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The Storyteller Interviews 1: Metaliturtle
Introduction
Welcome to the Storyteller Interviews, I'm your host DarkCloud, Civ III Stories Editor and humble moderator at Apolyton.
Today we have a real treat for you, the notable SKILORD, a poster in the Civ 3 Stories section and Civ III sections as well as the founder of Apolyton Never Ending Stories has conducted an interview of fellow author Metaliturtle, supplied with YOUR questions. Now you can find out everything you ever wanted to know about this enigmatic author, including, but not limited to his favorite stories that he has written and his own personal favorites from the forum.
So, check out this interview, you're bound to find something interesting to read!
The Questions
1. Interesting name, Metaliturtle, how did you come by it?
You see, when I started on these forums, I was a Metallica fiend. At the time I would've done ANYTHING (even gross stuff) to meet the band. (I've since gotten to, but it took a LOT of favors) They were my idols, when they went anti-napster I went anti-napster etc.
Anywho, that's where the Metali part of my name came from. The reason behind the turtle part was my childhood desire to have a pet turtle which stemmed from my love of the show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I mean, they were heroes in a half-shell... turtle power dude! Just total awesomeness what with the karate and one of their enemies was a brain that lived in an abdomen, that's quality stuff right there...
So I glommed Metallica with Turtle and got Metaliturtle!
2. Alexander the Great tends to play a rather dominant role in many of your stories, can you explain why?
My first attempt at writing on the forums was a story primarily about the band Metallica ruling a country and taking over the world. The characters weren't developed much but I did have a good time writing it. Although I enjoyed writing it, I received several PMs saying I should use a leader from Civ III instead of unknowns. And since at the time I wanted to have people who lived a metallica-esque lifestyle in my stories, but I also wanted humor, I grabbed the leader I thought to look the most prudish. (although blonde Alexander in Civ 1 was a total pimp and rightfully so IMHO)
3. Which of your stories is your favorite?
Hmm, I guess anything except Crazed Greek Wanderings (ed- which, at the time it was released was quite positively received by the community), maybe Metaliturtle goes apesh*t because most people didn't understand it and I enjoyed laughing at them.
Otherwise my favorite story I wrote would be any of them. Well, I know saying that is a cop out, but I write mainly things I think are cool to see in stories, stuff that I would enjoy reading, so I suppose right now that would make Danish King Rising my all-time favorite, until the next one I write.
4. What are your 3- 5 Favorite Civ III-Story Tales OTHERS have written and why did you enjoy them?
Well, the thing is I don't rank them like that, I know the second I name a story for this that there will be many others that I will have missed. One that comes to mind right away though as a story I thought was just awesome ((although I was a bit mad it beat mine at the time)) Was the winner of Contest Number Four, Knights of the Black Cross by Rotten999 (ed- which incidentally enough was an editors pick in the Apolyton Directory for a stunning 16 months).
Mainly though, I'll check out any new author I see. Of course, there's some 'old standby' authors whose stuff I always read, like SKILORD, Cbraund, Chrisius, etc. Let's see, my next favorite story though would probably be Stains of Blood and Ash by SKILORD, and # 3 story that should be scoped out would be Zulu Rules by Samuel Johnson.
5. If a Penguin got into a fight with an Ostrich, who would win, in your opinion?
Dude, you know I want to say penguin, but the only way they would win would be waaaay down south on the antarctica coastline. C'mon Ostrich is a man-beast of a bird, total victory.
6. What got you interested in writing?
Well, learning how to type did a lot for me because I can't hold pens correctly and am not a fan of hand-writing as a result. I could read since I was three though so I guess I could write from then on too. The first book I could read was Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss, still one of my faves too.
7. How old were you when you first started writing?
Well, on Apolyton I guess I was 16 years old just going by my signup date, but I did a lot of goofy stories for school magazines and stuff before then, and I posted things on websites as early as probably 12 years old. So I guess looking back on CGW (ed- Crazed Greek Wanderings) now, my age/maturity really shows through. (ed- Then again, I think all authors can say the same thing- we all wish we could burn our past works, because we just keep improving!)
