This review was written by ssherrill115
Let’s see how Juliebly and Sparkling Twilight describe their fic: J/B & E/A are living on the streets of Seattle. What happens when their paths cross one day? Will they rise up against the odds, or hit rock bottom? Drugs, drinking, excessive obscene language, and mature adult content. OOC. Canon Cpls. Rated M. Twilight - Rated: M - English - Drama/Suspense - Chapters: 30 - Words: 244,883 - Reviews: 324 - Updated: 2-24-10 - Published: 7-9-09 - Bella & Edward
In this story Bella has a sisterly relationship with Jasper. It is Jasper and Bella against the world. Both of them have been through HELL as teenagers. Maybe Bella worse than Jasper – but neither of them feel like anyone loves them except each other. Jasper loves Bella, she is his whole world and Bella has pretty much put her entire life into his hands. She has just allowed him to be in charge of her because it has always been safer for her that way. They are just drifting along in life, homeless, no plan for the future, living each day looking for a place to lay their head and how they will eat. It is a very sad existence.
Edward on the other hand has been raised with his sister Alice in excess. He has always had anything he needed. But he didn’t feel loved. Through an unfortunate set of circumstances he is left with a Father that doesn’t know how to talk to his son and a step- mother that is too afraid to make a mistake by talking to her step-son. Esme and Carlile allow their own embarrassment and uncertainty ruin their relationship with a young Edward and it is a cancer that eats away at him for his whole young life. When he finally turns 18 he is out of there – onto the streets. His own stubbornness keeps him down (I wonder where he gets that from). When Alice hits her rebellious teenage years and starts doing drugs, guess where she ends up…with big brother, on the streets.
What will happen when these two couples meet each other? Will there be friendship? Will they work together to help each other off the streets? Or will jealousy and drug use and a struggle to be “in charge” drive a wedge between the siblings? Can they help each other, should they try? All these questions are answered in “Anywhere But Here”. I have been following this story almost as long as I have been reading Fan Fiction, so that makes it nearly a year ago. ABH was one of the first fan fiction stories I read seriously when I started reading and I have loved it the WHOLE TIME!! These two girls are very talented and passionate. ABH is a complex story about living on the streets, drug use, sibling rivalry, and finding out who you are. Just when you think you have everything all figured out – you are wrong. There is mystery, intrigue, and even a little bit of UST. The chapters are long, and the plot is thick and this is definately the kind of story that you can sink your teeth into.
If you are looking for a really good story to lose yourself in, where Edward is EXTREMELY HOT (btw) you will really love Anywhere But Here. I have pasted both the girl's home pages below. They are both extremely talented and I think you would enjoy anything they are writing.
Link to the story: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5204477/1/Anywhere_But_Here
Juliebly's Profile Page: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1809509/Juliebly
Sparkling Twilight's Profile Page: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1704714/SparklingTwilight
So, what did you think? Have you read this story? Do you think you will now? Thank you for taking the time to read Southern Fan Fiction Review and please leave me a comment....please...
Picture with me two lovely ladies in a pub somewhere. They meet after work just two old friends out for a ladies night to relax, talk and have a bit of wine. That is the way I picture this interview going. TWO of my FAVORITE authors Elusivetwilight and Lambcullen. They are friends in RL - Let's listen to their conversation shall we...?
Elusive Twilight will be in Blue
Lambcullen will be in Purple
What inspires your ideas?
Many things.... songs, a scene in a book or on TV...Landscapes came to me via the "blue paint" chapter, and I built the whole fic around it. Dearly Departed was very personal, based on some experiences of my own. What about you?
I'm inspired by everyday occurrences and my overactive imagination. And my very perverted and warped sense of humor. I also have this total adoration for challenging myself to describe things as I see them.
What kind of environment do you like to write in?
Anywhere that I can put words on paper or screen. Seriously. I write on the bus to work, at work, at home, once, I had this total inspiration while I was out in the pub with work pals and it wouldn't leave me alone. So I ended up writing in my notebook in the loo. It was a total purge of words.
I can write anywhere as long as they're "talking" to me. Plenty of times I've been talking to a customer in work while writing a lemon into my note book!
Do you need music or certain lighting or foods to inspire you?
Not really... Wine can help when a lemon isn't co operating though :)
You are the font.... Do you match the songs to the chaps, or vice versa?
A lot of the time I have to cut down what I'm actually listening to when I type up music lists. I listen to a plethora of stuff when I'm writing and I try to keep a note of songs that I listen to. I try to keep it to five. I used to listen to music when I used to paint as well.
I suck at songs... when I first started writing the room had to be silent so I could concentrate - maybe I was trying too hard /snort.... now I listen to my favs and annoy people on twitter by blipping like crazy!!
I think having music helps to isolate what's going on around me and inside my head. I can immerse myself more directly in the story and focus on the mindset of my characters when I find the songs that set mood, tone and theme for me
But you rock at songs!! you're like a cool jukebox. LOL... have you ever thought of a fic/chapter based solely around a song?
Um yeah. like a lot. I had this whole idea for a one shot over Christmas based on Dan Fogleberg's same old Lang Syne. it was gonna be all angsty and shit...I still might do it. and I am like a jukebox...you should see me at parties...*fuck...she's singing...again... #dontgetmedrunk
LOL!!! I'm jealous of your brain.... like seriously
I'm all blushy now...I'm jealous of your brain...and perhaps your bewbs. j/s
What sort of history do you have with writing? have you written from a young age?
No!!! hahahaah I read....LOTS! horrendous amounts. Hubs goes wild at the amount of books in my house. I studied English Literature in college, because I just love the written word, never had I even considered writing a damn thing. But after discovering the crack that is FF.... I was walking home from taking my kids to school and the idea for Wreckage just came to me. I wrote the 1st chapter - it took WEEKS to write (which is so funny to me now) and I was literally crying when I sent it to my friend (naelany) to read.
