Coffee Talks

With Redbird13

This was a 2015 Christmas interview we did. This was also our second interview that year, and thank you to the brave souls who allowed us to test out our skills. Through the years, we have learned how to improve our interviews since then.

And we will always treasure our old works, so without further ado. here it is.

RB: Hello, RedBird 13, That's a cute username you have!

RedBird13: Thank you.

RB: So let me begin by asking you some questions alright?

RedBird13: Sure. Ask away.

1. What inspired you to write this Snowy Christmas story of Michael Jackson?

I wrote it in my first winter on Wattpad, when everyone around me was putting out Christmas stories or Christmas Specials, and after a while, I wanted to be a part of it. 'A Dream of Snow' would work with an original character, but I chose Michael Jackson as the male lead because the audience of my profile on this site consisted mainly of Michael Jackson fans, so I wrote the story for them.

I wanted to tell a story that really had something to do with Christmas, not a story about something that just so happened to take place on Christmas, yet at the same time I didn't want to write a religious story, but one that you could read even if you didn't celebrate Christmas at all.

Christmas has two sides to it. On one side, there is the birth of Jesus Christ, on the other side, there is the tree with the candles that we take into the house, which has nothing to do with Christianity. It springs from an old, Germanic, pagan celebration, which has simply been overlaid with Christmas. Something of that ancient celebration persists throughout the centuries, adding this certain magic to Christmas. The church and the Bible have an extremely hard time with all kind of magic, so it's never really talked about, but especially as a child you do feel that it's there, sizzling under the surface.

I wanted to write a story on that side of Christmas; a story that did have the elements of hospitality and sharing, but also that of magic. A bit like A Christmas Carol, in which the Ghosts of Christmas have a lot more to do with the spirit of the Christmas celebration itself than with Jesus and the church.

2. This was such an interesting short piece! What made you think of incorporating a raven in the story?

Thank you so much! <33 The raven symbolizes the pagan element of Christmas. The Germanic god Odin has the company of two ravens, Hudinn and Muninn ('Thought' and 'Memory'), who fly all over the world and provide Odin with information. I'm not particularly saying that the raven in my story is either of those two, it was just meant as a pagan symbol poking its head into our modern, Christian celebration.

But near the end, Michael Jackson says, "[...] You see, I always knew that it wasn't my bird, and I had no intention of keeping it. I wanted to return it to whomever it belonged. It was just... visiting, you know. [...] But somehow I would have liked it to be real. A real memory. Memories have substance. Dreams don't. [...]" So if you like, you could argue that the raven is Muninn, 'Memory'. It doesn't speak, only crows as you would expect a raven to do. The religion it belongs to is gone, and the raven no longer has a say. But despite that fact, some faint idea of magic is still around, and although we don't believe in magic when it comes knocking on our door (or window, in this case) for Christmas, we let it in. It's as if the raven were saying, "Look what I can do! I can cover you in the snow, wake you up and put you back to sleep as I please. So whatever it is you believe, don't pretend there's no magic!"

3. Do you have a favorite part in your book that you would like to share?

Actually, yes, I have!