FFA Officer Task

Officer Rec'Em aka AddictedNecker/Kayla interviews and reviews EdwardsBloodType

I’m going to keep this short and sweet, because I don’t want to give too much of this remarkable tale away. If you don’t want to take my word on how great this story is, go check out the reviewers who have applauded Steph (EdwardsBloodType) over fifteen thousand times for one of the most amazing angst fan-fictions I have ever read. As Officer Rec’em I strive to send you to the best of the best—and when asked what my favorite story was, High Anxiety was the FIRST to come to mind.

As if high school isn’t dramatic enough imagine falling for the perfect guy…the perfect guy that you can’t touch.

Literally.

Edward’s past has forced him to be not only celibate, but he isn’t allowed to come into any type of physical contact with a girl under the age of 18. Visualize the sexual frustration and tension that would come from a boy and girl who are soul mates, and are told that they aren’t allowed to be intimate. Bella and Edward have their backs against the wall and the world weighing down on their shoulders, will their relationship survive?

High Anxiety is the perfect title to suggest the drama and heartbreak that comes along with this story. Thirty-nine chapters in, and only a handful or so to go…I’m on the edge of my seat with high anxiety, awaiting more. So go forward and read FFA! Join my anxiety!

Interview

I greatly appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to do this interview. The ladies at FFA are obsessed with all things Twilight, and I know many members who absolutely LOVE your story! Including ME!
I’m going to try to reign in my fan girl screams here, and get to the questions. =)

What's your first name so we can call you out?!
I’m Stephanie and I'm not positive I belong to this particular group; however, you can be sure that I will be joining asap!

What inspired you to write High Anxiety?
I had read an article in People that was about a corrupt judge who sent teens to boot camps for minor infractions. Turned out he was getting kickbacks from the boot camps to send the kids there. The restraining order thing I made up, thinking it was completely fictional, but that turned out to be a rare but actual thing that occurs. I was kind of floored by the response of people who knew someone with a no contact order like HA Edward’s, sharing their stories with me. I thought it would be cool to see how far two horny teenagers could go without touching. It was only supposed to be 25 chapters.

When you sit down to write—how do you get into the story’s mindset? (Such as a glass of wine and music? Lol)
Well I drop my kids off at school in the morning and while I'm in the car I always have music on. Depending on what I am listening to, is how the tone of the writing is set. I write every single day, whether it is on my computer, in a notebook or in my head. I am always thinking about High Anxiety (and now the other two that are coming out as soon as HA ends). It’s very crowded in my head.
I can’t drink alcohol and write, I get too fidgety. Sometimes it will be me and a bag of Chocolate Twizzlers but other than that I need a quiet and calm atmosphere and sobriety.
I know many authors say that it is emotionally difficult to write angst chapters…Portions of High Anxiety broke my heart! Did you find it difficult to write such angst?
It was difficult emotionally yes, but I find I write angst best (out of all the genres) and it is the easiest for me. I tend to draw from my own negative Nelly, glass half empty- psyche (yeah, I am loads of fun to be around) so it usually just flows freely and naturally. The chapter where Edward makes Bella the peanut butter and jelly hearts for Valentine’s Day, when I wrote that, I literally burst into tears. I was so stricken with what the characters were feeling that I simply transferred it onto Bella and made her cry too. She’s cool like that; she’ll take my emotions without complaint.

You say that there are five (or so) chapters left, can you offer any teasers for the wonderful ladies (and one gent) of FFA? =)
*face palms* It ends with everyone dead.

Are you happy or sad to see High Anxiety coming to an end?
Yes and no. I am happy and extremely excited to start something new because it is oozing out of me faster that I can write it. HA has been a very emotional (and emotionally draining) ride for me and the readers too. I have had to do more research that I ever imagined and there have been so many generous and kind people on board helping me to achieve accuracy. The people here are amazing and I feel so fortunate to know them in whatever capacity I do, particularly my betas, Suzy and Erika. Also, I am very happy with the ending I have chosen. I think it will make everyone happy as well. But yeah, it is bittersweet. It’s been a year of my life writing and another 6 months of planning.
It has also been quite a negative experience with the drama and the bullshit that has followed the story over the course of the year, which makes me very sad, because this should ultimately be a happy place. Unfortunately, people all are entitled to their opinions and all that free speech crap (while completely disregarding what is morally and ethically right), so it still is occurring. There is a group of people that can not wait for my “heaping pile of shit fic” to end. I don’t understand how people can be so hurtful and vicious to someone they don’t even know and have no right to judge or bash, but I suppose I just need to laugh through the thick skin I have acquired writing fanfic.

I am a little sad to see these characters go on their way, but I really feel that the story will end in the best place for all the characters (dead:)

Do you plan to continue writing Twilight Fanfic after High Anxiety ends?
Yes, I have one called In Too Deep and another that is still untitled. ITD is basically going to be a short fic maybe 15 chapters covering a summer in the life of an Italian college kid from Long Island, NY who hates his philandering father so he hooks up with dad’s ex as revenge. It’s very angsty and sexy and from what I know from others, the only Twific that is based on LI. It’s all in Epov too, so I have to get my inner Guido on. I am nervous about it though. I think a lot of people will be squicked out by the fact that Edward is banging his dad’s former mistress who is 17 years older than him, and they may not get the whole thing, but it’s fine if they don’t. I write what I want to write. The untitled is a lot more detailed than I expected and I have been doing extensive research for it. That’s all I want to say for now. Hopefully I will post once a week, each story every other week.