You totally churn it out, though. How you keep so many characters/plot lines/etc in your head, plus beta and pre-read for others...
HA! - truth? I have no idea!! and the worrying thing is there are more in there. I have 4 notebooks full of random fic idea... I have issues, for real.....
How do you find time to write?
I work 16 hours a week and have 2 kids. My house is run with military precision. No lie!.... My kids are pretty good overall and to be honest, I think it's good for them to see me writing and reading when I'm not being made to by a school. Where do you fit writing in?
Yeah, I work full time...and then stay up to all hours of the morning writing like a demon. Writing is incredibly therapeutic for me.
Your fics are VERY different, do you think that helps keep them separate in your head?
Totally. If they weren't different, I would get the characters mixed up. IA Bella & RS Bella have to be different, and to be totally honest, RS Bella was so heavy to write, the relief of writing IA Bella with some backbone was incredibly refreshing. I also enjoy writing against the whole fic cliché. It makes exploring the characters that Stephenie Meyer created more interesting. At least for me.
I agree - I love writing them different than the "usual fandom" ones... Like Tilt. From the summary you'd think it was 52 chapters about a couple having random sex.... clearly not so from my two awkward geeky pair.
Who's POV do you like writing??
It depends from fic to fic, mood I'm in, music I'm listening to, whoever is shouting loudest in my head. Do you have a POV that you prefer?
Its odd, because when I started I hated writing EPOV... it just seemed to take forever, however.... I must be a closet bloke, because I'd write EPOV any day... especially when its a lemon.... I'm just a dirty dorty bird I guess.
You know it's funny, I prefer lemon writing from EPOV as well...I've tried to examine that from an objectionable stand point and wonder if that's because how we would like to imagine guys think when we gettin it on...or if it's because the Bella's I've written just weren't loud enough. Although, model-ella and wand-ella were screamers * *
I think it's because I'm not really a "fluffy" girl.... sometimes its amazes me the rainbows and bunny rabbits I spout!!! I like dark, I like gritty!!
I'm not much for fluff myself. Do you have a favorite book outside of twi?
I have a few....I love Vampires, hence getting into Twilight. I adore anything in that genre.... Like J. R. Ward's black Dagger Brotherhood books, or Sherrilyn Kenyons Dark Hunters. Cliché' fav is Bram Stokers Dracula!... out of that genre is Emo fav JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye... U?.
Believe it or not, my favorite book is Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. For a 19th century writer, the angst in Les Mis is om nom nom nom good. I read it first when I was thirteen, and have re-read it so many times, you would think I had it memorized. I still cry at the end.
Aww you're a sap really, aren't you? I notice on IA that you use the stage and have quotes from books and plays..... is that where your heart is?
Um...yeah. I have some stage experience...a lot of it from high school and college both on and off stage. I was student director my senior year, we did Gypsy. (seriously, only I could have directed a stage reproduction in high school about burlesque strippers...) I love the stage, and the intimacy you have with live performance. It's raw, and real, and the rush of being onstage or seeing the end of a production is like nothing else. Also, all the cliquey backstabbing among theater people is a fantastic place to draw plot and characters from,.
The Rain Season .... how do you feel now its complete?
I feel kinda like I just watched my best friend had to move across country and I'll never see them again. I need some space to gather myself with RS. I want to go back and edit and tweak it a little...it had so many betas that there are a few inconsistencies in the first dozen chapters. When I hit complete, it was an odd feeling though...you put it into perspective in your review, bb. A book, a whole bloody book that's like 190K long. seriously.
How do you feel with so many on the go when you get close to completion? Is it relief? Are you happy with all of your stories? Are there things you would have done differently?
With Wreckage I cried.... with Dearly Departed it was a relief. Any of the others.... including Tides, have been an odd mixture of both. Maybe because I always have others, so its not like I have to start all over again. As you know I have 3 chapters of a new one already done and ready to go once Tides is over. I agree with the "tweaking" I think everyone wants to do that though
Do you always write from an outline? Basic info?
I am quite ashamed to say I don't have an outline. Ever. I have certain pictures in my mind that I work towards. For example, with RS, I worked towards the cliff drowning. Ever since I heard that Lifehouse song, I knew I was gonna toss Bella off of a cliff. RS evolved A LOT! Originally, Tanya was gonna be straight and an ex of Edwards who basically talks a lot of shit and Bella would go all Ophelia and toss herself off some cliff in Scotland. which um...obviously didn't happen, lol. With IA, I have a specific them I'm working on, I'm obsessed with the dominant tug and pull between the stronger Bella and the demon Edward. I want it to be this total bullfight, both of them playing the bull and toreador at one point or another throughout. Do you prefer outlines or to just go with it? I get the feeling you're a lot more organised than me!
hahahaha yes..... I outline the main points/ides/random quotes etc.... not chapter by chapter, but enough to constantly refer to. Wreckage altered a lot... Originally Rose was the one that drove her car into them... not James, I think a lot of fics change as they get written..... I'm enjoying this actually!! LOL.... so any major fav fics....ones you would tell a non FF addict to read?
The Blessing and The Curse is one. I really enjoy that. Carpe Noctem, Fiat Lux is amazing. I love the angst, seriously. I haven't done a lot of reading lately, which is a shame, because there is a lot of great new stuff out there. I plan on remedying that as soon as I can though. I get asked about recs, and I hate giving them...not because I'm a bitch and I don't wanna pimp stories, but because I don't wanna miss something out. I saw a blog post be someone this morning where she based her to-read list based on reviews. I was kinda miffed about that...there are loads of fics out there without hundreds of reviews that are very well written.
