Monday, February 4, 2013
In continuation with my romp down memory lane and all things Irishward, I am re-posting the original interview I did with TwoTwiMoms back in December 2011. I enjoyed digging this up and re-reading again. I'd like to also believe my interviewing skills have improved since then, but still had to smile as I re-read this.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
When did you discover Twilight?
twimom817 - Twilight the movie had already came out and was now on DVD. I was walking through the book aisle and saw the books and decided I wanted to know what all the hype was about. I grabbed Twilight and read it in 2 days and was instantly hooked.
kare831 - My "kids" introduced me to Twilight. They begged and begged for me to read the books so in 2009 when I visited CA from VA, I bought Twilight to read. I started it, and it was so hard for me to get into. Then we watched the movie and I thought OMG the book has to be better than the movie. So I finished the book and was hooked! I finished all the books within 2 days.
How did you find the fandom?
twimom817 - After reading the books I needed to find anything to keep the Twilight magic alive. I searched the internet and found a Twilight oriented website. From there I met some people who introduced me to fan fiction which in turn I met lots of other people, joined Twitter and the rest is history.
kare831 - I actually started blogging on Eclipsemovie.org and did the Eclipse re-read and in the threads people kept talking about "sparkly white unicorns" and I thought wtf are they talking about. Someone told me I needed to read WA. Well, I had NO idea what the hell WA was so I googled it. I found it in pdf format and downloaded it and read it. Then a friend of mine mentioned that she borrowed her avi from drotuno and she linked me to her profile. I read the Angel Series and the rest is history!
Are you in the Twicloset?
twimom817 - Partially yes. My family know I am a Twilight fan but no one in my family besides my husband knows I write fan fiction. And only one of my friends knows.
kare831 - I'm like Jill - yes and no. My family knows that I love Twilight, but not all of them know I write fan fiction. My parents know that I write FF, but don't know about the smut factor, lol.
Do your significant others support your fandom life?
twimom817 - My husband hasn't read anything I've written because he can't stand Twilight but he supports me. He says if that's what I want to do in my spare time then so be it. As long as family comes first, which it always does.
kare831 - I'm separated now, but when my husband was around he hated the fact that I wrote fan fiction. He didn't so much mind the writing as he minded who it was about. He'd read Twilight and seen the movies and didn't mind that, but he thought I was bigger than using someone else's characters. (He's crazy because Edward and Emmett are SO much fun to play with!)
Have you met fandom people in real life?
twimom817 - Yes. I've met my co-writer Kare831 once. I'm hoping I can still go to the TwiFic Meetup because there are so many people I want to meet, including my roommate and host of this interview. LOL kare831 - Yes. I met my co-writer twimom817 just before I moved back to CA from VA and then I met a whole mess of people at a little gathering after ComicCon 2011. Also, several of the mom's who I met at the BD premiere read/write fanfiction.
Why or how did you start writing fanfiction?
twimom817 - I was sitting on my couch one day and thought about my life and my son who has autism. I thought 'I could write a story about that'. I sat down and started writing. The chapters were short and needed work but I had the legit of it. Then someone told me about the FGB Autism compilation and I knew I wanted to do that. I tweeted looking for a beta to do that piece and found Kare831. I asked her if she wanted to co-write for the Autism piece and that's really when I started writing more often.
kare831 - I never thought I'd ever write fan fic. I used to write in college but hadn't written since. I woke up one morning with a plot bunny in my head and I sat down and outlined what later became Perfect Game. I had the first ten chapters written before I ever started posting.
How do you come up with your story lines?
twimom817 - I hate to say this but I really suck at story lines. Besides ASL which was based on my son's life most of the story lines I've write have come from Kare831. Except for the initial o/s storyline for Irishward. I had bounced that off my beta at the time and came up with that idea. Hey and look at that story now.
kare831 - Jill really does hate story lines, but a lot of the one shots that we have written were ideas that she came up with and I just went running with it. Irishward wasn't Irish originally. I said Jill - he'd be really hot if he was Irish so let's make him Irish. The bar that Bella met him in became a Pub. We make a great team that way - she has the concept and I give it depth.
Favorite fics - Completed and WIP's?
twimom817 - Oh God, do I have to? I have so many. The Breakers, The Gravity Series, An Angry Man, Boycotts and Barflies, A Father's Hope, The Submissive, The Naked Guy Upstairs, Late Night Encounters, & too many more to list.
kare831 - I hate this question because you always feel bad if you forget something! My ALL time favorite is University of Edward Masen but I love anything by drotuno and les16. I am HOOKED on How to Paint a House, Seeing Bella, Music of the Heart, This Heart Renewed and last but certainly not least ... Firefly in Summer.
What kind of environment do you like to write in?
twimom817 - I like it quiet so I can hear myself think.
kare831 - Usually quiet but that doesn't always happen. It depends on what I'm writing, but sometimes I like to listen to music.
Where and when do you write?
twimom817 - I write a lot at night when the kids are sleeping or at work (shhh don't tell anyone)
kare831 - Most of my writing is either done at work (weird I know because I'm a hair stylist LOL) or at night after my daughter goes to bed.
