenges and peoples . Could you comment a little on some of these locales and why you chose them ?
Phoenix Dace: For one thing, the places in the story are pretty uniformly places I want to visit at some point in my life, so in some way I'm just living vicariously through my main character. On a more serious tact, these are places that make sense for the story, more or less. I try and avoid the most major cities and sort of showcase the small ones. As well, I really like varying the setting to keep it fresh and interesting. If every update happened in the same city, or a city that always seemed the same as the one before, it could get pretty boring pretty fast.
canonized: Is there an overarching political plot you think you'll be unfolding ? That is , the interconnection between all of these episodes leading up towards something major that you're waiting to spring on the reader ? Any sneak peeks ?
Phoenix Dace: Initially, when I first started writing it, I didn't have an underlying plot in mind. Now that I know what it is, I have to flesh it out much more before I start unfolding it, and even then I'll be unfolding it slowly. All I'll say about it is this: the recent interlude with Peshonov definitely has a lot to do with it.
canonized: What kind of background research have you done for the piece both in how spies worked in the time period and also of the counter-agents and places of interest at the time ?
Phoenix Dace: Well, I have to admit I haven't done as much research as I'd like to have. A lot of my style is probably borrowed from Alan Furst, who writes some excellent WWII spy fiction. I've read a few of his books and given that they feel about as historically plausible as it's possible to be on the subject, I try and borrow a lot of things from him in order to be sure of it. Other than that, I tend to rely on what I've read in books about the time period, movies set in it (even if they're not historically plausible - Indiana Jones springs to mind, and I've used it before to see how people dressed and what cars and planes were like), and the internet. Unfortunately, there's really not a lot available about espionage in the time period, and so a lot of that is guesswork and applying common sense and ideas in movies and books to the setting.
canonized: Aside from the rousing action and the audience jumping across the world with Mark , what kind of themes do you think you are underpinning overall ?
Phoenix Dace: I don't really know about themes - it always seems as if people are looking too far into stories when they look for themes. Personally, I'm just writing a story. There's probably some themes there, but they're probably not intentional.
canonized: Do you have any plans for future works ?
Phoenix Dace: Someday, I hope to bring back the AAR I mentioned a couple times that died from lack of comments. That's probably my only future plan for future works, on Paradox at least.
And, of course, I want to keep writing Services! I don't mean to say I won't keep writing once I finish Services and maybe my other one, I'm just saying I don't have any plans past that - but I'm sure they'll come up.
canonized: Well thank you again for being on the programme , PD , it was a great honour ! I’d like to thank all our readers for tuning again this week ! Next week is the December 1st issue of the AARlander and thus we’ll have our interview on there ! Next week we’ll have our resident Catalonian Kurt_Steiner on the AARlander special ! Don’t miss it !
