Featured Creator - February // AIMEE MEESTER

   Guess who I have here for the second installment of the Featured Creator series? The epic wonder-human and writer of The Bright Eyes Podcast AIMEE MEESTER.

A few epic Aimee-things you should check out:

The Athena Institute trains the best and the brightest of humanity for a future among the stars, and Trish Odessa has counted herself lucky to be among that handful of students. The Bright Eyes Project is a final real-world-experience test of their abilities that she is all-too-prepared for -- until her ambitious and overcurious boyfriend Milo goes missing right before the start of the test. Thrown into the role of starship captain, a role for which she's woefully underprepared and underqualified, Trish seeks to prove herself as a capable student and find Milo along the way, even if that means questioning the mysterious and sometimes-menacing Institute that oversees her every move.

the Bright Eyes podcast

 aimee's epic blog, Feels Like Hope 

her website, aimeemeester.com

Savannah Grace: So today is EXCITING, because Aimee is here to spill all to you guys (okay maybe not all but HEY this interview will still be an epic one, because Aimee is such an awesome person <3). I'm super happy to have you here today, Aimee! This is going to be all kinds of fun. Okay, first question first - what are a few fun quirks about yourself that people might be surprised to know?

Aimee Meester: Ahhh let’s see. I’m gluten-free (and sad about it), I like Twilight and dislike Harry Potter (I KNOW), and I’ve taken both martial arts and ballroom dance in the past (martial arts is still a current thing!). 

Savvy: Aw, I'm sorry you're gluten-free! Maybe all people who are gluten-free actually have superhuman powers that have yet to be activated xD. Except I think yours has been activated already - you're creative abilities are definitely superhuman, and your writing is super epic. What genre do you (usually) like to write in, and why? 

image not mine

Aimee: This is such a tricky question because one of my favorite things to do is play around with things and experiment — I’m a huge fan of mashing up genres, mixing things together to get something new, playing around with several things at once and seeing what sticks. So “weird” would be a good description of the genre I like to write, but I think most of it falls into the spectrum of sci-fi. Steampunk is a favorite sub-genre of mine, and I do love space opera. 

Savvy: Steampunk! *highfive* I've only written in that genre once (and that story died fast, haha), but we need more of it so bad, I love steampunk stories <3. What manuscript are you currently working on, and why do you love it (or hate it xD) so much?

Aimee: Right now I’m working on the script for season two of Bright Eyes, but I’m also editing my steampunk murder-mystery, Pariah. It’s one of my favorite stories I’ve ever created, and it features a lot of stabbing, poison, steampunky gadgets, and fog, all great things individually and together. I love the creativity of it and I feel like I’ve created a unique atmosphere that’s fun to follow around even when things get tense. It is third-person, though, which gives me difficulties.  

Savvy: Ooh, I've heard some about Pariah through your blog, it sounds like its seriously epic (also steampunky gadgets and fog <3). What are some of your favorite creative outlets, besides writing?
 

ze cat (image credit: Aimee)

Aimee: Sometimes I lay on the floor for a couple of hours with my cat and that’s really nice.   

Savvy: Haha, chilling with the cat is a good way to recharge xD. (and I've seen pictures of said cat and it is ADORABLE <3). Okay, topic switch - let's talk about the epic podcast that you've written. What inspired you to write a podcast and start Bright Eyes?

Aimee: Fiction podcasting was a thing that I discovered a couple of years back and fell in love with, yknow? I spent a lot of my childhood listening to books on tape and in recent years, I’ve discovered that I enjoy different mediums of storytelling and the opportunities you have with each. So the idea of podcasting as a way to tell stories appealed to me immediately. I’d wanted to try one for a while but I don’t like to start projects until I have the right story for them. Bright Eyes fell into place after I watched Star Trek: Beyond in the theater and fell in love all over again with that neon sci-fi vibe and the idea of exploration, and I just sort of...went from there. It was the right story for a podcast and I went from there.   

Savvy: Well I'm glad you waited to find just the right story - Bright Eyes is impossibly amazing <3. The characters are so great, and I love the imagery that you've able to put in our heads with words and sound effects! How is writing a podcast different from writing a book?

image credit: Stacia

Aimee: I mean, the obvious thing is you have to change your style up a bit. Fortunately I’m not a super description-heavy, wordsy writer, so it wasn’t too bad to make the transition to something meant just for audio, and I like writing in a familiar voice, which works well. It’s a bit of a trick to write for someone who isn’t you, though! You have to remember that someone is going to be reading those words out loud and that someone isn’t you; they’re bring their own tone and interpretations and way of speaking to the table. I’m really lucky to work with somebody like Sydney, though, who’s got a distinct voice I love to write for. The more I listened to her the easier it got to write her character, knowing how she’d say certain words and phrases and what would sound best.  