Do you have any favs you would pimp to the non FF addict?
Its no surprise how much I like a decent dark fic... I like it angsty - or Vamp evil Edward... no fluff for me really. When I started reading I was into tons of stories, but in truth I read about 7 fics now.... I think it helps not reading too much. It doesn't influence your writing, know what I mean? I also, as before, get tired of the same stories.... <- Damn, I sound like A bitch!! hahahahaha....
The RS is set in Scotland, obviously writing what you know. Do you base any other on personal experiences?
Fuck...don't I wish the pirate one was based on personal experience * swoon * other than that and IA Bella as backstage manager...nope. Although, the Jacob in the model behavior one shot is based on an old friend of mine I haven't spoken to in years. and maybe, just maybe...if I'm a lucky girl, I can get my nipples pierced and giggle my way through airport security...what about, you doll? Would you say personal experience plays a pivotal role in your writing?
ha....my life is nowhere near as fluffy as I write, but then I guess that's why I write fluff!! Dearly Departed was one I based a lot on my experiences.....and in truth I don't think I'll do it again. People where mean in reviews and it hurt. Everyone's experiences are different, but not all reviewers accept that. They assume you're wrong and haven't done your research. I think its only natural that you end up thinking of a person you know when you write a character. FE Seth is totally totally a guy I used to work with!
I think that when you have a fic so close to you as DD was, and even with the mean reviews, it gives you an opportunity to grow and learn about yourself. What would you say writing fan fiction has taught you?
That I have no control - LOL!!! Its taught me more bad than good I'm afraid....sorry :( You?
I have a lot of stuff backlogged, even before fanfic. Stuff that I've never shared with anyone. Poetry as well. I've always been a writer, even when I was little I would write for pleasure. My mom and dad wouldn't let me watch TV from the age of 8 to 18 and during those years I wrote or read. I would say fan fiction and the invaluable feedback has taught me a lot about myself as a writer. I think since it's online, people are more honest to you, even if it's a nasty review, and will give you exactly what is running through their heads. But then, my fics aren't huge, so I've been relatively lucky when it comes to nasty feedback versus constructive feedback.
Outside of FF? Obsession?
I don't really have anything that makes me squeee to be honest. other hobbies are baking. and I love to read, obviously. once I finish re-reading twi saga (again) I'm gonna give the books I got for my b-day a go, finally. what about you?
Sigh..... with 2 kids my hobbies are limited... but I knit... A LOT.... and as everyone knows KAt Von D is my other obsession.... Music & Books are my first loves, and my eldest child is exactly like me in that sense!
Do you have any other talents? Do you sing? Draw? Party tricks? ;P
I make clothes.......really.... I do stuff with my hands.... Bwhahahahaaha
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, oh matron!
When you write lemons, how do you choose the direction?
To me, a lemon should flow... if your stuck then it really shouldn't be in that part :)
I agree. I try not to make it all about the smut, there should be a reason it's there. Try being the key word here.
Do you have a favorite lemon out of all that you have written?
My favorite lemon...has to be when Rain Season Edward told Bella he loved her and showed her the swan tattoo. I was pretty pleased with that one. What about you?
Blue Paint in Landscapes. I won a Golden Lemon for it. I'm very proud. As I said I based the whole fic around that idea.
Favorite book in the saga and why?
Eclipse.... though I think Midnight Sun would top that if she ever finishes it!!! You?
Midnight Sun as well. Without a doubt...and then Eclipse. Midnight Sun, because as if I didn't need anymore reasons to love Edward, Meyer goes on and starts that. I le sigh while reading it. And Maybe lick the screen! Then Eclipse. Team Leg Hitch all the way, bb.
Do you ever do research for information in your story, if so, where do you turn?
YES!!! I researched the hell out of Retrograde Amnesia for Wreckage and I think I scared myself when I looked in sociopaths for Opheliac. Though you can only research so much. I find some people are very critical, as they were with Dearly Departed. Just because experiences aren't the same, doesn't mean they're wrong or not researched..... just different.
I try to do research. I looked up a lot of stuff for The Red Wake, to be honest,. I had to research what kind of undergarments were in existence between 1680s-1720s!!!
Elusivetwilight's Profile Page on FanFiction.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2001875/elusivetwilight
Lambcullen's Profile Page on FanFiction.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1793852/lambcullen
And with that both our ladies get up and saunter back over to the bar to get themselves another glass of wine. I see both of them are laughing and eying that handsome bartender...
What did you think about the interview? Did you enjoy it? Would you like to see more? What authors would you like to interview each other? Maybe you might see it here. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! Thank you for reading Southern Fan Fiction Review!
This review was written by ssherrill115
Expectations and Other Moving Pieces by chrometurtle
What does Chrometurtle say about her fic? Everything I had done in my life seemed to lead up to this moment. The moment when I found myself bound inextricably to a man I didn’t love, trapped in a life I didn’t want. And if I left him, I would be entirely alone. Twilight - Rated: M - English - Angst/Romance - Chapters: 25 - Words: 94,998 - Reviews: 4911 - Updated: 2-17-10 - Published: 10-13-09 - Bella & Edward
You know when someone tells you “This story owns my Soul…”? You know automatically that the person you are speaking with loves the story they are talking about. Expectations and Other Moving Pieces is one of those stories for me. I want to share with you just a couple of the comments that this story has received:
• guh. idk how you do it, but you have me entirely entranced w. your words...and wrapped around your pinky. seriously, i cant get enough of EOMP (cravingtwilight)
• aw. how do you write this?? lol.. it's so depressing yet not at the same time.. i can't describe it.. :) either way, i love it :D (Karianne Cullen)
• dont stop...more, more, more! i literally LIVE for this story. (lisalovesbella)
• I am officially hooked. Wow. I have NEVER seen an Edward like this! Reading on... (AddiCakes)
If you are a regular reader of Southern Fan Fiction Review, you know that I am the reviewer who loves me some lemons. I like light fluffy stories that make me feel all gushy inside. Expectations and Other Moving Pieces is not light, it’s not fluffy, it hasn’t even had one little minor almost lemon. In this story Edward and Bella are in a Loveless marriage. They are in a hateful, cruel, miserable marriage and neither of them understands how to get out of it. They don’t even understand if they want out of it. All they do understand is, how they have dealt with one another hasn’t worked and isn’t working now. What are they going to do?