Do you prefer writing AU or AH fics and why?
I prefer writing and reading AH, definitely. The characters can be flawed and make human mistakes whereas vamp fics there’s only so much you can do with it in my opinion. Eventually Edward will be whining about his guilt and his black soulless soul and Bella will be whining about giving Edward the guilt and telling him he has a soul and blah blah blah… I don’t know, it’s just not my thing. I have only read one vamp fic recently that has blown my mind: Carpe Noctum and Fiat Lux by queen of grey. It was beautifully done and had an awesome ending.

I wrote an AU one-shot where Bella actually becomes a werewolf after Edward leaves her in New Moon. I’d love to make it a full story, but I just can’t get into the proper mindset to finish it.
Plus, in AH, you have more leeway to play with the characters. I mean, you just wouldn’t see canon Vampire Edward as a struggling, single, human blood addicted dad with hideous facial scars and a past as an abused Dom who has to dance as a stripper just to make ends meet. Well you could, but it would be weird. And a little hot. But weird.

Someone needs to go write that please...

I see that you are a mother of two, where do you find your motivation to battle the kids and still push out awesome chapters?
Transformers DVD’s, Dora the Explorer and a lot of selective hearing. No shit, my kids speak fluent Spanish. My little one got a stuffed dog for his birthday and named it Perrito. We were like, what?
I treat writing Fanfiction more seriously than any job I have ever had, which is sort of sad. I like to write and since I am not going to be on the NY Times bestseller list I use this as my outlet.

What is your favorite book in the Twilight Saga?
Hands down, Twilight. It was mysterious and romantic and I fell in love with Edward right along with Bella. I hated New moon because Edward broke my heart too. I hated Eclipse because uh… WTF Bella? You go all emo for nine months over Edward and then you fall in love with Jacob???? Then BD? I feel like the fade to black scenes were just all sorts of wrong, and Bella’s constant whining about the wedding and the dress and the fact that Edward wanted to marry her (poor you Bella! Pooor sad you! ) was just annoying. However, I liked Bella mush better as a vampire. She had more balls.

What stories are you reading right now that you absolutely love?
In no particular order of favorites: Stampede of a Thousand Pulses by ss10, Expectations and Other Moving Pieces by chrome turtle, Just Wait by Instant Karma Girl, With Teeth by TalulaBlue, Unaccompanied Soul by JMCullen09, Emancipation Proclamation, Misapprehension of Bella Swan, Secret Sex by erinbatt, Uncomfortable (slash) by Savannah-Vee, Up to Scratch by Vican, Ugly and Eye Contact by Silver Sniper of Night, University of Edward Masen, This is Not My Life by isakassees, Master of the Universe, Caravaggio, Counterpoint, Ragweeds, An Introduction to Swirl and Daisy, Falling for the first time by snowhiteheart, 100 hours by Wytchwmn75, Decoy by 107 year old Virgin, Edward Wallbanger, For the Summer by camoozle and I have at least 20 that I have started and got distracted.
Seriously? It’s a wonder how my kids ever have clean underwear.

When I was asked to chose my favorite author, you were my first choice! If you had to choose a favorite Fanfic author, who would it be?
Really? Wow, I bet you say that to all the girlsJ I'm gonna go with AngryBadgerGirl and Hunter Hunting. Everything they write is just flat out superb.

The countdown is on for the movie Eclipse. 20 days, 11 hrs, 22 mins, and 34 seconds to be exact =). Are you planning on attending the premier with the other screaming fans?
I'm going to Ohio for a girls’ trip! I'm actually going to see my beta Suzy and a couple of the girls from the HA thread/ fandom for that weekend. I am so excited to meet everyone and to wear my Edward Cullen tee shirt that has been banned from my house! Were going to see Eclipse at the drive -in too, so that will be all retro cool and whatnot.

There is an ongoing feud (friendly of course) in FFA over Breaking Dawn. We are split between people who think BD was unrealistic vs. BD lovers! Could you settle this for us, and choose a side?
Eh…I am torn myself. I liked it because Bella got everything she wanted and the ending was a superduper far out fairytale. Bella was much cooler as a vamp, and Edward was totally hot as a daddy. However, she whined and complained about the Mercedes (who does that?), the wedding to Edward Cullen (uh..really Bella? Really?) and the dress (Oh. So sorry you can’t walk down the aisle in your thermal and your Chucks, stupid idiot) and then she gets to be a vamp and a mommy while having to sacrifice nothing whereas everyone else had to give up something to become eternally alive.
And Edward being all emo and burning man was depressing as hell. I felt bad for him, but then again, that’s what you get for being so controlling, Dude.

I also feel like the showdown was anticlimactic too. I mean all this anticipation for a bloodbath and Bella’s power is a like a stupid clear shield that wasn’t even impenetrable? Oh Stephenie Meyer, how you disappoint yet again. She should have been able to shoot flames out of her boobs and become invisible or fly or something cool. But her power was as boring as she was. Though the mind reading thing with Edward at the end was clever, so I have to give SM cred for that. To be truthful, I loved the whole series to pieces before I found Fanfiction. Now, I just see flaws in SM’s version.

Steph, Thank you much!!
Kayla aka Addicted Necker