8. What motivates your writings?
Well, before I used to write a ton of things for girlfriends because in my high school, poetry=success with the ladies and good poetry + sense of humor + money to go out weekly = more fun than I probably should've been having with said ladies. But as far as on Apolyton, the thing that motivates my writing is usually reading a really long piece by someone else that is very in-depth and serious and thinking "I need a good laugh" then I will write something that makes me laugh and hopefully the rest of you guys do too!
9. Does forum feedback dictate storyline in a current writing? Future writing?
YES! Hehe, I rarely plan my stories if ever, this is FUN for me, if I was getting paid to write then that would be different, but it's fun for me to hear what people think about pieces I've written, especially when they have things that help me improve my overall style. Basically if the forum is not enjoying it/ not responding, I won't continue a story because I have no idea where to go with it. My stories this past year in college are completely different though, after all, I use a spell checker for those. But only 3 people may read them so I don't look for feedback as much outside of the forums.
10. Why write for Apolyton?
For the community. Everyone who's a regular here seems to have a similar sense of humor and enjoy goofing around as much as I do. But the biggest reason is reading other people's stories, I'm almost afraid to say which ones come to mind because I am not good at remembering names of people, let alone stories, but I remember when I first came to the forums reading a story where cows were used instead of horses, (and living in Wisconsin I know cows) and I knew this was the type of place I wanted to be writing.
The other thing I like to see is new writers on the forum, it's rare because of some of the talent that's here, to see a new writer, but they always bring something fresh when they find their style, I sure hope that I did.
Editor's Comments
Well, there you have it. The Metaliturtle Interview- Part I of the Apolyton Storytellers Interviews, conducted by SKILORD. I hope you enjoyed it and can look forward to Part II coming out sometime next month with Metaliturtle interviewing our newest prolific author, Grandpa Troll, a well regarded CTP-MPer who recently discovered the Stories forum and who "loves posting on Apolyton and for all I have gotten enjoyment of here, would like to give back a small portion to the community."
-DC
Welcome to the Storyteller Interviews, I'm your host DarkCloud, Civ III Stories Editor and humble moderator at Apolyton.
Today we have a real treat for you, the notable SKILORD, a poster in the Civ 3 Stories section and Civ III sections as well as the founder of Apolyton Never Ending Stories has conducted an interview of fellow author Metaliturtle, supplied with YOUR questions. Now you can find out everything you ever wanted to know about this enigmatic author, including, but not limited to his favorite stories that he has written and his own personal favorites from the forum.
So, check out this interview, you're bound to find something interesting to read!
The Questions
1. Interesting name, Metaliturtle, how did you come by it?
You see, when I started on these forums, I was a Metallica fiend. At the time I would've done ANYTHING (even gross stuff) to meet the band. (I've since gotten to, but it took a LOT of favors) They were my idols, when they went anti-napster I went anti-napster etc.
Anywho, that's where the Metali part of my name came from. The reason behind the turtle part was my childhood desire to have a pet turtle which stemmed from my love of the show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I mean, they were heroes in a half-shell... turtle power dude! Just total awesomeness what with the karate and one of their enemies was a brain that lived in an abdomen, that's quality stuff right there...
So I glommed Metallica with Turtle and got Metaliturtle!
2. Alexander the Great tends to play a rather dominant role in many of your stories, can you explain why?
My first attempt at writing on the forums was a story primarily about the band Metallica ruling a country and taking over the world. The characters weren't developed much but I did have a good time writing it. Although I enjoyed writing it, I received several PMs saying I should use a leader from Civ III instead of unknowns. And since at the time I wanted to have people who lived a metallica-esque lifestyle in my stories, but I also wanted humor, I grabbed the leader I thought to look the most prudish. (although blonde Alexander in Civ 1 was a total pimp and rightfully so IMHO)
3. Which of your stories is your favorite?
Hmm, I guess anything except Crazed Greek Wanderings (ed- which, at the time it was released was quite positively received by the community), maybe Metaliturtle goes apesh*t because most people didn't understand it and I enjoyed laughing at them.