 
Savvy: Yeah, Sydney's voice is so perfect for the podcast, I love that she's the one who voices the main character. I would get seriously inspired to go write/do epic things after I listen to another episode of the podcast. What do you go to when you need creative inspiration? 

Aimee: Other stories! I usually watch a movie or a tv episode that particularly inspires me. I have a few that I come back to again and again and they remind me of what I’m trying to do and what I love. I learn by watching/reading other stories and taking elements of those that I like, learning to apply them in new ways. Most of what I write is probably elements of specific scenes or lines or maybe just one line of dialogue from a movie that was said in a specific way and stuck with me. I like to work with little moments that make an impact.   

 
Savvy: "I like to work with little moments that make an impact" seriously, Aimee - you need to publish a book because I WILL READ THE LIFE OUT OF IT and then probably give it a full five stars xD. Hey, I'm curious - who are a few of your favorite lesser-known creatives? (singers, authors, etc.)
 

 
Aimee: For music I quite like Shearwater, Astronautalis, Typhoon. They all do interesting things with vocals and sound and aesthetic that intrigue me and feed a lot of the vibes that I enjoy writing. Lyrics are big for me and all three of those authors are very poetic in a very raw way that’s interesting to pick apart.  For authors — Lemony Snicket isn’t lesser-known, exactly, but he’s certainly underrated when it comes to literary genius and wordplay. Pierce Brown is a current/always fave of mine.

Savvy: Epicness. I just started the Series Of Unfortunate Events yetserday, and I'm curious to see where it goes - and I've never heard of Pierce Brown, but now I'm going to need to look into his books! Alright, all that aside, who of your greatest inspirations, and why?

Aimee: Christopher Nolan because duh, Christopher Nolan, and also because he’s a successful writer/director who keeps to himself and focuses on good art more than anything else. His dedication to class and storytelling is something we could all learn from and he’s one of the few current major writers/directors who makes creative story decisions and tries new, original things rather than playing it safe. My dad, who isn’t a creative but who attacks everything he does with practicality and decency and gets ish done when other people stand around talking. Pierce Brown, because he’s an author who surrounds himself with good literature and art when he’s not creating his own, takes inspiration and wisdom from the ancient classics (as we all should), and isn’t afraid to make tough decisions with the story when other authors would have found an easy way out.   
 

Savvy: So you officially have some of the coolest inspirations ever xD. I always, always admire authors who never take the easy way out,  because their books tend to be some of the ones that make the biggest impact. What’s one way you want to make a creative impact on the world with your abilities?
  
Aimee: I want to bring the focus back to ​good art first. ​ Lately everything has to be a political statement, or make a profound point, or be IMPORTANT, and that’s rubbish, because when it comes to art, the only thing that matters is whether or not it’s good. Is it done with care and attention? Is it well-crafted? Does it speak to the truth rather than what we wish was the truth? Do people actually like to interact with that art? This is especially important to me as a conservative Christian who’s seeing other conservative Christians back away from the arts and culture when we really should be attacking it and adding our voices to the midst. I hope I can create things that people like and things that are well-done, and sort of lead that movement to get other people to do the same.   

  
Savvy: Seriously, that was the most epic answer to that question, I loved it <3. One last question before we let you go do more awesome, creative, "good art first" things (and I would totally join that om - what advice would you give to aspiring creators?   

  
Aimee: Literally just do the thing. Please. I’m begging you. That thing does not need to be good right away. That thing does not need to be the most important thing ever. That thing does not even need to be fully-formed yet. If you have an idea, and you have a gut feeling about it, just finish it and get it out there. It might not turn out to be any good, and it probably won’t ​ be any good even when you’re finished, but you can’t get hung up on waiting for the right moment, waiting for inspiration, waiting for the right thing. The best way to learn is to finish things and learn how to consistently finish things. It’s tempting to skip from project to project once the current one is boring or not fun anymore but you can’t do that, you have to hold on and get through it! You can’t improve or expand upon something you never had in the first place.

Aimee Meester is a writer, podcaster, amd storyteller who thrives off expresso and weird sci-fi. She spends her time constructing strange steampunk universes, lying on the floor with her cat, and watching superhero movies, when she's not busy constructing the sci-fi podcast BRIGHT EYES. Aimee is a believer in brutally honest storytelling and the importance of power naps.

   So if that wasn't epic, I don't know what is xD. Aimee is a creative mastermind, so I hope you guys got inspired to do epic things by reading that - I had a blast interviewing her! Come stop by again on the 24th to read my interview with this month's featured author ;).

~ Savannah Grace 

what's a way you want to impact the world with your creative abilities?

chat with Aimee in the comments!