How do you find time to write?
twimom817 - When writing: outline or as it comes to you? I never used an outline before on my own stories it was just what came to mind. Although I always had an outcome of what I wanted the story to be. When I write with Karen she's usually the one to jot all our notes and keep track of timelines and ideas. She's more of an outline person even thought I should really start.
kare831 - I'm organized with my writing, so I write an outline. Everything else ... not so organized. =)
Who's POV do you like writing?
twimom817 - Edward's of course but it's sometimes depends on the story.
kare831 - I'm like Jill - I like writing Edward. But he's not necessarily my favorite character to write ... hehe.
How do you find inspiration when the ideas just won't flow?
twimom817 - I usually read to get the ideas coming. Whether it's fanfiction or a good romance book. I may even talk it through with other people. Sometimes it take a few days but eventually it comes.
kare831 - I usually turn to other fics. When I can't get past a certain scene, I'll try and find a fic with a similar situation to see how it was written and go from there. If I can't get ideas that way, I email Jill in a panic lol.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start writing?
twimom817 - If you really want to do it don't let anyone discourage you and just try. There is no harm in trying. And don't let bad reviews or comments get you down talk to other writers and get a better perspective. Also find a beta. Two sets eyes are better than one.
kare831 - I agree with Jill. Just try ... get on twitter - find someone to bounce ideas off of. I didn't have that until I found Jill and it was infinitely better than trying to do everything myself. Other writers will always be more understanding and supportive than someone who doesn't write because they've been there. Keep in mind that not EVERY writer will be that way though.
Do you write professionally? Do you aspire to?
twimom817 - This was always a hobby a way to express myself and nothing more.
kare831 - Writing has always been a hobby for me. I just can't imagine my writing ever being good enough to try and do anything more with it than post it for fun.
How do you handle negative reviews?
twimom817 - Most of the time I ignore them or talk it out with another writer and move on. Although I had one bad review when I was first writing ASL and it really pissed me off. I won't go into detail but it basically felt like they were putting down my son since the story was based on things he did and coped with dealing with Autism. I wrote a nasty response which in turn started a response war. Eventually I decided to not let it bother me and let it go although I will always remember it.
kare831 - ... that one's hard. I've had reviews where readers have said they'd flounce because they didn't want the story to go a certain way, that they didn't want the characters to go in a certain direction. I ended up with a story line that I wasn't crazy about, but it turned out okay.
If you could say one thing to your readers (fans) what would that be?
twimom817 - Thank you so much for taking the time to read my stories. You are what make us write those stories. You are all the best people in the world.
kare831 - Thanks for taking the time to read my stories. Your reviews and encouragement is what keeps me writing. I appreciate it more than I can ever express.
One thing you can't live without?
twimom817 - Hmm that's a tough one. I would have to say my cell phone. I'm a technology geek and always need to know what's going on.
kare831 - My cell phone definitely. I can check my email, tweet and read fanfic - what else do I need? LOL
You participate in a lot of fandom giveback causes, how many have you done and why so many?
twimom817 - I believe it's 4 I've done with Karen. I can't always make a difference in the world but if writing a story for a compilation is the one way I can help then I feel I'm doing my part. This fandom is made up of so many great people and I like helping out even it is just a little. Sometimes a little makes all the difference.
kare831 - I couldn't agree with Jill more. Each cause we choose to donate something for has meaning. We've done FGB Autism Spotlight, Tsunami Relief, and more recently Breaking Dawn for Alex's Lemonade Stand and Toys 4 Tots. All of them just GREAT causes that give to something bigger than we are. It's an honor to write for them and give something that can help out even if it's only a little bit. Sometimes a little can go a long way.
Running a blog is tremendous work and very time consuming, why did your start yours and how do you manage to keep up?
twimom817 - We started it to promote our stories and things going on in the fandom. It's really not that hard to keep it up since we don't really post as much as people think. Although I do most of the posting at night or when I have time during the day. I get feedback from Karen and we just go with it.
kare831 - I am the lazy one when it comes to the blog. I know absolutely nothing about blogging, so it's all left up to Jill. She comes to me wanting my opinion and that's all I really have to offer her but she does a phenomenal job with it.
And a nosy one - how did you come up with your pen name?
twimom817 - is just what I am plus my birth date. As for twotwimoms I'll let Karen tell since she came up with it.
kare831 - is just my nickname and my birthday - boring I know. Twotwimoms - well, we *are* two Twilight loving moms so it just fit! (I guess we could have used IrishwardOwnsUs but we really didn't expect that to happen - at all!)
*Originally posted December 2011 on TwiMuses. Yep, I was a Muse once a long time ago and this was the actual interview I did with the creators of Irishward, who is still one of my favorite Edward's and What Fills The Eye Fills the Heart is still one of my favorite stories.
I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane with these lovely ladies as much as I have. You can find Irishward and Irishward Treasures on their FF profile as well as some luscious story graphics on their website.