Q: Hi Chrissi! I'm not gonna be original here as I always start with the same question, but oh well... How did you end up in the world of fanfiction?
A: May 2012, I think it was, I was at the library one afternoon with my son and spotted Twilight on the shelf with a layer of dust on it. It looked worn and disused enough that I figured the fad was over and I could finally read it without all the hype the other karate moms had gotten caught up in the last few years. There was a lot of drooling over Edward’s sheer, sparkly awesomeness in the hallways at the Y while we waited for our kids in their Wednesday night class. I remember rolling my eyes a lot. Sparkly vampires? Tinkerbell sparkles, not vampires. I was not moved to read it based on their gushing reviews at the time.
I’d caught the movie on TV and loved the dark feel of it even though it really wasn’t a horror flick like some of my favorite vamp movies in the past. The baseball scene really amused me. Vampires playing baseball? I was intrigued. I read the book that day after our library visit. I was a little underwhelmed.
Still, I am nothing if not determined. I wanted to figure out what all the excitement and mom-squirming was about from my friends. I went back to the library and checked out the rest of the series. New Moon was a depressing uphill slog through mud (at least there were hot, shirtless werewolves to make up for it!), but the series got a little better as it neared the conclusion, I thought. I’m a nerd girl. The supernatural/sci-fi aspects of Bella’s transformation and the pack mind were what initially intrigued me with the completed series. I thought that would be fun to play with as a writer and was a little annoyed that SM really didn’t explore it much.
I think I read all four books in four or five days, then I read all of SM’s outtake-y, PDF nonsense and was still kind of nonplussed. There were all these great wolf pack characters, and even Jake and Ness, who it seemed to me were the true end goal of the entire series based on how it was written. Finding out that BD was the end of the story was such a huge letdown. Why give me Jacob and then foist him off on a toddler with no happy ending? Why does Bella never revisit the two things that she envied the Cullens for in the first book? In Breaking Dawn, never ONCE does Bella dance as a vampire or play baseball. What a huge lost opportunity for closure! I wouldn’t have been able to resist closing that cycle with those two scenes in some way from the vampire perspective, but it just further illustrated how empty Bella’s life became after her change. She never once made time to actually enjoy being a vampire once she was one. Huge letdown for me as a reader.
The outtakes really didn’t satisfy my craving for more of the other characters, either.
Then I remembered hearing about fanfiction from a friend. I just remember him saying that there was a website for that and hoped I’d find something readable, something that someone wrote after BD that redeemed it in some way, (The concept of an AU ending never occurred to me before I read my first few Jake/Ness stories.) so that’s how I ended up on FFn and Twilighted, reading every Jake story that I could get my hands on. Then Paul. Then Embry. Then a little Seth and some Quil, and eventually some Sam. I don’t ship Jared. No idea why, maybe I just haven’t gotten to him yet. Rec me a good Jared fic that makes me love him and maybe I’ll start writing him. You never know.
Q: Maybe you should! There aren't many Jared stories! Okay, so tell me a bit more about your writing, how did you start?
A: I was inspired one night with an idea for a lemon with a mystery lover, so I wrote a one-shot, a mystery wolf riddle with a really juicy, rough shmexxin’ lemon. I posted it on Tricky Raven after psyching myself up to it for a few hours.
That was the tough part! Working up the nerve to post it!
Readers went nuts for it. I was blown away. I had no idea it would be so well-received. It wasn’t just my first one-shot. It was my first lemon, my first fan fic… The overwhelming, positive response to it was shocking. Its popularity still baffles and astounds me a little six months later.
Q: I have to ask now! How do you come up with your story lines?
A: Oh, lord… I don’t know how to answer this concisely. I dream some of them and take notes on my phone in the middle of the night when they wake me up. Sometimes I’ll get inspired by an idea in a fic that I’m reading that the author chose not to explore for some reason or a concept that I want to explore in a different way. I might get an idea from a movie or TV show—anywhere, really. It comes at me from all directions.
I like science fiction and I don’t care for imprinting, so most of my stories are about me finding a creative or supernatural way to write around it or come up with other ideas about what it might mean. I think that was part of the popularity of YMO. I explained my theory of imprinting being a test for the warrior to see if he was strong enough to bear the wolf spirit by fighting the imprint to put his tribe first and her second. Essentially, I made the imprint the consolation prize as well, so the warrior wouldn’t go into withdrawal when the wolf spirit parted ways seeking a new host. Readers still comment on that aspect of the story more than nearly any other when they message me. Except my lemons. My lemons get a lot of attention.
