Victoria Rogers

As part of our SFFWorld.com’s Member Spotlight Series, Nila interviews Victoria Rogers, student and fantasy reader and writer.

Hello Victoria, thanks for agreeing to take the spotlight this week. If not you, it would be some other poor member skewered on the lab table. I promise this will be painless (more or less).

Victoria: Hello! I don’t know how interesting I am, but I’ll try!

SFFWorld: What’s your SFFWorld.com’s forum alias and why did you pick it?

Victoria: NickeeCoco. She’s a character in a song called Nickee Coco and the Invisible Tree by Of Montreal. It’s a pretty hilarious song, and at the time I was on an Of Montreal kick.

SFFWorld: How did you discover SFFWorld.com and why did you decide to join?

Victoria/NickeeCoco: I don’t really remember. I was probably searching for new authors to read and stumbled upon a forum post. It was the writing section of the forum that was the deciding factor for joining. It looked like a friendly community. The flash fiction contests roped me in.

SFFWorld: How long have you been a member and what keeps you coming back?

Victoria/NickeeCoco: I’ve been a member since February 21st of 2009. I only know this because it’s under my avatar on the forum. The writing forum is what keeps me coming back. And the need for new authors to try. I may disappear from time to time due to Life, but I do always come back.

SFFWorld: What’s your favorite book?

Victoria/NickeeCoco: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. I read it when I was about eight or nine. It was the first book I ever came across where the protagonist was a girl with a sword. That really impressed me, and was a good continuation from my She-ra fandom. I re-read it annually. Sometimes twice, and it still makes me grin from ear to ear.

My favourite non-genre book is Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cook Home Collection. I know, a cookbook, but I love it. I had to buy a new one, because my original is falling apart. The front cover has fallen off, along with the spine. The pages are beginning to fall out. I’m seriously considering framing it in a shadow box. I learned how to cook from that book.

SFFWorld: Who’s your favorite author?

Victoria/NickeeCoco: Ok. This is a hard one. I have a bunch of favourites. I usually say Robin McKinley because she wrote my favourite book, but that’s not fair. Patricia A. McKillip, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Arthur C. Clarke are high up there, too. The first two because of their prose. The latter because of his ideas.

SFFWorld: What’s your favorite genre (science fiction, fantasy, horror, steampunk, etc)?

Victoria/NickeeCoco: I am going to go with fantasy for this one. I like science fiction too, and have read a lot of it, but I read more fantasy. I love myth and ritual, and fantasy tends to deal with more of that than science fiction.

SFFWorld: Where’s your favorite place to read?

Victoria/NickeeCoco: In the backyard, on my hammock, with a drink.

SFFWorld: Favorite con (convention)?

Victoria/NickeeCoco: I’ve never attended one. Not a fan/writing/comic one at any rate. I’ve been to academic ones. Do those count?

SFFWorld: Absolutely not. What do you do when you are not reading or messing around on SFFWorld.com?

Victoria/NickeeCoco: I write. I’m going back to school for the third time. This time for Human Resources Management. I am a trained opera singer. I play a lot of video games. I love cooking, and I like throwing grand dinner parties where it takes me eight hours to prepare everything. I’m also known for taking three to four hours to set a table. I always set the table a couple of days in advance. The art of the dinner party is something I hold dear. I think it’s a lost art form, and I wish more people entertained. The act of sitting at a table with others, eating, and sharing is important. It’s one of the only times we simply sit there and talk without anything else to distract us.

SFFWorld: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Victoria. Anything else you’d like to add?

Victoria/NickeeCoco: Just to say that I really like this community that we have here. The writing forum is a close knit group of people, and they’re very welcoming, helpful and friendly. Keep on doing what you’re doing, guys.