This story is written from Bella’s perspective. As I read EaOMP (this is the Twitter name for this story) I find myself wondering if Bella loves Edward. I think she does in her messed up way of thinking. I think she loves him the same way you love that old ratty blanket that you won’t throw away because it’s not too hot or too cold – or the way you love that pair of shoes that if you wear them in the rain your feet get wet because there is a hole in the bottom. She has used him until he is worn and tattered and his heart seems to be falling to pieces.
I also wonder if Edward still loves Bella. I think he really did in the beginning of their relationship, but not in a healthy way. I think he loved her in a way that made him give away who he was to her in a desperate attempt to make her love him. You can’t MAKE someone love you, and if you try, you end up hurting yourself and I think that is what has happened to Edward. I love him so much as a character that my heart actually breaks for him – and for her – their cruelty towards each other is devastatingly addictive. I don’t want to read them being mean to one another, but I hold the hope in my heart that everything will be alright.
Chrometurtle is an extremely talented author. She has the gift to grab hold of your soul and make you pull for her characters. Her writing is addictive and the chapters are just short enough that you want to SCREAM at her to give you MORE! She is tantalizing and seductive in her ability to make you wonder and long for her next chapter. I have never wanted two people to make up so bad in my LIFE! I think that, if you are not reading Expectations and Other Moving Pieces, you should try it. Offering it to you makes me feel like a crack dealer, because I know once you try it you won’t be able to stop.
Here is the link to the story: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5440859/1/Expectations_and_Other_Moving_Pieces
She also wrote an outtake from Edwards Perspective - and it says complete, but I think she will write more. His POV is extremely interresting. He is a very complex thinker!
No Children
Expectations and Other Moving Pieces. EPOV.
Twilight - Rated: M - English - Angst/Romance - Chapters: 1 - Words: 5,307 - Reviews: 221 - Published: 1-28-10 - Complete
Here is the link to No Children: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5702236/1/No_Children
I want to Thank You for taking the time to read Southern Fan Fiction Review. Are you reading this story? Do you like it? Does it own you like it ownes me? Please leave me a comment and let me know you were here - it makes my day when you do!
This review was written by the Beautiful (and Angst lovin') Snshyne
Frozen Spring by Meadow Cliffdiver
Original Author's Description: Bella moves to Forks for a change of scenery after leaving her fiancé. She didn't expect to find that her inherited house would throw her into a world filled with mystic secrets and vengeful spirits. Will she end up a casualty? AU/AH, M
I was dipping into the repertoire of SFFR family reviewers and I came out with Frozen Spring by MeadowC. This story is so much more than I expected based on the author's description alone. MeadowC takes the already supernatural characters of Twilight as vamps and wolves and transforms them into a completely different supernatural realm all together. One of evil rituals, spirits, and haunted houses. Cue eerie scary tunes. I kid, this fic is NOT scary, but it is definitely mysterious. The ghosts aren't your average sheet wearing, fly through the sky, walk through walls ectoplasm. Instead, each spirit is unique in their abilities and restrictions and it will keep you guessing as to how it will come into play. Similar to Canon, their human characteristics and circumstances translate into their afterlife.
The move to her Aunt Esme's old house is nothing short of eventful from pretty much the moment Bella steps foot back into Forks, WA. Twenty-two years ago her mother left it with her out of fear. Except in this story, Charlie follows them and they live happily every after in Phoenix. Right? Perhaps, not so much. Up through her early teens, Bella would visit with Charlie and always felt a natural pull to the old family home in Forks and takes Charlie's offer to move into the house after a love-life gone wrong. I have to tell you, I laughed at the way that the failed loves plays out in the story; it's highly amusing. On those summer trips, Bella learns more and more about her parents past and the history of the old Victorian home, which only serves to make her more susceptible to her serendipitous fate.
As if falling in love with a vampire in Canon wasn't hard enough, Bella has to go and fall for a ghost with a serious case of the guilties and a set of inconvenient limitations that have the tendency to separate them. Being inexplicably drawn to each other opens up Bella's eyes to the realm of the supernatural and sets her path to communicate with and help those that fall into her path unexpectedly. With the help of Alice, another human with the ability to sense and communicate with the supernatural, and the rest of her new found friends, Bella will embark on a mystery to explore true love and fight the evil that threatens them all.
MeadowC’s story is beautifully compelling. You can tell she loves the characters she is writing about by the way she makes reading about them fun. The love is felt passionately between her characters, even between those of different universes. This story does not have a lot of lemons, but I think it has room for them. Do you think it’s possible to consummate a relationship between a human and a ghost? I hope so because the Bella/Edward pairing is not the only pair that consists of a ghost and a human. I hope you will treat yourself to Frozen Spring. I know you would enjoy it!
You can find MeadowC over on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/meadowc
Meadow has been known to visit and post teasers over on the Frozen Spring twilighted thread: http://www.twilighted.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=7127&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
Check out the story here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5428177/1/Frozen_Spring
Thank you for taking the time to Read Southern Fan Fiction Review!! Please leave us a comment and let us know you were here!!
