Terrouge E-zine Archives

Terrouge:
Thanks for coming, Snowfur.

Snowfur:
Thanks for inviting me! It's an honor.

What gave you the idea to start the Redwall Encyclopedia?

I loved the Redwall books, of course, but it was hard sometimes to keep track of what character belonged to what generation. So I starting keeping a list to help myself remember. It evolved into the full-fledged Encyclopedia.

So is the Redwall Encyclopedia still an attempt to keep that Straightened out?

Yes and no. :-) It's a handy reference to keep all the generations, etc, straight. But it's also fun to review, and to help make connections between the events in different books. Plus, I like to keep obsessive records! ;-)

I also think it's a nice resource for fan-fic writers. Do you write fan-fics?

Yes. I have several up on my website. I also write fan fics for other "universes", especially Disney animation. I do a lot of writing within the sci-fi/fantasy genre on my own, totally unrelated to any fandom. It's fun.

Is the Redwall Encyclopedia your biggest resource when doing Redwall fan-fics?

I have the whole Encyclopedia memorized, of course! No, just kidding. Yes, I refer to the RWE often when working on a fan fic. Especially for the minor characters. I believe the key to a successful fan fic is building on the existing characters and plot elements, not trying to completely re-write the books. That's why all my fics have Brian Jacques' characters in the center of the plot.

Terrouge:
When did you start the Redwall Encyclopedia?

Snowfur:
I initially created the RWE in Microsoft Works (where I do my private, non-fan-fic writing) during the summer of 1996. Then it was just for my own fun and reference. When I got online with a new Gateway 2000 computer in Christmas of 1996, I thought about putting it online. It took me awhile to learn how to make a webpage. For the first several months, I created it with raw HTML code in Windows Notepad. Since then I've used Netscape Composer, too. It came online May 18, 1997, and has been there ever since!

When you first put it online, did you have all the books up to Long Patrol?

When it was first online, The Long Patrol hadn't yet been published. I had all the books up *to* The Long Patrol. I added TLP later, and will be adding Marlfox soon, now, too.

Have you read Marlfox yet?

Yes. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I was able to order a copy from Britain last summer. Now I have the American edition, too. It's an excellent book. I like the connections made to past Abbey history, and the Marlfoxes are interesting villains, with all the sibling rivalry. Songbreeze the squirrel is one of my favorite heroines Jacques has come up with yet. I definitely reccomend it to all Redwall fans!

I have also read it, and I agree it is excellent. Did you keep from adding it earlier so that US fans wouldn't have the story spoiled for them, or was it for another reason?.

The main reason was to avoid spoilers for the US fans. It takes quite a while to get a book recorded and ready for the Encyclopedia, and I've been quite busy in "RL" with my first year of college. I hope to have Marlfox included in the next month or two, though.

Terrouge:
What college are you going to, and how are you managing to find time for the internet at all?

Snowfur:
I'd rather not say which city on the Internet, but it's the college in my hometown, in the University of Wisconsin system. It isn't easy to make time for the Internet, and a lot of e-mail backs up, updates go unfinished, ad infinum, while I attend to other matters. But it's important to me, not to mention fun, so I make time. :-)

On your sites for the upcoming tales of Redwall, where do you get your information?

Most of that information comes from the official site, Redwall.org. In the password-protected member's area, the webmaster (Dave/Swartt) posts news as it becomes available. I also look to the Long Patrol club website, the newsletters from the Redwall Reader's Club, the Internet Bookshop, and, often, tips from fellow fans who e-mail me!

How did the other little features in the Encyclopedia such as the Art Gallery come about?

The Art Gallery is the inevitable result of my drawing obsession. I draw, sketch, cartoon, whatever you want to call, it, a LOT. I always have, since Kindergarten! :-) As soon as I got a scanner (summer of '97), my art went online. The Martin and Rose shrine just sort of happened. Their relationship was so tragic and poignant, and I felt it deserved a quite little corner of the Web as a tribute. The Redwall Chronology page was created after I received my millionth e-mail asking what order the books went in. So to avoid typing out the order every day, I just posted it. The Huge List O' Links is an extension of the RWE itself, because I believe the fans and their pages are a big part of what Redwall is all about. I wanted originally to keep a list of every single Redwall site out there, but that's become impossible, as so many fans are online! But that's a good thing! The more the merrier!

How did you feel when you went to check your mail and discovered that your site had been named the best Redwall site online?

I was floored. It was a true honor. My site is very special to me, of course, but it was a real thrill to find out so many other fans felt the same way!

Thanks for your time, Snowfur.

No problem. My pleasure! Keep up the great work with Terrouge! :-)