Q: Oh wow! That sounds interesting! I was never happy with the imprinting part! So, you just mentioned you write from a dream or idea that just pops into your head. Then what? Do you plan an outline or you start writing as it comes to you?
A: With a one-shot, I’ll almost always just start writing and pick at it over a few hours until it’s done. Then I’ll edit and pick some more, edit and pick some more, edit and pick some more… You get the idea. I edit a lot.
With multi-chapter fics, I’ve learned my lesson since I expanded YMO without a plan in mind. Now I plotboard my stories. I do an outline using a color-coding system that only makes sense to me. It’s fluid and adapts well to my style of writing so I can change it as I re-think certain parts of the plot and re-work ideas for each act and chapter. I do it in Excel sometimes, but I really prefer the post-it note version on a piece of cardboard or in a folder.
Q: One of these days you'll have to show me that method! I see you're always writing, and coming with new ideas but what if you have Writer's Block, how do you find inspiration when the ideas just won't flow?
A: I pick my pre-reader’s brain incessantly. My pre-reader is meliz875, the author of “Bluebird”, “Wake the Earth”, and “Hardest of Hearts”. She and I make a good team because our strengths are polar opposites. She understands that I like to challenge myself to write things that I’m not comfortable with to stretch my wings and broaden my writing skill set, so she’s a great resource for me because she writes the things that I struggle with—romance and angst in particular.
My writing process requires me to talk out a lot of my ideas and she’s always willing to indulge my peculiar writing process. She’s very understanding! I’m battling with some writer’s block right now, in fact. I’m forcing myself to write sometimes, but something is better than nothing. I can always edit and fix it later. I guess I just power through it and talk out my ideas until something catches and it feels right. Then I write it. Mel is a great cheerleader!
Sometimes, a reader comment will kickstart an idea for me and that will set me to note-taking for an hour about ideas I want to flesh out for a chapter. I think leaving reviews is great, but including your ideas, your wishes for the direction of the story, as well, is really helpful to writers like myself. I draw lots of inspiration from that. I wish more readers would leave me a little wishlist in the comments to draw on for inspiration!
Q: Yeah, it's a pity not everyone shares their thoughts in a review! It's so important to leave some constructive feedback. Now, which of your stories are you most proud of?
A: They’re all my babies! Don’t make me choose a favorite! If I had to, I would say “Little Red”, which is really saying something because it’s not even published yet.
Q: And your least favorite story?
A: Again, I can’t say I have a LEAST favorite, but I do intend to re-write some of the multi-chapter version of YMO sooner or later. It was my first multi. It’s technically complete as a two-shot and I should have left it there instead of caving in to reader demands for more, so I might rearrange some of the later chapters as part of a prequel and sequel. It was a learning process for me as a new fan fic writer. It needs some cleaning up and reorganizing.
My readers are really hard to resist sometimes, though! They know I’m a softy. I write a foursome—they immediately begin lobbying in the reviews for a follow-up with a fivesome that includes Paul. And I always consider it because I love writing smut and I’m a shameless Lahote lover.
Q: On that note, what would you have done differently if you could do it again?
A: I don’t think I had the knowledge when I began to do it any other way and there were some things that I had to learn from the process, so changing it would be a mistake even if I could go back. I learned from the mistakes I made initially and they were an invaluable learning experience. Somehow, I still managed to win several awards with YMO despite the failings I see in it now. I’m my own harshest critic, though, I think, because readers still want me to finish YMO in its current incarnation and it’s just not right to do it that way. It needs to be planned better and well-executed for me to be happy with it in the end.
Q: You've been writing for a while now, what were your biggest learning experience(s) or surprise(s) throughout the posting process?
A: Publishing too soon. Seriously, I edit a chapter six times and STILL miss typos. I’m careful and don’t have many, but, man, do they drive me nuts when I find them after I publish!
Q: What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start writing?
A: Just start by getting your idea, a note—something—on paper. You can always revise and polish it later. Getting your notes down on paper before you lose the creative energy of a great story idea is the most important thing to worry about with any new story.