This review was written by the lemon lovin' ssherrill115
Purgatory: A Love Story by Americanxidiot
Let’s see how ameircnxidiot describes her fic: On December 23, forty people boarded the Greyhound bus from Seattle to Port Angeles. Six would never arrive. A story of love, grief, and learning to live again once your heart stops beating. AU, no vamps - a Twilight/Wristcutters crossover.
Twilight - Rated: M - English - Fantasy/Romance - Chapters: 11 - Words: 42,424 - Reviews: 1062 - Updated: 2-10-10 - Published: 1-7-10 - Bella & Edward
I must admit that this is not the type of story I would normally read. I am not a big fan of Angsty stuff and I don’t like sad or death. I like light hearted love, fluff, lemons etc. BUT I am enjoying the Hell (pardon the pun) out of this story. I recognized americanxidiot from her fic “Closer to God”. I know she has written other stories. In fact, I THINK Snshyne is in love with another one of her fics Cascade and Cyanide. But since americanxidiot is on my “author alerts” I saw she wrote a new story. I must admit that I had the couch scene from Closer to God in my mind when I decided to read Purgatory: A Love Story. You remember the couch scene when he told her to lean back – OOOH My GOODNESS!!! Ok well this review is not about Closer to God but if you would like to read it – you must visit Americanxidiot’s LJ account and here is the link: http://americnxidiot.livejournal.com/6158.html
Purgatory: A Love Story is a story about six people who are on their way to Seattle on a Bus. None of them are sitting together or know each other. All of them are in their own lives going to Seattle for their own reasons. When the bus crashes and these six people “wake up” in a place that looks nothing like where they have spent their whole lives. I have always thought that Purgatory was Hell. I even asked a couple of my Northern friends and they all answered the question the same way – “What is Purgatory?” “Purgatory is Hell”. But then I did some online research and I found out that in the dictionary, Purgatory is: (in the belief of Roman Catholics and others) a condition or place in which the souls of those dying penitent are purified from venial sins, or undergo the temporal punishment that, after the guilt of mortal sin has been remitted, still remains to be endured by the sinner.
Maybe I am reading a little too much into the name of the story because I really love some stories and their names were what turned me off about them originally. But I get the feeling that the name of this story means a lot. Purgatory: A Love Story is told from Bella’s perspective and I normally like Bella. I usually find her to think and act a lot like I do (Not that I think Edward will drop into my lap one day). But THIS Bella is clueless. That’s not to say that she isn’t smart. She seems smart, but she has been living this life that I think would put most of us to sleep and she sees nothing wrong with it. She doesn’t have a boyfriend, she doesn’t enjoy her job, and she doesn’t really have any friends to speak of or anyone in her life that is special. She has a dog named Cathy and this dog is the only bright spot in her life. That is sad to me, and I think that is why Bella is in Purgatory. I think anyone as beautiful as Bella should, at the very least, have some friends and be doing SOMETHING with her life.
Bella is in Purgatory with Alice (a future fashion designer), Mike (a young teenage athlete), the driver of the bus (some old guy), an older lady passenger from the bus, and hmmm there is one more person…I can’t remember his name…green eyes, bronze messy hair, beautiful body…..oh, it’s on the tip of my tongue….oh yeah, Edward (the brooding medical student). They all wake up in this room and they are covered in blood from their wounds from the accident and their clothes are torn and their hair is dirty and they just kinda sit there until someone comes to help them. This person gives them clothes (used clothes) and lets them take a bath and then shows them their apartments without any real explanation. They get these pamphlets that read like stereo instructions (I stole that line from Beetlejuice) and basically the pamphlets tell them that they need to make the best of things. These six people proceed to “make the best of things”. No one really pitches a fit or gets mad or cries. It’s like they are a bunch of sheep. Until one day a guy shows up in town. This guy’s name is Jasper and he is on his way to find a way OUT of Purgatory.
Americanxidiot is an Amazing storyteller. I have enjoyed this story from the start and I am looking forward to finding out if they make it out of Purgatory or if they decide to stay. I want to know if Bella and Edward will drop their walls that they have built up around themselves and let the other one in. I want to know if you can have sex in Purgatory. I want to know if Jasper and Alice will get together. I want to know if Mike will make it back to his life and find a girlfriend and get to graduate high school. There is so much left to this fic that I can’t wait for the next update. I know that if you give it a chance you will enjoy it as much as I do. It is not sad (so far) or too angsty (for you angst fearers). I think it is just an all round enjoyable read and americanxidiot has been really good to update regularly. I think you should read this story and then all of her stories, ‘cause she is Awesome!!!
Here is the link to Purgatory: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5648371/1/Purgatory_A_Love_Story
Please leave me a comment and let me know you were here. You know I am the biggest comment whore of them all! Love Y'all - Thank you for reading Southern Fan Fiction Review!!!
This review was written by the Beautiful (and oh so funny)
107yearoldvirgin
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Lets see how Danieller123 describes this fic: Isabella Swan is a famous chef with a short fuse and lackluster love life. Edward Cullen is a single father trying to balance raising his child and making it big in the food industry. What happens when he becomes Bella's new sous chef? A/H A/U Rated M
107: Reporting for duty.
Why, you may ask, have I chosen to do a review on The Workshop? Well, I really only have one source of interaction with Twi-Fic readers anymore, and that is through my FaceBook page; simply because I’m so effing busy with RL. Sandy offered me the opportunity to write for SFFR, and I took the job because I don’t make time for myself to read other fics. I figured that if I had motivation to do so, then I would be more apt to push myself into reading.
