Bonjour, mes petites! This is Lady Tater, guest blogging for our illustrious Chief, Sue. When she asked me for the name of a story that I would like to review for her blog, it was a complete no brainer for me. I jumped on “Angel of Death” by Superstarrh.
Jaime, the brilliant author, and I got to talking one day and she let me know that she had this idea that was *so* different than anything else she’d written (“Shotgun Charlie”, “No Regrets” to name two of my favourites). She let me in on her idea; gritty and raw and painful and oh so flipping amazing. She knew, hell, I knew, it would be tough to write and tough to read but worth every second if it was done correctly.
And my word did she do it correctly.
Here is Jaime’s summary of her story: Edward is a murderer on death row and Bella is the reporter sent to interview him during his final days. There is angst in this story, can't stress that enough.
My summary: Yes, Edward is a murder on death row. Yes, Bella gets the week-long interview of a lifetime chronicling the last week of one of the most famous murders of the time. But Edward isn’t some unrepentant, random killer and Bella isn’t some Barbara Walters, detached, objective reporter. She finds something… worthwhile in him and he finds the one thing that he never thought he’d ever find in life – someone to believe in. In the last few days of his life, he found a reason not to do what he’d done.
What makes this story so amazing and so brilliant is that Jaime didn’t take the easy way out. She was brave regardless of how difficult the story is and let the tale play out as it should. I won’t tell you what road she took, as I cannot stress enough that you must read this story. It hurts, but it’s beautiful and raw and real and so well written the words themselves pierce your heart.
I had the pleasure of interviewing our Superstarrh and here are her answers to our hard-hitting questions (and some comments from me):
1. Where did you get the idea for this story? What was your inspiration?
It was just something that came to me one day and I could not get it out of my head. It took me months to finally get around to writing it though. I knew that I wanted to do it justice and it took me some time to figure out exactly how to do that.
2. Is there anything you would want readers to know specifically?
This story is definitely not my norm but it actually did take a lot out of me to write this. It may be hard to read but I can guarantee you that it was much harder for me to write.
(Lady Tater: I can attest to how hard it was for her to write as I talked to her while she worked on it. Poor, brave thing! But it is worth every second when the story was finished. Something I would want you to know, it’s angsty. Beautiful, but not for the faint of heart)
3. Why should readers read your story?
Honestly out of everything that I have written it is the story that I am most proud of. It was stepping out of my comfort zone to write something that I wasn’t sure how it would be received. I would like to think that it is different than most of the stories out there but angst cannot even begin to describe the story so have that in mind before you begin reading it.
(Lady Tater: See, brave.)
4. So you do anything special while writing a chapter like listen to special music, need total silence, eat a bag of M&Ms, whatever…?
Total silence is not something that ever happens around here. Actually I take that back it happens around 2 in the morning which is when I write sometimes. There is no special ritual that I have, when the inspiration strikes me I try to write, you never know when it might happen. I usually am listening to music when I do write though or TV in the background. For some reason that keeps me focused.
5. Do you have a soundtrack to your stories?
Some do, some don’t. For this story in particular I really had nothing that was stuck in my mind.
6. What actor/actress do you picture as Edward and Bella?
By the time I started reading the Twilight books the movie was already under way so I really have never thought of anyone other than Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in those roles.
7. Is the story all planned out or do you do it as a fly by the seat of your pants thing?
This is the only story that I have completely written out before I began posting. I had the general idea and the end in mind so I just needed to figure out how to fill in the rest. This story in particular it was very important for me to have it completely written before I began posting because I didn’t want to be swayed one way or another when people began to read it and review.
8. Do you have a posting Schedule? If so what is it?
I generally try to update this story every Thursday. Although there really isn’t much left to it.
9. Do you believe in HEA?
If it fits the story then I am always rooting for a HEA. I understand that it doesn’t always work with a story though. Even though I try to avoid the angst, sometimes I just get in the mood for it.
(Lady Tater: This story, in its original form, is not an HEA kinda story, however, Jaime has let me know that she does intend on writing an alternate ending with an HEA for those of you who cannot stomach the angst. Note, it has not been written. Only the true ending is complete.)
10. Any more fic plans in the future?
Haha….I have quite a few that I need to finish up right now but I have quite a few ideas for some new ones. Now if only I could find the time.
11. What brought you to fanfic? To twilight?
After reading Breaking Dawn I was reading some reviews for it online and someone said it was like reading bad fanfic and I had no clue what it was so I investigated and ended up at Twilighted. After reading quite a few stories I decided to try my hand at it.
I started reading Twilight right about the time Breaking Dawn was coming out. I was reading about it in Entertainment Weekly and I wanted to see what the big deal was because honestly vampires and werewolves sounded a bit odd. Four days later when I had read all the books, I was beginning to get the idea.
12. What is your background in writing?
It has something that I have always done since I was little and enjoyed. I had never known something like this had existed so I am greatly enjoying have an outlet for my writing.
13. Have you had any Twilight related/ rpattz dreams?
I know that once upon a time there was one. Rob, Kellan and Jackson happened to stop by my house one night and we all decided to play Guitar Hero and drink. For some reason my husband stayed upstairs with the kids the whole time…hehe.
14. Which character do you see yourself as? And who would you like to see yourself with?
I would probably have to say Angela. Even though she isn’t a huge part of the book I could relate to her the most.
Okay…that second question is a bit harder. Even though I love Edward he is far too moody for my tastes and I couldn’t handle a guy who was always trying to control every aspect of my life. Jacob just bugs the crap out of me so I would have to say Emmett! He is not too serious, loyal and seems like he would like to have a good time.
15. Which RL author inspires you? Did any FF authors inspire you?
Wait, you mean there are RL books? Kidding, kidding. Let’s see...I don’t really have any authors off the top of my head that I can think of. There are just a lot of books that I like to read. Gone With the Wind is my all time favorite book. After that I am drawing a blank. Although I guess I would have to say that Stephanie Meyer has inspired me to some extent since I am writing again so go SM!
When I was first new to Twi FF I would have to say that I was greatly inspired by Marve, Badgergirl and Wishgirl because I became such good friends with them and they encouraged me a lot as I first started out with writing FF. As I have gone along there are many others who have inspired me. VJGM to name one, Tiggrmommi (okay she hasn’t written anything but through FF I met her and she inspires me!), Who Knows also fits in the previous category, Pomme_de_Terre, Booksgalore, ProfMom and HMonster4…..I know I am forgetting many people but those are some off the top of my head! If I have forgotten anyone I am sorry but you know who you are!
16. Any recs for us?
…Becomes the Swan, Not Like This, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Ladders, Boycotts and Barflies, I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked, Seducing Ms. Swan, Cullenary Coupling, The Arrangement, When We Drove All Night….I know I am forgetting so many but it is hard to think of some of them off the top of my head and I do not read as much as I would like to!
17. Anything else you would like to add?
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to do this! It means a lot to know that something I wrote is read by others and that people want to know more. So thank you, thank you, thank you!
Yes, Jaime is truly that sweet! A great person and an amazing author who wrote a story so different and so raw that it stopped me in my tracks. If you haven’t had the opportunity to read Angel of Death, please go read it. And if you need a pick me up, take a look at the rest of her titles while you’re there!
and here is the link for you to read this fic...read it let us know what you think do you think you could get attached to a man on death row??
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