Oh, and TAKE NOTES RELIGIOUSLY! Every time an idea comes to you, write it down. Don’t assume you’ll remember later. Trust me—you won’t!
Q: What’s next for you? Any new fanfics coming soon?
A: “Little Red & Her Big Bad Wolves” is the big one. I’m hoping to start publishing it this spring. As soon as I post the epilogue for “Snowed In”, all of my time and energy is going into “Little Red”.
After that, or maybe during if inspiration strikes and won’t give me any peace, I’ve got a short story that I’m picking at now called “Embry and Quil at ComicCon Like Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra, Man!” It’s another polyfic featuring a Bella/Embry/Quil pairing. It’s about Bella writing a Jane Austen fan fic for a creative writing college course and winning a trip to ComicCon for four. Jake unexpectedly gets stuck in La Push, so she asks Quil and Embry if they want to go with her anyway. Quil, the sneaky little fucker that he is, replaces Bella’s suitcase with one that he’s provided. It’s full of skintight, naughty cosplay costumes, lingerie, and Star Wars underoos. As you can imagine, naughty hilarity ensues.
Throughout the month of March, keep an eye out for a series of what I’m calling a Study in Embry fics. I’ve got five one-shots, two-shots, updates to current stories, and follow-ups to previous one-shots that I’m working on as a series of month-long birthday gifts for my pre-reader Meliz. She puts up with a lot of crap helping me with “Snowed In” and “Little Red” and we’ve struck up this great friendship in the last few months over our shared hobby. I wanted to do something nice for her for her birthday. I just told her about my plan for her 5 big birthday surprises this past Friday night, but I think the anticipation is killing me more than her right now. ;)
Q: Many fanfic authors have started to work on original writing. Are you writing or are you planning to write any original work?
A: I am. It’s science fiction, since that’s my comfortable place. Not much in the way of erotica in that, but it’s early days yet and the characters are a bit younger in the beginning of the story.
Q: How long have you been writing your own stories?
A: Ha! At least since fourth grade, probably earlier. My first book was a monster mystery that starred myself as a private detective out to catch The Blob. I think my dad still has that book somewhere. I did all my own illustrations, too. The drawings were probably more entertaining than the plot, though. As a kid, I was an artist first, and a writer second.
Q: Have you thought about self-publishing?
A: I’ve kicked it around. I have some very successful friends who self-published travel guidebooks before everyone jumped on that bandwagon. It’s worked well for them so far.
Q: Is it your goal to become a full time writer?
A: I’ve been a full-time, freelance writer. My goal is to write what I love for now. If others love it, too, more’s the better.
Q: I recently found out you're a Beta. Are you accepting new stories to beta?
A: Not at the moment. My plate is pretty full right now.
Q: Okay, you're one busy lady! Are there any tips you could share with us to improve our writing?
A: I have a great resource that I point many readers to when they ask me to beta and I just don’t have time to take on another story. 99% of all writing and style problems are technical issues that can be solved by reading this like it’s the writer’s bible:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm
Q: Which are the most common mistakes writers make?
A: Hands down, it’s using incorrect homophones. Nothing is as prolific as that one mistake. I’m a very technical writer, so it drives me a little bonkers to see it happen so much when it’s so easy to fix. I homeschool a 6th grader, so maybe I’m more aware of it than other writers would be as adults, but I feel like if my 11 year old can spot the erroneous homophones, it’s not too late for an adult author to brush up and end that bad habit.
I’ve also seen some of the more talented writers who have bad writing habits unique to them that their betas aren’t calling them on for one reason or another; excessive use of punctuation or certain words, fragmentation, repetition … Hell, I’m guilty of that! I tend to use pronouns to begin sentences a little too much sometimes as well as the words ‘drew’ or ‘draw’ and ‘honey’. I use ‘honey’ a lot as a lemon writer!
Q: As a Beta, which are your strengths? And your weaknesses?
A: My strengths are the technical aspects of writing—spelling, grammar, usage, punctuation—the usual.
As a beta, my greatest weakness would be either my lack of tact or what my friends like to call my dreadful honesty. I’m a tough love beta. You have to have a thick skin for me to beta or pre-read for you because I don’t pull any punches. You get a very honest and thoroughly-edited chapter from me, but … I also might make you cry. That’s the trade-off. I read with your readers in mind. If I’m confused, so will they be, so I’ll tell you that. Trust me, you’d rather hear it from me before you publish than hear it later in your readers’ reviews.