But where to start? I checked out what my FB ladies were wall spamming each other with on their walls and this caught my eye:
“I haven’t laughed this hard since I read Progress!”
And THAT is why I had to head straight over and check out what DannielleR123 was cooking up at The Workshop.
I honestly can’t remember the last time I read a fic and it affected me so deeply that I felt…haunted. This story has stuck to me in such a magnificent way. Not like gum on a shoe, but more like when you see an amazing debate and both sides are so well educated that you think on the topic for days and ponder every word trying to figure out where your loyalty lies.
Dani’s writing does that to me. I can’t shake it.
What I had expected to be a story about restaurant workers and dirty kitchen sex is anything but: Bella Swan is the world’s second most famous chef and restaurateur. She is 26 and owns 10 restaurants, all of which she opens herself and runs while on the road. She has come to Miami to open a new establishment called, yes, The Workshop. She’s a hard ass, tough as nails boss who knows exactly what she wants and won’t settle for anything less from herself or any of her employees.
Her right hand man is Emmett, and apparently his brother lives in Miami as well and is need of a job. Who is the brother? Hot ass, tattooed covered, DILF Edward, that’s who. Edward needs a job to provide for his ridiculously cute 4 year old daughter, Nessie. He’s a self taught chef who screams ‘diamond in the rough’.
There is obvious attraction between E&B from the get-go, and the underlying sexual tension is so thick it’s painful at times, because your brain is screaming that they should just get it on, even though the sensible parts of Bella are explaining why it can’t happen. Except for her lady bits, sweetly named ‘Butterbean’ who seems to be the Devil in her pants.
Bella wants nothing more than to make Edward as good as he possibly can be. And in the process of teaching him, we end up seeing just what an amazing person she really is. As all Bella’s are, she has been broken by something in her past, but so has Edward. And I have to hand it to Dani, her Edward is one of the best Daddy’s I’ve read in a really long time. His devotion to Nessie wrenches your heart and makes you fall in love with him almost immediately.
The question is, can Bella and Edward let each other in and find happiness? I hope so, because these two have chemistry and a deep underlying love that feels so incredibly real.
The characters are real, and they speak like real people, think like real people, screw up in huge ways like real people…they have real problems. But they are funny and likeable, too. Bella’s got a foul mouth, Edward’s got temper issues and Emmett thinks with his dong. They trash each other with witty banter and it works. It really, really works. I can see the scenes played out in my head like a movie and it fascinates me to no end.
It’s obvious that Dani knows her subject matter very well, and I love that. When a writer knows what they are talking about it draws me in completely. Knowing how basketball works is one thing, but telling a story from inside of the game while you have your sweaty hands around the basketball is a whole different scenario. She brings a fresh approach to the culinary world that I know little about but am intrigued by, which keeps me reading to learn more.
The Workshop is hilarious, heartwarming and hot…three H’s that make me squeal. I’m so immensely grateful to have been directed over to read Dani’s work because I love it. Not only is her story amazing, but she’s a fantastic person with a ballsy sense of humor…my kinda girl.
Check out her links below and give her blog some love. She has some beautiful pictures of Edward in his full tattooed glory and some scorching hot banners for each chapter.
Link for The Workshop on FFN: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5384904/1/The_Workshop_A_Tale_Of_Edible_Delights
DanielleR123’s FFN page: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1989229/danieller123
Dani’s Twitter: @sweetdani123
TWS Edward’s Twitter: @TWS_SweetEdward
Well now, what did you think about 107's review? Are you reading The Workshop? Please leave us a comment and let us know you were here, it's important to us. Thank you for taking the time to read Southern Fan Fiction Review.
They write 2 of the most popular Fan Fiction Stories today. If you love Fan Fiction then you have read their stories. Master of the Universe is written by Snowqueens Icedragon and University of Edward Masen is written by Sebastien Robichaud. Guess what...they are friends in Real Life.
Last week when we ran an interview with EZRocksAngel and Angstgoddess003 one of our readers, Olga NYC, said that she would love to see an interview between Sebastien Robichaud and Snowqueens Icedragon. Well, we aim to please at Southern Fan Fiction Review. This interview is for you Olga NYC - and for all our faithful readers. Enjoy...
From here on out Snowqueens Icedragon will be in Bright Blue and Sebastien Robichaud will be in Black. For the first part of the interview Snowqueens Icedragon will be asking the questions:
I love the air of mystery that surrounds you and I deeply respect that you are a private, gentle soul – so thank you for agreeing to do this with me. I think we are polar opposites – you are quiet and considered and reticent… and I tend to over share and am rather loud and shouty! So I would like to start by asking a few questions about you… hopefully not too intrusive. You’ll have to forgive me if you’ve answered these before, elsewhere – but since all I do these days is fritter (my new word for this ridiculous social networking tool that I have unfortunately become addicted to) and write MOTU and occasionally try and catch up with the daunting MOTU thread… I don’t have much time for much else. So here goes:
Are you Canadian born and bred? Yes, I was born in Canada.
Is the hobbit hole a house or an apartment? An Apartment.
Where and when do you write and on what? Are you a longhand person or straight on the computer – PC or Mac, Laptop? I write on a PC but some scenes and the outline are written longhand. I write on the dining room table, or on my desk in the study.
You are well travelled – have you lived abroad at all? Yes, on the Continent and short stints in the UK.
How many languages do you speak? 3 - English, French, German. I read a 4Th (Latin) and am learning a 5Th (Italian). I tried to learn to read Arabic once but didn't get very far (6th). Ditto for Ancient Greek (7th).
From UoEM one has a real sense of the hierarchy and petty politics of academia… is this something you feel strongly about and are subjected to? In TV the hierarchy is very blurred… it’s still there… but not as rigid… Which leads me to also ask – do you enjoy your work? I enjoy my work very much, which is why I'm trying to protect it.