Otherwise my favorite story I wrote would be any of them. Well, I know saying that is a cop out, but I write mainly things I think are cool to see in stories, stuff that I would enjoy reading, so I suppose right now that would make Danish King Rising my all-time favorite, until the next one I write.
4. What are your 3- 5 Favorite Civ III-Story Tales OTHERS have written and why did you enjoy them?
Well, the thing is I don't rank them like that, I know the second I name a story for this that there will be many others that I will have missed. One that comes to mind right away though as a story I thought was just awesome ((although I was a bit mad it beat mine at the time)) Was the winner of Contest Number Four, Knights of the Black Cross by Rotten999 (ed- which incidentally enough was an editors pick in the Apolyton Directory for a stunning 16 months).
Mainly though, I'll check out any new author I see. Of course, there's some 'old standby' authors whose stuff I always read, like SKILORD, Cbraund, Chrisius, etc. Let's see, my next favorite story though would probably be Stains of Blood and Ash by SKILORD, and # 3 story that should be scoped out would be Zulu Rules by Samuel Johnson.
5. If a Penguin got into a fight with an Ostrich, who would win, in your opinion?
Dude, you know I want to say penguin, but the only way they would win would be waaaay down south on the antarctica coastline. C'mon Ostrich is a man-beast of a bird, total victory.
6. What got you interested in writing?
Well, learning how to type did a lot for me because I can't hold pens correctly and am not a fan of hand-writing as a result. I could read since I was three though so I guess I could write from then on too. The first book I could read was Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss, still one of my faves too.
7. How old were you when you first started writing?
Well, on Apolyton I guess I was 16 years old just going by my signup date, but I did a lot of goofy stories for school magazines and stuff before then, and I posted things on websites as early as probably 12 years old. So I guess looking back on CGW (ed- Crazed Greek Wanderings) now, my age/maturity really shows through. (ed- Then again, I think all authors can say the same thing- we all wish we could burn our past works, because we just keep improving!)
8. What motivates your writings?
Well, before I used to write a ton of things for girlfriends because in my high school, poetry=success with the ladies and good poetry + sense of humor + money to go out weekly = more fun than I probably should've been having with said ladies. But as far as on Apolyton, the thing that motivates my writing is usually reading a really long piece by someone else that is very in-depth and serious and thinking "I need a good laugh" then I will write something that makes me laugh and hopefully the rest of you guys do too!
9. Does forum feedback dictate storyline in a current writing? Future writing?
YES! Hehe, I rarely plan my stories if ever, this is FUN for me, if I was getting paid to write then that would be different, but it's fun for me to hear what people think about pieces I've written, especially when they have things that help me improve my overall style. Basically if the forum is not enjoying it/ not responding, I won't continue a story because I have no idea where to go with it. My stories this past year in college are completely different though, after all, I use a spell checker for those. But only 3 people may read them so I don't look for feedback as much outside of the forums.
10. Why write for Apolyton?
For the community. Everyone who's a regular here seems to have a similar sense of humor and enjoy goofing around as much as I do. But the biggest reason is reading other people's stories, I'm almost afraid to say which ones come to mind because I am not good at remembering names of people, let alone stories, but I remember when I first came to the forums reading a story where cows were used instead of horses, (and living in Wisconsin I know cows) and I knew this was the type of place I wanted to be writing.
The other thing I like to see is new writers on the forum, it's rare because of some of the talent that's here, to see a new writer, but they always bring something fresh when they find their style, I sure hope that I did.
Editor's Comments
Well, there you have it. The Metaliturtle Interview- Part I of the Apolyton Storytellers Interviews, conducted by SKILORD. I hope you enjoyed it and can look forward to Part II coming out sometime next month with Metaliturtle interviewing our newest prolific author, Grandpa Troll, a well regarded CTP-MPer who recently discovered the Stories forum and who "loves posting on Apolyton and for all I have gotten enjoyment of here, would like to give back a small portion to the community."
-DC
and well done SKI too 
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