Interview with Artemis Hunter
By Teresita Blanco
Introduction:
On January 23, 2012, I had the pleasure of interviewing Artemis Hunter. She chose the name Artemis because she likes the moon and archery. She is a 19-year-old professional cosplayer and writer. Lately, she is working more on her cosplay, while promoting her books. She lives in Fremont, Nebraska. She is a 3rd generation Swedish immigrant. She knows a few phrases and her family still cooks the food from their ancestral home.
She likes the Canadian Hockey Team and is rooting for their victory in this Winter Olympics. She likes German, Nordic, Celtic, Romanian, and Russian music and a few random English artists. She is gender neutral; meaning that she forbade me from asking girly questions. She has a cute daughter named Hazel, who is 22 months old. Artemis graduated from Fremont Senior High. While in High School, she mastered the German language. To prove to me that she spoke German, she said, “Ja. Ich sprechen die Deutsch sehr gut.”
This was my first official interview. So, it’s a little dicey with the details. Before I begin, I want to thank Artemis Hunter for putting up with me and my silly questions. I hope things go well in her endeavors. This was a Q and A interview; as are most written interviews. So, it will have a Q and A format. I placed on the top the key introductory information, for the sake of brevity. I will also omit any information that Artemis Hunter does not like. For organizational purpose, I will arrange the Q and A thematically, even though that may deviate from what occurred on real life.
Interview:
I. Family
Q. Tell me about you family. Do you have brothers and sisters?
A. I have no siblings sadly. But I do have my little Angel Hazel. I call her an angel even though she's a sweet-devil like me. I swear sometimes I see the wings and tail.
Q. Was it hard when you started as a mother? How was the experience like? I'm sure there were bittersweet moments, but how is it like to have Hazel in your life?
A. It’s great to have her, but it is stressful. I love her though. She means the world to me.
Q. What was her first word?
A. Hazel's first word was actually "awesome".
II. On her Books:
Q. What was your first writing piece about?
A. First serious piece or like the first piece I tried to get published, or first piece that I ever wrote?
Q. Let’s answer all three, lest start with the first one you wrote? Do you remember?
A. The first one I wrote in the second grade. It was about my dog, named Coco. One of my early pieces won a young writers award.
Me. Cool, my first poem was about my dog.
A. The first book I tried to get published was about a world I made. The story carried on for a long time. It was an utter fail, but I'm giving it to Bri for her own enjoyment. I have the digital version saved in a Flashdrive.
Q. What did you learned from your first attempt at writing a book?
A. I learned to never try to make everything go right for a character. No conflict, no fun, and winds up as a boring read. Also passive verbs can be used more than just normal descriptions. Example A: The girl's red hair lay over her back. See, boring. Not fun. Example B: The girl's red hair laid over her back, shifting in the wind showing gold highlights. You should add as much detail as possible without making it boring, use verbs in the description.
Q. Your newest book, what is it about?
A. The first two books of my trilogy are out. The Trilogy is called Fairy Tale. The first two books are called The Princess and the Angel” and “Down the Rabbit Hole and Back Again”. And it’s finally picked up in popularity. They take place in 3 "realms" basically different realms. The first is the Human realm, then the Fey realm and then Netherealm. They all intersect at one point. In the books, Rowan has to realize she's got more in her life, and she needs to be stronger. She struggles, but eventually, she realizes just how much she's needed in Fey, and gives in, and her "guardian angel" helps her along the way, adding her and helping her see not everyone is going to hurt her like she believes.
Q. What made your character afraid?
A. She was in an abusive relationship with a controlling boyfriend.
Q. How did she escape that abusive relationship, or is she still haunted by that experience?
A. You'll have to read to find out. I can't give everything away.
Me. Touche…
Q. How do you get yourself going to write? Do you have a ritual, steps you follow before you started writing?
A. Not really it just all starts with an idea. And then it changes into something beautiful. As I write I hunt down songs to match the mood I want. I can whip things up easily. I just have to get the urge to write. Music helps a lot though.
III. Cosplays
Q. What do you do for fun?
A. I cosplay, draw, design, and make costumes, writing is kind of a given considering I love writing so much.
Q. Who are you cosplaying as?
A. I cosplay Finland, and Fem!2p! America right now, but i am working on my OC cosplay and Fem!Prussia and Punk!Prussia. I can't wait until I get those done!
Q. What is fem 2p america ... and punk Russia... ?
A. Fem!2p!America is the female version of America in alternate form. punk PRUSSIA not RUSSIA. /Prussia/. It's basically his music version. I love 2p!Fem!America because she's a strong character who has a great design.
Q. Why Hetalia?
A. I LOVE Hetalia because it reminded me of my love for the world.
Q. Who are you roleplaying as, right now?
A. It's Heart Fire Beilschmidt-Braginski, my original character.
Q. Original character? Do you mean from the book ? Or another writing? Do you make your own costumes? Where do you get the parts for your costumes?
A. Heart is actually only a roleplay OC I use all the time along with her brother Spade. I do use them in fanfictions though. I do make my own costumes. And it really depends on what I'm making. For charms and stuff, Hobby Lobby and Michael's are AMAZING they have great stuff. For clothing, I like the concept of recycling from goodwill or thrift stores, as long as you can work with them. For horns and stuff, I'm planning on using "Insta-form" which is plastic pellets you can melt in boiling water and form into a shape to make what you need. I usually try to find the best quality of wigs possible. The white one I have sucks, and I need a new one.
Me. We are almost out of time. I can’t thank you enough, for the interview.
A. I really don't know what else to tell you. I'm really just a nerd who needs to get to more anime conventions....and wants to make people happy with my hard work and make friends again.
Conclusion:
I hope that you found my first interview interesting. With practice, I may become a better Journalist. On the mean time, I suggest that you visit Artemis Hunter’s websites. While you are at it, buy her books. They are all truly 5 stars worthy.
http://heartartemishunter.deviantart.com/gallery/
.jpg "Anime Girl with some odd fishes")