Q: Well, Betas need to be honest if not how can writers improve! I think that is a strength not a weakness! Anwyays, what's your favorite thing about being a Beta? Your least favorite?
A: Lending writer-to-writer support that helps someone else improve a specific skill that they struggle with is the most rewarding thing about beta-ing for me.
My least favorite thing about it is sometimes being the jerk who has to say, ‘This is not readable in its current format. You need to look it over with a more critical eye, revise, and edit before I’ll look at it again.’ or ‘This is not your best writing. I can tell you were distracted. Take a break, have a cup of coffee, and walk away for a while. Then come back and revise this with fresh eyes.’
That’s tough, but I feel like I wouldn’t get asked to beta if someone didn’t want a total hardass to edit their work. I always warn writers before I read for them the first time just to be certain they understand what they’re getting themselves into.
I promise, though, that I will always be tougher than your toughest critic. You don’t want me to be the one who yesses you to death and tells you how awesome your writing is for the sake of hearing that it’s awesome. You want me to be the one who says, “Nope, back to the drawing board, Skippy. You can do better. Here’s how.”
Q: Again, I think Betas should be that tough and honest! So shush saying as if that's a bad thing! Are you working with any author now?
A: Right now I’m working with meliz875 on her Embry/Leah fic, “Hardest of Hearts” and Dragonfly76’s original fiction, a novella, Nobody’s Angel, which are both available to read on Tricky Raven.
Q: I know you're into Twilight, but do you support any other fandom?
A: Twilight, mostly. I like to dip my toe periodically into a little Iron Man or X-Men, but I haven’t strayed much yet. I found an Iron Man/Twilight crossover once that tickled my funny bone. I wish there were more of those.
I could see myself easily getting caught up in the Buffy and Angel fandom, or even Studio 60 or The West Wing. (Yes! That’s a thing! West Wing fanfiction! I may have fangirled a little when I found out.) Maybe even some Jersey Trilogy fan fic. That could be fun.
I’m sure it’s easy to tell who my favorite writers are now. Ha! I’ll go out of my way every time to watch or read something written by Aaron Sorkin, Joss Whedon, or Kevin Smith.
Q: When you have time to read, what genre(s) do you like reading?
A: The short answer is SMUT.
I LOVE erotic fiction. I also love science fiction with a little romance, and I can get into the hurt/comfort genre sometimes if there’s no major character/main pairing character death. I’m am definitely a Wolf Girl. I’ll read nearly any wolf fic if I’m guaranteed a happy ending.
I make the angst exception for one person, and that’s Meliz. Her fic, “Wake the Earth”, made me sob into bowls of ice cream and cookies for a month. Meliz warns me where the angsty parts are in her stories. I do love to torture myself with the angst, but then it wrecks me for days. She knows I can’t cope with it, so she prepares me by warning me when I’ll need to read with a bowl of ice cream and cookies and a glass of whiskey at the ready.
Q: What does a story need to grab your attention?
A: Good spelling, a decent, coherent plot, engaging characters. Overall good technical writing skills score the most points with me as a reader. I tend to review more when the technical writing is good because it’s easier to read and I have more time to leave a review at the end when I’m not re-reading to try to figure out what the writer is trying to convey. I can’t reiterate enough the need for a good beta, someone who’s writing strengths balance your own writing weaknesses. Again, this is how Mel and I came together to beta and PR for each other - finding that balance.
Q: Now it's the time to advertise! Which are your favorite fanfics?
A: Oh, my lord. I’m not sure I know where to begin. I do have a list of urls that I keep on my laptop and phone for when I hit a wifi hotspot and want to read on vacation. Even if I only include the top five, I’m going to royally piss some writers off… er … Okay, I can narrow it down to maybe my top ten, but this list is fluid and frequently changes:
Dreamscapes by Zoe1078
Crave by taoist elf - Though I also love Be Like Water, it’s not top ten for me.