I have a sense that you keep your real life very much separate from your FF life - are you afraid your colleagues will find about your fan fiction fetish? Yes.
What would they say? "You're fired."
In UoEM you go to town on your designer labels and descriptions of clothing etc… is this something close to your heart? Not really. But I am a bit of a snob when it comes to quality. I'm like Edward - I'm impatient with mediocrity. So in some cases this means I would rather do without than have something cheap. Are you a fashionista? No. But it is important to me to dress well and appear both professional and presentable, while living on a modest income. Cleanliness is also something that is extremely important to me. Hence all of the showers taking place in my story. Do you love designer labels? More for the quality than anything else and I tend to favour European design as an aesthetic preference, particularly Italian.
UoEM
You will have to forgive me on this… I know that on your marvellous thread there are theories and mysteries to unravel etc etc… I read UoEM because for me, it’s a rollicking good yarn well told. I will feel whatever you want me to feel and go whatever direction you will take me – and I hope in time all the little clues and questions will be answered – but I am crap at analysis – which is probably why I am not a historian… and you are! (Even though I do have a degree in history…)
I know you write academic articles, but is this the first crack that you’ve had at fiction? Apart from writing contests and a general weakness for weaving a yarn in a pub or over dinner, yes.
How did you come up with your storyline? It dropped almost fully formed into my head after I got over the disappointment of learning that my favourite FF "In the land of Milk and Honey" was unceremoniously (but perhaps justifiably?) pulled.
Do you have the whole thing mapped out – chapter by chapter – and therefore how many chapters are left to go? The outline is complete and as such puts the number around 40. But we'll see. My chapters rival Homer's epics so really, at some point enough will be enough.
I love how you weave canon into your narrative. Is this deliberate or do you find your fans pointing out things that you never intended and their interpretation is that you are following canon? (Happens to me a lot – sometimes I am… and maybe sometimes I’m doing it on an unconscious level) My story deliberately includes canon, especially for the characters. This is so because UOEM is my intentional re-writing of the Twilight narrative for an adult audience in a human universe.
Has the path you’ve chosen for you characters changed at all from the feedback and reviews you’ve been getting? No. The major plot points are fixed. Minor things could be changed if someone gave me a good suggestion. So for example, Miss JAustenlover suggested I include Edward's lecture. I balked at this initially, for I thought no one would care to read it. I have been surprised and pleased at how many people wrote to me to say how much they enjoyed it. Who knew?
I have never seen any UoEM haters… do you have any? Of course. And if you do how do you deal? Some of them, (I am told) congregate on certain websites, which I don't frequent. So avoidance has always been a very promising strategy. Some of them write reviews. If a review is well written and cogent, I will consider it. But, if the individual can't even get the plot straight or (truthfully) if a native English speaker butchers the English language, it affects how I receive the negative review. I am, of course, much more patient with my non-native English correspondents. And some of my readers address me in French, which I encourage.
I am the author and I know where the plot is going. Like any (semi?) omniscient narrator, I know things the reader doesn't know. Nevertheless, this doesn't stop some people from telling me that I wrote the story incorrectly, which is incredibly hubristic on their part. Alternatively, some people write and say they didn't like a certain thing. Those reviews I understand. I don't like everything in all novels either, so of course some aspects of my story or even the whole story itself will not be liked by everyone. But really, if they don't like my Bella or my Edward at chapter 19, I question their reasoning process. Why continue to read something that irks you? If they don't like B and E at Ch. 19 they won't like them at ch. 40 and they will have wasted their time.
However, as a human being of a certain age with reasonable intelligence and reasonable empathy, I know a thing about human behaviour and what is realistic or not. Much of my story (sadly) has been drawn from real life (not necessarily mine). So if it seems unrealistic or overly angsty or dramatic or whatever adjective one chooses to hurl, I will say the following: Be thankful your life is not angsty and dramatic, but be aware that other's lives are. And be compassionate and realize that some human beings do weep and heave over certain memories, not because they are weak, but because they have been abused. What are you doing in the world to lessen abuse so that the number of human beings who are this way diminishes? (end rant, cue music, "We are the World")
Writing
I love, love, love how seamlessly you move from POV to POV… do your characters ever run away from you doing something you don’t expect, taking you somewhere you didn’t want to be?
Not usually. But it does take time for some dialogue to emerge. I write by sound, which means I (oddly) hear the voices in my head. Sadly, they don't speak to me directly and I do, on occasion, get somewhat put out at being constantly ignored.
You told me once that you write obscure articles on historical figures in medieval times… have you ever thought of doing a medieval E & B… or is Dante and Beatrice as medieval as you want to go? I haven't thought about a Medieval E and B, but now that you mention it ....
You also told me that you wanted to do your own vampyric fic as you were dissatisfied with SM’s mythology… will this be your next project? If so will you use your own characters and attempt to get published? Still germinating on this one. Not sure whether FF or maybe a different audience might be best. Must finish UOEM first. Truthfully, would love to have a literary agent and write fiction professionally and be published, while still enjoying my anonymity and living in my hobbit hole.
Do you feel, as I do with my writing, that your writing has improved with each chapter? I hope so. I hope my writing improves over my lifetime. I have a few more good years left in me.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start writing? Just write. Write what you know or what you don't, but write and then have a trusted friend read. Let them give you suggestions for improvement. Correct your work, and then put your work out there. FF is a great venue. I've never shared my fiction with anyone since the last writing contest I ended. So this venue is very encouraging and very easy to enter.
How do you deal with overenthusiastic fans? -Hm. No one has invaded my privacy, so so far so good. However, it has always been my experience that kindness is never wasted. So in all I do, I try to be kind and I hope that people will be kind back to me.