Jailbait by MP
Wake the Earth by meliz875
Zombie Apocalypse 101 by Dragonfly76
First Kiss by bellaBBblack
American Wolf in Forks by feebes86
Breath of Life by Reign77
House on Wolf Lane (H.O.W.L.) by Amanda Wilder - Warning: this is some EXTREME smut. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s FUCKING AWESOME. :D
The Devil You Know by Unseelie Sidhe
As for one-shots, I have just a few that come to mind that really stand out:
The Cardinal Rule of Bromantic Endevours by WhoNatural
Sunday Dinner by mel.wolfgirl
Illusion and Disillusion by Zoe1078
Tempest by CayStar
A Life Worth Saving by ExquisitelyUgly
Q: What about original books? Anything you can recommend us?
A: “The Witching Hour” by Anne Rice. It’s been my favorite since I was in high school and worked at Waldenbooks. Dark, steamy, sensual, a little horrific and gruesome in certain parts, lots of science fiction and dark, gothic, twisted southern families. Takes place mostly in the Garden District of New Orleans.
“Honest Illusions” by Nora Roberts is gritty and mysterious, dark and romantic. It ticks all the right boxes for me. It’s also based in New Orleans.
I also really like her Circle Trilogy. It’s about a witch, a sorcerer, a vampire hunter, a shape-shifter, and a tiny brunette human with special gifts who falls in love with a heroic, wealthy vampire that only drinks pigs blood because he has too much respect for humanity to drink from them while he does business with them. He’s also a musician and he keeps her at arm’s length because he thinks she deserves better. I read it years before I ever read Twilight. Go figure.
Q: I haven't heard of it, I'm taking note of the last one. What do you prefer not to read?
A: I’m not a big fan of canon fics anymore, despite post-BD canon fic drawing me into the fandom originally. I read a few vamp fics, but I mostly stick to Jasper or Garrett fics if I’m not reading a wolf fic.
Q: What are you reading now? Fanfic? Original?
A: I’m always reading fan fic! I just beta’d a new chapter of “Hardest of Hearts” this week and I re-read some of “The Devil You Know” by Unseelie Sidhe today. It’s my current fan fic obsession.
Q: Now, you have write about many pairings, Jake/Bella, Quil/Bella, Embry, etc. Who's your favorite character?
A: I can only pick one? Uh … nope, can’t do it. My fave wolves are Jake, Paul, Embry, Seth, and Leah. I love Jasper, too, for some unfathomable reason.
I like writing a strong, AU Bella, but I really despise the mother-loving-crap out of canon Bella. Like, with a passion. I want her to eat shit and die in such a way that Jake feels like it’s a blessing and he moves on and falls hopelessly in love with a Hawaiian surfer swimsuit model who loves to suck dick, and he marries her, and has a half dozen kids tumbling like puppies across the lawn behind a big, lofty log cabin that he and his girl build with grit and determination and a little self-sacrifice, and he forgets all about Bella-who?
So there.
Just say ‘no’ to canon Bella.
I love writing Leah and I love reading a well-written, well-thought out Leah. There’s lots of great potential there for a strong, female lead. (Hello? “Hardest of Hearts”, anyone?)
Q: I'll have to check it out! I love Leah! Okay, last question!!! You ready? Are you in the Fandom-closet or does your family know you write fanfiction?
A: Most of my friends don’t know. The ones who do know mostly disapprove of Twilight on principle, despite being really supportive when it’s time for contests and awards and whatnot. They’re happy for me when I win even if they think it’s a complete waste of my time and talent. We have a drink to celebrate what they consider my dubious honor and carry on.
My husband knows and is really supportive. He thinks it’s a great way to hone my writing skills and he really likes my smut. He pre-reads most of my lemons and gives me a good window into the guy’s perspective.
My eleven year old son knows and, in fact, actually began reading fanfiction because of my interest. He’s all about the Nintendo and Sega fandoms for the most part, and one fandom that I’m not allowed to tell anyone about. He likes the closet just fine when it comes to that particular secret fandom, thank you very much! Ha!
My son is working up to writing his first fan fic. He’s really nervous about it, but excited just the same. He talked me into beta-ing for him when he’s ready. I melted a little. My baby needs a beta.
Q: Oh, my God! That's fantastic, he's following your steps! Chrissi, thanks so much for taking the time to share more about you! Btw, if you ever plan on writing a story about her, I'll be there supporting you! Lol. Thanks!
Make sure you check Chrissi's stories and leave her some love!
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