Ok, Now we are going to switch gears a little and Sebastien Robichaud will ask questions of Snowqueens Icedragon. They will stay in the same coloring and font.
Quesitons for Snowqueens Icedragon from Sebastien Robichaud:
-How did you learn about Fan Fiction? Christmas 2008 NEW (my hubs and beta) bought me the Twilight saga – I’d seen the film in November 08 – and I sat down and read them in 5 days, non-stop, and fell in love with Edward Cullen & the boy… I used to stalk internet sites about the boy. It was on Rpattz Daily on Live Journal that I saw two people chatting about Wide Awake – I was on holiday in Spain at the time (my Aunt has an apartment in Marbella on the South Coast) and so I found Wide Awake and couldn’t stop reading it. I spent £60 on mobile phone bills downloading it. I read it on Live Journal – and after that discovered Twilighted and Fan Fiction.
-What inspired you to pen MOTU? I read some BDSM stories and wanted to know why people got into it and actually see the paperwork. So I started researching. It was always my aim to publish a contract pertaining to a BDSM relationship – so I went from there. I didn’t set out to write a BDSM story… I know nothing about BDSM other than what I have learnt on FF and the research I’ve had to do for this story (some of which has been great fun, let me tell you… sorry TMI – but then I told you I suffered from that) – Fundamentally I set out to write a love story – because that’s what interests me with BDSM as a back-drop.
-Describe your writing process This is a really hard question. I have a time-line of events and that’s what I follow. How the characters react to each event and each other is the story. I did have an ending, but the story has gone in a completely different way than what I imagined, so I’ve had to think of a new ending.
-You have a personal relationship with NEW, your Beta. Does this make your writing process easier or more difficult? NEW corrects my grammar – and I do bounce ideas off him, and he’s a fantastic sounding board. He’s also a gifted writer and understands the process. He’s completely freaked that I don’t have an overall story arc set down because that’s not the way he works. But in terms of my writing process, it’s handy that he’s here and I can talk to him whenever I need to about it, but that’s the extent of his involvement. He doesn’t want to know how the story finishes – he finds out what happens to the characters as he betas each chapter. Depending on how tired I am, the beta’ing process takes about 45 mins to an hour, each chapter. We do row but we’ve been married a wee while so we’re used to it!
-Do you have any plans to publish and if so, what? I’d like to. MOTU is the 4th novel I’ve written in a year. After my Twilight and the boy obsession, I sat down and just wrote a novel – I’d always wanted to do it and the time was right. I was exceptionally miserable at work so I escaped into my first novel, which I started last January and finished in April. Looking back it was a fan fic – but I didn’t know fan fiction existed at the time. I plan to publish it on FF when I finish MOTU – I think – but it will needs to be re-written. It’s quite a hard thing to pull off… and interestingly it’s written from two POVs… so I am going to have to think about that. My second novel isn’t finished… that’s the one I have high hopes for and I would like to re-write. NEW has a literary agent, and the field that I work in puts me in touch with many agents – so… who knows?
-Are you surprised by all of the attention your story has gotten? Yes – surprised doesn’t quite cover it. I am in awe… and I don’t really understand why. I was aiming for 5K reviews, not 37k+. After I wrote Safe Haven – which I did in three weeks – I thought that the high review counts were for fics that were published over a long period of time, but Motu has been relatively short – so that’s blown that theory. I think the draw is Fifty.
-What does NEW think about the FF universe? And will he write a story for us? I think he has his own fan club on Twitter and Twilighted. He thinks it’s an amazing resource and a wellspring of hidden creativity. He thinks it’s the way the Web should go. It’s the future of the internet where people come together to create and enjoy stories. It never occurred to NEW to write a fan fic until you asked the question, SR… he’s quite interested as he’s read canon but A) he’s too busy writing for money and B) he’d be terrified that people didn’t like his fic as much as mine!
-How do you handle negative reviews/blog postings ? Not well. Anonymous nasty reviews I just delete and it gives me an extraordinary amount of pleasure to do so. I have to learn to avoid blog postings, but I am a masochist at heart so I do look. I was reading one recently and I was astounded at the kicking the fic got from people who have never read it… which is rude quite frankly. They seemed to be especially peeved at the review count – according to someone on that blog, ‘1000 is the new 100 everyone!’ What upset me more was that an author whom I really respected dissed it – though she’s never read it… I have to say she’s slipped hugely in my estimation since then.
-Anything you would like your readers to know about you or your stories that they don't know already? I over-share – they know everything there is to know already.
-Is there anything in MOTU that you would have done differently if you were starting it tomorrow? Just the contraception. And I’d make it very clear that Bella goes to the Vancouver campus of WSU. If I could have a dollar for everyone who’s told me that WSU is based in Pullman! (WSU is a tri-site university… and proudly so…)
-Will you please write a scene (or an outtake) in which your Bella gives Mrs Robinson a serious ass-kicking and in which Bella emerges entirely satisfied and unscathed? I'm asking nicely. For you SR… anything.
Sebastien Robichaud would like to thank her beta, Jennde for all her hard work She not only fixes my errors but she gives me substantial advice in terms of structure and narrative.
Ok - so there you have it. What did you think? Do you LIKE having author interviews? Who would you like to see interviewed on Southern Fan Fiction Review? Leave me a comment and who knows, maybe I'll be able to get them to make a special appearance. Thanks for reading!
Followers Note
Ok - I am new to this Blogging thing - but I know that it ain't worth a crap if I don't have followers. I am looking at my stats and I know people are visiting - so why don't 'cha follow me? I would really appreciate it! Thank Y'all for visiting!
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